Tohra ready to patch up with Badal on withdrawal of support to Vajpayee on Udham Singh Nagar

Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) general secretary Balwinder Singh Bhunder has also accused the NDA Government of betrayal on the Udham Singh Nagar issue by not fulfilling its assurances to the Akalis that the Sikh-dominated district would not be included in the proposed Uttaranchal state.

Bhundar, a Rajya Sabha member, told mediapersons that his party would oppose the Uttaranchal Bill in the Rajya Sabha where the party has five members as against three members in the Lower House. He said the people of Udham Singh Nagar had nothing in common with the hill people who form an overwhelming majority in the proposed State.

The Akali Dal has already protested over the alleged `unilateral’ announcement by Defence Minister George Fernandes, that people of Udham Singh Nagar were not opposed to their area’s inclusion in the new State. Fernandes, the Akalis alleged, had arbitrarily assumed the decision of the three-member committee appointed by the Prime Minister without consulting the other two members — Chief Ministers of Uttar Pradesh and Punjab. Tohra, on the other hand, accused Badal of mortgaging Punjabis’ interests to his partnership with BJP.

Harbhajan Singh Cheema, SAD president, Uttar Pradesh, told mediapersons that the three-member committee had visited Udham Singh Nagar and had received an overwhelming response from the people. Braving a heavy downpour, he said, they had come in hordes to express their resentment to the inclusion of Udham Singh Nagar in Uttaranchal.

Cheema said, “Fernandes had succumbed to BJP’s pressure and betrayed the Akalis.”