Sukhbir Badal meets PM Modi, fuels speculation over BJP-SAD alliance

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First meeting between the SAD chief and Prime Minister since the 2020 split fuels speculation over a possible BJP-Akali rapprochement, though neither party has commented on any alliance talks.

Chandigarh, August 7
Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday, in a move that has reignited speculation over the future of relations between the SAD and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), six years after their long-standing alliance came to an end.

The meeting, the first publicly known interaction between Badal and the Prime Minister since the two parties parted ways in 2020 over the now-repealed farm laws, comes at a politically significant time as Punjab gears up for the next Assembly elections.

However, neither the SAD nor the BJP has disclosed the agenda of the meeting or commented on whether the leaders discussed the possibility of reviving their alliance. In the absence of any official statement, the nature of the discussions remains unclear.

The development is notable because senior BJP leaders have repeatedly ruled out any pre-poll alliance in Punjab. Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP Punjab in-charge Nitin Nabin have both maintained on several occasions that the BJP is preparing to contest the upcoming Assembly elections independently.