New Delhi: With the exit of Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) from NDA, BJP will play the role of “big brother” in the upcoming Punjab election and contest a large chunk of the seats in the 117-member Assembly.
The BJP has almost finalised the contours of its alliance with Captain Amarinder Singh’s new political outfit Punjab Lok Congress and Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa’s Shiromani Akali Dal (Sanyukt).
ABP News has learnt that BJP will contest 80-85 of the 117 seats while Amarinder Singh’s Punjab Lok Congress will get 20-25 seats. Some seats will also be given to Dhindsa’s party.
Met union minister & @BJP4India incharge for Punjab, Shri @gssjodhpur in New Delhi today to chalk out future course of action ahead of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha elections. We have formally announced a seat adjustment with the BJP for the 2022 Punjab Vidhan Sabha elections. pic.twitter.com/cgqAcpW2MW
— Capt.Amarinder Singh (@capt_amarinder) December 17, 2021
According to sources, the draft of the seat-sharing formula is almost ready and is likely to be announced by the end of December.
On Friday, Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat confirmed that BJP and Captain Amarinder Singh’s new political outfit would fight the upcoming Punjab election together. However, Shekhawat was mum on seat sharing formula.
“After 7 rounds of talks, today I confirm that BJP and Punjab Lok Congress are going to fight the upcoming Punjab Assembly elections together. Topics like seat share will be discussed later,” ANI quoted Gajendra Singh Shekhawat as saying.
READ | ABP-CVoter Third Opinion Poll Predicts BJP Win in 4 States, Hung Assembly Likely In Punjab
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Amarinder Singh said he was “101 per cent” sure of winning the election.
“We are ready and we are going to win this election. The decision on seat sharing will be taken on the seat to seat basis, with winnability being the priority,” ANI quoted Amarinder Singh as saying.
This will be the first election that will present a four-cornered fight in Punjab. The state has mostly seen a bipolar contest, with the Congress and the Shiromani Akali Dal-BJP combine alternating power almost every five years. However, this time SAD and BJP are not in alliance.
.