NEW DELHI: The Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday put speculation over an alliance with the Shiromani Akali Dal to rest, saying the saffron party will contest all 117 seats in the upcoming Punjab assembly elections.BJP national general secretary (organisation) BL Santosh said the party was fully prepared for the polls and would form the government in Punjab.“Punjab is fully ready for change, and the BJP is fully prepared to make this change a reality. In the upcoming assembly elections, the BJP will contest all 117 Assembly seats in Punjab and, by securing a victory, will form its government in the state,” Santosh said.The statement comes days after speculation grew over a possible BJP-SAD alliance following SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal’s meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.Former Union minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal had also hinted at the possibility of the Akali Dal joining hands with the BJP again, while expressing a cryptic wish for “agreements” that brought progress to Punjab from Delhi.Earlier, Shiromani Akali Dal leader Bikram Singh Majithia also said that people in Punjab want his party to join hands with the Bharatiya Janata Party for the upcoming polls.
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Majithia cited Punjab’s status as a border state and the need to protect social harmony and the state’s social fabric as reasons for public sentiment favouring a reunion.“We should understand that the Shiromani Akali Dal and BJP have worked together. Vajpayee ji and Badal ji strengthened this alliance, and it continued during Modi ji’s time,” Majithia said.The SAD had parted ways with the National Democratic Alliance in September 2020 over the three farm laws, which were later repealed.Santosh began his two-day visit to Punjab to review the party’s organisational functioning and strengthen coordination and preparedness at the grassroots level in the poll-bound state.His visit comes amid dissent within the BJP’s state unit over a recent organisational reshuffle, with a section of leaders accusing the state leadership of sidelining the old cadre.
