Tohra is Cong agent, alleges Dhindsa

CHANDIGARH, Feb 25: The religio-political crisis in the Sikh polity took another turn today with the supporters of Punjab Chief Minister ...

CHANDIGARH, Feb 25: The religio-political crisis in the Sikh polity took another turn today with the supporters of Punjab Chief Minister and Akali Dal president Parkash Singh Badal virtually dubbing Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee president Gurcharan Singh Tohra as agent of the Congress, who is trying to topple the Vajpayee-led government at the Centre on the issue of dismissal of the Rabri Devi government in Bihar.

Party secretary general Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa and general secretary Balwinder Singh Bhunder, advised Tohra and his associates to quit the Akali Dal and join the Congress in case they wanted to support the stand of Sonia Gandhi on the issue.

Tohra and his loyalist Prem Singh Chandumajra MP, have questioned the decision taken by Badal, directing the Akali MPs to vote in favour of the President8217;s proclamation on this issue in the Lok Sabha as a special case, despite the known stand of the party on the scrapping of Article 356.

quot;In no case can we be seen to be in the company of the Congress. If Tohra or somebody else want to support the Congress stand on Bihar, they can leave Akali Dal and join the Congress8221;, the Akali leaders said.

They clarified there was no ambiguity on the party8217;s stand on Article 356 which must be scrapped but till then, the Congress could not be allowed to take advantage of it. It had been made abundantly clear in the whip issued by Badal that the official motion on Bihar would be supported strictly as an extraordinary measure to defeat the Congress conspiracy.

These associates of the Chief Minister accused Tohra and his few loyalists of entering into a conspiracy with Congress president Sonia Gandhi to topple the BJP-led government at the Centre in which the Akali Dal is a key partner. They asked Tohra and Chandumajra to clarify as to why they were so keen to vote with the Congress on the motion and questioned the moral basis of coming to the rescue of a government which had failed to protect the lives of the dalits.

quot;We had always suspected that the aborted revolt against the Akali government in Punjab was the result of a secret understanding between Tohra and Sonia Gandhi8221;, they said, adding that they had urged Badal to take disciplinary action against anti-Akali, anti-Sikh and anti-Punjabi conspiracy hatched in connivance with the Congress in Delhi. However, Badal did not want to push the matter to the point of ugly confrontation on the eve of the Khalsa tercentenary celebrations.

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They alleged Tohra seemed to be determined to misuse every possible Sikh platform, including the holy institution of Akal Takht. Tohra had always tried to use jathedars of Akal Takht as tools to lend legitimacy to his personal ambition and unwilling jathedars became victims of his wrath.

They said Tohra was now taking undue advantage of Badal8217;s patience.