Navjot Singh Sidhu and his wife Navjot Kaur formally resign from BJP

New Delhi: Days after launching the new front ‘Awaaz-E-Punjab’, cricketer-turned-politician​ Navjot Singh Sidhu on Wednesday formally quit BJP. Navjot Singh Sidhu and his wife resigned from from BJP membership. "I hereby resign from the party membership of the Bharatiya Janata Party," Sidhu said in a tweet, in which he posted his hand-written letter to BJP national president Amit Shah. "Long association, painful decision... my wife, children and party not alone Punjab. Punjab first, Punjab Punjabiyat and every Punjabi must win," he wrote. The former MP had not clarified earlier whether he had quit the BJP. During the party launch, he said his new outfit was a "forum" and not a political party "at this stage". Sidhu had quit the Rajya Sabha in July and had for a while appeared likely to join the Aam Aadmi Party, which was looking for a Jat Sikh face ahead of the Assembly polls, due in January or February. Sidhu is a staunch opponent of the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal, an ally of the BJP. He launched a new party as he was unhappy with the BJP leadership in 2014 for denying him a ticket from the Amritsar seat, which he had represented in the Lok Sabha since 2004. Arun Jaitley contested from Amritsar in 2014 and lost to Amarinder Singh, the current state Congress president. Apart from Pargat, at Sidhu's side are two Independent legislators from Ludhiana, Balwinder Singh Bains and his younger brother Simarjit. Pargat and the Bains brothers are known critics of the Akalis. Jarnail Singh, the Aam Aadmi Party's co-convener for Punjab, has said Sidhu was trying to help the Akalis by dividing Opposition votes. With additional information from The Telegraph, Calcutta