Punjab set for a 4-way contest as BJP-SAD talks fail
Afour-way electoral contest is in the offing for Punjab’s 13 Lok Sabha seats as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) indicated on Tuesday that negotiations with its former ally, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), for the revival of their alliance in the border state, have failed.
Punjab is scheduled for polling on June 1, marking the seventh and final phase of the General Elections.
The alliance could have been potent with the Bhagwant Mann-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government facing anti-incumbency. The Congress is also in disarray. Earlier this month, its Patiala MP Preneet Kaur joined the BJP. On Tuesday, its Ludhiana MP, Ravneet Singh Bittu, joined the BJP.
According to psephologist Pramod Kumar, who heads Chandigarh-based think tank Institute for Development and Communication, the breakdown of the seat-sharing talks between the BJP and SAD has opened up Punjab’s electoral fray to the advantage of the Congress, the principal opposition party in the state. And it is welcome news for AAP. Congress and AAP have agreed to share seats in Delhi, Gujarat, and Haryana but will fight against each other in Punjab.
“An ‘unconditional alliance’ with the BJP would have been detrimental for the Akalis. They would have lost face in Punjab. Their decision to go alone will help them in the long run,” Kumar told Business Standard. The SAD, out of power since 2017 and pushed to number three, has its eyes fixated on the 2027 Assembly elections.
Widening rift
From 1996 to 2020, the Akalis subscribed to former Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal’s approach of providing ‘unconditional support’ to the BJP. It lasted until September 2020, when the Akalis exited the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) after the farmers’ protests over the Centre’s three farm bills.
In the multi-cornered contest in the March 2022 Assembly polls, the SAD performed poorly, winning only