CHANDIGARH: A day after the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) supported the delimitation Bill, the Punjab Congress on Saturday accused the party of changing its position to seek an electoral alliance with the BJP ahead of the 2027 Punjab Assembly elections.
Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring questioned SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal’s decision to support the Bill after his recent meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi.
Warring recalled that the SAD had opposed the Delimitation Bill three months ago and described it as against Punjab’s interests. “SO, what changed within these three months that you started seeing merit in the same bill, you otherwise found against Punjab’s interests?” he asked, adding, “Sukhbir has turned more loyal than the king within no time.’’
He alleged that Badal was seeking an alliance with the BJP for political survival and had abandoned his earlier stand on Punjab’s interests.
He said the SAD had refused to compromise on Punjab’s interests when an alliance with the BJP did not materialise before the parliamentary elections. ``Now that you are desperate for your own survival, you have simply forgotten the interests of Punjab for which you claimed to had taken a stand in 2024”, Warring reminded Sukhbir, accusing him of political opportunism.
Warring also said a SAD-BJP alliance would not improve their electoral prospects. “People of Punjab have neither forgotten the sacrilege, nor the atrocities on farmers that the two parties are respectively guilty of”, he said, adding, “their coming together will hardly make any difference to their electoral fortunes, but will instead expose their opportunism”.
Congress MP from Chandigarh Manish Tewari said the SAD was entitled to take its own decision but reiterated his opposition to the proposed delimitation exercise.
``That is their own decision. However, I believe this delimitation serves neither Punjab nor North India,’’ he said.
Tewari warned that the proposed delimitation could alter the political representation of states in the North, South and Northeast while benefiting central regions.
"India's strategic and security-related challenges are concentrated in the North-East and North India. Therefore, we must ensure that these regions and states do not get the impression that their political weight within India's landscape is diminishing. This delimitation is not in the interest of North India, South India, or the North-East. It will primarily benefit Central India,’’ Tewari said.
On women's reservation, Tewari said the government could implement the provision by reserving one-third of the existing 543 Lok Sabha seats for women. ``You want to implement women's reservation, go ahead and reserve one-third of the 543 seats for women. But the Lok Sabha doesn't function with 543 members alone. By raising the number to 850, do you intend to turn it into something like China's National People's Congress?" he said.
The remarks came amid renewed political debate over the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill and the Delimitation Bill, 2026. The proposed legislation seeks to amend provisions related to the implementation of the Women’s Reservation Act, 2023, following an earlier setback in the Lok Sabha during the Budget Session in April.
