India / BJP talking to Amarinder Singh, Sukhdev Dhindsa for alliance in Punjab: Amit Shah

New Delhi: Union home minister Amit Shah on Saturday said the BJP is in talks with both Amarinder Singh's party and Shiromani Akali and an alliance may come up ahead of the Punjab assembly election. Delivering the keynote address of the concluding session of the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit, the home minister said his party is in talks with both the parties with a positive note and an alliance may be formed.

The election in Punjab will be fought on merit and vikas, Amit Shah said adding it was Prime Minister Narendra Modi's large heart that he withdraw the farm laws against which the farmers of Punjab have been protesting.

The Punjab assembly election scheduled to be held next year will be an interesting fight as former chief minister Amarinder Singh has exited from the Congress and floated his own party,  Punjab Lok Congress, which is open to forging an alliance with the BJP.

Amarinder Singh's party is also open at an alliance with like-minded parties, such as breakaway Akali groups, particularly Dhindsa and Brahmpura factions. The farm laws stood between Amarinder and the BJP as the former chief minister strongly opposed the farm laws, but now with the laws withdrawn, there is no roadblock in an alliance of Amarinder Singh and the BJP.

In the 2017 Punjab Assembly polls, Congress won an absolute majority in the state by winning 77 seats and ousted the SAD-BJP government after 10 years.

Aam Aadmi Party had emerged as the second-largest party winning 20 seats in 117-member Punjab Legislative Assembly. The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) could only manage to win 15 seats while the BJP secured 3 seats.