SAD, BSP tie up for 2022 Punjab polls
Mayawati-led BSP is likely to contest on 20 seats and the Akali Dal on the remaining 97 in 2022 elections
The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) on Saturday announced the electoral tie-up for the 2022 Punjab assembly polls, striking a deal to contest 97 and 20 seats, respectively. The state has 117 assembly seats.
The formal announcement was made by SAD chief Sukhbir Badal in the presence of BSP’S national general secretary Satish Chandra Mishra at a joint press conference held at the SAD headquarters here.
Sukhbir said the BSP will contest eight seats in Doaba, seven in Malwa and five in Majha regions.
The BSP will contest Kartarpur, Jalandhar West, Jalandhar North, Ludhiana North, Pathankot, Amritsar Central, Amritsar North and Mohali. The Mayawati-led party will also fight from Phagwara, Hoshiarpur City, Tanda, Dasuya, Chamkaur Sahib, Bassi Pathana, Mehal Kalan, Nawanshahr, Sujanpur, Bhoa, Anandpur Sahib and Payal seats.
CHANDIGARH: The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) announced on Saturday they will fight next year’s Punjab election together, with the leaders of the two parties calling it a “historic” move that will usher in inclusive development to the state.
“Today is a historic day... A big turn in Punjab’s politics. This is not just an alliance for 2022 assembly polls but for other coming polls as well, as SAD has the history of not betraying its alliance partners,” Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Singh Badal said at a joint press briefing with BSP national general secretary Satish Chandra Mishra.
The Mayawati-led BSP is likely to contest 20 seats and the SAD the remaining 97 in the 117member state assembly,
Last year, SAD pulled out of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance due to differences over the new agricultural laws that triggered an agitation by farmers.
BSP and Akali Dal also presented themselves as an alternative to the Congress and the BJP in the state, and said they will fight under the umbrella of shared values. The farmers’ agitation and the Dalit vote appear to be the key planks on which the two parties are likely to focus in their campaign.
BSP general secretary Mishra on Saturday said chief minister Amarinder Singh “lost the trust” of his own cabinet colleagues. He was referring to the infighting between the ruling Congress government in Punjab, which has set up panel to resolve the issues ahead of the election next year.
Mishra added: “The SAD and the BSP are pro-farmer parties, who have worked to uplift Dalits, labourers and weaker sections (of the society).”
Nearly one-third (31.94%) of Punjab’s population are Dalits, who are largely settled in Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur, Nawanshahr and Kapurthala districts.
The Akali Dal and the BSP are coming together into an alliance after 25 years. In 1996, they fought the Lok Sabha election, winning 11 of 13 seats in Punjab.
BSP chief Mayawati on Saturday tweeted that the tie-up was a “new political and social initiative”, which will bring progress and prosperity in the state.
SAD patriarch Parkash Singh Badal described the formation as “the beginning of a secular, federal democratic revolution in the state and the country for a total socio-economic and political revamp of polity”, and invited Mayawati to visit Punjab.
BSP will contest seven seats in Malwa, five in Majha and eight in Doaba region of Punjab, said Sukhbir.
BJP general secretary for Punjab, Subhash Sharma, said: “Addition of two zeros cannot make any difference. This alliance is a desperate attempt to get Dalit support as BJP has already said the next chief minister of the party will be a Dalit.”
“This opportunistic tie-up is not going to save the sinking ship of Akalis. BSP leaders may have forgotten the way they were treated after their 1996 alliance which did not even last one year, but Dalits and poor people have not forgotten it,” said PPCC chief Sunil Jakhar.