Akalis Rejoining NDA Will Boost BJP Prospects In LS Polls Next Year

After the death of Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) patriarch Parkash Singh Badal, the party is fast losing its relevance in Punjab politics. The buzz is that to revive its sagging fortunes, the party is mulling to ride piggyback on the BJP again. The BJP too seems happy with the reunion as it will certainly boost its prospects in the general elections scheduled next year.

The political corridors are agog with speculation that the Akalis are leaning back towards BJP and are willing to rejoin the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) at the earliest. "Doors are never closed in politics. Much water has flown under the bridge since the farm laws row. So, nothing is impossible," an Indian Express report quoted SAD leader Maheshinder Singh Grewal as saying.

The ground reality is that the SAD doesn't have much of a choice but to fall back on the NDA again for the simple reason that it cannot be part of any Opposition front where Congress has a major role. Patna will see the first united Opposition meeting on June 23 aimed at the 2024 polls, but Akali Dal is not on the list of the parties attending it. The party now stands almost isolated.

According to another senior Akali leader Prem Singh Chandumjara, "There is growing talk among the Akali Dal and BJP cadres that only a reunion of the two can provide an alternative to the ruling AAP in the State. Ground-level workers of both parties are keen to see the leadership reworking their alliance. Their sentiments will perhaps have some bearing on the leadership of both parties."

Backing the return of SAD to the alliance, prominent BJP leader Manoranjan Kalia said: "Aam Aadmi Party does not have any ideology. A year-and-a-half later, the AAP government's performance has left voters disillusioned. They now want to return to the older parties. And if there is an Akali-BJP alliance again, it will be a ray of hope for them."

After 20 years of alliance, SAD walked out of NDA in 2020 over the contentious three farm laws introduced by the Modi government, which were scrapped a year later. However, BJP never tried to reach out to it as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Mome minister Amit Shah were said to have felt let down by their ministerial colleague Harsimrat Badal and SAD chief Sukhbir Badal.

Latest reports, however, suggest that the two parties are stitching of the alliance again and are negotiating a seat-sharing formula in Punjab for the parliamentary polls. According to BJP sources, former Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh and Sunil Kumar Jakhar are leading the talks with SAD. "Our initial offer is that the SAD will contest in eight and the BJP in five Lok Sabha constituencies," the sources claimed.