BJP to contest all 117 Punjab seats alone, says BL Santosh, ruling out SAD alliance
NEW DELHI: The Bharatiya Janata Party has ruled out an electoral alliance with the Shiromani Akali Dal for the upcoming Punjab assembly elections. BJP national general secretary (organisation) BL Santosh said on Monday that the party will contest all 117 seats in the state and is fully prepared to form the government on its own.
“Punjab is fully ready for change, and the BJP is fully prepared to make this change a reality. In the upcoming assembly elections, the BJP will contest all 117 Assembly seats in Punjab and, by securing a victory, will form its government in the state,” Santosh said during a visit to review the party’s organisational preparations.
The statement puts an end to weeks of speculation about a possible re-alliance between the BJP and the SAD. The speculation gained momentum after SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi. Former Union minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal had also hinted at the possibility, expressing a cryptic wish for “agreements” that brought progress to Punjab from Delhi.
Earlier, senior SAD leader Bikram Singh Majithia had said that people in Punjab wanted the two parties to reunite. He cited Punjab’s status as a border state and the need to protect social harmony as reasons for the public sentiment favouring an alliance. “We should understand that the Shiromani Akali Dal and BJP have worked together. Vajpayee ji and Badal ji strengthened this alliance, and it continued during Modi ji's time,” Majithia said.
The SAD had walked out of the National Democratic Alliance in September 2020 in protest against the three farm laws, which were later repealed by the central government. The decision to go solo in Punjab marks a significant shift for the BJP, which has traditionally fought elections in the state in alliance with the Akali Dal.
Santosh’s two-day visit to Punjab is aimed at strengthening coordination and preparedness at the grassroots level. It comes amid internal dissent within the BJP’s state unit over a recent organisational reshuffle, with a section of leaders accusing the state leadership of sidelining the old cadre. The party is expected to announce its candidate list in the coming weeks as the assembly polls draw closer.
The announcement also sets the stage for a multi-cornered contest in Punjab, with the Aam Aadmi Party, Congress, and SAD all expected to field candidates across the state. Political analysts note that the BJP’s decision to go solo could alter the electoral arithmetic, especially in urban and semi-urban constituencies where the party has been trying to expand its base independently.
