Patiala: In a politically significant visit to assure its ally Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), Union Health Minister Sushma Swaraj today (Dec 6, 2003) called on jailed SAD chief Parkash Singh Badal and his MP son Sukhbir in the central jail in Patiala and said they were denied basic facilities.

Talking to reporters after the 90-minute meeting with Badal, she said Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh's behaviour was "devoid of political decency" and advised him to "stop nursing personal enmity".

Alleging that Badals were being denied even the basic facilities, Swaraj said she would submit a report on the issue to the Rajya Sabha Chairman, since Sukhbir is a member of the Upper House, and to the Prime Minister on Atal Bihari Vajpayee's return from his foreign tour tomorrow.

"Parkash Singh Badal is a three-time Chief Minister and he should have been allowed better facilities," the Union Minister, who was accompanied by her Cabinet colleague and senior SAD leader Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, said.

Sukhbir was kept in a cell meant for condemned prisoners and was shifted to the cell housing his father on Thursday after it became known that she and others would be visiting them in the jail, Swaraj said.

Amarinder Singh and Ajit Jogi were the two Congress Chief Ministers who had led protests in front of the Prime Ministers' residence. "Amarinder Singh should learn a lesson from the experience of Jogi," she said, adding "they (Singh and Jogi) will prove to be a liability to Sonia Gandhi".

PTI