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Senior BJP ministers complain to high command against Badal

CHANDIGARH: The ruling Akali-BJP alliance in Punjab seems to have run into rough weather once again with five senior BJP ministers, along with the president of the State unit of the party, Rajinder Bhandari, rushing to Delhi on Thursday to complain against “apathetic and non-cooperative attitude of Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal.”

The group, which comprised Local Government and Industries Minister Manoranjan Kalia, Health and Family Welfare Minister Luxmi Kanta Chawla, Medical Education and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Tikshan Sud, Transport Minister Mohan Lal and Technical Education Minister Swarna Ram, called on BJP president Rajnath Singh, former Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani and the party general secretary in charge of Punjab affairs, Balbir Punj.

After listening to their grievances, the BJP leadership authorised Mr. Punj to open parleys with Mr. Badal and other Akali leaders to find a mutually acceptable way out. Different members of the group contacted over the phone expressed satisfaction over the positive response of the party high command.

According to one of the ministers, who preferred anonymity for “the time being”, the group apprised its leadership of the recent crisis that emerged after the Punjab State Electricity Regulatory Commission (PSERC) announced a hike in the power tariff. The BJP has opposed any increase, while Mr. Badal expressed inability to go against the Commission’s statutory order.

The stalemate was reached when during a recent visit to the State Mr. Punj had declared that the BJP ministers would abstain from the Cabinet meetings till the government decided against implementation of the tariff orders. However, interventions resulted in some agreement, according to which the BJP ministers returned to the Cabinet meeting on Tuesday evening. However, when the issue came up for discussion, the BJP ministers reiterated their previous position and demanded a rollback. They even suggested that, as was done in the case of the farm sector, the State government should bear the burden of the increased rates for the domestic, trade and small business sectors by paying the subsidy to the Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB).

This is the third occasion since the Akali-BJP alliance government was formed that leaders from both sides have crossed swords.

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