Badal will return to Mohali for oath

Badal’s Sector 9 residence in Chandigarh was decked up like for a wedding as the veteran Akali returned home for the first time after the victory of the SAD(B)-BJP alliance following five years in the wilderness. The change in his status was all too evident as he zoomed into the city in a cavalcade of over a dozen vehicles, including a bullet-proof car. Till yesterday evening, Badal had been making do with a lone escort Gypsy.

With the security at the residence, an open house till last evening, also beefed up, even Jaitley and other BJP stars like Vinod Khanna and Navjot Sidhu had to go through metal detectors.

Badal was received with bursting of crackers, bouquets and a high-voltage crowd that threatened to mob him. Inside the house, it was ladoos for everyone. The SAD (B) chief was given one by his daughter-in-law Harsimrat, the business graduate who orchestrated the ad campaign in the run-up to the polls. Then, it was photo time, with son Sukhbir giving Badal a warm hug.

Addressing his maiden press conference after the meeting, Badal said: “We will take oath on March 2 at Punjab Cricket Association stadium in Mohali.” In 1997 too, Badal and his colleagues had taken oath at that venue.

Flanked by Sukhbir, Jaitley, Naidu and Sukhbir, the CM-designate asserted that the alliance would fulfill all the promises it had made in the manifesto. He also announced the support of four Independent MLAs to his party. “Iqbal Singh Junda, Madan Lal, Charanjit S Channi and Sangat Singh Gilzian have thrown their lot with us,” he said as the four legislators introduced themselves and said their support to the SAD(B) was unconditional.

Badal also reiterated that his government would not indulge in vendetta politics, preferring instead to focus on development. “Let the law take its own course”, he once again declared. Parrying queries about the BJP seeking the post of deputy CM, Jaitley said: “We have not discussed the process of government formation. Our party will have a separate meeting to elect its leader on the floor. As the Akalis are our oldest ally, we don’t see any problems in power-sharing.”

Talking about the party’s stellar performance on urban seats in the state, Jaitley attributed it to the “widespread disillusionment” with the Congress due to price rise and the “dictatorial attitude” of former CM Amarinder Singh.

Badal too said it was the development policies of the combine that had attracted the electorate to it. “People compared our government with that of the Congress and concluded that we were better. Religion was never an issue in these elections. It was unemployment, price rise, industrialisation… the list is endless.”

To another question, Badal said he believed in maintaining good relations with the Centre and would soon call on PM Manmohan Singh and other Union ministers after taking over as Chief Minister.

The March 2 swearing-in is set to be a gala affair, likely to be attended by former prime minister A B Vajpayee, L K Advani and BJP president Rajnath Singh.