Haryana Assembly Elections: SAD To Not Form Alliance With BJP; Announces To Contest Alone

The decision of fighting solo was taken in a core committee meeting of the party chaired by its chief Sukhbir Singh Badal in Amritsar.

Image: PTI

New Delhi: Shiromani Akali Dal announced that it will go solo in the upcoming electoral contest in Haryana for 90 assembly seats, breaking ties with its Punjab ally Bharatiya Janata Party, ditching the ongoing alliance talks. The decision of fighting solo was taken in a core committee meeting of the party chaired by its chief Sukhbir Singh Badal in Amritsar. The party has adopted a strict stance against BJP, its traditional Punjab ally, after the only SAD MLA from Haryana Balkaur Singh, joined the BJP on Thursday. Akali Dal leader Dalhit Cheema said in a tweet that the SAD core committee termed the induction of the sitting MLA Balkaur Singh into BJP as “unethical”. “SAD core committee decided that it will contest general elections in Haryana on its own. Describes induction of sitting MLA Balkaur Singh into BJP unethical,” he said. BJP and SAD are allies in Punjab but they haven’t contested elections together in Haryana. Akali Dal broke ties with Om Prakash Chautala-led INLD – its traditional partner in the state, in the year 2017. Elections will take place in Haryana on October 21, along with Maharashtra. Counting of votes in both the states will take place on October 24.