Clouds of uncertainty over a possible alliance between traditional partners – Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) – finally dissipated on the historic Holy day as both decided to go solo in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

The decision was first announced by the Punjab BJP chief, Sunil Jakhar, after which the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) chief, retorted that the Dal was a party of principles that always worked for interests of people in Punjab in general and farmers in particular.

It is perhaps for the first time in recent decades that Punjab will go to general polls with all major parties – Congress, BJP, SAD, BSP and the latest entrant AAP – shunning all offers of alliances or seat adjustments.

Of all the contesting parties, only AAP has taken the lead in naming eight of its 13 candidates while other parties are yet to come out with their lists of candidates. BJP has indicated of fielding Mr TS Sandhu, who recently superannuated from Indian Foreign Service, as its candidate from the holy city of Amritsar.

After the speculations of a possible alliance were set to rest, both BJP and SAD had closed door meetings to work out their strategies besides deciding their candidates for the biggest battle of the ballot of the decade.

Both BJP and SAD have two members each in the outgoing 17th Lok Sabha while the ruling party AAP had its sole representative, who defected from Congress and won the Jalandhar Lok Sabha byelection, at the time of its dissolution.

SAD is represented by the husband-wife combine of Sukhbir Singh Badal and Harsimrat Kaur Badal while Som Parkash and Sunny Deol occupied treasury benches. One of the Congress MPs – Perneet Kaur – recently decided to shift her loyalties and joined the Saffron party. She may be fielded by BJP from her home seat of Patiala.

SAD and BJP had been contesting Punjab Assembly and Lok Sabha elections together for a long time. Their alliance was rated as the strongest and longest lasting alliance till cracks appeared after the BJP-led NDA government passed the controversial farm laws. The Laws were withdrawn after farmers from all over North India agitated peacefully for more than a year and put a virtual siege around the Union Capital.

Declaring itself as an offshoot of farmers agitation in early 1920s, SAD walked out of the NDA alliance after the farmers took to streets in 2021. Speculations about the revival of alliance started gaining grounds after SAD refused to join I.N.D.I. alliance of all like-minded parties. The SAD’s stand was apparent from the lead role Congress is playing in the I.N.D.I. Alliance. “We cannot be partners with Congress ever after what they did to Sikhs all over the country not only during Operation Bluestar but also after the assassinations of the then Prime Minister, Mrs Indira Gandhi,” was the stand taken by SAD.

Till the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, both SAD and BJP had an understanding over the seat adjustment as the SAD would contest on 10 of 13 seats while the remaining three would be left to junior partner BJP. This time, the BJP wanted better representation or at least six seats as the SAD had been in doldrums because of its poor performance in the last Assembly and subsequent byelections.

SAD leadership also put up some conditions, including those in support of agitating farmers and the release of all those Sikh prisoners who have completed their sentences.

Though AAP and Congress joined I.N.D.I. Alliance, but they refused to share seats in Punjab. AAP has already named eight of its 13 candidates. They include five Cabinet Ministers and a sitting MP besides another ex-Congress MLA who joined the party recently.

Now when the dust about the possibilities of any alliance in the State has settled down, all political outfits will be busy in finalising their nominees for the battle of the ballot scheduled for June 1.

(Prabhjot Singh is a veteran journalist with over three decades of experience of 14 years with Reuters News and 30 years with The Tribune Group, covering a wide spectrum of subjects and stories. He has covered Punjab and Sikh affairs for more than three decades besides covering seven Olympics and several major sporting events and hosting TV shows.)