CHANDIGARH: Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini, ruled out any possibility of an alliance with the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) in the state.
Despite Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi last week, triggering fresh speculation about a possible SAD-BJP alliance for the 2027 Punjab Assembly elections, the SAD on Saturday demanded the immediate implementation of the Women's Reservation Bill and fair and equitable delimitation to ensure equal representation for all states.
On the other hand, the BJP found itself firefighting this week, mostly around the public display of dissent in poll-bound Punjab, where a newly constituted state body left many leaders fuming, as party's Haryana in-charge Satish Poonia has been deputed to quell the dissent in the Punjab unit of the saffron party.
Replying to a question during his media briefing, CM Saini said that the alliance of the BJP is with the people of Punjab and also claimed that the BJP is forming the next government in the state.
Asked about SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal's meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday, the Haryana Chief Minister said that PM Modi represents 140 crore people of India and could meet anyone.
Expressing surprise that the meeting had led to speculation about an alliance, Saini said that people had started celebrating the development as "finally time has been given."
Meanwhile, Saini also targeted the AAP government, saying that the government had surpassed even the Congress in corruption.
He also took a swipe at the 'Mawan Dhiyan' scheme, saying that on the one hand, Punjab was giving cash to women close to the election, while on the other, benefits such as widow pensions to the same women had been stopped.
During a recent visit to Punjab, BJP national president Nitin Nabin had said that a decision regarding the alliance would be taken at an appropriate time.
Some senior BJP leaders, including former Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh and former state party chief Sunil Jakhar, had been saying that the saffron party would benefit electorally if it again allied with SAD.
Both SAD and BJP were alliance partners for more than two decades and jointly formed governments in Punjab for three terms — from 1997 to 2002, 2007 to 2012, and 2012 to 2017.
After the SAD-BJP alliance broke in 2021 over the now-repealed farm laws, as SAD initially supported the farm legislation before opposing it and demanding its repeal, it subsequently walked out of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).
Both parties contested the 2022 Punjab Assembly elections and the 2024 Lok Sabha elections independently. In the Assembly elections, the Akalis won three seats and the BJP won two.
In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP failed to win any seats in the state, while the Akali Dal managed to secure only one seat, and Harsimrat Kaur Badal, wife of party chief Sukhbir Singh Badal, won from Bathinda.
The seat-sharing formula followed before the break-up had the Akali Dal in the dominant position. For the Lok Sabha elections, the panthic party fought 10 of the 13 seats while the saffron party fought on three, and as far as Assembly elections were concerned, the BJP fought on 23 seats while the Akalis fought on 94 seats.
On the other hand, the party high command moved to quell growing dissent in its Punjab unit by deputing party observer Satish Poonia to meet the disgruntled leaders and assess the state organisation's functioning. Poonia, who is also the party's Haryana in-charge, has been asked to submit a report on the grievances raised by the party leaders and recommend measures to address them, said sources.
Sources said that Poonia also questioned the rationale behind some of the organisational changes, pointing out that he himself had been part of the process through which the original appointments were finalised.
Three of the five newly named general secretaries in the state unit, disgruntled leaders say, are from Ludhiana, as no representation was given to the party's strongholds in Majha and Doaba regions.
Also, six district presidents were removed within days of being appointed, and no show-cause notices were issued or explanations sought from them.