NEW DELHI: The BJP on Monday announced a three-party alliance for the upcoming Punjab Assembly elections, with a common manifesto on the anvil, besides a committee consisting of members of each constituent to finalise the seat adjustments.
On Monday the former Punjab chief minister and leader of the Punjab Lok Congress along with Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, who leads a breakaway faction of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), called on Amit Shah.
The BJP chief J P Nadda was also present in the meeting. The BJP’s election in-charge and the Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat was also present in the meetings. Dhindsa is an MP in the Rajya Sabha.
Later speaking to the reporters, Shekhawat said that three parties will jointly contest the Assembly elections.
“Two members from each of the constituent of the pre-poll alliance will form a committee to go into the finer details of the seat sharing, and which party will contest from which Assembly constituency,” said Shekhawat.
The BJP led alliance is pushing ahead with the election preparations amid indications that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch the poll campaign in Punjab in the first week of the next month. Prime Minister is yet to visit Manipur and Punjab out of the five election-bound states.
Shekhawat also told reporters that the three party alliance will put out a joint manifesto for the Punjab polls, which will be the agenda for them to work if voted to power.
The minister exuded confidence that the alliance will come victorious in the polls, which appear setting out for a four cornered contest, with the Congress, Aam Aadmi Party and the SAD-BSP alliance being the three other claimants for power in the state.
Another political outfit led by the farmers’ union leaders is seeking to make the polls a five cornered contest.
Ahead of the finalisation of the seat adjustments among the alliance constituents, the BJP is on a spree to induct Sikh leaders in its ranks to shore up its image in Punjab where the party was put in a spot due to the farm agitation.
Amarinder Singh Monday said his party, the BJP and the SAD (Sanyukt) have come together in the interest of national security and progress of the state, and claimed that the coalition will win next year's Assembly polls.
Amarinder Singh had quit the Congress after his unceremonious exit as the CM and launched his party the Punjab Lok Congress.
"I am happy that we have come together in the interest of the national security, welfare and progress of Punjab," Amamrinder Singh said after meeting Union Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP president J P Nadda and the SAD (Sanyukt) chief Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa in New Delhi.
The former chief minister said he is happy that the three parties agreed to fight the elections together with a mission to bring back glory to Punjab.
"With the BJP governments both at the Centre and in the state, Punjab will be on an irreversible trajectory of growth and development driven by a double engine," he said in a statement.
The manifesto is being worked out that will address concerns of all sections of people of the state, he said.
He maintained that the seat sharing agreement between the three parties will be worked out very soon.
Amarinder Singh reiterated that the primary criterion for choosing the candidates will be their winnability, irrespective of the party they will contest from.
The former CM said with the massive response and great demand for party nomination from across the state, he is confident of a new beginning in Punjab politics.
"We will set a record with our electoral performance," he asserted.
He reiterated his assurances and commitment to all sections of people of Punjab, including the youth and the farmers that their interest will be watched at all costs.
He said agriculture is integral to the growth and progress of Punjab, and there will be added emphasis on this sector.
Ways and means will be devised to generate employment within Punjab so that the youth do not seek greener pastures elsewhere outside the country, he said.
(With PTI Inputs)
