Hailing the Centre's move to give Rs five lakh each to the victims of 1984 anti-Sikh riots, the Punjab unit of BJP today sought similar compensation to the next of kin of those killed by terrorists during the militancy period in the state.
Describing the announcement of compensation as "step in the positive direction" by the NDA government, Punjab BJP senior leader and state unit's spokesman Manoranjan Kalia said that "a similar compensation should also be meted out to those who fell to the terrorist bullets in Punjab".
On BJP's present ties with its ally Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) in the state, he said that the alliance was "time tested" which was not only a political combination but also a social and emotional partnership between the two parties.
On being asked regarding SAD and Congress demand that Chandigarh - the joint capital of Punjab and Haryana - should be handed over to Punjab, he said, "There were many occasions when both the states as well as the centre were ruled by the Congress. The Congress leaders had not then raised such demands while now they were crying for merger of Chandigarh with Punjab at the earliest."
"... The new government at the centre will certainly address these domestic long pending problems on priority. The Modi government deserves to be given sufficient time to tackle such issues," Kalia said.
