Chandigarh, September 27: Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) chief Sukhbir Singh Badal on Friday lashed out at the BJP for inducting its lone sitting MLA in Haryana into its fold, saying what the saffron party had done is “unethical and unfortunate”.
Badal said every relationship had a ‘maryada’ (dignity) and inducting SAD’s sitting MLA in its fold violated the dignity of their alliance.SAD’s lone MLA from Kalanwali Balkaur Singh joined the BJP in New Delhi on Thursday, where he praised Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar for providing an “honest” government to the state.
Badal said the alliance with the saffron party was intact in Punjab and Delhi and asserted that the SAD would contest the Haryana Assembly polls alone.
“There is a ‘maryada’ (dignity) of relationship (alliance). What the BJP has done, inducting our sitting MLA (into its own fold) is unethical and violated the ‘maryada’,” Sukhbir told reporters in Amritsar district.
Replying to a question, he said, “The SAD has decided to contest the Haryana Assembly polls alone. There is no problem in Punjab where we have an alliance with the BJP. Our alliance (with BJP) in Punjab and Delhi is intact.”
Asked if there would be any impact on the alliance with the BJP in Punjab and Delhi, Sukhbir said, “We did not have any alliance (with the BJP) in Haryana earlier. But there was a commitment with us as we are their old ally.
“What they have done is strongly condemnable, especially with a party which has stood by it all the time. Doing such thing with that party is very unfortunate and our party strongly condemns it.”
On Thursday, the SAD had accused the BJP of backtracking from its commitment of contesting the Haryana Assembly polls jointly while soliciting support for the BJP candidates in the 2019 Lok Sabha election.
“When the time came for the BJP to reciprocate the SAD’s gesture, it backed out and even went to the extent of making an Akali MLA join the saffron party,” a SAD core committee member had said. PTI
