The Bharatiya Janata Party and Shiromani Akali Dal are not natural allies. Their ideologies differ completely. So do their social bases and core voters. Even on various political issues, particularly like federalism, the two parties think apart. Yet the two allies have remained together comfortably for decades in Punjab. Since their “core constituencies” were different and did not overlap with each other, the alliance worked well, and the ideological differences did not prove to be any hindrance.
In the post-militancy era, after the Shiromani Akali Dal allied with the BJP, it was considered more to be a social than a political alliance. With the SAD core base being among the Sikhs and that of the BJP among the Hindus, it was considered as a “Hindu-Sikh alliance” famously described by late Parkash Singh Badal as ‘nau-mass da rishta’ (like the relationship between the nails and the skin). It indeed worked well for social cohesion. The two parties never had any mistrust or misunderstanding. This was more because the BJP was more than accommodative towards the Akalis.
The party did not insist on the post of the deputy chief minister when the alliance was dependent on the BJP support in 2007. The BJP had won 19 seats then and the government would not have survived without the BJP support. The party accepted Sukhbir Singh Badal as the deputy chief minister. The party did not even insist for a second deputy chief minister who could have been easily appointed. This was also because the senior BJP leadership prior to 2014, including Atal Bihari Vajpayee and LK Advani, was quite reverential, respectful, and accommodative towards Badal senior.
There was a reason for that. When the BJP needed allies in 1996, as it was short of MPs, the senior Badal unilaterally announced his party’s support for the NDA, although the Akali Dal had contested the Parliamentary elections that time in alliance with the Bahujan Samaj Party. Veteran BJP leader Madan Lal Khurana was instrumental in bringing Badal into the NDA fold.
For that matter even Prime Minister Narendra Modi was always highly respectful towards the senior Badal. There are very few leaders in the country whose feet Modi touches. Senior Badal was among those few, whose feet he touched as a mark of great respect.
However, things took a different turn post-2014. The new BJP leadership remained accommodative towards the Akalis. As the mantle of the leadership passed on to Sukbir Badal, there appeared to be a lack of cohesion. Besides, the unexpected withdrawal of support to the NDA during the peak of farmers’ protests left the BJP feeling betrayed. The BJP leadership had taken the Akalis into confidence about the farm laws. Parkash Singh Badal had initially defended the farm laws and rightly so, as these were actually aimed at farmers’ welfare. But due to pressure from grassroots, as the farming community perceived these laws against them, the Akali Dal was left with no choice but to part ways with the BJP, its long-term ally.
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For the BJP, even the Akalis withdrawing from the NDA was understandable, as the party understood its compulsions. But the way the party MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal went hammer and tongs against the BJP was surprising for the SAD. While Sukhbir and Bikram Singh Majithia, now in jail in a case of disproportionate assets, have always avoided criticising the BJP, Harsimrat has been aggressively hitting out at the BJP for inexplicable reasons.
Interestingly, this time it is the Akali workers and leaders who are keener to align with the BJP than other way round. While senior BJP leader and former chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh has been strongly batting for the alliance, the traditional BJP leadership in Punjab has been favouring going alone. The BJP does not have much to lose by not going for an alliance; for the Akali Dal it is battle of survival, life, and death. The Akali Dal cannot afford to lose yet another election that would be third in a row. Remaining out of power for 15 years will pose an existential threat to the party.
The BJP leadership appears to be irked with the current Akali leadership, including Sukhbir, over his unrealistic demands during the 2024 General Elections. The BJP had reportedly asked for six of the 13 Parliamentary constituencies. It could eventually have accepted five as the party wanted Ludhiana and Patiala in addition to the three constituencies of Amritsar, Gurdaspur and Hoshiarpur, which it was contesting according to the earlier arrangement. Sukhbir insisted on three constituencies only and is reported to have told the same thing to Union Home Minister Amit Shah as well.
The BJP, knowing well that the Akalis needed it more than the other way round, instantly announced to go alone in Punjab. Had the two parties aligned together, they would have won six constituencies instead of only Bathinda, which the Akalis won. The alliance, if formed, would have won Ludhiana, Amritsar, Patiala, Gurdaspur and Ferozepur as the combined vote share of the two parties was far more than their rivals. Besides, the alliance would have been in close contest in Hoshiarpur and Anandpur Sahib constituencies.
An alliance will generate a positive perception in both the rural as well as urban areas. If the alliance does not happen, the Congress may end up to be a direct beneficiary in both the rural as well as urban areas, at the cost of the Akali Dal the BJP, respectively.
While it is too early to assume that the resistance shown by the state BJP leadership to the idea of an alliance with Akalis will be final, not going for an alliance will straightway mean providing a certain advantage to the Congress, the last thing the central BJP leadership would like to happen.
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