CHANDIGARH : After ensuring the merger of Nitish Kumar-led JD(U) and Jayant Chaudhary’s Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) into the NDA fold, the BJP is now eyeing a pact with the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) in Punjab.
While interacting with the media, Punjab BJP president Sunil Jakhar on Friday said that the masses want the BJP-SAD alliance, but the party is ready to contest all the 13 Lok Sabha seats in the state.
Speculation is rife that BJP national president JP Nadda and Union Home Minister Amit Shah may attend the first death anniversary of late chief minister and SAD patriarch Parkash Singh Badal on March 10. Jakhar also flagged off ‘Viksit Bharat Modi ki guarantee’ video vans displaying pictures of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Nadda, for gathering suggestions from the people for the party’s “sankalp patra” (manifesto) for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
Of the several vans fitted with LED screens, two would visit each of the 13 Lok Sabha constituencies in the state. A mobile number has also been mentioned on the vans, on which the people can either register their suggestions through a voice message or drop it in a box. Asked if an alliance between BJP and SAD will benefit the saffron party, Jakhar said: “It is not about a party gaining something but about the state and its people. We are ready to contest all 13 seats in Punjab, but the masses want the BJP-SAD alliance to happen. The regional parties like Akali Dal play a crucial role in raising the demands of the locals.”
On senior BJP leader and former Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh playing a key role in stitching an alliance between the SAD and the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, he said the party high command will take a final decision on that,” he said.
To another question, how soon Patiala MP Preneet Kaur, wife of former CM CaptAmarinder Singh, is expected to join the BJP, Jakhar said the joining will happen in Delhi.
Taking a dig at the Congress and AAP, he said the two played a ‘friendly match.’