SAD should honour alliance 'dharma': Punjab BJP chief

Peeved over reported “shoddy” treatment meted out to him and Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu during a programme at Gurdaspur, Punjab BJP chief Vijay Sampla on Sunday reminded ally SAD of alliance ‘dharma’.

Speaking at a press conference here, Sampla said, “Small things do happen as we live in a joint family. But we’ve said we are honouring alliance ‘dharma’ and we also expect our ally (SAD) to honour the same particularly in the wake of 2017 Assembly polls.”

Sampla was referring to the inauguration programme of Bhagat Namdev Ji College in Gurdaspur’s Ghuman village on July 17 where he reportedly refused to address the gathering apparently ‘as a mark of protest’ because his name was missing from the inauguration stone, invitation cards and the stage banner.

He said he has not received any reply from the Punjab government with regard to his “disrespect” at the function.Sampla was also upset with the absence of beacon atop the vehicle that he used to drop Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu to the helipad, which, he said, was a breach of protocol.

Asked about Opposition parties’ charge of atrocities on Dalits, Sampla said, “Any kind of atrocity against Dalits is unacceptable.”