Akalis may issue whip if 'need arises': Badal

Chandigarh, Jul 18 (UNI) Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today confirmed that so far the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) had not issued a whip to the party MPs to vote against the confidence motion of the UPA-government in Parliament on July 22.

" As of now there is no need to issue the whip, but if the need arises we may issue such a diktat", he said in a informal chat with mediapersons here.

The SAD a stauch ally of the NDA has eight members in the Lok Sabha including Deputy Speaker Charanjit Singh Atwal. Ignoring appeals from politicians of different parties to support Dr Manmohan Singh, the first Sikh Prime Minister, the party has already decided to go along with the NDA on July 22 as the Congress had always ignored the interests of Punjab.

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