Friends in Punjab, foes in Haryana: Why Badal's giving BJP, Amit Shah the jitters

Chandigarh: The decision of the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) to make Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal its star campaigner for the forthcoming Haryana assembly elections has set long-time political allies, the Akali Dal and the BJP, on a collision course. The BJP, which is eyeing a big victory in the state, is wary of the impact of Badal’s campaign on its prospects. He is a tall leader in the region and he has an impressive following in Haryana despite being politically confined to Punjab. [caption id=“attachment_1666503” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Punjab CM Parkash Singh Badal[/caption] In the Lok Sabha elections earlier this year, Badal aggressively campaigned in favour of Dushyant Chautala, grandson of Om Prakash Chautala, the former chief minister of the state. His efforts helped Dushyant Chautala beat Kuldeep Bishnoi of the Haryana Janhit Congress (BL), an alliance partner of the BJP then. The BJP had offered two seats – Hisar and Sirsa - to the HJC and the latter lost both partly due to the Badal impact. The BJP, which is going it alone this time, doesn’t want a repeat of the HJC experience. While some leaders of the BJP, including Anil Vij, the leader of the Legislative party in the Haryana Vidhan Sabha, have clearly expressed their reservations against allowing Badal to campaign for the INLD in Haryana, other senior leaders like Om Prakash Dhankar, national president of the Bhartiya Kisan Morcha of the BJP and Capt Abhimanyu have opined that Badal, having a political alliance with the INLD in Haryana, has a right to campaign in the elections. Anil Vij’s objection to Badal’s campaign in Haryana is based on the fact that Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), which Badal heads, is a partner of the ruling NDA alliance in the country. The SAD and the BJP are ruling partners in Punjab. Their alliance is almost two decades old. The INLD and the BJP had been partners in Haryana earlier and ruled the state from the year 2000 to 2004. But now they are going to the state elections as adversaries. The SAD has an alliance with the INLD in Haryana in the 2009 assembly elections. While the former won one seat, the latter won 31 in the 90 member House. The SAD had contested on only one seat; this time it’s contesting two, including Ambala. Anil Vij contests from the Ambala Cantt. constituency and the reason for his fears is obvious. The SAD and the INLD bonhomie goes a long way back. Parkash Singh Badal had been a close personal friend of Late Chaudhary Devi Lal, the father of Om Prakash Chautala. Their family ties continue till date and both the parties help each other in Haryana and Punjab elections respectively. It is therefore normal for the SAD to campaign for INLD candidates in Haryana, even if it means going against NDA and its ruling partner in Punjab. In a similar gesture, the INLD had campaigned for the SAD in the Lok Sabha elections early this year. Speaking to Firstpost, Vij said it was not proper for Badal to campaign because SAD is a part of the NDA at the Centre and it should not do anything to harm BJP’s interest. “We have urged the central leadership of the BJP to stop Badal from campaigning for the INLD. We have explained out position to the party high command and it is up to it to dissuade Badal from campaigning,’’ he said. Gyan Chand Gupta, a senior BJP leader from Chandigarh, said: “Morally it is not correct for Badals to help the BJP’s adversary in Haryana as they are a partner of the NDA. We object to it.’’