A day after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) put an end to speculations over alliance with the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) saying the party will contest all 13 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab on its own in 2024 Lok Sabha polls, Sukhbir Badal-led party on Monday said that it too has ‘no desire’ to ally with the saffron party.
Expressing surprise at the “repeated assertions” of the BJP that it would not ally with the Akali Dal, 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,” he added.
Grewal said the SAD had broken its alliance with the saffron party “on a matter of principle when the former betrayed the ‘annadaata’ (farmers) 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 added.
The SAD leader 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 (Sikh prisoners) would be released. “This has caused anguish in the Sikh community,” Grewal said.
The SAD leader said 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.