Cloud on sunshine alliance

Even as the BJP is battling its crisis at the top level,its Punjab unit had been saber-rattling its coalition partner....

Even as the BJP is battling its crisis at the top level,its Punjab unit had been saber-rattling its coalition partner,the Shiromani Akali Dal SAD. The two partners arrived at a truce on Tuesday with Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal escorting his errant MLA,S S Makkar,who had reportedly abused senior-most BJP minister Manoranjan Kalia at his residence last week,to Kalia for an unconditional apology. But several irritants remain between the two sides.

The BJP ministers,who had stayed away from the latest Cabinet meeting to protest the Akali MLAs behaviour,had sought intervention of the party high command but the party leadership,embroiled in its own problems,had advised them to resolve the issue with Badals intervention. A seasoned politician,Badal succeeded in mollifying the BJP leaders and told them that such an incident wont be repeated.

Makkars act was the latest of several incidents that have marred the ties between the two allies with a standing of nearly three decades. The two compliment and supplement each other through distinct vote banks with the Akalis holding the sway in rural areas while the BJP in urban areas.

The relationship had mostly remained lopsided with the Akalis commanding larger support. This shifted during the 2007 Assembly polls when the BJP surprised everyone by winning 19 seats,giving a crucial edge to the alliance to form the Government. The Congress got 44 of the 117 seats at stake while the SAD could bag just four more than its main rival. Thus,the BJPs 19 seats provided the coalition an unassailable strength as also higher expectations among the BJP workers and leaders.

Almost the first expectation and demand was the post of Deputy CM. The CM was,however,not keen because he wanted to keep the post for son Sukhbir. There were differences over allocation of berths and then over portfolios but these were resolved with intervention of the BJP central leadership with which Badal enjoys a good rapport. He is a seasoned and respected leader and is quite capable of tackling minor issues, says BJPs R P Singh,who was in charge of partys campaign in Punjab during the Assembly polls and now general secretary of the partys Delhi unit.

But the differences persisted and came to a boil during the municipal and panchayat elections last year. Both tried to increase their influence in each others territory. Several incidents were reported in which Akali workers allegedly harassed and beat up BJP workers. In one incident,the vehicle of a BJP MLA,Anil Joshi,was burnt by Akali supporters. Much to the chagrin of the BJP leaders,the Akalis overtook the BJP candidates in some urban areas.

There were other differences too which found voice in public. These included the BJP stand over the Dera Sacha Sauda issue in which it said there should not be any ban on preaching. It also criticised the deteriorating law and order situation. Then rift emerged over the rollback of power subsidy in the urban areas. The BJP ministers had their own grouse that they were not given officers of their choice or that the Akalis were keeping moles in their offices.

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Unfortunately,the BJP has not been able to cultivate a strong leadership in the state. For instance,none of its three Lok Sabha candidates Navjot Sidhu,Vinod Khanna and Som Nath had their roots in the party or in the Sangh Parivar. The disarray in the party showed its impact in the recent Lok Sabha polls. The partys candidates trailed in 17 of the 19 Assembly segments represented by BJP MLAs. The poor showing has considerably weakened its position and some Akali leaders blame the party for the poor showing of the coalition partners in the elections.

Worse,it has encouraged Akali leaders,particularly at the lower- and middle-level,to streamroll the BJP workers and leaders. The abuses hurled by Makkar on the BJP minister was a manifestation of that.

The BJP,however,cannot afford to part ways with the Akalis. The party,in fact,needs Akalis more than vice versa,and the reverse is true for the two parties at the Centre. Thus,the two have little choice but to carry on with each other.