Not happy with the induction of his blue-eyed boy and Punjab’s former top cop and SAD leader Paramdeep Singh Gill into BJP, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal on Tuesday minced no words to say that the move was not good for “coalition dharma”.
“Gill should not be inducted in the BJP…it is not good for the coalition dharma…Akali Dal and BJP are very old allies and neither Akali Dal should induct any BJP member in its party, nor the BJP,” said Badal. Badal, however, made it clear that the development would have no impact over the alliance.
To everyone’s surprise, Punjab’s former DGP who also unsuccessfully contested 2012 Assembly polls as Akali candidate from Moga, joined the saffron party at its national president Amit Shah’s rally at Kathua in Jammu.
SAD is a senior member of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), which has formed its Government at the Centre following 2014 general elections. SAD and the BJP are also alliance partners in Punjab.
Gill’s induction was orchestrated by the BJP’s Jammu unit, instead of Punjab. Gill is a former 1974-batch IPS officer of the Jammu and Kashmir cadre. He was handpicked by the SAD-BJP Government to become the State police chief in 2009. after his retirement, Gill, who had good relations with the Badals, joined the SAD in 2012 ahead of State Assembly polls.
SAD fielded Gill as its candidate from Moga, but lost to Congress’s Joginder Pal Jain. Gill was then made the halqa in-charge. Following Jain’s joining the SAD and his re-election as SAD MlA from Moga, Gill’s standing in the party experienced a dip.
Despite his high standing, both professionally and personally considering family being widely respected in the area, Gill was now not even the halqa in-charge as that distinguished honour was claimed by Jain after winning Moga by-poll.
In fact, SAD chief and Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal had ‘strategically’ declared, at the time of announcing Jain’s candidature for Moga by-poll, that Gill would be given significant role in the party, and would be a part of his “inner team” — however, nothing of that sort happened, and Gill felt neglected and sidelined.