Date:14/05/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/05/14/stories/2008051457571200.htm

National

Rajnath bid to sort out row with Akalis

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI: Following clashes between workers of the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Akali Dal at several places in Punjab during the ongoing zila parishad and panchayat samiti elections, BJP president Rajnath Singh has dispatched Balbir Punj to the State to talk to the Akali leadership and ensure peace between the ruling-coalition partners. The parties had failed to arrive at a seat-sharing agreement.

Mr. Singh told The Hindu that Mr. Punj was expected to meet Punjab Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal. The Chief Minister’s son, Sukhbir Singh Badal, has already met Mr. Singh and leaders of the two parties are keen to sort out the problem.

It appears that the BJP’s ambitious project to make inroads into the countryside of Punjab, where Akalis dominate, was the source of friction. The Akali Dal was not willing to accommodate the BJP in rural Punjab and the BJP decided to contest the elections on its own.

In the Assembly election earlier, the BJP got the support of the Dera Sacha Sauda, intensely disliked by the Akalis. This was yet another source of friction.