Farm Laws: Ruling out the possibility of going back to its earlier alliance partners, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), the Punjab BJP instead prefers a tie-up with former Congress chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh for the forthcoming state assembly polls, says the party’s state chief Ashwani Sharma.
The announcement to repeal the three contentious farm laws by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has opened up interesting political possibilities in the state, with the Punjab BJP hoping to shed its image of a “pariah” party and start courting interest of other political outfits for a poll alliance.
But the state unit chief vehemently denies any possibility of going back to an alliance with the SAD. Speaking to News18.com, Sharma said: “An alliance is an equal partnership but the SAD was contesting on 84 per cent of the seats last time and BJP chose to remain the second fiddle in the alliance because it was thought out in the benefit of Punjab. But we don’t see any possibility of going back to that alliance.”
Sharma says the announcement of the repeal of the farm laws will make it possible for the big leaders to move around in a more conducive environment. “At the ground level, it was not difficult for the party workers to move around. The big names and known leaders were facing the heat,’’ said Sharma.