Chandigarh, May 17
While VHP leader Ashok Singhal talked to Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal twice on the phone today to convey that no one could be allowed to imitate Guru Gobind Singh, Badal talked to his counterpart in Haryana, Bhupinder Singh Hooda, to urge him to defuse the situation in the Sirsa area.

Sources said Badal told Hooda that it was a joint responsibility of Punjab and Haryana to maintain peace in the region. Badal expressed concern over the gathering of a large number of people at Sirsa. He told Hooda that the entire region could be affected by prevailing circumstances, if effective steps were not taken to control the situation by both states.

Meanwhile, the sources said the Punjab Police had been deployed in strength along its boundary with Haryana to prevent followers of the dera from crossing over to Punjab. Nakas had been put up on the roads in the Bathinda region. The sources said all points on the Punjab-Haryana boundary in the Mansa-Bathinda region had been virtually sealed.

Meanwhile, Singhal told Badal that the VHP had a great respect for Guru Gobind Singh and considered him one of the greatest saint-soldiers. He said he would visit the state soon. Arun Jaitley, BJP leader, also called up Badal today. He told the Chief Minister that the BJP would help him in every manner to restore normalcy in the region.