•Did you feel that as Sikhs we’ve made a mistake?

Never. But we regret the role played by successive Congress governments. Our contribution to the country has been phenomenal. Look at the list of martyrs in this war memorial. You’ll see so many Punjabi names.

•The reason could be that of all the political parties in India, the Akali Dal is the most anti-Congress party.

Naturally.

•You never met Rajiv Gandhi when he was the PM. You’ve never spoken to Sonia Gandhi. You had very little contact with Indiraji.

I met her once or twice as the chief minister of the state when she was the PM.

•During those days, in the anti-Congress fronts that were formed, Jan Sangh and CPI(M) were both with you.

We always try to align with anti-Congress parties.

•The Congress will always be an adversary.

Akalis can never merge with the Congress.

•Advaniji says that in politics, think of the opposition as your adversary not enemy.

Each party has a different role to play.

•Do you perceive the Congress as your adversary or enemy?

The Congress has offended Punjab. We don’t have to seek revenge from them, so why call them enemies. But they aren’t doing justice to us. Recently, I told Sharad Pawarji that agriculture is important for the people of Punjab. Hence, please give us Rs 100 crore for establishing an agriculture university. After all, the country would have starved, had there been no Punjab. So, please encourage us.

... contd.