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After Modi-Sukhbir meet, BJP summons Punjab leadership to Delhi
The state BJP unit was unaware of the reason for the summons, but party insiders said Dhillon and Srinivasulu, who were scheduled to address a meeting of the party’s newly appointed office-bearers in Ludhiana on Saturday, flew to Delhi on Saturday afternoon to meet BJP national president Nitin Nabin
A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s meeting with Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) chief Sukhbir Singh Badal rekindled speculation over a possible alliance between the SAD and BJP ahead of the 2027 Punjab assembly elections, the BJP high command on Saturday summoned state party president Kewal Singh Dhillon and state organisation secretary Manthri Srinivasulu to Delhi.
The sudden summons intensified speculation that the BJP central leadership may be reviewing its strategy in Punjab, including the possibility of a renewed alliance with the SAD.
The state BJP unit was unaware of the reason for the summons, but party insiders said Dhillon and Srinivasulu, who were scheduled to address a meeting of the party’s newly appointed office-bearers in Ludhiana on Saturday, flew to Delhi on Saturday afternoon to meet BJP national president Nitin Nabin.
The outcome of the meeting was not clear till the filing of this report late at night.
The development came within 24 hours of Dhillon reiterating that the BJP will contest all 117 assembly seats in Punjab on its own. On Friday, he had said Sukhbir’s meeting with Modi did not necessarily indicate any alliance, as any political leader could meet the Prime Minister, and maintained that the state unit was preparing to fight the 2027 elections independently.
Party sources, however, said the central leadership could give the state leaders fresh directions on the way forward if there was any movement towards a possible reunion with the SAD.
Sources in the SAD said Sukhbir’s meeting with Modi had been “very productive” and that the SAD chief had apprised the Prime Minister of the political ground realities in Punjab.
On Friday, Sukhbir had met Modi one-on-one for the first time ever since the SAD had an acrimonious split from the BJP over the three controversial farm laws in 2020, ending the allies’ 23-year-old partnership that began in 1997.
Sukhbir’s wife and Lok Sabha MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal had also served as a Union cabinet minister in the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government before resigning over the agriculture laws, which were later withdrawn.
Together, the two parties formed governments in Punjab thrice — in 1997, 2007 and 2012.
In the six years since then, the two leaders had not publicly held a political meeting, although Modi had visited the SAD headquarters in Chandigarh to pay respects to former Punjab chief minister and SAD patriarch Parkash Singh Badal after his death in April 2023.
Friday’s meeting assumed significance against the backdrop of political activity gathering pace in Punjab, with the assembly elections scheduled early next year and the model code of conduct likely to come into force by the end of this year.
While the BJP has, over the past several months, consistently maintained that it will contest the 2027 elections independently on all 117 seats, talks of a possible re-alliance with the SAD have remained at the centre of political discourse in the state.
The last time the two parties contested separately, in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the SAD won only one of Punjab’s 13 seats, while the BJP failed to open its account.
In the 2022 assembly polls, their first electoral contest apart in more than two decades, the SAD won only three of the 117 seats — its worst-ever performance — while the BJP managed just two.
The two parties did attempt rapprochement ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, but the talks fell through over seat-sharing. The BJP sought five of Punjab’s 13 parliamentary seats, while the SAD was set on conceding only four.
The BJP subsequently contested all 13 seats on its own but failed to win any. However, buoyed by bagging around an 18% vote share independently, the party leadership declared that it would also contest the 2027 assembly elections on its own.
During his maiden visit to Punjab in June, BJP national president Nitin Nabin had maintained that the party was preparing to contest all 117 seats on its own. Before him, Union home minister Amit Shah in March had asserted that the BJP was done playing the “Chhota Bhai” (younger brother) in Punjab and will fight the elections alone.
“Whenever we came before you in the past, we were the junior partner. But from today, the BJP begins its campaign to form its own government in Punjab,” Shah had said while launching the party’s high-decibel campaign in the state.
A section of the old guard, including former chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh and former state BJP chief Sunil Jakhar, however, has consistently advocated reviving the alliance with SAD, describing it as important for both development and communal harmony in Punjab.
Political insiders said Sukhbir had also met Haryana chief minister Nayab Singh Saini a few days ago. Saini over the past months has been actively involved in strengthening the BJP’s organisational footprint in Punjab.
