AAP needs Sidhu, but will he get along with Kejriwal?

Around ten years ago, I was travelling with the then BJP president, Rajnath Singh, and party MP Navjot Singh Sidhu to cover their visit to Amritsar. On our way back, at the city airport, I saw the headstrong side of the former cricketer.

He had a heated argument with the Punjab leadership of his party while we waited for Rajnath Singh to arrive.

Unrestrained Punjabi flowed from his mouth.

I can recall local leaders sounded unhappy with him for leaving little space for them during the BJP president's Amritsar tour.

With his towering popularity and the gift of the gab, he had hijacked the entire show. All that defined Sidhu: articulate, crowd-puller, strong-willed and the don't-mess-with-me demeanour. 

The cricketer-turned-commentator-turned-politician is known for his run-ins on and off the field. He refuses to be bossed around by anyone - whether it was his skipper Mohammad Azharuddin, Punjab BJP leaders, Akali stalwart Parkash Singh Badal, or his son Sukhbir.

Clearly, he felt suffocated in the BJP that had denied him the Amrtisar ticket in 2014 despite his grip over the Lok Sabha constituency for ten years. In his chequered career, the man has traditionally walked out on imposing captains.

Still, it makes sense for the Aam Aadmi Party to woo him into its fold ahead of Punjab elections next year, given its shortage of nationally-known figures born and raised in the soil.

Punjab's Sikh community is pre-dominantly Jat unlike Delhi, where it's mostly merchant or artisan groups.

Sidhu, a Jat himself, will definitely help the AAP to strike a chord with the voters from the clan. The state has largely been led by Jat Sikhs.

For the triadic contest that the AAP is locked in for its make-or-break Punjab polls, it would be a wise move to have someone as popular as Sidhu to lead its campaign. 

But not without caveats. By temperament, the former MP likes to lead from the front.

His overwhelming style may well dwarf many other ambitious AAP leaders in the state. He can smell dissent from a distance and spot detractors instantly with his eagle eye. That's his track record. 

If he is placed at the helm of AAP affairs, it will mark a new beginning in the party's Punjab chapter before elections. And you can't rule out a personality clash either when a dominant Sidhu in Punjab and a reigning Kejriwal join hands.