A day before BJP chief Amit Shah's meeting with Shrimoni Akali Dal (SAD) leaders in Chandigarh, the Punjab-based party on Wednesday said that the Congress remains the principal Opposition party for most of the NDA allies and advocated ironing out differences within the NDA to firm up victory in 2019 lok Sabha polls.
As Opposition gears up to work out a united flank against the Modi-Government, the BJP has set out to put its house in order and commence confidence-building exercise with its 12 allies.
The RSS has also sought the BJP to mend fences with the Shiv Sena , its longest ally and ' ideological brother', and continue the political partnership in 2019 lok Sabha polls . The RSS wants BJP to consolidate partnership with all its allies, particularly after the exit of the TDP from the NDA fold in March and its joining the opposition ranks.
SAD, another long-term ally of the BJP in Punjab, also seeks to strengthen the NDA to ensure positive results in the lok Sabha polls. SAD, which has lost power to the Congress in Punjab, is keen that its main political opponent does not get increasing credibility in its bid to unify the opposition vis-à-vis the NDA.
SAD president Sukhbir Badal is of the opinion that all alliance partners must settle their differences to ensure victory in the general elections next year which BJP seeks to contest on the basis of its performance and develop agenda.
"It is a war like situation...The general elections are due next year and we need to strengthen the NDA and should resolve our differences to emerge victorious in the next general elections," PTI quoted Badal as saying.
According to Badal, the BJP and the SAD are "natural allies" and "It is not a relation of give and take".
In the 2014 general elections, the SAD contested 10 out of 13 lok Sabha seats in Punjab with the BJP fighting the other three. Presently, the SAD has four seat and the BJP one.
Asked about the TDP leaving the NDA and the Shiv Sena announcing that it will contest the 2019 polls on its own, Badal in a limited response underlined that the Congress is the principal opposition party of all NDA allies in their respective states.
"I cannot comment on the relation between BJP and other allies, but one thing is clear. It is the Congress which is the principal opposition party for most of the NDA allies in their respective states and not BJP," the former deputy chief minister of Punjab said.
Endorsing Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the leader of the alliance, he said, "The momentum is with Modiji and he has performed as prime minister. He is the face of the NDA."
Badal also expressed his gratitude to Modi for accepting the party's demand to waive GST on food material used for 'langar' served in gurdwaras as well as on food served free of cost in all other religious places.