Sukhbir Badal’s meeting with PM Modi fuels speculation over a possible SAD-BJP alliance ahead of Punjab’s 2027 polls.
SAD and BJP, former allies, are reportedly exploring ways to revive ties after their split over farm laws in 2020.
Observers suggest a joint contest could reshape Punjab’s political battle, currently dominated by AAP and Congress.
Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal met Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the latter's office in the Parliament House complex on Friday, August 7, 2026, according to sources familiar with the meeting. The meet has triggered speculation of a SAD-BJP alliance ahead of the 2027 Punjab Assembly election, as per The Hindu.
SAD leaders remained tight-lipped about the deliberations. Party leader Daljit Cheema declined to comment on the alliance, saying only that talks had taken place.
"The leaders have met, that’s all," Cheema told The Hindu.
Shifting National Political Landscape
The two parties shared a long history as alliance partners starting in the late 1990s. However, SAD severed ties with the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in 2020 over the controversial agricultural sector laws, which the Union government subsequently repealed.
Current discussions suggest a shifting strategic approach. An unnamed SAD source said that an electoral pact could materialise as negotiations progress.
"Even people within the BJP are sensing that the political landscape in the country is shifting in light of the recent protests. The parties opposed to the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) are joining hands and there’s now a sense within the BJP that the NDA, too, should unite everyone and bring its allies together," the source said, as The Hindu reported.
Alliance Crucial For Survival
Political observers view the public nature of the meeting as a sign of progress. Had the talks failed, such sensitive discussions would have remained confidential.
Fighting the upcoming election separately could marginalise both outfits in Punjab, leaving the main contest to the Aam Aadmi Party and the Congress.
"If the SAD and BJP contest independently, then both parties will end up contesting against each other for the third or fourth position and the main contest would be between the Aam Aadmi Party and the Congress. Fighting in alliance would bring SAD and BJP in the reckoning," Pramod Kumar, director of the Institute for Development and Communication in Chandigarh, told The Hindu.
"The political positioning of both the parties was becoming vulnerable every day. The logical outcome to overcome that vulnerability was to enter into an alliance. But this alliance, if it is based on the Moga declaration of 1995 ( through which the SAD avowed to stand for ‘Punjab, Punjabi and Punjabiyat’) it will ensure not only peace and harmony but would take Punjab forward towards development mode. If both fight independently, then things could tend toward polarisation," Kumar added.
