Continuing his efforts to mend BJP’s ties with its allies ahead of a possible Lok Sabha poll, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha L K Advani met Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal at his Prithviraj Road residence on Sunday evening.A week ago, Advani had called on Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray at latter’s residence, Matoshri, in Mumbai to restore mutual confidence between the two NDA partners. Though neither side was prepared to divulge details of the discussions held between Advani and Badal, the two leaders are understood to have discussed the strains, which have developed between Akali Dal and the BJP since they have been jointly voted to power in Punjab early this year.Ironically, while Badal and Advani deliberated on confidence building measures in Delhi, BJP leader Balbir Punj, who is in charge of the state, was doing some tough talking in the media against Akali Dal at Amritsar on Sunday. Protesting against a reported move to increase power tariff in urban areas, Punj threatened a boycott of the next meeting of the state Cabinet if the proposal was brought for approval. Punj has recently replaced former Union Minister Sahib Singh Verma, who was killed in a road accident, as state “prabhari.”Punj attributed their “strained relations” to a lack of co-ordination between Akali Dal and the BJP and said there is only taal (beat) and no mel (harmony) between them.The irritants can be traced to several developments. The BJP suspects the Akali Dal tried to marginalise it during Municipal Corporation polls. Though Badal personally intervened later to assuage BJP feelings by handing it the mayoral positions in Amritsar and Jalandhar, the ill feeling has not disappeared altogether. Two BJP leaders from Amritsar — Health Minister Luxmi Kanta Chawla and Lok Sabha member Navjot Singh Sidhu — have problems with Akali Minister Bikram Singh Majithia, brother-in-law of Sukhvir Singh Badal, who hails from the area.Though Punj has tried to articulate genuine feelings of the state unit, the perceptions and priorities of the national leadership of the BJP are different. Badal, like Thackeray, is an old and trusted ally, with a firm commitment to anti-Congressism. The BJP alliance with the Akalis goes back a long way, far older than the inception of the NDA. At a time when an early Lok Sabha poll appears likely, Advani obviously feels the need to put his own house in order by sewing up the party ties with the Akali Dal.
