Amritsar, Jan. 17: Navjot Singh Sidhu returned to Amritsar today, reviving a bond with his "heart", but this time draped in the Congress tricolour as he stood in an open jeep flanked by party workers who marched alongside.

The cricketer-turned-politician, whose visits to the city had become infrequent over the last few years, will contest from the Amritsar East Assembly seat when Punjab votes on February 4 to elect a new government.

Sidhu, a former BJP Lok Sabha MP from Amritsar and a Rajya Sabha MP later, had joined the Congress on Sunday.

Congress workers, who had till some years ago fought him tooth and nail, stood outside Amritsar airport along with Sidhu's wife, Navjot Kaur, the former MLA from the same seat, and then walked alongside the motorcade.

Party sources said Congress leaders in Delhi and Punjab would be happy with the turnout as it took nearly six hours for the 100 two-wheelers and four-wheelers in the motorcade to cover the 11km distance from the airport to the Golden Temple, Sidhu's first stop after touching down.

"If the turnout is any indication, he should be winning the seat with ease," said a Congress leader from Amritsar.

Sidhu stood in an open jeep dressed in black and the Congress tricolour flowing down his neck.

"If Punjab is my soul, Amritsar is the heart. I am here to tell Punjabis the (ruling) Akalis have sold Punjab," Sidhu said before leading the roadshow to the holy city.

He also visited the Durgiana Temple, a shrine that derives its name from the Goddess Durga.

Sidhu, who quit the Rajya Sabha in July and the BJP in September, will file his papers tomorrow. His aides were today busy arranging documents for a hassle-free nomination. "Being the last day (for filing nominations) we have to be extra cautious with the papers," said an aide.

Sidhu had won from Amritsar on a BJP ticket in the 2004 general election. He retained the seat in 2009 but was denied renomination in 2014 when the BJP fielded Union finance minister Arun Jaitley, who lost.

An upset Sidhu has mostly stayed away from Amritsar since then. "His visits had become infrequent over the last few years. The last time he had stayed extensively in Amritsar was when his wife had contested the 2012 Assembly elections," said Pappu Singh, an Amritsar resident.

Rajesh Honey, the Akali Dal-supported BJP nominee for the Amritsar East constituency, said Sidhu was an outsider in the holy city.

"He is known for changing his loyalties. In the past he never bothered with the welfare of Amritsar. Voters will send him packing to his hometown, Patiala," Honey, who had once managed Sidhu's campaign, said.

The day after filing his nomination, Sidhu will be joined by Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh at a rally that is being tipped as a show of unity ahead of the elections.

Over the next fortnight the former cricketer is scheduled to address 70 rallies across the state.