CHANDIGARH: The fierce controversy which has broken out in the Akali Dal over the collection of funds by individuals in the name of the party took a new tum Jan 28 when Mrs Bimal Khalsa MP launched a frontal attack on the leadership of Mr Simranjit Singh Mann.

In an interview here Mrs Khalsa said Mr Mann was surrounded by a “coterie” which was misleading him into various acts of omission and commission. This coterie was responsible for the downfall of the party. “The party has no policy no programme and no direction. Can Mr Mann tell us why all party MPs have left him? Why nobody listens to him? And who is responsible for this sorry state of affairs? Is it not his job to keep the party together?”

Mrs Khalsa contended that the coterie consisted of persons who had made derogatory remarks against Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale. “They are against the families of martyrs. They also do not want anyone to attend the bhog ceremonies of martyrs. They are jealous of the respect I command among the Sikhs. That is why they are doing everything possible to tarnish my image”.

She regretted that those who had looked after the party and built it up when Mr Mann was behind bars were being ignored. “There is neither any respect nor any place for them in the party” she complained. If she commanded the respect of the Sikhs it was not because of the Akali Dal. In fact it was the other way round.

Mrs Khalsa said she had already submitted her resignation from the Lok Sabha to Mr Mann when he asked for it on the kirpan issue last year. It was now for him to take a decision on the matter. She had been staying away from party meetings because she had never received proper notice or agenda. She had taken part in a few meetings and party conferences in the beginning but soon discovered that the party had no direction. Under the circumstances she thought it best to keep away.

She had no immediate plans to go abroad. Therefore the question of her collecting funds from Sikhs in foreign countries did not arise. If and when I go abroad it will be a private visit and confined to visiting my relatives there” she said. However her father-in-law Baba Sucha Singh Maloya MP had left for U.K. on January 19. She did not have any information about his where about now

The first shot in the controversy was fired last week when a party functionary issued an “appeal” to Mrs Bimal Khalsa and Baba Sucha Singh Maloya not to collect funds from Sikhs abroad during their forthcoming visit to certain foreign countries. He said the party chief Mr Simranjit Singh Mann had told the Sikh sangat abroad that they should not donate money to anyone seeking funds from them. “The Akali Dal has no policy of collecting funds abroad” it said.

Article extracted from this publication >> February 1, 1991