CHANDIGARH – Six ministers, comprising almost one-third of the 17-member Punjab Cabinet, have set off a political windstorm that can put the Akali-BJP government’s stability at risk.
The infighting is not just limited to the two ruling parties but has deepened further. The ministers’ grouses have exposed the widening rift within the Akali Dal and the alliance. Chief patron of the Shiromani Akali Dal and Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today chose to downplay the issue by telling The Tribune that there was no infighting. “There is no infighting. The government is doing fine,” he said.
However, the recent developments hint otherwise. The BJP today chose to abstain from participating in a joint meeting of the two parties called to work out the strategy for the ongoing Vidhan Sabha session. The party also refused to attend a Cabinet meeting, scheduled for today and postponed for tomorrow, after its leaders reportedly conveyed to the SAD the “humiliation” they suffered.
As the Opposition continues to gun for Revenue Minister Bikram Singh Majithia on the multi-crore synthetic drug racket, the BJP has decided to neither support nor oppose him.
Deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal said: “No ulterior motives should be attached with the disagreement between ministers. Rather, the internal democracy, where all ministers are allowed to air their views and express dissent, should be appreciated,” he said.
Tota Singh, a senior Alkali minister, is brooding over being “cold shouldered” by the party high command during the Moga Municipal Corporation election. He was not just ignored during ticket allotment, where his arch rival Joginder Pal Jain was preferred, but his son, too, was not chosen as Mayor. Instead, Jain’s son was picked as the first Mayor of the Moga MC. “Though my men won all nine seats allotted to us and Jain’s supporters won only 50 per cent, the party supported Jain and ignored us,” he said.
Local Bodies Minister Anil Joshi and Majithia (through his men) have been at loggerheads over the civic body elections in Tarn Taran. BJP’s Joshi has refused to attend the Cabinet meeting till his issue is resolved. He said he had not yet decided whether he would attend the Budget session of the Vidhan Sabha. “I will go by what the party high command says,” he said.
Education Minister Daljit Singh Cheema is also at daggers drawn with Industries Minister Madan Mohan Mittal over the election of civic body president in Anandpur Sahib. Cheema has said that he was taking help from Congress-affiliated councillors in Anandpur Sahib “to teach Mittal a lesson”.
BJP’s Mittal today said as an architect of the Akali-BJP alliance he would like to question the CM if he endorsed Cheema’s decision to seek Congress help. “The Akalis maintain in the House that the Congress is their enemy and the PM has been saying that we want to rid the country of the Congress. Now, the Akali spokesman is seeking the enemy’s help to fight its alliance partner. The Akalis should clarify whether they will fight the next election with us or with the Congress,” he said.
