Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) secretary general Balwinder Singh Bhundar on Thursday clarified that no talks for an alliance were going on with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Number two in the party after president Sukhbir Singh Badal, Bhundar put to rest conjectures by party leaders about restitching an electoral alliance with the saffron party after a six-year gap.
“No talks of alliance are going on with the BJP but we do not know about the future,” answered Bhundar while responding to a question from mediapersons. Senior SAD leaders were addressing the media after a meeting chaired by Sukhbir to finalise plans ahead of the state assembly polls of 2027.
Adding to what Bhundar told the media, party secretary Daljit Singh Cheema said, “Our party has given all rights for alliance to the (party) president.”
For a few months now, rumours of a SAD-BJP reunion have been rife. Speculation reignited following a meeting between Sukhbir and Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Parliament House in New Delhi on August 7, 2026. This was their first one-on-one political meeting since the two parties ended their 23-year alliance in 2020 over farm laws. Before their split, the two parties had together formed governments in Punjab thrice in 1997, 2007 and 2012.
SAD to launch poll campaign on Oct 6
The SAD on Thursday announced an intensive poll campaign for the forthcoming assembly elections with a door-to-door campaign from October 6 and a state-wide bus-yatra led by Sukhbir from Talwandi Sabo, starting November 10.
The door-to-door campaign will be held simultaneously in all assembly constituencies with the aim of taking voter suggestions to formulate the party’s election manifesto, to be announced on November 1.
Revealing the programme to the media, Cheema said the bus yatra will be a mass contact programme, covering two to three assembly constituencies daily.
He added that Bathinda MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal will launch the second phase of the anti-drug movement from Muktsar on October 5, using the slogan “Maawan Dheeyan Di Lalkaar, Band Karo Nasha da Vyapar”.
‘Wheat MSP hike too meagre’
Speaking to the media, Bhundar also criticised the ₹25 hike in the wheat MSP announced by the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices, terming it meagre. Appealing to the Union government to reconsider its decision and revise the MSP, he added that the hike did not address rising input costs and was the lowest absolute hike in 17 years.