Punjab: BJP leaders meet party chief JP Nadda in Delhi; 'Will contest solo in 2022 polls'

In a key development, Punjab BJP leaders met party chief JP Nadda in Delhi on Sunday, ahead of Assembly elections in the State. Speaking to the media after the meeting, Punjab BJP president Ashwani Kumar Sharma reiterated that his party will contest all 117 seats in the 2022 polls.

"We spoke about the elections and our meeting with Prime Minister. We will not form any alliance for the Punjab elections," said one of the leaders. 

While the BJP has announced that it will fight the elections alone, Captain Amarinder Singh is keen to forge an alliance with the saffron party. The former Chief Minister has floated his own political party - Punjab Lok Congress and expressed willingness to hold seat-sharing talks with the BJP, provided that the farmers' issue is resolved.

Speaking about the year-long protests against the three agrarian laws, Ashwani Sharma said the Congress, AAP, and Akali Dal are the ones playing politics in the name of farmers.

The Shiromani Akali Dal, a decade-old ally of the BJP in Punjab had called off the alliance with the NDA in 2020 over the contentious farm laws. The BJP had risen to power in Punjab in 2013 and 2007 in an alliance with SAD, where they were able to oust Congress. However, after 10 years of rule, Congress regained power in 2017, where SAD was only able to win 15 seats and BJP gained victory in three constituencies. This year BJP will fight the elections solo, as per the latest announcements.

In the previous assembly elections, the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party had emerged as the second-largest party winning 20 seats in the 2017 assembly elections after Congress, becoming the leading opposition party in the state.

Fissures in Punjab Congress

The politics in Punjab is taking a new twist every day, with Congress’ internal disputes seeing no end. Even after the resignation of Former Punjab CM Amarinder Singh and the appointment of the new CM Charanjit Singh Channi, with a revamped cabinet, Navjot Singh Sidhu continued to be disappointed with the party’s high command. On November 5, after several weeks, Sidhu had taken back his resignation as the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) president, however, his rebellious attitude towards CM Channi and Congress' top brass remained, as he continued to attack the leaders of his own party.