No post-poll alliance with SAD: Union minister Hardeep Puri

Feb 06,2022

Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Saturday ruled out the possibility of a post-poll alliance between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) in Punjab.

The senior BJP leader categorically said the alliance of the two parties was a "bad marriage". The SAD did not allow the saffron party to expand its base in Punjab, he alleged.

Puri further said the Akalis did not even allow a Sikh leader to emerge from the BJP. The Union minister for housing and urban affairs was talking to reporters here.

BJP general secretary Dushyant Gautam and chief spokesperson of the party's state unit Anil Sareen were also present.

The SAD parted ways with its old ally BJP in 2020 over three contentious farm laws of the Centre.

To a question on the Enforcement Directorate (ED) arresting Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi's nephew Bhupinder Singh alias Honey in a money-laundering case linked to alleged illegal sand mining, Puri said the BJP does not believe in vendetta politics.

On the promises made by the BJP and its allies Punjab Lok Congress and SAD (Sanyukt) ahead of the February 20 Punjab Assembly polls, he said those are related to the revival of the state's economy.

The Union minister added that the BJP delivers what it promises.

"If the BJP-led alliance is voted to power in Punjab, it would issue a white paper on the state's economy," he said. Earlier, Puri addressed a meeting of the local industrialists here.