Chandigarh, October 23: A day after Union Home Minister Amit Shah declared that Punjab is set to get an NDA government in 2027, Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal on Friday opened the door to an alliance, saying his party is open to tying up with any party that agrees with the Akali Dal's ideology and programme. The remarks have fuelled fresh speculation about a reunion between the SAD and the BJP, who were allies for decades before parting ways in 2020.

Source: TV9 Punjabi

Badal said the Akali Dal is a regional party and Punjab comes first for it. 'Akali Dal is a regional party. Punjab is number one for us. Whether a government is formed or not, we will keep fighting for Punjabis,' he said, adding: 'We are open to an alliance with any party which agrees with the Akali Dal's ideology and programme.'

Source: TV9 Punjabi

Badal specifically kept the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party out of any tie-up. He said the SAD is ready to work together with like-minded parties, but there will be no alliance with the Congress or the AAP, and he described Punjab's interests as his party's priority whether it is in power or in opposition.

Source: Top Indian News

The statement came a day after Shah, speaking at the inauguration of Yamuna rejuvenation projects in Delhi on Thursday, asserted that the NDA would form the next government in Punjab and that protests by the opposition would achieve nothing. Shah claimed the people of Punjab want change from the present AAP government — a claim the AAP rejects.

Source: The Hindu

Before speaking to the media, a SAD delegation led by Badal met Punjab Governor Gulab Chand Kataria over the rising drug cases in the state and the Parvinder Singh Jhota case, TV9 Punjabi reported. Top Indian News reported that the delegation also demanded the removal of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann — a demand the AAP government has dismissed in the past as political theatre.

Source: TV9 Punjabi

The BJP's Punjab unit has so far publicly taken the opposite line: state president Kewal Singh Dhillon has ruled out a pre-poll alliance and said the party plans to contest all 117 Assembly seats on its own, while national organising secretary B.L. Santosh has directed workers to strengthen the party at the booth level. Neither the BJP nor the SAD has made any formal alliance announcement, and there is no seat-sharing arrangement on record.

Source: NewsDesk7

Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, meanwhile, hit back at Shah's NDA claim on Friday. 'Well, it won't happen just because Amit Shah says so; it will happen based on what the people say,' Mann told ANI in Chandigarh, asserting that governments are decided by the public, not by individual leaders.

Source: ANI via Devdiscourse

The BJP and the SAD fought many elections together and ran a coalition government in Punjab from 2007 to 2017, before the Akali Dal walked out of the NDA in September 2020 in protest against the Centre's farm laws. Whether Friday's exchange of signals becomes a formal pact will be decided in the coming months; for now, both sides have left the door open in public while announcing nothing in writing.