Not many takers for Amarinder’s pitch for alliance with Akali Dal

There are not many takers for former CM and BJP leader Captain Amarinder Singh’s call for an alliance with the Akalis ahead of the 2027 Assembly polls.

Amarinder had argued in a TV interview that the BJP lacked the grassroots cadre to win alone and needed the SAD’s network to form a government in Punjab

“There is no other way to form the government than by having an alliance with the Akali Dal as building the BJP strength independently would take two to three elections,” he had said.

His push, however, faces stiff resistance within the party, where leaders dismissed it as purely personal opinion.

Former MP Vijay Sampla underscored the BJP’s string of solo victories since 2021 — from local body polls to Lok Sabha contests — asserting workers demand no tie-up.

Former Punjab minister Surjit Singh Jyani slammed the idea in a video message.

“This is Capt Amarinder’s personal opinion. We are going solo in Punjab. The high command has directed us to prepare for all 117 seats,” he said.

The BJP high command has explicitly barred state leaders from alliance discussions, with co-incharge Narinder Raina directing district presidents and state leaders months ago to shun all speculations during a key meeting. BJP leaders suggest that some former Congress leaders, who joined the BJP, favoured the alliance but old workers and senior leaders wanted to contest independently. The SAD-BJP partnership, which lasted nearly 27 years, broke in September 2021 over the now-repealed three controversial central farm laws.

He showed mirror to BJP, says Warring

Punjab Congress president Amrinder Singh Raja Warring on Monday said he agreed with former Chief Minister Amarinder Singh that the BJP on its own did not have any future in Punjab. “It does not have any future at all, with or without allies, as the party has completely alienated Punjabis with its anti-Punjab policies,” he added.

Warring said the BJP and SAD had already been wiped out from Punjab and they had no scope of revival. “But one thing I must appreciate and agree with Capt Amarinder is that he has become wiser in hindsight and has shown the mirror to his own party,” he noted. “Even if the Akalis and the BJP come together they will not make any difference,” he said. — TNS