Chandigarh, Nov 2 Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) chief Sukhbir Singh Badal on Monday gave a guarded response to speculation of a possible patch-up with the BJP for the upcoming Punjab assembly polls, indicating that the situation will be clear in a few days.
“Main pandit tan hai nahin (I am not a Pandit). You will come to know in a few days what will happen,” said Badal while replying to a question on the possibility of a reunion with the BJP again.
However, he reiterated that except the Congress and AAP, he is open to an alliance with other parties which accept his party’s philosophy.
“I had said that two political parties are enemies of Punjab — which are Congress and Jharoowale (AAP). Except them, we are open to those parties which are in the interest of Punjab and which are with our philosophy,” said Badal.
Notably, at an event in Delhi last month, Union Home Minister Amit Shah predicted an NDA government in Punjab in 2027. The statement reignited the buzz about a reunion between former allies–SAD and BJP.
However, Punjab BJP leaders have been saying they are preparing to fight all 117 assembly seats in the coming assembly elections.
Replying to a question on two AAP MLAs quitting the party, Badal said several more leaders would leave the party in the coming days. He claimed that Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann will lose from his Dhuri seat.
“People hate them. They looted so much,” he alleged, targeting the AAP government.
On Monday, farmers’ body Bharatiya Kisan Union (Kadian), which is part of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha that led the agitation against farm laws, extended unconditional support to SAD for the upcoming state polls.
BKU (Kadian) president Harmeet Singh Kadian made the announcement in the presence of Badal.
Earlier in August, when Badal met Prime Minister Narendra Modi at his office in the Parliament House, it had ignited speculation about the possibility of the regional party joining hands with the BJP again.
The Shiromani Akali Dal had snapped its 24-year-old alliance with the BJP in September 2020 over the now-scrapped three farm laws.
The Punjab assembly polls are due early next year. In recent months, many Punjab BJP leaders have been saying that they are preparing to fight all 117 assembly seats for the coming assembly elections.
In the 2022 assembly polls, the BJP won two seats and the SAD could register victories in three assembly segments out of a total 117-member Assembly.
Earlier, Lok Sabha MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal was also part of the Modi government as a minister with Cabinet rank. As per the previous pact in the assembly polls, the BJP used to contest 23 seats and the SAD 94 assembly seats. In parliamentary polls, the SAD used to fight on 10 seats and the BJP on the remaining three.
(PTI News)
