Ally SAD skips NDA meet over ‘RSS interference’ in Sikhs’ matters

The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) skipped a meeting of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) on Thursday in protest against “interference of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) in Sikhs’ religious matters”

The SAD, an important constituent of the NDA, is also upset with the Centre for not announcing a debt-waiver package for the farmers. The NDA meeting was convened by the BJP to decide the strategy for the forthcoming parliamentary polls. The ally’s absence is being seen as a sign of more trouble in the alliance.

“The party is not happy with RSS’ interference in Sikh affairs. We have also been requesting the Centre to announce a package for the farmers, but nothing has been done, said Rajya Sabha member Naresh Gujral, who coordinates with the BJP on alliance matters.

While the party’s absence from the crucial meeting has become a talking point in political circles, SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal and his wife, Union food processing industries minister Harsimrat Badal sent confusing signals by hosting a lunch at which several cabinet ministers and senior BJP leaders were present.

They included Union home minister Rajnath Singh, external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj and defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman. Lok Sabha speaker Smitra Mahajan, Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar and his MP-daughter Supriya Sule were also there.

Asked about the presence of BJP leaders at the Badals’ lunch, Gujral called it “social event”. “We have not broken up with the NDA. We are registering our protest,” he said. There was also a change in the SAD’s position as it targeted the RSS instead of the BJP.

On Wednesday, Delhi Sikh Gurdwara management committee (DSGMC) general secretary Manjinder Singh Sirsa had asked the BJP “not to meddle in Sikh affairs”. He was reacting to change in legal procedure for appointment of the head of Nanded gurdwara board by amending Takht Sri Hazur Abchalnagar Sahib Board Nanded Act, 1956.