Badal pledges support to Vajpayee

CHANDIGARH, APRIL 21: The Punjab Chief Minister and the president of the Shiromani Akali Dal, Parkash Singh Badal today pledged his party8217;s full support to the leadership of Atal Behari Vajpayee.

In a letter written to the President K R Narayanan, Badal asked him to take full cognisance of the stand of the Shiromani Akali Dal reaffirming confidence in Vajpayee. The letter says, 8220;You are presently exploring whether any other Government commanding greater support than that demonstrated by Vajpayee is feasible. The SAD holds that the only viable and stable government which the twelfth Lok Sabha is capable of yielding is a coalition of BJP and its allies led by Shri Vajpayee.8221;

Badal also appended a list of the eight Lok Sabha MPs belonging to his party.

Meanwhile, the Ropar MP, Satwinder Kaur Dhaliwal, today reiterated her support for Badal, stating that she has full faith in his policies and programmes. She took exception to the statement which appeared today in a section of the press, stating that she was working against the president of SAD and the party.