After rebuild, mobilisation: With Punjab rally blitz, Akalis to launch early campaign for 2027 Assembly polls
Buoyed by its success in the recent rural local body polls, and ahead of urban local body elections, the Akali Dal will hold state-wide rallies starting in the Malwa region, its traditional stronghold, in February
The SAD had effectively sounded the 2027 poll bugle during its Maghi Mela political conference on January 14, where Badal announced a slew of promises. (Express Photo) A year ahead of the Punjab Assembly elections, the Sukhbir Badal-led Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) has signalled a return to full-scale political mobilisation with a series of rallies across the state slated for February in what party leaders describe as an early start to the 2027 campaign.
The move, finalised at a meeting of district presidents and constituency in-charges chaired by party chief Badal on January 24, marks a clear shift from organisational rebuilding – including the appointment of new constituency in-charges and district presidents – visible grassroots-level politics, with the Akali Dal aiming to convert its gains in the recent Panchayat Samiti (PS) and Zila Parishad (ZP) elections into a broader political revival.
The SAD will begin its rallies from Punjab’s Malwa region, the party’s traditional stronghold, with plans to hold four rallies every week with the intention to project sustained momentum across the state in the coming months. Senior party leaders said the decision was influenced by the party’s performance in the local body election held in December, which they view as a significant turnaround from the setback suffered in the 2022 Assembly and 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
After winning just three Assembly seats of the state’s total 117 in 2022 and just one of the 13 Lok Sabha seats in 2024, the SAD managed to recover in the local body elections held in December. The party won 445 PS and 46 PS seats en route to securing an outright majority in the Sri Muktsar Sahib and Bathinda Zila Parishads, and nine Panchayat Samitis.
“Yes, you can say that we have started an early round ahead of the 2027 polls, and the momentum was geared up soon after the Zila Parishad and Panchayat Samiti polls, in which the SAD performed really well,” said a senior SAD leader after the meeting.
Already, the party has named Sarabjeet Singh Jhinjer, the state’s Youth Akali Dal chief, as its candidate for the Ghanaur Assembly seat in the Patiala district.
“The party is in action mode. In between, the municipal corporation and municipal council elections will also be held, so the schedule of rallies may vary accordingly,” an SAD leader said. Elections to nine municipal corporations and 116 municipal councils are slated to be held in February.
The aggressive and early outreach, party sources say, comes amid speculation of a renewed alliance between the SAD and BJP, who had parted ways after a 25-year partnership in 2020 after the protests over the three now-scrapped farm laws, as the Akali Dal looks to project its organisational and electoral strength across urban and rural regions.
“The focus of the rallies will be on the role played by the party in the development of the state as well as its vision for Punjab once it forms the government in 2027,” said SAD spokesperson Daljeet Singh Cheema.
Cheema said successive SAD governments between 2007 and 2017 had carried out “unprecedented development” across Punjab. “This includes ensuring a power surplus, connecting all major cities with four-lane roads, establishing new thermal plants and airports, and overhauling rural infrastructure,” he said.
“It is a fact that both the previous Congress and the present Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) governments have failed to create a single new infrastructure project, due to which the state has suffered immensely. We are committed to restarting a new era of development and infrastructure creation to take Punjab forward,” Cheema added.
Promises made
The SAD had effectively sounded the 2027 poll bugle during its Maghi Mela political conference on January 14, where Badal announced a slew of promises, including free tubewell connections to farmers, Rs 10 lakh interest-free loans for youth, and waiver of the road tax on motorcycles.
Addressing party workers at the Maghi Mela, Badal had said, “All leaders who want to save Punjab should come back into the SAD fold. All those who had left the party due to any anger or grievance should return back in the interest of Punjab and its future generations… Punjabis want to see an end to the AAP’s rule and are eager to vote for their own regional party to save their future generations,” he added.
However, the Congress has dismissed this early push by the SAD, labelling the state-wide rallies as “ineffective”. Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh Raja Warring said, “I don’t think rallies really help Sukhbir Badal. He had big rallies even in the past, and everyone knows how miserably the Akalis performed in every election.”
“The larger thing is to strengthen your cadre. Already, the tags of sand mafia, drug mafia and transport mafia are on him and his party. Further, by giving a ticket to the family of a gangster in the Tarn Taran Assembly bypoll, they secured second position, but everyone now knows about the gangster connection with this party,” Warring added, referring to Sukhwinder Kaur, the mother-in-law of jailed Khadoor Sahib MP and pro-Khalistan Waris Punjab De leader Amritpal Singh, who lost the Tarn Taran bypoll last November to the AAP candidate.
The Punjab BJP, too, appeared unmoved by the SAD’s early outreach efforts. “Every party has its own political programmes, so let them do their bit. It is an election year now and every political party will try to make the most of it. I really don’t think the BJP has anything to worry about,” said party spokesperson Pritpal Singh Baliawal.
Baliawal added that the BJP, too, has lined up a series of public programmes. “We are organising awareness rallies on the Viksit Bharat – Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin). Union Home Minister Amit Shah will address a rally in Moga on February 22, while Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to visit Punjab on Ravidas Jayanti (on February 1). The year will be full of activities for every political party,” he said.
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