Punjab elections: BJP forms alliance with Amarinder Singh

GAJENDRA Singh Shekhawat, the minister of Jal Shakti (water resources) of the Narendra Modi government on Friday (17) said that the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will contest the upcoming assembly elections in the northern state of Punjab in alliance with Captain Amarinder Singh’s newly floated Punjab Lok Congress Party.

Shekhawat, who is in charge of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) mission for the assembly elections in Punjab early next year, made the announcement following his meeting with Singh who quit as the chief minister of the state in September over alleged humiliation that he faced in his former party Indian National Congress. He later quit the party and formed his own outfit.

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He was replaced by Charanjit Singh Channi, Punjab’s first Dalit chief minister.

Speaking to mediapersons, Shekhawat said: “Captain Saab and I had met in Chandigarh. The Home Minister, Amit Shahji, and the national president of BJP, J P Naddaji, had already given an indication that we will be fighting the elections jointly. Now, after this meeting, I can say that we will be fighting the Assembly elections together. On seat sharing, we will inform you after an appropriate time.”

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Punjab is under the rule of the Congress which has been facing serious internal trouble. This has encouraged other parties such as the Shiromani Akali Dal, the BJP and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) to bag power in the upcoming elections.

'Winnability is our criteria'

Asked if Singh, 79, will be the alliance’s chief ministerial face for Punjab, Shekhawat said, “The alliance itself is a face and you will get answers to all these questions soon.”

He also said, “We have been in talks with the BJP leadership for the past many days. We are happy that the minister has today confirmed the same to you. We are 100 per cent ready for the elections and we will win it. There is no doubt on that. We will come to an understanding on a seat-to-seat basis. Winnability is our criteria. Wherever BJP candidates are strong, we will support them and vice versa they will support us.”

He also said that the alliance faces no opposition and that parties such as the Congress, Akali Dal and AAP give it no competition.

“We will win 101 per cent,” the minister said.

The BJP government at the centre led by prime minister Modi recently scrapped the three controversial farm laws which many said was aimed at the Punjab elections.

Singh slammed the current government over new announcements being made each day. He said it takes four months to one-and-a-half years for any scheme to be viable on the ground and called the announcements made by the outgoing government as “drama”.

Soon after his party’s alliance with the BJP was finalised, Singh said he would be sounding the election bugle by organising a rally on Tuesday (21) at Rajpura, a part of his home district Patiala in Punjab. Thereafter, he will attend a rally in Ludhiana.

Talking to The Indian Express over the phone, Singh said, “I will be hitting the ground on Tuesday when I will address a rally there. After that, I will be addressing a rally in Ludhiana.”

When the former chief minister was asked on how many seats would his Punjab Lok Congress contest in the upcoming elections, Singh said, “The meeting was fruitful. BJP could not do more for us. It is not about number of seats. It is not a numbers game. Nor it is about a battle of one-upmanship.

BJP has been really magnanimous. We have reached a consensus that we will first see how many seats we can win, how many BJP can win and how many S S Dhindsa’s party can win. I will make a list to have an idea about where we three stakeholders can have winnable candidates. We will sit together again. We have already had several sittings. We will support each other’s candidates.”

Singh, who was set to return to state capital Chandigarh on Saturday (18), said he was feeling confident.

“We will be preparing a manifesto together. I feel confident. Look at what the Congress is doing. We are going to ask them for answers. The Aam Aadmi Party has lost its sitting MLAs as they have defected. Their support base is shrunk,” he said.