The speculated alliance between the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and the BJP does not seem to have taken shape, going by the silence of the saffron party’s leadership at the first ‘Barsi’ of Parkash Singh Badal on March 9.
Punjab Chief of the BJP, Sunil Jakhar, praised the statesmanship of the former Chief Minister and SAD patron, Parkash Singh Badal. However, he did not mention an alliance with the ‘Panthic’ party, reports a leading English Daily. SAD president Sukhbir Badal’s hot pursuit to somehow get towed to the BJP yielded no visible results as the latter wants to go it alone in Punjab, this time banking on Sikh leaders inducted in the party during the past two years.
The recent merger of SAD (Sanyukt) led by Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa is seen as an effort by SAD to build bridges with the BJP. Dhindsa is known to be very close to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Amit Shah, as he had opted to be part of the NDA. “Sukhbir descended at Dhindsa sahib’s residence in Mohali only to use the SAD (Sanyukt) as a bridge to walk over to the BJP bandwagon,” says a Dhindsa confidant hailing from Sangrur but now settled in Chandigarh.
The backstage frantic efforts of Sukhbir Badal and his brother-in-law Bikramjit Singh Majithia to be a team with the BJP are hampered by the farmers’ agitation. Had the farmers not started the ‘Dilli Chalo’ programme, the alliance would have materialised by now, said an Akali source. At one point in time, the SAD’s core team even toyed with the idea of striking an alliance with separatist ‘Waris Punjab De’ led by Amritpal Singh Sandhu, who is at present lodged in the Dibrugarh jail.
As no permanent political enemies exist, Sukhbir Badal appealed to all ‘Panthic’ leaders to unite and contest elections jointly. No wonder he went to Manjit Singh GK’s residence in Delhi and brought him back to the party after humiliatingly expelling him before the 2022 elections. Feelers have also been sent to Bibi Jagir Kaur, who was suspended from the party for contesting SGPC elections for the post of its president against party nominee advocate H.S. Dhami.
On the other hand, the Punjab unit of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convinced the high command that it would not ally with the Congress. However, at the national level, the party is a constituent of INDIA.
The ruling Aam Aadmi Party launched its election campaign on March 10 from Mohali, with party Convener Arvind Kejriwal and Bhagwant Mann jointly addressing the workers.
It is believed that alliances and mergers would crystallise once election dates are announced.
