BJP fighting a lonely battle in Punjab

Punjab Newsline Network
Saturday, 02 May 2009
CHANDIGARH: While Congress and Shiromani Akali Dal(SAD) in Punjab are fighting for prestige, the BJP alliance partner of SAD is fighting its own battle against Congress, a lonely battle indeed.

BJP is contesting on three seats while its major alliance partner SAD is contesting on 10 seats. The cracks in alliance had appeared much before the announcement of Lok Sabha elections but differences were pushed under wrap for political convinience of both the parties. The wedge however has re-appeared sooner than later, the leaders of SAD and BJP most of the time are not attending political rallies of each other.

BJP has fielded crickter Navjot Singh Sidhu from Amritsar, Film star Vinod Khanna from Gurdaspur and a bureacrat Som Nath from Hoshiarpur reserve seat.

The fate of alliance can be gauzed from the fact that Bikranjit Singh Majithia former SAD minister who was made incharge of Amritsar Lok Sabha seat had skipped from there is campaigning in Bathinda for his sister, married to deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal. SAD has put prestige of the family at stake in Bathinda. The SAD had la few days back conducted meeting of core committee of SAD-BJP to sort out differences between SAD and BJP leaders of Bathinda.

The presence of BJP leaders in Akali meetings and vice versa is only cosmetic in major functions. Even the SAD and BJP had held separate protest rallies in Amritsar on the issue of giving Congress tickets to Jagdish Tytler and Sajjan Kumar, both accused in Delhi anti-Sikh riots case.

The advertisement campaign launched by SAD has further exposed the chinks in SAD-BJP relations. The state BJP leaders were not given any space though L.K.Advani Prime Ministrial candidate of NDA has been pasted in a a corner of publiocity posters to show symbolic presence of a BJP leader.

A senior BJP leader said that they have been fighting alone on all the three seats as most of the Akali leaders have rushed to Bathinda to convass for Badal's daughter-in-law. The Youth Akali Dal president of Gurdaspur district Harjit Singh camping in Bathinda during recent visit told The Pioneer that Youth Akali leaders from other districts would also reach there. "If BJP is facing defeat, what we can do", he said while accompanying Badal during campaigning in Bathinda.

with thanks : source : http://www.punjabnewsline.com

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