DW BUREAU / Chandigarh

Describing national BJP president Amit Shah’s scheduled meeting with the Badals on Thursday as a golden opportunity to make amends for failing to secure the interests of Punjab with the Centre, Punjab Congress Chief Sunil Jakhar on Wednesday said the Badals should thank Congress President Rahul Gandhi for reminding the BJP about the importance of their allies.

Addressing a press conference here, Jakhar dared the Akali leaders to raise the burning issues, including those relating to the farmers, the Sutlej Yamuna Link (SYL) canal and the escalating cost of petrol and diesel with the BJP chief.

As a senior and seasoned leader, Parkash Singh Badal should grill Shah on crucial issues like the plight of farmers, implementation of the Swaminathan Commission report, rising petrol and diesel prices, SYL issue and the pendency of Rs 1617 crore of post-matric scholarship funds with the Centre, the PPCC chief said.

Pointing to the Congress performance in Gujarat and Karnataka, which had jolted the BJP into reaching out to their allies, whom they had completely sidelined in the past four years, the Congress MP said Badal should write to Congress President Rahul Gandhi, thanking him for reminding the BJP of ‘Coalition Dharma’ towards their ally SAD.

Observing that Gandhi had emerged as a major threat to the BJP, Jakhar said it was the Congress President’s visionary leadership that had forced the BJP to show some respect to SAD and other allies. BJP’s rule was neither Cooperation nor Federalism, he said, referring to the principle of Cooperative Federalism.

Flanked by Cabinet Ministers Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa and Sukhbinder Singh Sukh Sarkaria, Congress Punjab in-charge Harish Choudhary, MLAs Kuljit Nagra and Kushaldeep Singh Dhillon, the MP said the arrogance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Amit Shah had been defeated in Uttar Pradesh, which was now prompting the BJP to make a beeline for its allies.

(editor@dailyworld.in)