CHANDIGARH: Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s point man for the Punjab elections, Union Jal Shakti Minister CR Patil, is expected to visit Punjab on November 17 and hold meetings, as both parties have reportedly almost reached an agreement on seat-sharing. Before that, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal is likely to meet Patil in Delhi on Sunday.
Sources said that, in an important development, seat-sharing talks between the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and the BJP had concluded and that the poll alliance could be announced any day now. A meeting between SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal and Union Home Minister Amit Shah is also expected soon to finalise the electoral alliance.
Grewal acknowledged that two views were doing the rounds within the party. While common people and some BJP leaders who joined the party from other political parties believe an alliance is necessary to win elections, the party's core team and old workers, who have been associated with it for 40 to 50 years, are opposed to it. "Governments come and go, but nationalist ideology must flourish in Punjab," he said.
Ahead of the formal announcement of a poll alliance, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s close aide CR Patil, who is currently steering election planning in the state, is expected to visit Punjab on November 17 and hold a meeting in Chandigarh. His programme is being finalised in coordination with the Punjab BJP unit. This will be his first visit to the state since he took charge of ground surveys and election strategies.
Sources in the saffron party claimed that before Patil visits Chandigarh for the meeting on Tuesday, SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal is likely to meet him in Delhi on Sunday. Rebel leader Bibi Jagir Kaur may also be inducted back into the Akali Dal fold.
However, a section of the state leadership continues to oppose the alliance. Senior BJP leader and National Commission for Minorities Chairman Harjit Grewal has said that the party's veteran leaders in Punjab are not in favour of a fresh alliance with the Akalis. Grewal said the final decision would be taken by the party high command and that leaders at the lower levels had no say in the matter.
In August this year, Sukhbir Badal and Prime Minister Narendra Modi met cordially at the Parliament House complex, their first official engagement since the SAD left the NDA six years ago. Since then, signs of a reunion have only grown. Modi’s point man for the Punjab polls, CR Patil, has also met Sukhbir.
The SAD quit the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance in September 2020 in protest against the Centre’s three farm laws, which were later repealed. A renewed pact would bring the former allies back onto a common electoral platform against the ruling AAP, which has already announced 71 candidates in two lists.
