The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday said it would contest the 2024 Lok Sabha elections on its own in Punjab. BJP state unit president Sunil Jakhar has said the saffron party will not tie up with former ally Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD).
Jakhar noted that the move would benefit all sections of the society in Punjab. "The work done by the BJP for Punjab under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is not hidden from anyone," he added.
Taking to microblogging platform X (formerly known as Twitter) Jakhar said, “The decision was taken after speaking to leaders, party workers, and common people. The move will benefit all sections of the society here in Punjab. No one has worked for Punjab the way Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led BJP government at the Centre has," Jakhar said.
Polling for 13 seats in Punjab will be held on June 1.
The development comes almost a week after senior BJP leader and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, when asked about the possibility of a tie-up with the SAD, had said, "Negotiations are on. We want all NDA parties to come together."
The Shiromani Akali Dal had walked out of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in September 2020 over the now-repealed farm laws. The controversial farm laws were revoked in November 2021, more than a year after farmers began protests along Delhi's borders, with the agitation going on until the legislations were taken back.
The SAD was one of the oldest allies of the BJP. The two parties had formed an alliance in 1996 and had been fighting elections together. In 2019, they won two Lok Sabha seats each in Punjab.
Punjab has 13 parliamentary seats, of which the BJP and SAD, contesting as allies in the former-led NDA, bagged four, with two candidates from each party emerging victorious, in the previous 2019 general elections. The Congress won eight seats, and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) one.
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