Akali Dal, Mayawati's Party Form Alliance Ahead Of Punjab Polls: Sources

With the new alliance, the Sukhbir Badal-led Akali Dal aims to fill the gap in several seats after its split with the BJP in September last year, sources say.

The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) has formed an alliance with the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) for the Punjab Assembly elections in 2022 after breaking ties with BJP last year over the Centre's contentious farm bills, sources say. The details of the alliance will be announced later today. With the new alliance, the Sukhbir Badal-led party aims to fill the gap in several seats after its split with the BJP in September last year, sources say. The Akali Dal and BSP are joining hands 27 years after the 1996 Lok Sabha elections when their alliance had bagged 11 out of 13 seats in Punjab. The Mayawati-led BSP had then won all three seats it had contested while the Akali Dal won eight out of 10 seats. Sukhbir Badal is said to be behind the new alliance who announced last week that his party is open to tie-ups barring the Congress, BJP and the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).