CHANDIGARH: The Congress Bahujan Samaj Party alliance in Uttar Pradesh has started casting its shadow on the relationship of Akali Dal (Badal) with its erstwhile partner in the Lok Sabha elections.
Akali Dal (Badal) MP and party general secretary Prem Singh Chandumajra last week came down heavily on the Congress DSP alliance saying his party would not have any deal with a party which has joined hands with the Congress in the fourth coming Assembly elections in the slate. He said the BSP had betrayed the Dalits by opting for the Congress whose policies had been benefiting only a few in the upper strata; it was the Congress which was responsible for the present plight of the Dalits and other weaker sections.
He said Congress was squarely responsible for the Punjab tragedy which had taken thousands of lives, the people in Punjab could never forgive the Congress for attack on Akal Takht and atrocities on the Sikhs, he added.
He made it clear that the Akali Dal (Badal) would contest the forthcoming election to the general house of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee on its own as the party, historically, had the sole right to manage the Sikh shrines, He alleged that Congress party was trying to grab the SGPC under the garb of some Panthic Organizations and said these designs would not be allowed to succeed.
He also lambasted the United Front government at the Center for following the Congress policies of divide and rule and said it could prove fatal for the Deve Gowda government. Congress played with the fire of divide and rule in Punjab and ultimately became the victim of its own policies, He warned the United Front government against encouraging what he called some sham Panthic organizations. He said the United Front government should learn a lesson from the fate of Congress party.
Article extracted from this publication >> July 3, 1996
