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Akalis lead BJP party function
to unveil statue of saffron leader
WSN Network
 AMRITSAR: It
seems Parkash Singh Badal and Sukhbir Singh Badal are now tired by
the allegations of turning Akali Dal into an adjunct of the
RSS-BJP's saffron parivar; so they have finally decided to
practically merge the Akali party into the BJP. At least for all de
facto purposes.
Why else will
the Akali Dal treat a function so internal to the BJP as a function
of the Akali Dal? Just have a look at the advertisement for the
function to unveil a statue of late BJP leader Dr Baldev Parkash,
paid for by money collected from Punjab's people.
For unveiling
the statue, Parkash Singh Badal stood shoulder to shoulder with
Nitin Gadkari and Balbir Punj. The unveiling was done by Badal too,
along with BJP leaders. In Punjab, the Akalis feel forced to treat
all BJP functions as that of their own party.
"But what else
do you expect? The Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal had even
publicly announced that two Akali Dal leaders fought elections on
BJP symbol. This is as good as merger of the two parties," rued an
old timer Akali leader.
Hungry for a
slice of the crumbs, the rest of the Akali leadership is not
squeaking. The Badals need to suck up to the top BJP leadership as
they have seen how an organizational man like Nitin Gadkari at the
helm can create problems for them. So they have thrown the entire
party into the lap of the BJP. Even when the statue of Sham Singh
Attariwala was being unveiled earlier this week, the Badals were
happily singing along "Saare Jahan Se Achha Hindustan Hamara."
Perhaps to rub
some salt into their wounds, the new BJP chief urged his partymen to
work harder and not run after posts. Obviously, he cannot give this
advice to the Badals as their entire survival depends upon
propagating such a mentality.
Accompanied by
CM Badal, Deputy CM Sukhbir, BJP general secretary and
Punjab
affairs in-charge Balbir Punj and MP Navjot Sidhu, Gadkari said the
party will see a major revival in the coming days.
He asked the BJP
workers to get ready for a “new kind of politics, where personal
pursuits will have to be shunned." Was it a snub to Sukhbirs,
Majithias, Dhindsas, Verkas, Bularias et al? “I used to paste
posters on walls, and now I am the president of the second largest
party in the country. So, we should concentrate on work instead of
running after posts,” he said.
20
January 2010
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