Nearly three years after the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) parted ways over the (now repealed) farm laws, the former alliance partners on Thursday have, as of now, trampled all speculations of walking down the political road together once again. Both parties have made it clear that they will contest the ensuing 2024 general elections separately.

The appointment of former Congress leader Sunil Kumar Jakhar as Punjab BJP president gave air to speculations that the saffron party may now join hands with its decades old alliance partner, Akali dal, once again.

Putting an end to this, BJP’s Punjab party affairs in-charge Vijay Rupani on Thursday declared that the saffron party would contest Lok Sabha election in Punjab on all 13 seats all alone. His statement came hours after SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal also announced that his party would ally with the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) only.

Rupani, who was in Amritsar on Thursday to pay obeisance at Sri Harmandir Sahib (the Golden Temple) along with newly-appointed Punjab BJP president Sunil Jakhar, said: “The party will contest alone and win all 13 Lok Sabha seats in the State.”

“The BJP in Punjab will fight the Lok Sabha elections in 2024 on its own, without forming an alliance with any other party…The BJP will contest the 2024 elections under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and form the government at the Centre. The party will contest the elections alone in Punjab and win all 13 seats,” said Rupani, while interacting with the media on the sidelines of his visit.

Asked to respond on the rumours of SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal becoming a Union Minister and the possibility of SAD (B) and BJP coming together again, Rupani said: “I have already stated that we will contest alone.”

Questioned about the possibility of an alliance between SAD (B) and BJP, he said: “It is up to you to interpret my statement.”

Jakhar, responding to media queries whether the Akali Dal and the BJP will reunite again, said that he was standing at the ‘Gurughar’ and would not prefer to speak on politics. “I would certainly talk about all the political issues but not at the religious place (Golden Temple) and will hold a separate press conference where I will reply to each query of the media,” he said.

SAD chief Sukhbir Badal, while addressing the reporters after chairing the party’s core committee meeting at Chandigarh, said that the talks about Akali Dal's alliance with the BJP is only created by the media. “It’s all speculations and there is no substance to it. SAD’s alliance is with the Bahujan Samaj Party. Then where is this question of alliance with BJP arise?” he asked.

However, Sukhbir refrained from responding to the media queries regarding whether he rule out the possibility of an alliance with the BJP. “I have come from abroad after a long time. That's why a meeting of the core committee has been convened regarding the issues concerning Punjab,” he said.

Notably, the SAD had walked out of the NDA in 2020, ending its ties with the BJP following the massive protests against three central farm laws, which were later repealed.

Having been coalition partners for more than 25 years, both the Akali Dal and BJP struggled to make a mark in the state. The two have served the state for two consecutive terms — 2007-2012 and 2012-2017 — before being pushed into an oblivion. Post 2017 state assembly polls, SAD and BJP was limited to just 20 seats, even losing the main opposition’s status to the nascent Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).

Till 2017, BJP contested elections in alliance with the SAD, playing the role of the junior partners fielding its candidates on just 23 assembly seats, out of the total 117; and just three parliamentary segments out of total 13. The two entered alliance more than two decades’ back in 1997.

For the first time in 2022 state assembly polls, BJP heading an alliance contesting on 65 seats, and winning just two. Its allies— the former Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh-led Punjab Lok Congress and Akali stalwart Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa-led SAD (Sanyukt) — failed to open their account with almost all its candidates forfeiting their security deposit.

Now with Congress party’s topmost leaders — including former Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh, Jakhar, former Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal, among several others, the saffron party is expecting to make a mark in the bordering state. Appointment of Jakhar is a part of one such move.

BJP, which contested 65 seats in 2022 Punjab assembly polls, could win just two seats with a vote share of a little over six percent. However, BJP is looking at the silver lining — an increase in its vote share, its expansion in Punjab where it has all along been playing a second fiddle to SAD, and foraying into unexplored territories.

In 2017, the party had won three seats out of 23 it contested with a vote share of 5.3 percent, which, this time (in 2022), has increased to 6.6 percent — witnessing an increase of 1.3 percent.