Chandigarh, July 22
The convincing win for the Congress-led UPA government in the Lok Sabha today had a surprise, if not a shock, for the Shiromani Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Badal and Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal.
One of their eight MPs, Sukhdev Singh Libra from Ropar, defied the party whip and stayed away. Two-time MP and a trusted man of late SGPC chief Gurcharan Singh Tohra was reportedly lured away from the NDA camp by those Tohra men who are now controlling the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee. They were reportedly successful in keeping him away.
The decision of Sukhdev Singh Libra might have come as a shock to Sukhbir Singh Badal who, on the eve of the motion of confidence, looked certain that all party MPs would religiously vote on the NDA lines.
There was speculation that there were some among the Akalis MPs who were vulnerable and might succumb to the pressure built not only by various pro-Congress Sikh organisations but also shift loyalties in view of their uncertain future in the SAD politics.
For Sukhdev Singh Libra, it might have been his last term in the Lok Sabha. It is not only delimitation, but also other factors that might have denied him ticket in the coming elections. Compared to the SAD’s embarrassment, Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda not only brought back dissident Arvind Sharma into the UPA camp but also made sure that he supported the motion of
confidence.
