Archive · 31 Aug 2026
BJP Weighs Reviving Akali Alliance Before Punjab Elections
The BJP is deciding whether to work with the Shiromani Akali Dal in Punjab.
The BJP’s leaders in Punjab do not want the partnership.
They believe the Akali Dal has become much weaker and could hurt the BJP.
The BJP’s national leaders are still studying whether the alliance could help win more seats.
In the 2022 election, the BJP won two seats and the Akali Dal won three.
The two parties used to govern Punjab together and fought many elections as partners.
They separated in 2020 after the Akali Dal opposed the central government’s farm laws.
The BJP has since attracted leaders from other parties and wants to test its own strength.
The alliance decision will depend on whether cooperation or independence offers a better chance of gaining power.
The BJP’s central leadership is considering reviving its alliance with the Shiromani Akali Dal before Punjab’s Assembly elections.
The BJP’s Punjab unit opposes the partnership, viewing the weakened Akali Dal as a possible electoral liability.
The BJP won two of 117 seats in 2022, while the Akali Dal won three.
The parties governed Punjab together in 1997, 2007, and 2012 before separating in 2020 over the farm laws.
The BJP says its recent expansion through defections and mergers could justify contesting Punjab independently.
- Who
- The Bharatiya Janata Party and the Shiromani Akali Dal, with differing views among BJP state and central leaders.
- What
- The BJP is considering whether to revive its long-standing electoral alliance with the Akali Dal.
- When
- Ahead of the forthcoming Punjab Assembly elections; the articles do not specify an election date.
- Where
- Punjab, India.
- Why
- The BJP may need allies to improve its prospects, but its state unit believes the weakened Akali Dal could become a liability.
BJP Punjab Unit
BJP Central Leadership
Whether an alliance helps
BJP Punjab Unit
The state unit argues that the Akali Dal’s decline makes it more likely to be an electoral liability than an asset.
BJP Central Leadership
The central leadership is weighing whether the alliance could provide the BJP with a route to power that it may lack on its own.
BJP’s independent prospects
BJP Punjab Unit
The state unit favors relying on the BJP’s own growth and recent additions from other parties rather than sharing space with a weakened ally.
BJP Central Leadership
The central leadership may prefer an alliance if the Akalis accept a junior-partner role, although the article says that arrangement is unlikely.
Punjab’s changing voter base
BJP Punjab Unit
The BJP’s traditional strength among urban and Hindu voters is not enough by itself to ensure a major breakthrough.
BJP Central Leadership
The BJP believes its acceptance among Sikh and rural voters may have increased and that an independent contest could test that support.
- 2022 BJP result
- The BJP contested 73 of Punjab’s 117 Assembly seats and won two.
- 2022 Akali result
- The Shiromani Akali Dal won three Assembly seats.
- Majority threshold
- A party or coalition needs at least 59 of 117 seats to form the government.
- Previous alliance
- The BJP and Akali Dal fought 11 elections together: five Assembly and six Lok Sabha polls.
- Joint governments
- The parties formed Punjab governments together in 1997, 2007, and 2012.
- Alliance breakdown
- The Akali Dal left the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance in September 2020 over the three farm laws.
- BJP expansion
- The Punjab Lok Congress merged with the BJP, and leaders from Congress, the Akali Dal, and the Aam Aadmi Party subsequently joined it.