Singh said the details of seat-sharing will be announced soon. ‘Our criteria for seat selection is purely winnability,’ he said
The BJP on Friday formally announced an alliance with Amarinder Singh’s Punjab Lok Congress in the upcoming Assembly elections, a move that had been anticipated ever since the former chief minister quit the Congress last month.
Singh on Friday called on the BJP’s Punjab incharge and Union minister Gajendra Shekhawat at his residence in Delhi. After the meeting, they officially announced the alliance.
“Today, I want to make it clear that the BJP and Amarinder Singh will contest Assembly elections in Punjab together and we are working together,” Shekhawat told the media, Singh by his side.
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
Shekhawat said the details of seat-sharing will be announced at an “appropriate time”.
“The alliance will definitely, 101 percent win the elections. Only seat-sharing talks are going on. We will see who will contest where – our criteria for seat selection is purely winnability,” Singh told reporters.
Singh floated his own party Punjab Lok Congress days after he resigned as the chief minister and quit the Congress following his feud with Punjab Congress Chief Navjot Singh Sidhu.
Earlier, the BJP had also broken its alliance with longstanding partner Shiromani Akali Dal over the issue of farm sector laws.
The alliance marks a big political reorientation in Punjab and adds the fourth corner to an increasingly intense contest that seemed to be heavily skewed towards the Congress just months ago.
The state’s ruling Congress faces a tough challenge from Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). Akali Dal’s Sukhbir Badal has tied up with Mayawati’s BSP.
Assembly elections in Punjab are expected to be held early next year.
With inputs from PTI