BJP flexes its muscles, alliance with Akalis under strain in Punjab

For long used to being the underdog in the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal-Bharatiya Janata Party alliance in Punjab, the BJP is beginning to flex its muscles after the party’s stunning performance in the Lok Sabha elections. Even as the SAD MP Harsimrat Badal took oath as a minister in the Narendra Modi government on Monday the party back home is discomfited by the sudden assertion of BJP’s Punjab unit that is taking well aimed potshots at it.

Though murmurs of dissatisfaction over the alliance’s performance in Punjab were around for the last several days, particularly over the defeat of senior leader Arun Jaitley from Amritsar (largely being attributed to SAD unpopularity), veteran BJP leader Balramji Dass Tandon on Saturday went public. He took the state government to task and said there was a “volcano of anti-incumbency against the SAD-BJP in Punjab” which led to the Aam Admi Party (AAP) getting four seats. Mincing no words he said, “Whereas some political persons are directly involved in the drugs racket, others are patronising police officers who give dividend to them. Had the police force been given clear instructions to deal with all such elements professionally… the situation could never have come to this.” Significantly one Akali Minister Sarwan Singh Phillaur resigned last week after his son was questioned by the Enforcement Directorate for his alleged involvement in smuggling of drugs into Punjab. The BJP’s Anil Joshi also resigned from the Cabinet owning moral responsibility for Mr Jaitley’s defeat.

Asserting that the results from Punjab are alarming and require careful analysis, Mr. Tandon pointed out that the issue of lawlessness has also been a long-standing allegation against the SAD’s youth wing in particular. He hit out at the system of having

‘halqa’ incharges or constituency incharges (whether defeated or MLAs of the ruling party) which he said is the main reason for deterioration in law and order that has angered the people. He said that these

‘halqa’ incharges have been given unlimited powers in their respective police stations and also with the district police officers, which has led to a situation where the lower level police functionaries are busy carrying out their orders at the expense of the general public.

The State BJP president Kamal Sharma has also suggested that the government should “come clean” on issues like drugs and sand mining mafia, two very potent issues that came up during the election campaign.

‘Uncalled for’

Reacting to this, two senior SAD leaders Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa and Balwinder Singh Bhunder said that the statements of BJP leaders, in which they have cast aspersions on their Akali colleagues are “uncalled for and politically unadvisable”. They said: “Ours is the oldest and longest standing political coalition in the country and our bonds are not mere political tie ups but a union of hearts which have stood the test of time. Responding to the issues raised by the BJP leaders, the SAD pointed out that all the decisions were taken on the basis of mutually agreed policies. And in case of differences, the two parties are expected to resolve issues through a mutually agreed upon mechanism and not in public.”