A day after the Shiromani Akali Dal announced that it will support the BJP in the upcoming Delhi Assembly polls, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Thursday accused the party of bartering away Constitutional principles to promote its political interest.
Reacting to SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal’s remark that the party had thrown its weight behind the BJP in Delhi, the Chief Minister said these flip-flops had nailed the Akali lies on its stand on the ‘unconstitutional and divisive’ Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA).
Referring to Mr. Sukhbir’s explanation for the “U-turn”, that the ‘miscommunication’ between the two parties had been sorted out, Capt. Amarinder demanded to know whether the BJP had agreed to amend the CAA in line with SAD’s earlier stand or the Akalis had once again surrendered themselves to the BJP at the cost of the nation’s interest.
“You owe an explanation to the people,” he said.
“SAD’s decision to backtrack on its earlier stand to extend its support to the BJP in Delhi just a week before the scheduled polls, indicated that they had used the CAA as a bargaining chip to secure some political gains,” said the Chief Minister. This development, he said, clearly exposed the selfish intentions of the Akalis and the Badal family’s desperation to hold on to power as part of the ruling alliance at the Centre.
“Rather than quit the ruling NDA, which would have been the right thing to do after claiming not to support the CAA without inclusion of Muslims, Mr. Sukhbir had chosen to stay with the BJP, whatever the cost for the people of India,” said the Chief Minister.
‘Akalis divided’
“SAD’s U-turn in Delhi had also further accentuated the divide within the Akalis, which appeared to be on the verge of another split,” said Capt. Amarinder, adding that the party was clearly a divided house and no longer capable of giving a political fight on its own and they need the BJP to hand-hold them on the political ladder.
