As BJP prepares to expand NDA, Punjab and Akali Dal pose a challenge

SANTOSH KUMAR PATHAK

New Delhi, June 11 (IANS) Ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha election scheduled, both the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the opposition parties have started strengthening their own base and are asking support from other like-minded parties.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is going to hold an opposition unity meeting in Patna after convincing several like-minded parties to stand united along with the Congress, while the BJP is also busy expanding its own base along with that of the NDA (National Democratic Alliance) constituents.

Recently, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP National President J.P. Nadda met their former NDA ally and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) Chief N. Chandrababu Naidu. According to sources, if there is an agreement between BJP and TDP on certain critical issues, then the TDP might again come along with the NDA and the BJP may join hands with TDP in Andhra Pradesh as well as in Telangana to contest the upcoming 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, another NDA ally, has already joined hands with the BJP and the two parties are currently running a BJP-Shiv Sena coalition government in the state.

Recently, Shinde and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister as well as senior BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis had held a meeting with Union Home MInister in Delhi and it was decided that both the BJP and Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena would fight the upcoming 2024 Lok Sabha elections together. However, the biggest challenge for the saffron party in Punjab is its old NDA ally -- Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD).

The BJP, which is actively involved in the expansion of NDA, understands the importance of each and every political party very well, but as soon as the issue of SAD is raked, then looking at the politics of Punjab, a dilemma arises before the saffron party.

According to media sources, after the political foothold of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has increased in Punjab, the SAD wants to stitch an alliance with the BJP once again. Some BJP leaders, considering the political issues regarding the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, want to see Akali Dal become a part of the NDA again.

However, despite the saffron party for the first time contesting Assembly elections on their own in Punjab last year and the recent poll defeat in the Jalandhar Lok Sabha bypoll, a majority of the party leaders now believe that the BJP should contest elections alone in the state.

Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, who was appointed Punjab BJP election in-charge for the last year's state Assembly elections by the party high command, is still working towards the mission of strengthening the party by visiting the state regularly.

Unveiling the BJP's poll strategy for Punjab, Shekhawat recently told IANS that the saffron party has always played the role of a 'younger brother' (second fiddle) in Punjab, ensuring that social harmony and peace prevailed in the border state while always following the principle of 'nation first and party second'.

"BJP always compromised its own party interests in Punjab but the manner in which the SAD quit the NDA over the disagreement on the three controversial farm laws, the saffron party has tried to strengthen its support base in the border state."

Despite the controversy that was created during the farmers' agitation, except for the AAP, BJP was the only party whose vote percentage increased in the recently concluded Punjab Assembly elections, Shekhawat added.

He further said that BJP's vote share increased in both the subsequent Lok Sabha by-elections (Jalandhar and Sangrur).

Claiming to create history in Punjab during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Shekhawat added that though the saffron party may have lost the Lok Sabha by-election in Jalandhar, but the way the BJP workers are working round the clock in the state is strengthening the party at the grassroots level. The Union Minister is confident that in 2024 the BJP will create a new history in Punjab.

On the other hand, Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, enthused by the vote share BJP secured in the recently concluded Jalandhar Lok Sabha by-election, also claimed on Saturday that there is no need to form an alliance with the SAD in Punjab.

Responding to a question about the SAD again joining the NDA at the BJP headquarters in New Delhi, Puri said that out of the 117 Assembly seats in Punjab, the BJP had never fought elections on more than 23 seats and the result was that the party was strong in the urban areas of Punjab but not in the rural areas.

Referring to the Jalandhar Lok Sabha bypoll, the Union Minister claimed that the saffron party had secured second position in many polling booths.

Expressing reluctance to go with SAD again, Puri said that several leaders from SAD are joining the BJP as it is the pan-India party which is growing continuously in numbers.

However, it is also a fact that till now no clear statement has come from the top leadership of either the BJP or SAD regarding any pre-poll alliance before the 2024 Lok Sabha election. Although as per sources, both the BJP and SAD are considering this proposal for their own political reasons.