States » NorthPosted at: Sep 20 2026 12:06AM


No return to old SAD-BJP seat formula; any future alliance must be on equal terms, Puri says

By Neeraj Bali
Chandigarh, Sep 19 (UNI) union Petroleum minister Hardeep Singh Puri today ruled out a return to the old seat-sharing formula between the BJP and the Shiromani Akali Dal if the former allies revive their partnership in Punjab, saying any future arrangement would have to be based on equality.
Puri, however, said a decision on whether the BJP should ally with the SAD would rest with the party's central leadership.
“If there is an alliance, it will be on equal terms,” Puri told reporters in Amritsar while responding to questions about the possibility of the two parties joining hands ahead of the 2027 Punjab Assembly election.
His comments assume significance amid continuing speculation over whether the BJP and SAD could revive their decades-old partnership, which ended in 2020 after the Akali Dal walked out of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance over the Centre's farm laws.
Under their previous arrangement, the Akali Dal was the dominant partner in Punjab. In the 2017 Assembly election, for instance, the SAD contested 94 seats and the BJP 23 in the 117-member House.
Puri indicated that such an arrangement would not be acceptable if the parties were to negotiate a fresh alliance.
The BJP has, meanwhile, publicly been preparing to contest across Punjab. State BJP in-charge Satish Poonia said earlier this week that the party was preparing for all 117 Assembly constituencies and that no alliance had been announced.
Puri was in Amritsar to attend the government's 20th Rozgar Mela. He first paid obeisance at the Golden Temple before attending the programme, where appointment letters were handed over to newly recruited government employees.
The Centre said more than 51,000 appointment letters were distributed across the country in the latest Rozgar Mela, taking the total number issued through the programme to more than 1.2 million.
The union minister also targeted Punjab's Aam Aadmi Party government over the state's drug problem.
Puri acknowledged that Punjab had faced a drug problem during the previous SAD-BJP government's tenure as well, but claimed the situation had become more serious.
“The drug problem is destroying an entire generation,” he said, accusing the state government of failing to deliver on its pre-election promises to curb drugs.
The AAP government has repeatedly said it is pursuing an intensified anti-drug campaign involving police action against traffickers as well as rehabilitation and prevention measures.
Puri also defended the Centre's policy of blending 20 per cent ethanol with petrol, or E20, rejecting criticism from opposition parties. He said the programme had been underway since 2023 and accused its critics of seeking to create confusion over the issue.
Referring to volatility in international energy markets, Puri said India had maintained fuel supplies without widespread shortages or long queues despite disruptions abroad.
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Tags: #No return to old SAD-BJP seat formula; any future alliance must be on equal terms# Puri says
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