Peeved by the poor treatment meted out to the saffron brigade during the State-level function at Gurdaspur’s Ghuman village on Sunday, State BJP chief Vijay Sampla has decided to take up “strongly” the issue with the party’s national president Amit Shah at the earliest.
“I will strongly take up the issue of SAD’s attitude with the BJP at a Government function at Ghuman today with party’s national president Amit Shah,” said the upset Sampla.
Sampla was in for a rude shock when he found that his name was neither on the invitation cards for the State-level function to inaugurate Baba Namdev Degree College, nor on the hoardings at the stage. Moreover, no seat was kept reserved for him at the dias - that annoyed him to the core. Visibly irked, Sampla refused to address the function.
That is not all! He was also upset as no prominence was given to the Union Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu in the invitation card and it was published at the bottom, that too, to mark his presence on the inauguration ceremony.
The college was inaugurated by former Union Minister Sharad Pawar.
“It was not me but the SAD has insulted the Union Cabinet Minister Suresh Prabhu, who especially flew to Punjab on the invitation of Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal,” Sampla said, adding that he would following the “dharma” of coalition politics in Punjab but it was up to the SAD, whether it was sensible enough understand such “dharma”.
Sampla said that he can bear what treatment he was given but what they have not done to Suresh Prabhu is not good. “He was not provided with flag car, security cover on way to helipad.” said Sampla while while adding that he had complained to Chief Secretary Sarvesh Kaushal and Chief Minister’s Principal Secretary Gangandeep Singh Brar.
He said, “I have already conveyed to the Chief Secretary Sarvesh Kaushal, who said that he would order probe into the entire issue and why Union Minister Prabhu was not given due respect accordingly the protocol.”
“I will see what clarification they have on this first before further taking up the issue with other BJP’s central leadership,” he said.
Reacting sharply on the statement of Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal in which he accused Centre for usurping States’ powers and reducing the States to mere beggars, Sampla said that it was only NDA Government which increased the States’ share of revenue from 32 to 42 per cent.
In spite of this increase of 10 per cent, the Centre gives extra grants for urban, rural and road infrastructure not only to Punjab, but to all States, Sampla clarified.
Earlier, senior BJP leader and Punjab Cabinet Minister Madan Mohal Mittal also lashed out at the Akali Dal for not mentioning the name of the party or its leaders in the hoardings installed in Sri Anandpur Sahib for the foundation stone laying function of Bhat Jaita Ji Memorial, scheduled to be held on July 18.
The hoardings carried pictures of SAD’s Ropar MlA and Education Minister Daljit Singh Cheema and former MlA from Chamkaur Sahib Satwant Kaur Sandhu. Mittal told SAD ministers, at a meeting a day before that local MlA was ignored and NK Sharma, MlA from distant constituency of Dera Bassi, was given space on hoardings.
Mittal told Akali leaders that he would prefer not to attend the function.
Besides, BJP MlA from Amritsar (East) Navjot Kaur Sidhu has been complaining that she was being ignored by SAD leaders and his constituency is being discriminated in matter of financial grants.
The signs of differences between the SAD and BJP were visible a few days ago when Sampla had refuted statement of Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal on the issue of smuggling from across the international border in Punjab.
On July 2, Sampla had stated that there was no need to deploy more BSF troops on border which was contradictory to the statement of Sukhbir wherein he had blamed the BJP-led Centre Government for failure to check smuggling on the international border and had demanded more BSF deployment.
When asked whether he was ignored for refuting statement of Sukhbir, Sampla denied saying that this could not be the reason.