Modi’s visit cancellation embarrassment for SAD
Tuesday, 16/06/2015
http://www.indiapress.org/gen/news.php/The_Tribune/
Chandigarh : The cancellation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Anandpur Sahib has further strained the SAD-BJP ties in the state.
The SAD, which has gone all out to make preparations for the visit, is feeling embarrassed due to cancellation of Modi’s visit.
Unofficially, it has been stated that the PM would be busy hosting the President of an East African country, but Akalis say this is an excuse. “Preferring to host the President of a small country over a visit to Anandpur Sahib, a holy place associated with Guru Teg Bahadur who made sacrificed his life to protect Hindus, is a great miscalculation,” said a senior Akali leader.
The ruling partners have aired their differences on several issues in the past. The latest is the shifting of Devinder Pal Singh Bhullar from Tihar jail to Amritsar. In fact, BJP leaders used the matter to strike at the SAD leadership and told the high command that Modi’s arrival might send wrong signals to its vote bank in the state.
The cancellation of the visit has also added another significant dimension to the political scenario. There is speculation that the development is the first indication that the BJP might opt to go alone in the next Assembly elections. The issue has been discussed even in some official meetings of the BJP.
When national organising secretary of the BJP Ram Lal visited the state recently, he gave clear instructions to the party leaders and ministers that they must take stand on issues related to the state and not follow the SAD on a dotted line.
