Chandigarh: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) are in advanced talks to revive their alliance for the 2027 Punjab Assembly elections, with seat-sharing and the place of a breakaway Akali faction still unresolved, the Times of India reported on Wednesday, 28 October 2026. No official announcement has been made by either party.

The Times of India said negotiators from both sides believe the remaining issues can be settled "in the coming days". The two thorny points are the exact seat split and how to accommodate the rebel Akali faction, Shiromani Akali Dal (Punar Surjit), which is seen as close to the BJP. The BJP is keen to offer that group a respectable deal, the paper reported.

The talks gained pace after Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on 22 October that an NDA government would come to power in Punjab in 2027, and after SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal said his party was open to alliances with parties other than the Congress and AAP — both statements are already live on Awaaz Punjab; what is new is only that the talks are now reported to be at an advanced stage.

Reports of the seat split differ from each other, and all of them rely on unnamed sources. The Times of India said the BJP's share could nearly double from the 23 of 117 seats it contested as the SAD's junior partner. The Economic Times put the BJP at around 45 seats. The New Indian Express quoted a senior SAD leader saying the BJP might contest about 55 seats and the Akalis the remaining 62, while Aaj Tak reported the BJP is claiming 40 to 47 seats, with understanding likely around 36 to 37. None of these figures is agreed or confirmed.

Publicly, the BJP has so far said it is preparing to contest all 117 seats, and Hindustan Times reported that it has put Chandrakant Patil in charge of Punjab election preparations.

Background: the alliance broke in 2020 over the now-repealed farm laws. It had formed governments in Punjab in 1997, 2007 and 2012. Contesting separately in 2022, the SAD won three seats and the BJP two. In the 2024 Lok Sabha polls the BJP took over 18 percent of the vote, its best ever in Punjab, while the SAD managed a little over 13 percent and one seat, the Times of India noted.

What happens next: until both parties make a formal announcement, this alliance exists only in reports — the final seat-sharing formula and the Punar Surjit faction's place will be the real test.