CHANDIGARH: The Akali Dal led by Parkash Singh Badal has not closed its options to have some understanding with the Bharatiya Janata Party despite having made some progress in this regard with the Bahujan Samaj Party, for the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections.
The Political Affairs Committee of. The party, which met here after a meeting of the working committees, discussed the issue at length.
“This is the usual Akali style,” commented a senior party leader preferring anonymity, the only notable absences were Amarinder Singh, scion of the former Patiala royal family and his close associate Ravi Inder Singh.
On the issue of joining hands with the Akali Dal (Amritsar) headed by Simranjit Singh Mann, to forge unity among the Akali groups, the leaders were of the opinion that Mann must subscribe to the ideology of the party.
The Akali Dal (Badal) has already affirmed faith in the constitutional methods, democracy and commitment 10 peace, The issue of sorting out the irritants with Mann was raised by party secretary general Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, it is learnt.
Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee president Gurcharan Singh Tohra was also of the view that unity with Mann was not possible under the given circumstances.
Article extracted from this publication >> March 6, 1996
