Chandigarh: BJP's Punjab unit chief Ashwani Sharma said that there is no possibility of the party forming an alliance with the Shiromani Akali Dal again. He confirmed that the BJP is contesting all elections in the state alone.
He also claimed that the BJP is getting huge support from the villages and will fight the 2024 Lok Sabha elections alone. "Punjabis have now understood that the BJP is the only party that can make Punjab prosperous by maintaining peace and brotherhood. The BJP does what it says."
He clarified that the tribute paid by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP leadership to Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) patriarch Parkash Singh Badal should not be linked to politics. After his death, PM Modi visited the SAD office to express grief. BJP chief JP Nadda, Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, senior leader Tarun Chugh, and others visited his village to pay homage to the five-time former Punjab CM.
"The BJP will contest all the elections on its own and win with a thumping majority. And (it) will not forge an alliance with the SAD at any cost." About an article PM Modi wrote about Badal, he said: "It was nothing but a tribute to former chief minister Parkash Singh Badal."
The SAD ended its alliance with the BHP in 2020 over the now-withdrawn farm laws against which farmers had to protest for months. The party has been part of the NDA since 1997.