JALANDHAR: In order to achieve their aim of making the “opportunistic” forces like Congress to lick the dust, the Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal) and the Bharatiya Janata Party may go in for seat adjustment in the forthcoming Assembly elections in Punjab. Stating this at a news conference here, last week, Shiromani Akali Dal president Parkash Singh Badal said the possibility of such an adjustment was bright though formal talks on the issue are yet to be initiated. He said that the relations between the BJP and the SAD are cordial and there had not been any difference as the sole aim of both the parties is to defeat the Congress which has always been working against the interests of the state. He said that to achieve this aim the SAD would also explore the possibility of seat adjustment with the other parties:
Referring to the parting of ways: by the SAD and the BSP the former chief minister said that the SAD was forced to take such a harsh decision as “it is against our principal to have any agreement with any party haying alliance with the Congress and it is a resolution of the SAD. About its effect on the poll prospects of the SAD in the ensuing Assembly elections, Badal said the SAD does not regret it as it was not in consonance with our principles. Moreover, as the people are well aware of the police of opportunism much in vogue among the political parties these days. We hope that the people would not fall prey to their trap. He said that 90% of the parties in the country sought votes while playing the anti-Congress card. How they would face the people now, he said.
Without naming these parties, he said that it is a sheer betrayal of the voters and the popular mandate which was not being honored by these parties merely to achieve their trivial gains. While expressing hope about the United Front Government claims that it is trying to find out a solution to the Punjab problem, Badal said that all the governments at the Center in the past had been “anti-Punjab.” How this government which is dragging itself on the crutches of the Congress and the CPI(M) can do so, he questioned?
Ridiculing the statement of the Prime Minister, H.D, and Deve Gowda, that he is a leader of the farmers. Badal said that it was evident from his act of increasing the prices of petroleum products that how many interests he has for the farmers. He said that the hike in price of diesel would pose a serious threat to the mechanical cultivation in the state. He described the 50% cut in the price of diesel as mere eyewash.” He said that the Akali Dal would observe dharnas and processions at all the district headquarters in the state on July 15.
Article extracted from this publication >> July 10, 1996
