Even as the BJP is battling its crisis at the top level, its Punjab unit had been saber-rattling its coalition partner, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD). The two partners arrived at a truce on Tuesday with Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal escorting his errant MLA, S S Makkar, who had reportedly abused senior-most BJP minister Manoranjan Kalia at his residence last week, to Kalia for an unconditional apology. But several irritants remain between the two sides.

The BJP ministers, who had stayed away from the latest Cabinet meeting to protest the Akali MLA’s behaviour, had sought intervention of the party high command but the party leadership, embroiled in its own problems, had advised them to resolve the issue with Badal’s intervention. A seasoned politician, Badal succeeded in mollifying the BJP leaders and told them that such an incident won’t be repeated.

Makkar’s act was the latest of several incidents that have marred the ties between the two allies with a standing of nearly three decades. The two compliment and supplement each other through distinct vote banks with the Akalis holding the sway in rural areas while the BJP in urban areas.

The relationship had mostly remained lopsided with the Akalis commanding larger support. This shifted during the 2007 Assembly polls when the BJP surprised everyone by winning 19 seats, giving a crucial edge to the alliance to form the Government. The Congress got 44 of the 117 seats at stake while the SAD could bag just four more than its main rival. Thus, the BJP’s 19 seats provided the coalition an unassailable strength as also higher expectations among the BJP workers and leaders.

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