Former Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Monday said that the decision on alliance with the BJP and Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa’s party for the upcoming assembly polls in Punjab and now discussion on seat-sharing will be held.
“In principle, a decision has been taken, now seat adjustment is to be done. We’ll also do seat adjustments with Dhindsa sahab’s party. I’ll tell both parties that we should pick winners, support those candidates,” Singh said today.
The announcement comes a day after Union Home Minister Amit Shah said that the BJP may go into Punjab elections in alliance with the parties of Amarinder Singh and former Akali leader Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa.
Shah’s remarks were the first indication from the BJP side of a tie-up. Earlier the BJP refused to say anything, and in fact asserted repeatedly that it would contest all the 117 seats in the state.
Singh had quit the Congress in October following his resignation as the Punjab chief minister after a bitter power tussle with state congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu. He then launched his own party, the Punjab Lok Congress.
Singh had the said that he was willing to forge an alliance with the BJP, if the latter resolved the farmers’ issue. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s announcement of withdrawing the farm laws paved way for an alliance with Singh for the upcoming state assembly elections.
With political pundits and opinion polls so far predicting a hung house in Punjab, Captain’s move to float his own party and joining hands with the BJP could gather him a sizeable chunk of his supporters and split the Congress in Punjab.
On the other hand, Singh’s alliance with the BJP and Dhindsa’s party has left the Congress flustered with Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi saying that the BJP has found its new allies in his predecessor Amarinder Singh and Akali breakaway faction leader Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa for promoting its “divisive discourse” in the state.