BJP-Akali alliance: a marriage of convenience waiting for a second chance in Punjab

It is never easy to meet the Prime Minister of India at short notice. Even senior Cabinet ministers and BJP functionaries often have to wait for an appointment. That is why Sukhbir Singh Badal’s sudden appearance in the new Parliament building on the afternoon of 7 August to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi caught many by surprise—from Akali workers to BJP leaders in Punjab. 

The meeting was brief, reportedly lasting between 10 and 20 minutes, but its political significance was anything but small. 

Reports from Chandigarh suggest that the appointment was so sudden that even Badal had little idea of it until the previous afternoon. According to journalists tracking his schedule, Badal had around 40 appointments and meetings lined up for Friday. Late Thursday night, he informed those concerned that all his engagements would have to be postponed and left for Delhi. 

The secrecy surrounding the meeting fuelled speculation about something that has been discussed in Punjab political circles for months: a possible revival of the Shiromani Akali Dal-BJP alliance ahead of next year’s Assembly elections. Sources in the Akali Dal later indicated that the possibility of the two former allies coming together was indeed on the agenda. What exactly transpired between Modi and Badal, however, remains unclear.

There was, nevertheless, an intriguing development the following day. Badal announced that the Akali Dal would support two important constitutional measures before Parliament—the Women’s Reservation Bill and the proposed Bill on delimitation. Coming so soon after his meeting with Modi, the announcement was seen as another indication that political channels between the two parties may have reopened. 

The Akalis have reportedly been trying to build bridges with the BJP for several months. Badal, accompanied by senior Akali leaders Daljit Singh Cheema and Balwinder Singh Bhundar, had recently met Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini and is believed to have requested him, as the BJP’s Punjab in-charge, to take up the possibility of an alliance with the party’s central leadership. But Punjab BJP leaders continue to publicly deny that any such arrangement is under consideration. 

Asked about the possibility of an alliance after the Modi-Badal meeting, Punjab BJP president Kewal Singh Dhillon reiterated that the party was preparing to contest all 117 Assembly seats. The statement also suggests that, at least publicly, the state BJP organisation had done little groundwork for an alliance before the Modi-Badal meeting.

This has been the BJP’s consistent line in Punjab for nearly two years. In March, Union Home Minister Amit Shah ruled out an alliance with the Akalis during a rally in Moga. BJP president Nitin Nabin reiterated this stance during his Punjab visit last month. Ravneet Singh Bittu has gone even further, repeatedly declaring that the BJP would not ally with “drug peddlers”. Even Saini has denied reports of an impending alliance.

Former Punjab BJP president Sunil Jakhar has been virtually the lone prominent voice arguing that the BJP has little electoral future in Punjab without the Akalis. But his influence within the state organisation has steadily diminished. The only recent voice openly welcoming an alliance has come from senior BJP leader Tikshan Sud. “I hear that it is happening,” he told The Tribune. “If it does, it will boost up the cadre. Even the voter will get the feeling that the party they are voting for has a chance to form the government.”

Interestingly, Sud himself is among the BJP leaders who have revolted against the state leadership. He has resigned from all party posts, retaining only primary membership. 

The political arithmetic explains why both parties may be tempted to reconsider an old partnership. 

Despite repeated attempts—and Modi’s visits to several deras—the BJP has failed to establish a firm electoral foothold in Punjab. The Akali Dal, meanwhile, has witnessed a dramatic erosion of its traditional vote base. Its vote share fell from around 37 per cent in the 2007 Assembly election to 34 per cent in 2012, 25 per cent in 2017 and just 18 per cent in 2022. The party has also suffered from an organisational split and faces competition for its traditional Panthic constituency from newer formations and radical groups such as Waris Punjab De. 

For both parties, therefore, the old alliance could offer a way out of an increasingly difficult political landscape. The BJP brings national organisational strength and resources; the Akalis retain a network and social base that the BJP has struggled to recreate on its own.

 But whether the arithmetic of addition will translate into a majority is another matter altogether. 

For now, most observers of Punjab politics remain sceptical. A BJP-Akali reunion may benefit both parties. A return to power together, however, remains a very distant possibility.