NEW DELHI: Cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu, who recently quit the Rajya Sabha, on Monday said that he gave up Upper House seat as he was asked to keep away from Punjab.

"I resigned from Rajya Sabha because I was asked to stay away from, Punjab. They wanted me to stay away from my home state. No party in this world is greater than Punjab,” Sidhu said addressing a press conference in New Delhi.

Sidhu, who was a BJP Lok Sabha MP from Amritsar from 2004 till 2014, however, refused to answer questions on whether he is joining the Aam Aadmni Party.

"Wherever Punjab's interest is served, you will find me there," said Sidhu on whether he will join AAP.

Dealing a blow to the BJP in Punjab, Navjot Singh Sidhu on July 18 resigned from Rajya Sabha just three months after his nomination by the Modi government, fuelling speculation that he, along with his wife, could join AAP.

Since then he has kept himself away from the media while his wife has been talking to the journalists.