6-member SAD-BJP Coordination Committee formed

Phagwara, Apr 8 (UNI) A six member Joint Coordination Committee of the SAD-BJP has been set up for the smooth functioning of the alliance government in Punjab.

The Co-Ordination Committee was set up after dicussions between Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and senior BJP leaders, including Arun Jaitley, Manoranjan Kalia, who is a state cabinet minister and leader of the BJP's legislature party, state BJP chief Avinash Rai Khanna and Navjot Singh Sidhu, MP from Amritsar. The meeting between these leaders was held at New Delhi last night.

Confirming the formation of the committee, R P Singh, who assists Mr Jaitley in managing the Punjab BJP affairs, told UNI here today that the committee would have three members each party from the two parties.

Mr Kalia, Mr Sidhu and Mr Khanna will represent the BJP in the meeting. Mr Badal would take a decision on the representatives of the SAD.

According to Mr R P Singh the committee would meet every fortnight to discuss issues related to the smooth functioning of the government. The first meeting of the committee would be held on April 16 at Chandigarh, which will prepare the poll strategy of the alliance for the forthcoming Muncipal Corporation elections in Amritsar, Jalandhar, Ludhiana and Patiala.

UNI