SAD-BJP Reunion? Badal Meets Modi as Punjab Gears Up for 2027 Elections

A meeting between Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday has triggered fresh speculation about a possible reunion between the SAD and BJP ahead of the Punjab Assembly elections due early next year.

Badal met Modi at the Prime Minister’s office in the Parliament House complex, prompting political circles in Punjab to speculate that the two parties could be exploring the possibility of reviving their long-standing alliance.

The BJP, however, sought to play down the significance of the meeting. Punjab BJP chief Kewal Singh Dhillon said Modi was the prime minister of the country and that anyone could meet him. Asked whether the BJP and SAD could join hands again, Dhillon said he could not comment on the possibility.

The SAD too remained guarded about the meeting. Senior party leader and spokesperson Daljit Singh Cheema said he could only confirm that the two leaders had met.

However, senior SAD leader Sikandar Singh Maluka openly backed the idea of an alliance, saying the current political situation in Punjab demanded a SAD-BJP tie-up. He clarified that the view was his personal opinion and not an official party position.

The SAD and BJP ended their 24-year-old alliance in September 2020 over differences surrounding the three farm laws introduced by the Centre. The laws were subsequently repealed after prolonged farmers’ protests.

The two parties had fought elections together for decades and formed governments in Punjab three times, 1997-2002, 2007-12 and 2012-17. Under their earlier seat-sharing arrangement, the BJP contested 23 Assembly seats while the SAD contested 94.

Since their split, both parties have struggled to replicate their earlier electoral performance. In the 2022 Punjab Assembly polls, the BJP won two seats while the SAD secured three.

They contested the 2024 Lok Sabha elections separately. Together, they polled around 33 per cent of the vote but won only one seat, with SAD leader Harsimrat Kaur Badal retaining Bathinda.

The BJP’s vote share, meanwhile, rose from 9.6 per cent in 2019 to nearly 19 per cent in 2024, despite failing to win any of the 13 Lok Sabha seats in the state.