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Dhindsa doesn't mind late induction

Onkar Singh

Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, who was inducted as the cabinet minister entrusted with the ministry of works yesterday, said he had no complaints about not being included in the ministry six weeks ago.

Dhindsa was originally slated to take the oath of office and secrecy along with other members of the Vajpayee government when it took the office.

"Last time I was also supposed to take the oath but the chief minister of Punjab Sardar Prakash Singh Badal and I decided that we should not become part of the Union cabinet since we had won just two seats. It did not look proper for us to be in the cabinet," Dhindsa told rediff.com soon after being inducted into the Union cabinet.

Asked why he had now decided to be part of the government now, Dhindsa said there had been a furore over the lack of Sikh representation in the cabinet.

"It is the prerogative of the prime minister to make someone a minister and when to drop someone. Last time, I got my letter of appointment well in time but then I had to abide by the decision of party president Sardar Badal."

The prime minister felt that they ought to become part of the cabinet to stave off the criticism levelled earlier, he said.

"He spoke to me in person and I, in consultation with my chief minister and party president Badal, decided that we should accept the offer," he said.

Dhindsa said that his first task after becoming minister would be to go to the Golden Temple in Amritsar and thank the almighty for his blessings. Thereafter, he proposed to address important issues like the distribution of water, transfer of Punjabi-speaking areas to Punjab at the earliest possible stage.

"We are still sharing our capital with Haryana. No two other states in India have the same capital," he said.

He admitted that the split in the Akali Dal ranks had done great damage to the party. "I wish this had not happened but then Gurcharan Singh Tohra carried things a bit too far and the split became inevitable. The net result is that the Congress managed to get a foothold in state politics. It had been totally wiped out in the Lok Sabha elections last year.

"But now there is nothing to worry about and the Shiromani Akali Dal is united under the leadership of Sardar Badal. This has been amply shown in the recently held elections of the chief of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee. Bibi Jagir Kaur, the Badal nominee, won the elections by a handsome margin. We are determined to show our rivals that the real Akali Dal is ours, not theirs," he said.

Asked if the two Akali Dals could come together, Dhindsa said efforts to forge unity were already in progress and his party would be more than happy to welcome Tohra and others back into the fold. But it was for Tohra to decide what to do next.

"The people of the state have seen through the game of the Tohra group and they now realize that the Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal) is the real Akali Dal," he said.

He did not deny that Tohra's personal ambition to become the chief minister of Punjab could be the main cause for the split.

"Every politician who is in politics has a right to think in terms of becoming the chief minister of the state or aspire for other high offices. There is nothing wrong with having such an ambition. But one should not strive for one's personal ambitions at the cost of the party," he said.

Talking about the dissidence in the party after the debacle in the Lok Sabha polls, Dhindsa said a handful of people were trying to harm the party to further their own interests. But, by and large, the party legislators are with the chief minister Badal and the things are now under control.

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