Keen to gain the middle ground after the Dera Sacha Sauda row threatened to spin out of control, both the Congress and BJP went into an overdrive today to maintain the peace in Punjab. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda while BJP’s Arun Jaitley spoke to Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal. The message in both cases was clear: make every effort to defuse the situation.

Though the BJP had earlier accused the Congress of complicity in the controversy in which Dera chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh appeared dressed as Guru Gobind Singh, Jaitley, in his conversation with Badal, suggested that Hindu-Sikh unity — the basis on which the Akali Dal-BJP alliance won the Punjab polls earlier this year — should not be a casualty to political powerplay.

Sources in the BJP said that in his conversation with the Punjab CM, it was Jaitley’s suggestion that the Akalis should step back in the interest of peace.

That remark came as the Akalis in their statements on the issue, even in comments inside Parliament, had started raising the spectre of militancy. BJP leaders were clearly worried that if the matter was not tackled at this stage, the issue could well spin out of control. It was therefore mildly suggested that if it was a question of political one-upmanship, this was not the time for it.

The talks between the PM and Hooda on the one hand, and Jaitley and Badal on the other were followed up by Home Minister Shivraj Patil, who spoke to the Haryana and Punjab CMs, pledging all Central support to sort out the crisis.