Finally, alliance partners the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) reached on a consensus on the issue of resolving their difference.
Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal on Tuesday constituted a six-member State Coordination Committee of SAD and BJP to streamline day-to-day functioning and cooperation between the alliance partners — announced nearly two months back.
At that time, Punjab BJP party affairs in-charge Shanta Kumar had stated that the Committee would be formed “immediately” to review the issues raised by the BJP, and the “Committee would give its recommendations, and the government will then implement the same….all this exercise — review, decision, and implementation — has to be completed within three months”.
The formation of committee was hanging fire owing to SAD’s vigorous campaign against the formation of separate gurudwara panel for Haryana, followed by announcement of Assembly bypolls.
The two allies were also not able to concord over the “size” of the committee. As the SAD was proposing to form eight members panel, the BJP was in favour of having small and early formation of committee.
The panel, set up for coordination between the two parties, would have six members — three from each side. From the Akali Dal, party’s senior vice-president and former minister Ranjit Singh Brahampura has been nominated, besides party’s secretary general Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, and general secretary Balwinder Singh Bhunder, both Rajya Sabha MPs.
On the other hand, Pathankot MlA Ashwani Sharma, senior BJP leaders Narottam Dev Ratti and Rajinder Bhandari will represent the BJP.
SAD general secretary Harcharan Singh Bains said that similar committees will be set up at all district headquarters shortly for enhanced coordination at the grassroot level.
The Committee was necessitated following several incidents, in the recent past, leading to friction between the two allies, especially after the BJP blamed its ally, SAD, for coalition’s poor performance in 2014 general elections in Punjab despite having their own government in the state, anti-Congress wave and Modi-tsunami sweeping across the entire country.
The combine’s defeat on seven seats out total 13 in Punjab ensued in a blame-game with the BJP pointing out SAD’s “wrong decisions” on imposing taxes including property tax and taxes on trading community, high prices of sand and gravel besides its unavailability, deteriorating law and order situation, and above all, the growing drug menace.
Akalis had attacked former BJP MP Navjot Singh Sidhu’s wife and BJP’s Amritsar East MlA Navjot Kaur for demanding SAD Cabinet minister Bikram Singh Majithia’s resignation over senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley’s defeat in lok Sabha polls.
This was followed by senior BJP leaders questioning Badal’s meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi without any state BJP leaders. Responding, Badal made it clear that being a head of the state, every Chief Minister can meet the Prime Minister and Union Ministers any time because the sole motive of these meetings is to ensure the welfare and development of the state.
With the formation of Committee in abeyance, the “dissatisfied” BJP leaders continued to raise their voice against their own government. The latest “rebel” is the local Bodies Minister Anil Joshi who declared to protest against the government is ‘advance tax on stock’ was not withdrawn.
Joshi was later joined by some more BJP ministers, and party MlAs that eventually resulted in withdrawal of the tax. In the wake of such “outbursts”, Sharma has recently met the Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal urging him to form the committee at the earliest, which he assured.