BJP executive to decide on Jalandhar seat offer to Gujral

Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, who is also the president of the Akali Dal, headed his party team which included Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee chief Gurcharan Singh Tohra and former chief minister Surjit Singh Barnala.

Addressing a news conference here after the meeting, Khurana said he was not in a position to take a decision on the Akalis Dal’s proposal and that it was for the national executive to take a decision on the matter. However, the BJP would extend full support to Gujral in case he contested from Jalandhar on the Akali Dal symbol, he added.

About seat sharing between the two parties, he said a decision on the issue would be taken after the BJP decided on the Jalandhar seat. At the same time, he made it clear that nothing would strain the relations between the two parties.

Khurana said the BJP and the Akali Dal would not only contest the coming election as allies but would also adopt a common platform during the campaign. It would be a repeat of the joint campaign by the two parties in the Vidhan Sabha poll, he added.

Badal made the offer of Jalandhar seat to Gujral when he met him in Delhi on Saturday. The prime minister had been nursing Jalandhar and Badal had been publicly saying that offering the seat to Gujral was nothing compared to what the prime minister had done for Punjab.

However, it would be a precarious situation for the alliance partners in Punjab with the BJP projecting A B Vajpayee as the next prime minister and the Akalis supporting Gujral from Jalandhar.