Akalis a liability for BJP: Bajwa
Saturday, 14/06/2014
http://www.tribuneindia.com/2014/20140614/punjab.htm#9
The Punjab Congress today said the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) had become a liability for its alliance partner BJP. PPCC chief Partap Singh Bajwa advised the BJP to chart its own course. He said despite the humiliations faced by the SAD-BJP alliance during the elections in the state, the SAD continued to bully the BJP.
He said it was ironic that Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal continued to dictate terms to the departments held by the BJP ministers, especially the Local Bodies and Industries and Mining.
The Deputy Chief Minister had directly and indirectly blamed the BJP for property tax and illegal sand mining in the state after the elections, Bajwa said.
“People have been angry about property tax and sky-rocketing sand prices. I am glad that the mid-level BJP leaders have asked state party chief Kamal Sharma to pull out of the alliance and not take the blame for the wrongdoings of the Akali leaders,” Bajwa said.
He said senior party leader and now the Finance Minister, Arun Jaitley, had a firsthand experience of Sukhbir Singh Badal and Bikram Singh Majithia’s style of functioning. Despite a Modi wave, Jaitley lost the elections due to the SAD’s poor reputation.
Bajwa said Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal had “obliquely admitted” that Majithia had become a burden on the party by divesting him of the NRI Department. He said the Punjabi NRIs had backed the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) that bagged four seats in the state. Had it not been for AAP, the Akali Dal-BJP alliance would have been totally wiped out. The people vent out their anger against the Akali leaders’ jungle raj.
“That Sukhbir Badal did not invite the BJP ministers to the meeting while taking decisions regarding their departments on June 9 shows that he continued to dictate terms to the BJP. The Badals are only concerned about their support base in rural areas,” he added
