Shubham Ghosh
THE Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Saturday (12) entered an alliance with the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) for the Punjab Assembly elections next year. SAD president and Member of Parliament Sukhbir Singh Badal announced the tie-up at a press conference and called it a “new day in politics of Punjab”.
In the presence of BSP general secretary Satish Chandra Mishra, Badal, also a former deputy chief minister of Punjab, said: “Today, is a historic day...a big turn in Punjab's politics.” The 58-year-old leader said the BSP, which is a big player in Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous state, will contest in 20 out of 117 seats in Punjab while the SAD will fight in the rest. The states in which the BSP will fight are Kartarpur Sahib in Jalandhar, Jalandhar-West, Jalandhar-North, Phagwara, Hoshiarpur Urban, Dasuya, Chamkaur Sahib in Rupnagar district, Bassi Pathana, Sujanpur in Pathankot, Mohali, Amritsar North and Amritsar Central.
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The SAD, which was earlier a part of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) led by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi but walked out last September over contentious farm bills passed the Parliament, was in power in Punjab between 2007 and 2017. The BJP used to contest in around 23 seats under the alliance.
But the SAD was thrown out in 2017 and the Indian National Congress, led by Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh, returned to power after a decade by winning 77 seats. The SAD was pushed to the third position with only 15 seats while the BSP did not win a single seat despite contesting in 111 seats.
SAD, BSP join hands since 1996
This is not the first time that the SAD and BSP have joined hands for elections. In 1996, they came together for the national elections and bagged 11 out of 13 seats in Punjab. The BSP, led by former UP chief minister Mayawati, had won all three seats that it contested while the SAD won eight out of 10 seats.
Badal himself is said to the man behind the new alliance. Last week, he said that his party is open to tie-up to all parties barring the Congress, BJP and the Aam Aadmi Party which is also a competitive player in Punjab.
Besides Punjab, UP, Goa, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Manipur and Gujarat will also hold Assembly elections next year.
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