Will BJP now dump alliance with Akalis?
Although the Assembly elections in Punjab are more than two years away, but the growing distance between alliance BJP and Akalis in Punjab is now well known for some time
Its electoral triumph in Haryana could embolden the BJP to replicate the experiment of going it alone in adjoining Punjab, where it has an alliance with the ruling Akalis, say observers. While Assembly elections in Punjab are over two years away, the growing distance between the BJP and the Shiromani Akali Dal has been visible for quite some time.
The Akali Dal’s decision to ally with Om Prakash Chautala’s INLD, the BJP’s main rival in Haryana, had also not gone down well with the BJP cadre and local leaders in Punjab.
The electoral success in Haryana could further embolden the Bharatiya Janata Party to replicate the experiment of going alone in neighbouring Punjab.
Although the Assembly elections in Punjab are more than two years away, but the growing distance between the alliance BJP and Akalis in Punjab is now well known for some time.
The decision of the Shiromani Akali Dal ( SAD) to have an alliance with the Indian National Lok Dal in Haryana, the main political rival of the BJP, had not gone down well with the BJP cadres and the local BJP leadership, who wanted the Akalis not to ally with the INLD.
The BJP in Punjab had in the past had played a minor role in the alliance and had little say in the major policy decisions.
However, thinks changed after the Akali- BJP’s below par performance in Punjab during the parliamentary elections, even as the BJP did very well elsewhere in the country.
Since then there was this attempt by the BJP to get a larger share in the power and bigger say in the major policy decisions of the state.
Interestingly, with tasting victory for the first time in Haryana state, where it had little presence prior to this election, would encourage people to make inroads into Punjab.
Sources in the BJP say that the fact that the Akalis who canvassed against their candidates, even they won elections with the BJP’s help in Punjab would affect the alliance. They say that the BJP is not wiling to play the role of a younger brother anymore and would like to have a bigger pie in the state.
Former BJP MP and cricketer Navjot Singh Sidhu, who canvassed for the BJP in Haryana and had many diatribes against Mr Badal during the campaign even as his security cover in Punjab was withdrawn and restored next day by the Akali government, is more forthcoming about his views.
“It was neither a coalition dharma nor rashtra dharma. It was merely forged on the basis of vested interests,” he said about the Akali- INLD alliance in Haryana.
Even though Mr Sidhu did not comment on whether the BJP should go alone in Punjab as he says “this is for the party high command to decide”. However he advises Akali to do soulsearching as the people of Harayna have rejected those who were neck- deep in corruption in the past and have opted for the politics of development.