Ahead of the Punjab Assembly polls scheduled to be held next year, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) formed an alliance on Saturday.
The SAD earlier had a tie up with the BJP and it was part of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). It exited the NDA protesting the Centre’s new agriculture legislations.
Announcing his party’s pact with Mayawati-led BSP, SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal on Saturday said, “Today marks a new day in the politics of Punjab.”
He further announced that the BSP will fight 20 of the 117 Assembly seats in Punjab, while his party will contest in the rest.
Among the seats which the BSP will contest are Kartarpur Sahib in Jalandhar, Jalandhar-West, Jalandhar-North, Phagwara, Hoshiarpur Urban, Dasuya, Chamkaur Sahib in Rupnagar district, Bassi Pathana, Sujanpur in Pathankot, Mohali, Amritsar North and Amritsar Central.
Next year, Assembly elections are scheduled to take place in five states-- Uttarakhand, Goa, Manipur, Uttar Pradesh and Punjab.
(With PTI inputs)
