BJP ties up with Amarinder, Dhindsa to fight Punjab polls; seat sharing talks begin

The BJP will contest the assembly polls in Punjab in alliance with Amarinder Singh's Punjab Lok Congress and Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa's SAD (Sanyukt).

New Delhi: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will contest assembly polls in Punjab in alliance with Amarinder Singh's Punjab Lok Congress (PLC) and Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa's SAD (Sanyukt), union minister Gajendra Shekhawat said on Monday.

Both Singh and Dhindsa, a Rajya Sabha MP, met BJP top brass, including president J.P. Nadda and Union Home Minister Amit Shah at Shah's residence here to chalk out a strategy for the polls. It was decided at the meeting that the BJP, PLC and SAD (Sanyukt) will jointly contest the election.

Addressing the media after the meeting, Shekhawat said, "Today, it is being officially announced that the BJP, Amarinder Singh's party and Dhindsa's party will jointly contest the upcoming assembly polls in Punjab."

Shekhawat, the BJP's poll in-charge for Punjab, said to finalise the seat sharing agreement, a joint committee will be formed comprising two leaders from each party. He also announced that the three-party alliance will come up with a joint manifesto.