A 10-minute meeting, a 2027 signal? Modi-Sukhbir meet fuels Punjab alliance buzz

“The meeting lasted for about 10 minutes, which started at around noon, and it was in a cordial environment,” said a source in the Akali Dal.

The meeting comes just days after Badal met with Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini, who has emerged as one of the BJP’s visible campaign faces in Punjab of late.

SAD insiders said they were unaware of the meeting. “While pradhan ji (Sukhbir) was in a meeting with the PM, AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal instantly started his own speculation. This shows how insecure he and his party are about this meeting. Can’t a party president meet the Prime Minister over issues concerning the state? The AAP and the Congress are too insecure and that is why they are reading too much into this meeting,” senior SAD leader Daljeet Singh Cheema told The Indian Express.

He added, “Though I myself don’t know what all happened inside the meeting, Sukhbir himself can tell us this Saturday once he returns to Punjab.”

The meeting assumes political significance as both the SAD and the BJP have publicly maintained that they intend to contest the Punjab Assembly elections on their own. The two parties, which were longstanding allies in Punjab, parted ways in September 2020 when the Akalis walked out of the BJP-led NDA over the now-repealed three farm laws.

A senior SAD leader said the reactions from the AAP and the Congress indicate the potential political impact of a possible SAD-BJP alliance. “It is a ‘lok awaz (voice of the people)’ that the old alliance between the two parties be revived,” the leader said.

BJP keeps option open

Several state BJP leaders are in favour of reviving the alliance that took charge of Punjab in the post-militancy years and provided political stability to the state. At the time, the Akalis were the bigger party while the BJP was the junior ally. However, that equation has changed, according to a BJP leader.

“The elections are some time away, but both parties coming together will certainly lay the foundation for a joint front against the ruling AAP by bridging the gap between the SAD’s popularity among panthic and rural voters with the BJP’s support base in urban areas,” said a source.

“But the equation within this possible alliance will need to be different. The BJP is likely to ask for the lead as the bigger brother and not the other way around as the case used to be, given the current political reality,” the source said.

While the BJP has been preparing to contest all 117 Assembly seats on its own, its national president Nitin Nabin in recent months had kept the possibility of an alliance open. During his visit to the state in June, Nabin told party leaders to avoid public comments on any alliance with the SAD. At a media interaction, he said the BJP was preparing to contest all 117 seats but added that “what happens in future cannot be said”.

He later said the party was “neither for nor against” an alliance and would move ahead on its own strength for the next six months before making a fresh assessment based on the ground situation and public mood closer to the elections.

In the past, former Punjab Chief Minister and BJP leader Captain Amarinder Singh has argued that the BJP will find it difficult to form a government in Punjab on its own and advocated for an alliance with the Akalis. At different points in time, former Punjab BJP president Sunil Jakhar has also indicated support for reviving the alliance.

A senior BJP leader, however, refused to read too much into Sukhbir’s meeting with the PM. “Both parties were in a very strong alliance for very long both at the state and Centre; so speculation around a possible alliance is natural, but there may not be more than a soft corner that both have for each other at play,” a senior leader said.

AAP, Congress take aim

The meeting comes weeks after Modi’s July 17 visit to Punjab, during which he addressed a public rally in Jalandhar and targeted rival political parties, including the SAD.

During the rally, Modi criticised the Akali Dal, saying the party had become preoccupied with personal and selfish interests rather than public welfare. The following day, during a media interaction in Chandigarh, Sukhbir Badal responded to the PM’s remarks, saying that Modi was referring to the SAD Punarsurjit, a breakaway faction, and not the SAD led by him.

Sukhbir Badal’s response generated political interest at the time as he did not directly confront the PM over the criticism. His interpretation of Modi’s remarks was seen as an indication that the SAD leadership was keen to keep communication open with the BJP leadership.

Although the BJP and SAD have continued to criticise each other publicly since their alliance broke in September 2020, their attacks have largely remained controlled.

Friday’s meeting, therefore, renewed speculation about the future political equations between the two parties, giving their rivals a chance to target them.

“Na na karte pyar tumhi se kar baithe (Despite saying no, I ended up falling in love with you) … So, is an alliance between the ‘Chanda Chor Party’ and the ‘Beadbi Party’ finally taking shape?” AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal wrote on X.

Punjab Leader of Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa of the Congress said, “I knew already that they are going to be together yet again. The BJP tried hard on its own, criticised the SAD enough, and now two big zeros are going to be together. It will hardly make any difference.”