Political equations in Punjab appear to be shifting ahead of the 2027 Assembly elections, with Union Home Minister Amit Shah predicting an NDA government in the state and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal saying his party is ready to ally with like-minded parties, other than Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).
Speaking at an event in Delhi on Thursday to dedicate Delhi Jal Board projects, Shah said the drug trade had grown under the AAP government in Punjab. “I recently visited Punjab and met families affected by drugs,” he said. “The people of Punjab have decided that this time an NDA government will be formed there.”
Addressing AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal, Shah said the “politics of excuses” would not work and that people wanted results. He said Kejriwal had turned his attention to Punjab after losing Delhi, and accused the AAP leadership of not letting the chief minister work. The AAP, he said, would be finished in the next election, and the BJP would rid Punjab of drugs by 2029.
Shah’s remarks are being read as a signal that the BJP and the SAD could ally again.
Badal’s response
A day later, on Friday, Badal set out his party’s position. The Akali Dal, he said, is ready to ally with any like-minded party except Congress and the AAP, both of which he called enemies of Punjab.
Badal said the party is willing to work with those who share its ideology, and that any decision will be taken keeping Punjab and its people’s interests in mind. He ruled out an alliance with Congress or the AAP under any circumstances.
The BJP and the SAD parted ways in 2020 over the farm laws. The Akali Dal, then a key NDA ally, exited the alliance after opposing the legislation, which the government later repealed. The two parties are now holding backchannel talks. Sources say the decision on an alliance will be taken at the high command level.
The state BJP has so far struck a different note. Punjab BJP president Kewal Singh Dhillon has said the party is preparing to contest all 117 seats. In August he said there were no alliance talks.
Shah himself spoke differently earlier this year. At a rally in Moga in March, he said the BJP would fight the 2027 elections to form its own government, which was widely taken as ending speculation about reviving the alliance. His reference on Thursday to an “NDA government” is therefore being closely watched. Badal’s August meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi had already set off alliance speculation.
After Shah’s statement and Badal’s stand, talk of an alliance has gained pace in Punjab politics.
