If a pre-poll alliance takes place, the allies want the BJP should not play as the big brother instead treat allies as equal partners.

New Delhi: With allies like the TDP upset with the BJP and the Shiv Sena already announcing that it will fight polls alone in 2019, Naresh Gujral, Rajya Sabha MP from yet another NDA ally Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), has now criticised the BJP. Speaking to a news portal, Mr Gujral assured full support of his party to the cause being espoused by the TDP. Mr Gujral said, “Complaints of the TDP are genuine. When Andhra Pradesh was created it was to be given a special status, this was promised to them on the Floor of the House. This is now being denied. We are with the TDP on this issue.”

The Akali Dal leader also exhorted the BJP to learn the coalition dharma from its veteran leader and former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee. Mr Gujral said, “Coalition politics do not run on arrogance. I think they need to make amends, it needs to be run the way Mr Vajpayee used to run it, they should be more diplomatic.” Refusing to point at any one person, Mr Gujral said that he does not wish to name any one person, but the entire BJP for the prevailing situation.

Cautioning the BJP, Mr Gujral added, “The BJP can’t roughshod their allies. They are not dealing with allies with finesse. They are taking allies for granted, amends are required otherwise it will have disastrous consequences.” After the Shiv Sena and the TDP, now Akali Dal has also come out and asked the BJP to take along its allies.

In Maharashtra also, the Assembly elections were fought separately by the BJP and its ally at the Center Shiv Sena. After the results of the recently concluded bypolls in Rajasthan in which the BJP lost two Lok Sabha seats and one Assembly seat, the allies of the BJP have also started flexing their muscles. The allies have been demanding that proper representation be given to them. Apart from this, they have also started grandstanding for the Lok Sabha elections.

If a pre-poll alliance takes place, the allies want the BJP should not play as the big brother instead treat allies as equal partners.