BJP calls alliance with Shiromani Akali Dal in Punjab `a bad marriage`

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

New Delhi: Union Minister and veteran BJP leader Hardeep Singh Puri, who has remained active in Punjab Assembly Polls campaigning on Saturday called their past alliance with Shiromani Akali Dal a bad marriage and ruled out the possibility of a post-poll alliance with them, reported PTI.

Explicitly saying no to any alliance with the SAD, Puri said the Akali Dal did not allow BJP to expand its reach and horizon in Punjab beyond a point.

Puri further alleged that the Akalis did not even allow a Sikh leader to emerge from the BJP.

The Union Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs Hardip Puri made the comments while talking to the reporters in the presence of BJP general secretary Dushyant Gautam and the chief spokesperson of the party's state unit Anil Sareen.

Shiromani Akali Dal and BJP, who had been long allied in the northern state, broke off the ties after SAD left the NDA post the implementation of the controversial farm laws.

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 also 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.

Punjab will go to the polls in a single-phase on February 20. The counting of votes will take place on March 10.