NEW DELHI: Signalling that BJP‘s alliance with Shiromani Akali Dal is on the cards, sources said Thursday the party will contest a substantially higher number of seats than it did under its earlier seat-sharing arrangement with the regional outfit.BJP sources said the alliance will be announced at an opportune time, amid the party’s determined efforts to expand its presence in Punjab with an aggressive campaign against drug addiction and opposition to conversion by missionaries as its key planks. It has also inducted members of other parties.
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BJP used to contest 23 seats in the 117-member Punjab assembly as a SAD ally, before the Akalis broke off their ties in 2020 over their protest against farm laws, which were subsequently reversed.“We will certainly contest more seats,” a party functionary said, without giving details of the likely share of alliance members. The party is also expected to keep a breakaway Akali faction, SAD (Punar Surjit), in the alliance.BJP’s vote share in Punjab in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections at over 18% was higher than over 13% of Sukhbir Singh Badal-headed SAD, once a formidable regional player whose fortunes have been on a decline as AAP surged to power in the 2022 assembly polls.BJP is hopeful that a consolidation of votes in favour of its alliance can make it a strong contender for office in the state’s fragmented political arena in which Congress is the main opposition party.
