Amid buzz over a potential reunion of SAD-BJP, Shiromani Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Singh Badal on Friday said the AAP and Congress are the "biggest enemies" of Punjab and his party is open to an alliance with other parties that agree with their ideology and programmes.
Badal asserted that peace prevailed in Punjab when the SAD-BJP ran a coalition government.
Assembly polls in Punjab are scheduled to be held early next year.
Talking to reporters in Chandigarh, Badal said a Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) delegation met Punjab Governor Gulab Chand Kataria on Friday and discussed how an "incompetent chief minister" has ruined the state and that the law and order situation has completely collapsed.
The Badal-led delegation met the governor over the killing of anti-drug activist Parvinder Singh Jhota in Mansa and presented a memorandum with some demands which included the dismissal of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann.
Speaking to reporters, Badal said, "During the SAD-BJP rule, peace prevailed in Punjab, and the state witnessed development, be it in infrastructure, industry, or state becoming power surplus".
Due to wrong decisions of the Congress and AAP governments, the situation in Punjab turned bad, he said.
"Whether we form the government or not, we will continue to fight for the people of Punjab. In our view, the Congress and Aam Aadmi Party are the two biggest enemies of Punjab, and we can never have understanding with these parties. There are many other parties besides these and those who agree with the Akali Dal's ideology and programmes; we are open (for a tie-up)," he said.
At an event in Delhi on Thursday, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said that an NDA government will be in place in Punjab in 2027. The statement reignited the buzz about a reunion between the former allies.
Earlier in August, when Badal met Prime Minister Narendra Modi at his office in Parliament House, it had ignited speculation about the possibility of the regional party joining hands with the BJP again.
The SAD had snapped its 24-year-old alliance with the BJP in September 2020 over the now-scrapped three farm laws. Earlier, Lok Sabha MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal was also part of the Modi government as a minister with Cabinet rank.
In recent months, many Punjab BJP leaders have been saying that they are preparing to fight all 117 assembly seats in the assembly elections.
In the 2022 assembly polls, the BJP won two seats, and the SAD could register victories in three assembly segments out of a total 117-member Assembly.
Prior to the end of the electoral alliance, both Akalis and BJP used to fight together.
Referring to the Jhota murder case, Badal said they presented a memorandum to the governor with four key demands, including dismissal of the chief minister.
Badal alleged that drug mafia has political patronage from the ruling AAP.
He further said they have demanded Class-I job for Jhota's wife Manpreet Kaur and Rs 2 crore compensation on humanitarian grounds.
However, he made it clear that the anti-drug activist's family and the joint action committee in Mansa have not sought this.
Known for raising his voice against drug abuse and illegal sale of addictive substances at chemist shops, Jhota was shot in broad daylight inside a medical store at a busy marketplace in Mansa on October 13.
Ashwani Kumar, the store owner who opened fire on Jhota after he questioned him for selling addictive drugs to an elderly man, was taken into custody from Salasar in Rajasthan.
Badal also demanded expansion of the CBI probe to cover the cases of Gulzar Singh of Toor Banjara (Dirba) and Bikramjit Singh of Batala.
Gulzar, a resident of village Turbanjara in Dirba in Sangrur district, died by suicide on September 7. His family alleged that he consumed poison after being harassed and subjected to casteist slurs for questioning Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema about the supply of drugs in his locality.
Villagers have claimed that Bikramjit Singh was targeted for opposing drug peddling in his area, but police said the murder was the fallout of a scuffle between two groups over a mobile phone.
(With inputs from PTI)
