Akali Dal is ready for alliance, but why is BJP preferring social distancing?

India Today · Avinash Kateel · 2026-10-26 01:00 UTC

Shiromani Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Singh Badal has signalled that the party was open to an alliance with the BJP for the 2027 Punjab election With the talks of an alliance reaching the final stage here039s how disagreements over the role of Akalis and the BJP039s anti-drug campaign could be the key hurdles to a reunion

Shiromani Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Singh Badal has signalled that the party was open to an alliance with the BJP for the 2027 Punjab election. With the talks of an alliance reaching the final stage, here's how disagreements over the role of Akalis and the BJP's anti-drug campaign could be the key hurdles to a reunion.

Politics and elections are ultimately about calculations and opportunities. In Punjab, a familiar political sequence is unfolding. Old allies, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and the BJP are weighing the prospects of reviving ties ahead of the 2027 Assembly polls. The SAD wants to reopen the door, but for the BJP, a reunion with its former Punjab partner comes with two uncomfortable questions. Can it return to an alliance in which it had once played the junior partner? And can it campaign against Punjab's drug menace while sharing a platform with an Akali leadership that has faced drug-related investigations and allegations?

As Union Home Minister Amit Shah sharpens the BJP's attack on the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government over drugs and predicts an NDA government in Punjab in 2027, speculation about a BJP-SAD reunion has gathered pace. SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal has signalled that his party is open to alliances with parties that share its ideology, while ruling out any understanding with the Congress and AAP. But the BJP is simultaneously projecting itself as a party preparing to independently contest all 117 Assembly seats.

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