Senior Shiromani Akali Dal leader Balwant Singh Ramoowalia sprang a surprise by deserting his party to become a Cabinet Minister in the Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party Government in Uttar Pradesh on Saturday.
The sudden decision of the 74-year-old Ramoowalia, who has had stint with different parties during his long political career, took the Akalis by surprise.
Ramoowalia, a former Union Minister, said he has resigned from the SAD and forwarded his resignation to the party chief. SAD, however, said it was yet to receive the resignation of Ramoowalia, who was party’s senior vice-president.
The Akali deserter said that he has great respect for SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav and could not say no when the latter himself rang him up yesterday and made the offer to him. “I have great respect for Mulayam Singh ji. He rang me up yesterday morning and told me that the SP party wants my services. I could not say no. When I became Minister in the Union Cabinet in 1996, I was not even an MP then, at that time too it was possible because of Mulayamji,” Ramoowalia, said.
He claimed that even UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav had urged him to make the switch. The former Akali leader said that he did not have any grudge against the party which he has left. “I just decided to make the move. I have submitted my resignation from the party. To all my colleagues in Akali Dal, I will say that I will always have great respect for them,” he said.
SAD’s General Secretary and MP Prem Singh Chandumajra said that Ramoowalia’s decision to leave the party will not affect the Akali Dal. “Ramoowalia did not have long innings in our party. Our party is like a sea. The Akali Dal is not dependent on any one individual,” Chandumajra said.
Ramoowalia was labour Minister in the United Front Government at the Centre headed by HD Deve Gowda. He was on Saturday sworn in along with 19 other Ministers by UP Governor Ram Naik at Raj Bhawan in lucknow following revamp of Akhilesh Yadav Ministry.
Ramoowalia started his political career way back in 1963 as a student leader and was also twice MP from Faridkot and Sangrur. Over a decade back, he also floated his own party and named it as lok Bhalai Party, but merged it with Akali Dal which he had joined four years back.
He lost during the 2015 Assembly elections from Punjab when he contested from Mohali as a SAD candidate. Ramoowalia also used to actively take up the cases of the women who were cheated and deserted by their NRI husbands.
HEIGHT OF POlITICAl OPPORTUNISM: SAD
Chandigarh: The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) said former MP Balwant Singh Ramoowalia had displayed the height of political opportunism and power hunger by betraying the party which had given him everything.
Stating that Ramoowalia’s action was reminiscent
of the days of “aaya ram gayaa ram” politics, senior
party leaders, including Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, Balwinder Singh Bhundur, Maheshinder Singh Grewal, Prem Singh Chandumajra and Daljit Singh Cheema said what was most condemnable was that Ramoowalia had not betrayed the SAD due to any ideological reasons but because he had been rejected by the people of Mohali.
The leaders said Ramoowalia was always in the habit of sticking to power and back stabbing. They said it was the SAD which had granted Ramoowalia political recognition by giving him the parliamentary ticket from Faridkot. They said despite this, when an opportunity arose, Ramoowalia back stabbed the SAD and joined hands with a motley group of parties to become a Union Minister.
Sukhdev Dhindsa and Balwinder Bhundur said the trigger was the inability of the Ramoowalia family to take on the party rank and file as well as the people of Mohali. They said after the people of Mohali rejected him completely there was a clamour from the party rank and file to divest him from the responsibility of leading the party from the constituency in the next elections.
They said the former MP got frustrated due to these developments.
The leaders said this act did not only amount to betraying the SAD but also the people of Mohali and Punjab. “We fail to understand what lollipop the SP has given to such a failed leader”, they added.
Ramoowalia leaving Badals like rats deserting a sinking ship: Capt Amarinder
Chandigarh: Congress Deputy leader in the lok Sabha Capt Amarinder Singh on Saturday said Akali leader Balwant Singh Ramoowalia’s deserting
the party and joining Samajwadi Party in far off Uttar Pradesh was just the beginning of a massive exodus of leaders and workers from the party that is likely to follow in the coming days.
“It is a classic case of rats starting to desert a sinking ship,” Capt Amarinder said in a statement, adding, “gradually all the rats will desert the Akali Dal before its ship sinks in the storm of widespread public outrage and outcry”.
Former Chief Minister Amarinder Singh said, the very fact that Akali leaders have started seeking “political asylum” in far off States clearly indicates that nobody was prepared to accept them
in Punjab and hence they were running away for shelter to other States.