The Hindu : Action against Badal smacks of intolerance: Advani

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jul 04, 2003

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Action against Badal smacks of intolerance: Advani

By Our New Delhi Bureau

The former Punjab Chief Minister and Akali Dal chief, Parkash Singh Badal, the BJP leader, Vijay Kumar Malhotra, the NDA convener, George Fernandes, coming out after a meeting with the Deputy Prime Minister, L. K. Advani, at his residence in New Delhi on Thursday. — PTI

NEW DELHI July 3. The Deputy Prime Minister, L. K. Advani, today spoke out in defence of the former Punjab Chief Minister and Shiromani Akali Dal leader, Parkash Singh Badal, who is being investigated by the Congress Government in the State on charges of corruption.

The scene of the Congress-SAD feud has thus shifted to Delhi with the Chief Minister, Amarinder Singh, and the Congress joining issue with Mr. Advani.

The Deputy Prime Minister's public support for Mr. Badal came after a meeting between him and a delegation of the BJP and Sikh leaders this morning. Criticising the Punjab Government's action, Mr. Advani said that "whatever is happening in Punjab is wrong. This is sheer intolerance against the Opposition and is against the values of democracy,'' he told reporters. Mr. Singh's action would not "strengthen democracy.''

Mr. Advani's intervention comes months after leaders of the SAD sought the Centre's support against the Punjab Government's move which it described as "political vendetta''. Their expectation that an NDA team would be sent to the State to assess the situation was not met.

Mr. Badal has met Mr. Advani many times in this connection, including as recently as June 23.

Today, Mr. Advani, however, went all out to accommodate the Bharatiya Janata Party ally with a second meeting in the evening with the NDA convener, George Fernandes, and the Union Minister, Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa.

To demonstrate its solidarity, the NDA will hold a rally in Amritsar on July 16.

The show of support for the beleaguered Mr. Badal could be the result of what the SAD leadership is understood to have told the BJP_ that it was under pressure from its ranks to snap ties with it.

The BJP too came out in support of Mr. Badal. Its spokesperson, Prakash Javadekar, charged the Amarinder Singh Government with working "in a spirit of revenge".

There was no place for "vindictive politics" in a democracy, if there was no real case of corruption. He said that a team led by Vijay Kumar Malhotra would visit Punjab. The SAD, however, has turned down the proposal saying that it was too late in the day.

If Mr. Advani invoked "democratic values" to support its ally, the Congress was swift in its response.

Its spokesman, S. Jaipal Reddy, said that it was "improper" on Mr. Advani's part to "make adverse comments about a Chief Minister who is following the due process of law".

Capt. Amarinder Singh, who was also here, defended the investigations against Mr. Badal saying that "on the one hand, the Prime Minister is seeking to be included under the jurisdiction of the proposed Lok Pal and, on the other, his deputy is trying to protect a corrupt colleague... let him explain to the nation why he is doing so''.

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