In the run up to the assembly polls in Punjab, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Saturday announced that it has formed an alliance with the Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) for the elections slated to be held in early 2022. Earlier, SAD was in ties with BJP, which it broke last year over the Centre’s contentious farm bills.
With the new alliance, Shiromani Akali Dal aims to fill the gap in several seats after its split with BJP. SAD President Sukhbir Badal said here the BSP will contest in 20 out of the 117 seats, whereas his party will contest the remaining seats.
The seats are -- Kartarpur, Jalandhar West, Jalandhar North, Phagwara, Nawanshahr, Hoshiarpur City, Tanda, Dasuya, Chamkaur Sahib, Bassi Pathana, Mehal Kalan, Ludhiana North, Sujanpur, Boha, Pathankot, Anandpur Sahib, Mohali, Amritsar North, Amritsar Central and Payal.
Sukhbir Badal said a coordination committee of leaders from both the parties would be formed soon to ensure seamless working in all the constituencies
“It will be the beginning of a new socio-political movement not just in Punjab but also in the country where minorities and under-privileged classes will stand together on one platform,” said a senior SAD leader.
Daljit Singh Cheema, the SAD spokesperson said "We will work to end corruption and scams under Congress' leadership. The current government is anti-Dalits and anti-farmers while we will work for everyone's welfare and development," he added.
SAD and BSP
The Akali Dal and Bahujan Samaj Party are joining hands after 27 years. Earlier, in the 1996 Lok Sabha elections, the two parties in the alliance had bagged 11 out of 13 seats in Punjab. BSP has then won all three seats it had contested while SAD won eight out of 10 seats.
Last week, Sukhbir Singh Badal had announced that his party is open to tie-ups barring the Congress, BJP and Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party. “We cannot align with these parties. We will form an alliance and we are open to others. No chance to go with BJP at all” said Badal.
Meanwhile, BSP has a good hold over the 31 percent Dalit votes in Punjab, where Dalit constitute almost 40% of the population. Mayavati’s party will contest from 20 seats while Akali Dal from 97 seats.
Akali Dal and BJP
The Akali Dal was the oldest ally of the Bhartiya Janata Party dating back to 1992. It used to be the senior partner in the alliance with BJP contesting over 90 out of 117 seats and the rest went to BJP.
In the Lok Sabha elections too, Akali Dal fielded candidates in 10 out of 13 seats and the rest three were offered to BJP.
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Sukhbir Singh Badal-led Akali Dal pulled out NDA in September 2020 over the three controversial agricultural bills also known as black laws. These bills set off protests from farmers, mostly from Punjab and Haryana.
When these bills were presented in the Lok Sabha, the only Akali minister in PM Modi’s cabinet Harsimrat Kaur Badal resigned from her position, and a week later SAD broke their alliance with BJP and termed the bills as ‘lethal and disastrous’ for the country.