Dissident Akali Dal leader issued show-cause notice

CHANDIGARH, NOV 7: Getting tough with the dissidence raising its head after the rout in the Lok Sabha elections, the ruling Akali Dal has...

CHANDIGARH, NOV 7: Getting tough with the dissidence raising its head after the rout in the Lok Sabha elections, the ruling Akali Dal has decided to serve show-cause notice on party MLA Ravi Inder Singh who had initiated the move to challenge the leadership of Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal.

It has also decided to renominate Jagir Kaur in the annual election of the president of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) — the authority entrusted with the management of the notified gurdwaras in Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh slated for Nov 10. The decisions were announced at a news conference by Badal, who also heads the Akali Dal, immediately after getting authorisation “unanimously” from the political affairs committee (PAC) of the party which had met earlier in the day.

Singh, who is also a member of the PAC, left after a resolution was passed authorising Badal to take a decision on curbing indiscipline and nominating candidates for the SGPC election. When the issuecropped up in the PAC, Singh is learnt to have argued that the issues he had raised should be addressed. He sought discussion on the causes of defeat, to which reportedly even Badal was not averse.

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Supported by All India Shiromani Akali Dal president Gurcharan Singh Tohra, Singh had launched a signature campaign apparently to press Badal to convene a meeting of the Akali Dal Legislature Party to discuss the humiliating defeat of the AKali Dal in the Lok Sabha election. The effort was to get the signatures of 37 MLAs to get a majority in the Akali Dal Legislature Party. However, the magic figure could not be arrived at despite the support of 12 MLAs owing allegiance to Tohra. These MLAs, who were earlier given show-cause notices, continue to be members of the Akali Dal Legislature Party. Badal did not rule out action against them in the near future. The strategy at present seems to be to isolate Ravi Inder Singh.

Badal alleged that Singh had established contacts with the Congress and the AISAD and heldsecret meetings with the leaders from the two parties “to become the Chief Minister”.Singh is known for his proximity to Punjab PCC chief Amarinder Singh. He would be given 15 days to send his reply to the show-cause notice to be dispatched tomorrow.

Sensing trouble, Badal had last week convened an informal meeting of party MLAs, who passed a resolution reposing faith in his leadership. The Chief Minister today claimed the support of 61 MLAs.