Badal meets PM, RSS leader
Tribune News Service

NEW DELHI, Oct 19 — In a significant development, the Punjab Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, today called on the RSS Joint General Secretary Mr K. S. Sudarshan, after he met the Prime Minister and the Union Home Minister.

The Chief Minister, who arrived here in the morning, rounded off his engagements, meeting Mr Sudarshan, the ‘Sah sarkaryavaha’ at the Rashtriya Swayam Sewak Sangh’s Delhi office at Jhandewalan this afternoon before returning to Chandigarh.

While officials of both the Punjab government and at the RSS office confirmed the meeting Mr Badal had with Mr Sudarshan, it was described as a courtesy call.

This was the second time that Mr Badal met RSS leaders in Delhi. The previous meeting was held in 1998.

Incidentally, the top leadership of the RSS was away to attend the foundation day rally at its Nagpur headquarters. Mr Sudarshan, who is in charge of political affairs in the RSS, is number three in the hierarchy of the RSS after Prof Rajendra Singh, the ‘sarsanghchalak’ (Chief — who is also known as Rajju Bhaiyya) and Mr H V Seshadari, the ‘sarkaryavaha’ (General Secretary).

Earlier, Mr Badal met Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee for nearly 30 minutes and discussed matters of mutual interest. According to informed sources, the Prime Minister was not happy over the decision of the Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal) not to participate in his government.

There has been considerable criticism over the decision with many blaming the BJP for not including any Sikh in the Union Cabinet for the first time in many years.

The possibility of an induction of a SAD nominee in the Union Cabinet later was not ruled out, the sources said.

In addition, the Punjab Chief Minister during his meeting with the Prime Minister last month had sought a replacement of the state Governor, whose term expired on September 17. Since the country was in the midst of the general election, a decision on the issue was deferred till the formation of a new government at the Centre.

The SAD also prefers to have a nominee for the gubernatorial posting. It is understood that former Union Minister and senior SAD leader Mr Surjit Singh Barnala is keen to take up such an assignment.

The Governors in six states — Karnataka, Manipur, Punjab, Bihar, Orissa and West Bengal — have either completed their term or their posts have already fallen vacant.

While the Andhra Pradesh Governor, Dr C Rangarajan, has been holding additional charge of Orissa since April last year, after Mr Gopala Ramanujam went on medical leave, the terms of the Governors of Manipur Mr Oudh Narain Shrivastava, Lt-Gen (Retd) B K N Chhibber (Punjab) and Mr Khurshid Alam Khan (Karnataka) ended between August and September this year.

In the case of Bihar, the Chief Justice of the state, Mr Justice B M Lal, held charge till his retirement last month. The Uttar Pradesh Governor, Mr Suraj Bhan, has the additional charge at present. Similarly, in West Bengal, the state Chief Justice is the acting Governor.

Meanwhile, in his meeting with Mr Advani at the latter’s residence, the Punjab Chief Minister is understood to have taken up cases of some journalists from Chandigarh who have been served notices to vacate government houses allotted to them out of turn under the discretionary quota of the Union Territory.

Chandigarh, being a centrally administered territory, falls under the purview of the Union Home Ministry.