Punjab polls: Amarinder Singh likely to meet senior BJP leaders in Delhi today
Singh left for the national capital on Thursday and is expected to meet the BJP's central leadership. Previously, he met the Union minister of Jal Shakti Gajendra Shekhawat on December 7, who is also the BJP's in charge of the Punjab assembly elections.
Former Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh is likely to meet senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders in New Delhi on Friday to discuss a possible seat-sharing arrangement for the upcoming assembly elections in the northern state, news agency PTI reported.
Singh left for the national capital on Thursday and is expected to meet the BJP's central leadership.
Previously, Singh met the Union minister of Jal Shakti Gajendra Shekhawat on December 7, who is also the BJP's in charge of the Punjab assembly elections.
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A week later - on December 14 - Shekhawat said that Singh's party - the Punjab Lok Congress - and the BJP are likely to join hands for the elections. Both parties are like-minded and hold identical views on several issues, Shekhawat added.
Before Shekhawat, Union home minister Amit Shah had said on December 4 that the BJP was in talks with Amarinder Singh and the breakaway Akali faction led by Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa of the Shiromani Akali Dal (Sanyukt), adding an alliance might come up ahead of the assembly elections in Punjab.
Captain Amarinder Singh resigned from the Congress in September this year amid a power tussle with the party's Punjab unit president Navjot Singh Sidhu. More than 50 MLAs had written to Congress President Sonia Gandhi, seeking that Singh should be removed from the top post.
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The former Punjab chief minister formed his party in November. On December 12, Amarinder Singh said that talks are on to ally with the BJP and Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa's party and an announcement of seat adjustment will be made soon.
Elections to 117 assembly seats in Punjab are set to happen in 2022. In 2017, Congress won an absolute majority by winning 77 seats and ousted the SAD-BJP government after a decade. On the other hand, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) emerged as the second-largest party in Punjab as it won 20 out of the total seats.