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SAD-BJP tie-up talks likely to resume next week
According to senior functionaries of both BJP and SAD, the top leadership of both parties will start a fresh round of talks in Delhi early next week and explore the possibility of stitching up an alliance before the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) are going to restart their alliance talks in the next couple of days after putting them on the backburner owing to the farmers’ stir.
According to senior functionaries of both BJP and SAD, the top leadership of both parties will start a fresh round of talks in Delhi early next week and explore the possibility of stitching up an alliance before the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.
As per reports, SAD chief Sukhbir Badal has already held discussions with BJP’s top leadership and the first round of discussion on seat sharing has already taken place with Union minister Piyush Goyal.
SAD had been part of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) since 1996 and had walked out of the alliance in 2020, in the wake of the farm agitation against the Centre’s three contentious agri laws. The BJP, at that time, had termed it as a step taken in haste.
On Saturday, state BJP chief Sunil Jakhar once again created a buzz when he told a news channel that people in Punjab want SAD-BJP to come together to defeat the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Punjab.
“The alliance can take on the hidden alliance between Aam Aadmi Party government and the defunct Congress party in Punjab. Supporters of both the parties want them to come together to save Punjab,” Jakhar later told HT. He, however, clarified that any seat-sharing formula will be decided by the party’s high command.
A former SAD MP said things were already settled and were moving in the right direction but everything had to be put on hold because of farmer agitation.
“Both the parties started dwelling on the fallout of the agitation on the SAD-BJP alliance. Farmer agitation worked as a spanner in the alliance but now things seem to be working out again,” the SAD leader said on the condition of anonymity.
Meanwhile, the state BJP unit has called up its state election committee meeting on Monday to finalise the names of three candidates from each Parliamentary segment.
“After announcing the first tranche of the list of candidates for the LS polls on Saturday, the BJP’s central election committee (CEC) is likely to meet again on March 6 and Punjab Lok Sabha seats are likely to come up for discussion. Subsequently, the Punjab election committee is meeting on Monday to finalise names of three candidates from each Parliamentary segment,” a senior Punjab BJP functionary, who didn’t wish to be named, said.
