This was revealed by Prof Prem Singh Chandumajra, member of the dissolved Lok Sabha, while addressing a press conference today. He said that the party was confident that it would win all the 13 seats in Punjab in addition to the lone seat of Chandigarh.

He alleged that Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal had reached a secret understanding with Punjab Pradesh Congress Commitee Chief Capt Amarinder Singh and former chief minister Harcharan Singh Brar and had decided that his party would put up a weak candidate against Praneet Kaur, wife of the PPCC chief, who was likely to get the Congress ticket to contest the Patiala Lok Sabha seat. The three leaders had held a secret meeting recently in this connecion and it was was after this meeting that the Akali Dal (Badal) decided to field political novice Surjit Singh Rakhra from Patiala, said Chandumajra.

Referring to Rakhra's recent statement that he enjoyed a good rapport with the former Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) president Gurcharan Singh Tohra, Chandumajra said that Rakhra was being used by the Akali Dal (Badal) and he might not get the full support even of the party that was fielding him.

Chandumajra said that while on the one hand the Chief Minister had been announcing that the state was facing a severe resource crunch, on the other, ministers in the Punjab government were frequently going on foreign jaunts. In some cases, ministers had spent up to Rs 40 lakh each on their foreign tours without any concrete results to show for these trips.He said that during the last three years of its rule in the state, the Badal government had failed to consolidate the financial position of the state.

because of ``non governance and financial mismanagement.'' The failure of the government on all fronts had led to widespread disenchantment among all sections of society.

Chandumajra said the Badal Akali Dal would be routed in the forthcoming parliamentary elections because there was resentment against its ``wrong policies.''