Punjab BJP is up in arms against its own coalition partner, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), for taking diagonally opposite stand in Haryana.
The saffron party on Wednesday lodged a protest with the Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal for his deputy son Sukhbir Badal’s recent remarks against the BJP Government in the neighbouring Haryana, from the Indian National lok Dal (INlD) stage.
Though the SAD was running a Government in Punjab with BJP since 2007 and also at the Centre, it was casting slur on BJP functioning in Haryana.
A party delegation of eight leaders, led by its State president Kamal Sharma, met Chief Minister Badal to express party’s unhappiness over Sukhbir’s “avoidable” statement against the BJP Government in Haryana, that too in a rally organised by the ,main opposition party, the INlD.
It has been learnt that the BJP leaders, including four cabinet ministers among others, have nit-picked Sukhbir, the SAD president, for making such comments against the BJP when his party was sharing power with it in Punjab and also at the Centre.
The leaders maintained that Sukhbir should have kept this in mind that his wife, Harsimrat Kaur Badal, is serving as a Cabinet Minister in BJP led Union Government.
“Sukhbir should have avoided making such statement as it is against the coalition dharma,” said Kamal Sharma, while interacting with the media after the meeting.
Responding, Badal has assured the BJP leaders that such things would not happen again in future and he would also take up the matter with Sukhbir Badal.
Sukhbir’s recent remarks at a rally on Sunday organised by INlD in Rohtak has irked the BJP leadership, not only in the neighbouring Haryana, but also in Punjab.
Taking a dig at the BJP government in Haryana, Sukhbir had stated that there has been “no Government control in Haryana in the past 11 years” — including the two consecutive Congress Governments and also one year of the current regime led by Manohar lal Khattar.
The relations between SAD and the BJP were hit when the Akali Dal, citing family relations and age-old ties, fought 2014 Haryana state assembly elections in alliance with the INlD.
Since then, the BJP leaders have, time and again, indicating at parting ways with the SAD, and going solo for the next state assembly polls, scheduled for 2017.
In another important issue, the party has also expressed its objection for giving more importance to the Chief Parliamentary Secretary and SAD MlA NK Sharma and ignoring the BJP MlA and Industries Minister Madan Mohan Mittal.