No rift between BJP, SAD in Punjab: Vijay Sampla’s u-turn

CHANDIGARH: Days after the Punjab BJP in-charge Ramshankar Katheria said the party would not mind going it alone in the state, the BJP’s new central minister from the state, Vijay Sampla, has sought to tone down the speculation on rift with the Shiromani Akali Dal ahead of the Delhi assembly polls.

“There is no rift in SAD alliance in Punjab,” Sampla told the media in Chandigarh, in a U-turn from his earlier statement. Sampla, who has been inducted as minister of state in the Narendra Modi-led NDA government at the Centre, had said last week, “The alliance may break, incase Haryana-like situation prevails (in Punjab). It’s time SAD starts respecting the BJP leaders.”

The turnaround appears to have been prompted by BJP leaders in Delhi, who are keen to present a picture of harmony between the two allies in the run-up to the assembly polls, given the large Punjabi vote bank and sizeable Sikh population in constituencies such as Trilokpuri and Punjabi Bagh even as the SAD managed to win just one assembly seat the last time round. With the BJP-led government at the Centre announcing a relief of Rs 5 lakh each to 1984 riots victims, the party’s strategy to woo the minority community is clear.

Punjab’s deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal on Wednesday said the SAD-BJP alliance will post a record victory in the Delhi assembly elections. Badal said the alliance between the two parties had strengthened communal harmony in the state and people’s confidence in the development oriented policies of alliance would keep it in power for next 25 years.