The war of words between the two alliance partners seems never-ending. A day after BJP MlA and Chief Parliamentary Secretary Dr Navjot Kaur Sidhu asserted that the saffron party should snap ties with the SAD in Punjab, Akali leader and CPS Virsa Singh Valtoha on Thursday asked the Amritsar East MlA to resign as CPS if she had any problems.
He also asked Navjot to not try to harm the SAD-BJP coalition to further the personal ambitions of her family.
“CPS is free to daydream about the future role of her husband in Punjab politics for her personal gains. However, if she is so dissatisfied, she should come out of the Government before making statements urging the BJP to walk out of the coalition Government in Punjab,” said Valtoha.
Valtoha’s statement came amid the wale of rumours of BJP parting ways with its decades-old alliance partner SAD to contest next Assembly polls alone, with cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu as its chief ministerial candidate.
“Sidhu should look within and introspect whether she has been true to herself, her party and the coalition Government. She should answer why neither she nor her husband Navjot Sidhu campaigned for their political guru, Arun Jaitely, during parliamentary elections and why her relatives were seen campaigning for Congress candidate Capt Amarinder Singh first in Amritsar and later for Preneet Kaur during Assembly byelections in Patiala,” he said.
Stating that Sidhu was “prone to erratic and sometimes even bizarre behavior which defied logic,” Valtoha said that she had come out with a statement that the BJP should go it alone in Punjab despite the fact that the party seniors had made it clear on a number of occasions that the alliance was there to stay.
He added, the truth was that Dr Sidhu was allegedly working “as part of the Congress divide and rule game plan as well as visions of grandeur for her family”.
Urging Dr Sidhu to play her cards upfront instead of trying to mislead the people, Valtoha said: “It is a fact that you are neither the BJP president nor consulted on alliance issues by your own party. You are also not part of any alliance coordination committee. You should clarify whether you are in sync with your senior leaders in Delhi or not.”