BJP alliance with Akalis in trouble

The BJP’s alliance with the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) in Punjab has run into rough weather after Akali MLA Sarabjit Singh Makkar reportedly “abused and insulted” BJP cabinet minister Manoranjan Kalia last week. Taking exception, the BJP has distanced itself from the Akali Dal in day-to-day working.

BJP cabinet ministers boycotted the cabinet meeting called by chief minister Parkash Singh Badal last week and decided to abstain from their offices till the matter was resolved. The BJP has five ministers in the 17-member state cabinet.

A concerned Akali Dal core committee met under the chairmanship of the CM on Monday and appealed to the BJP to amicably resolve the matter. It suggested that the Akali MLA tender an “unconditional apology for his unbecoming conduct”.

But the BJP ministers chose not to respond to the overtures. Earlier, the BJP core committee had noted that the CM did not take any action against the MLA even though Kalia had informed him of the incident. The BJP ministers, last week, rushed to Delhi to seek the party high command’s intervention.

But the issue did not get attention as the high command was seized with the party’s internal matters.