The Shiromani Akali Dal (Punar Surjit) faction is a part of potential talks on a pre-poll alliance between the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Punjab.
The Tribune has learnt from dependable sources that senior faction leaders are being engaged on prospects of contesting the 2027 Meeting polls.
Though there is no such thing as a readability but on how and below what association they may contest, the chances are high that they might contest on the standard SAD image of ‘weighing scale’, contemplating they give up the Sukhbir Badal-led celebration on August 11, 2025.
An knowledgeable supply advised The Tribune that the principle leaders of the Akali Dal (Punar Surjit) being wooed for a bigger alliance within the state embody Bibi Jagir Kaur, Gurpartap Singh Wadala, Prem Singh Chandumajra and Gobind Singh Longowal, amongst others.
Importantly, all these leaders had been a part of the SAD within the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, when the celebration was forward of the BJP in almost 49 Meeting seats and the BJP was forward of the Akalis on the remainder.
Within the ongoing alliance talks, the issue of 10 Akali Dal stalwarts having abandoned Sukhbir Badal in 2025 can even come up.
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Aside from the above-mentioned leaders of the Punar Surjit Akali Dal, others on this section who’re not with the Sukhbir-led faction are Justice Nirmal Singh, Harmeet Singh Sandhu, Iqbal Singh Jhundan, Manpreet Singh Ayali (who joined Waris Punjab De), Hardeep Singh Dhillon, Guriqbal Singh Mahal and Sukhwinder Sukhi.
“Out of 49 Meeting seats through which Shiromani Akali Dal was forward of BJP within the 2024 Normal Election, ten candidates on ten seats have left SAD. These elements are vital when deliberating on seat-sharing preparations,” mentioned a BJP insider.
Whereas the BJP is principally speaking about any pre-poll alliance being primarily based on the outcomes of the final main elections in Punjab — the 2024 Lok Sabha polls — the Shiromani Akali Dal desires the common outcomes within the final three election cycles to be factored in. These are the 2022 Meeting polls, 2024 Lok Sabha polls and the current rural and concrete native physique polls.
Within the 2022 state polls, SAD had carried out higher than the BJP, whereas within the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP had carried out higher than SAD.
The principle issue driving the logic of a SAD-BJP pre-poll alliance is their mixed vote share of 31 per cent within the 2024 Lok Sabha elections — 18.5 per cent for the BJP and 13.5 per cent for SAD.
Formally, the BJP has clarified that it’s going to contest all 117 seats within the state. However privately, sources say alliance prospects are being explored.
