JALANDHAR: After negotiations spanning a few months, Shiromani Akali Dal and Bahujan Samaj Party have reached very close to formalising an alliance for the upcoming assembly elections in Punjab.
A meeting between SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal and BSP general secretary Satish Mishra is scheduled to take place in Chandigarh on Saturday.
Well-placed sources, privy to developments, revealed that the decision for an alliance has been taken in principle after BSP supremo Mayawati gave her consent and details of seat sharing between the two parties have largely been worked out.
The sources said that in all probability the alliance can be announced on Saturday itself after the meeting of the two leaders.
If its own infighting was not enough to damage the party, the alliance between SAD and BSP can become a big headache for Congress in Punjab.
The biggest comfort for the ruling Congress till now was segregated opposition in the state after SAD and BJP severed ties over the Centre’s three contentious agricultural laws.
In case this alliance is clinched, days of comfort for the ruling Congress party be would be over as both SAD and BSP have different social bases and the latter has the potential to damage Congress’s Dalit vote share, something it demonstrated in 2019 parliamentary polls when it contested in an alliance with Punjab Democratic Alliance.
In any alliance, BSP’s vote aggregating capacity increases significantly.
Negotiations were on between Akalis and BSP in the last few months and it is learnt that Rajya Sabha member Naresh Gujral has been playing a crucial role in these talks.
In a statement issued on Friday night, BSP Punjab affairs in-charge Randhir Singh Beniwal said that meetings with Shiromani Akali Dal were already on in Chandigarh and would continue on Saturday morning.
BSP state president Jasbir Singh Garhi said that they would go by whatever party supremo Mayawati would decide.
After breaking up its long-standing alliance with BJP, Akali Dal started almost immediately pursuing an alliance with BSP.
The BSP leaders too were keen for the alliance as contesting alone in the state in the last two decades has led to the shrinking of the party’s base.
It was desperate to taste some electoral success in Punjab.
The last time the BSP won any election in Punjab on its own was when it won one seat in 1997.
However, in 1996 when it had an alliance with SAD, it won three parliamentary seats.
Badal-led Shiromani Akali Dal has managed to build its base among Dalits but with BSP it can get a major push as the latter has a significant vote share in different constituencies and can tilt the balance.