Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal met Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Parliament House in New Delhi on Friday and the meeting has drawn attention in Punjab as political parties begin preparing for the 2027 Punjab Assembly elections.
The meeting took place at a time when political activity in Punjab is gradually picking up, while the BJP and SAD were long-time allies in Punjab before their alliance ended over the now-repealed farm laws.
For the past several months, BJP leaders in Punjab have maintained that the party would contest the 2027 Assembly elections independently and the party has repeatedly said that it is preparing to fight the elections on its own strength.
Against this backdrop, Badal's meeting with Prime Minister Modi has brought the BJP-SAD relationship back into political discussion, However, there has been no official confirmation from either side about any proposal to revive their alliance.
The official agenda of the meeting has also not been made public, therefore, details about what was discussed between Sukhbir Badal and PM Modi are not available at present.
Punjab-related issues could be among the matters discussed, but no official statement has confirmed this and several issues have remained important in the state's political debate, including law and order, the drug problem and concerns related to paper leaks and examination irregularities.
The BJP and SAD had shared power at the Centre as allies for several years, in Punjab, the two parties also fought elections together for decades and their alliance came to an end in September 2020 after the SAD withdrew from the National Democratic Alliance over the three farm laws introduced by the Union government. The laws were later repealed by the Centre.
Since then, both parties have followed separate political paths in Punjab and the SAD contested the 2022 Punjab Assembly elections separately, while the BJP also fought the election without its former alliance partner.
The 2027 Assembly election is expected to see a multi-cornered contest in Punjab, with the Aam Aadmi Party, Congress, BJP and SAD preparing for the electoral battle and at present, the meeting between Sukhbir Singh Badal and Narendra Modi does not confirm any political alliance. Any decision regarding a possible BJP-SAD tie-up would depend on official announcements from the two parties.
Neither the Prime Minister's Office nor the Shiromani Akali Dal has issued an official statement on the discussions held during the meeting so far and further details are expected if either side releases information about the meeting.
