The resolution passed by the ruling National Democratic Alliance partners in New Delhi last night stood out not just for the effusive praises of Prime Minister Narendra Modi who surpassed Jawaharlal Nehru as India’s longest serving PM, but also for its salutations of founders and parties of the coalition.A name that stood out among seven that were recorded by NDA allies for generous appreciation and recall was that of late Shiromani Akali Dal patriarch Parkash Singh Badal. Another name was of late Balasaheb Thackeray, the founder of Shiv Sena.The inclusion of these two names (Badal and Thackeray) among other NDA founding leaders — Atal Behari Vajpayee, George Fernandes, Sikandar Bakth, LK Advani and MM Joshi — carries a political message for the current leaderships of Shiromani Akali Dal and Shiv Sena UBT.Both the SAD and Shiv Sena broke away from the NDA at different points in the past, with senior BJP leaders continuing to maintain that they never deserted any NDA ally and that it was always the other way round.Sukhbir Singh Badal-led Akali Dal split from the NDA in September of 2020, ending a 24-year pact. The trigger was the contentious agricultural laws which the Centre withdrew later.Uddhav Thackeray of Shiv Sena broke away from the NDA in 2019 over differences in power-sharing after the BJP-Shiv Sena pre-poll coalition won Maharashtra elections.Since then while Uddhav’s Sena suffered yet another split with Eknath Shinde joining the NDA in mid-2022, leading to the fall of Uddhav-led Maha Vikas Aghadi in Maharashtra, the Akali Dal has also lost ground in Punjab.In the 2022 Punjab elections, SAD was reduced to three seats out of 117 — recording its worst show in history. The BJP won two seats out of 65 it contested alone.In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections too, the Akali Dal won just one seat losing a massive base.Sukhbir Badal’s wife Harsimrat Badal is the lone Akali Dal Lok Sabha MP currently from Bathinda.Ahead of the Punjab elections in 2027, the BJP-led NDA resolution has sent a message to the Akali Dal that it continues to respect and honour Parkash Singh Badal’s legacy.For Uddhav, too, the message is the same, with latest reports suggesting many of his MPs in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha are in touch with Maharashtra Deputy CM Eknath Shinde to join the NDA.Earlier three major NDA constituents that had quit the coalition for varied reasons — Nitish Kumar-led JDU, Chandrababu Naidu-led TDP and AIADMK — returned to the NDA fold.Akali Dal and Shiv Sena UBT, however, continue to hold their own.What NDA resolution says on foundersAlmost three decades ago, under the guidance of several leading lights like Atal Bihari Vajpayee, LK Advani, Dr Murli Manohar Joshi, George Fernandes, Balasaheb Thackeray, Sardar Parkash Singh Badal, Sikandar Bakht and several others, the NDA was formed to bring together diverse parties and people under the common mantra of India First.