SAD and the BJP (earlier Jan Sangh) have been alliance partners for more than four decades. But for the BJP, the Akalis now seem to have become a liability. It’s an unwanted baggage that the BJP would like to shed before the next assembly elections, due in 2017.

Chandigarh: The relations between the BJP and the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), partners in the ruling coalition in Punjab, which had started getting bitter a year ago, has taken a dip for the worse after the spate of protests by groups associated with the former over the drugs menace in the state. The intensity of the protests suggests that the divide between the two is unbridgeable now and both parties could go it alone in the next assembly elections. There is no visible effort from the leaders of both sides to strike peace.

Relations between them began souring early last year when the high-profile BJP leader, and now Union Finance Minister, Arun Jaitley lost the prestigious Amritsar Lok sabha seat despite tall claims by the Akalis of an easy victory in its stronghold.

Recently the SAD decided to protest and stage dharnas against the Border Security Force (BSF) at three border towns of Ferozepur, Hussaniwala and Fazilka in Punjab for its failure to check the inflow of drugs from across the border. The BJP, which supported SAD on checking drug menace, was opposed to holding protest against the country’s own security forces. The BJP and the opposition Congress projected the SAD’s move as a protest against the Centre. Faced with criticism, Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal had to issue a statement, saying the protest was not against BSF but against menace of drugs in the state.

However, this failed to pacify the BJP. SAD is expected to clear its stand to the Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh soon. The Akalis have further vitiated the atmosphere by blaming the BJP-ruled states of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh for the cultivation of poppy, the source of drugs. The problem of drug smuggling had been a major issue in Punjab during the Lok Sabha elections last year and all political parties had vowed to check its spread.

Several SAD leaders, including ministers were found guilty of involvement in the drugs smuggling racket. Even the name of minister Bikram Majithia cropped up. Majithia, a senior minister in the Punjab cabinet, is the younger brother of Union Minister (SAD) Harsimrat kaur and son-in-law of Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal. Drug lord Jagdish Bhola, a former DSP, had named Bikram Majithia in the drugs smuggling after he was arrested.

Later the Enforcement Directorate (ED) summoned Majithia on December 26 in a money laundering case pertaining to the multi-crore drug smuggling in Punjab. The BJP demanded his immediate resignation from the Cabinet which the Akalis turned down. This episode only helped drive a wedge in the relations between the Akalis and the BJP.

Earlier, the two had a problem over the issue of 'Ghar Wapsi’ programme of the Dharam Jagran Manch, an offshoot of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). The Manch organised a number of conversion programmes in Punjab to bring back the Christian families to the Sikh religion. Parkash Singh Badal criticized these programmes by calling them “forced religious conversions which were unfortunate and against the basic tenets of Sikhism ’’.

SAD, which is a member of the National democratic Alliance (NDA), had expected good economic packages from the Centre to get out of its financial mess but the Narendra Modi-led government belied its hopes. Last year, during the assembly elections in Haryana, much to the annoyance of the BJP, the Akalis had campaigned in favour of the latter’s main rival, the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD). BJP’s protests had not been taken account of by the Akalis as Parkash Singh Badal is a close friend of INLD supremo Om Prakash Chautala, now serving a jail term in the JBT teachers scam case. BJP leader Navjot Singh Sidhu, who had been critical of the SAD stand, was physically attacked and his car damaged allegedly by the Akalis.

SAD and the BJP (earlier Jan Sangh) have been alliance partners for more than four decades. But for the BJP, the Akalis now seem to have become a liability. It’s an unwanted baggage that the BJP would like to shed before the next assembly elections, due in 2017. The thinking in the BJP camp is that the Modi wave will continue to work in future and the party will come to power in Punjab without any partner. In an amazing turn of events, the BJP which had won just four seats in the Haryana state assembly in 2009, increased its tally to 46 in 2014 to get an absolute majority while contesting poll without any partner.