SAD-B’s support to continue at Centre

He said the Akali MPs were making “every effort” to convince other members of the lower house, belonging to different parties including the BJP, not to support the clause in the bill which advocated inclusion of the district in Uttaranchal.

The Uttar Pradesh government had already passed the Uttaranchal Bill in the state Assembly without any such provision but exempting Hardwar from the proposed state.

Chandumajra expressed the hope that Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee would maintain the dignity of the Central government by positively evaluating the unconditional support of the Akali Dal to the Centre.

“We were the first party to unconditionally support the Vajpayee government, thus, at least some of our expectations from the Centre should be met,” he said.

Chandumajra, a close associate of Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee chief Gurcharan Singh Tohra, said all the demands of Punjab including transfer of Chandigarh and Sutlej Yamuna Link Canal issues would be resolved within the tenure of the present Central government.

“Things have just started coming up out of the shell as the Union government is only six months old,” he said. He claimed that the SAD was “very clear” regarding the demands of Punjab and expected “full-hearted approach” by the Vajpayee government to resolve them.

Chandumajra said that Article 356 should be scrapped as “the Bihar episode is a suitable example in this regard”.

He said the stand of the SAD regarding scrapping of the controversial article had been very firm from the beginning and the party would support any other party or individual who raised voice against it.

Clarifying the stand of the various opposition parties, Chandumajra said the Congress was playing a diplomatic role by criticising the Centre and its recommendation for President’s Rule in Bihar on one hand and voicing for the same in states like Maharashtra and Delhi.

Responding to a query whether the Akali Dal expected to hold any more portfolios in the Union government, he said, “we have never been greedy for this”.