Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader and former Union Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal expressed her disappointment over the farm Bills, which were passed haphazardly in the Rajya Sabha before getting assented by the President.

She resigned from the Union Ministry on September 17 over the Bhartiya Janata Party’s introduction of the Bills. She said that her resignation brought farmers’ issues to the center stage.

The SAD also pulled out of the BJP led National Democratic Alliance. It was a part of the alliance since 1997. A relationship that goes back to Parkash Singh Badal describing ties with the BJP as ‘nau-mass da rishta’ (ties like nail and flesh), cannot stand on a leg today.

In a tweet, Harsimrat Kaur Badal had pointed out at the actions of the current government leading the quite opposite direction to what Atal Bihari Vajpayee had envisioned with the Badal’s.

“If Pain & Protests of 3 cr punjabis fail to melt the rigid stance of GoI, it’s no longer the #NDA envisioned by Vajpayee ji & Badal sahab. An alliance that turns a deaf ear to its oldest ally & a blind eye to pleas of those who feed the nation is no longer in the interest of Pb,” her tweet read.

This tweet was attached with Sukhbir Singh Badal, the party’s president and her husband, announcing Shiromani Akali Dal’s exit from the NDA official.

“Shiromani Akali Dal core committee decides unanimously to pull out of the BJP-led #NDA because of the Centre’s stubborn refusal to give statutory legislative guarantees to protect assured marketing of crops on #MSP and its continued insensitivity to Punjabi and #Sikh issues,” said Sukhbir Singh Badal’s tweet.

SAD, who lost the 2017 Punjab elections after having formed governments for two consecutive terms, could only manage 15 seats out of 117. The Akalis’ support for the farmers and willingness to rest power aside might influence the farmer community in Punjab in SAD’s favour.