The Fact News Service
Chandigarh, May 23
The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) today expressed surprise at the repeated assertions of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) that it would not ally with the former when no such desire had been echoed by the SAD.
Reacting to repeated statements by the BJP on this issue, SAD Spokesman and senior leader Maheshinder Singh Grewal said “the SAD is allied with the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in Punjab. The alliance is doing well there is no proposal to have a truck with any other party, including the BJP. The SAD has never talked about any future alliance with the BJP and the latter should stop speculating on this issue on an everyday basis”.
Grewal also reminded the BJP that the SAD had broken its alliance with the saffron party on a matter of principle when the former betrayed the ‘annadaata’ by forcing through the three black laws on agriculture in parliament without any discussion with its alliance partner or the stakeholders – the farmers. “Subsequently the BJP has taken one decision after another to the detriment of both Punjab and the Sikh community which has resulted in a sense of disquiet amongst Punjabis”.
He said prime among these included the breaking of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) by creating a separate Gurdwara Committee for Haryana besides interfering in the SGPC elections. He said the BJP-led central government had also gone back on the solemn commitment made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the 550th birth anniversary of Sri Guru Nanak Dev ji that all Bandi Singhs would be released. “This has caused anguish in the Sikh community”.
Grewal said besides this the BJP-led central government had undermined the federal structure by increasing the jurisdiction of the Border Security Force (BSF) from 15 kilometres to 50 kilometres from the international border in Punjab besides ignoring Punjab’s rights in appointment of members of BBMB, including Punjabi as a minor subject in CBSE and interfering in the maintenance of law and order in the State.
