The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday declared that it will contest the upcoming Lok Sabha polls on its own in Punjab, with the announcement coming amid ‘hints’ from its ex-ally Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) that the latter could go solo in the border state.

Sunil Jakhar, the BJP’s Punjab unit chief, issued a video statement on X (formerly Twitter) to announce that the saffron party will fight alone in the state.

“The decision was taken after speaking to leaders, party workers, and common people. The move will benefit all sections of the society here in Punjab. No one has worked for Punjab the way prime minister Narendra Modi-led BJP government at the Centre has,” Jakhar said.

Punjab has 13 parliamentary seats, of which the BJP and SAD, contesting as allies in the former-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), bagged four, with two candidates from each party emerging victorious, in the previous 2019 general elections. The Congress won eight seats, and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), one.

In September 2020, however, Akali Dal left the NDA after the central government brought in the contentious farm laws, which led to farmer protests in north India. While most cultivators were from Punjab, those from neighbouring states such as Haryana and Uttar Pradesh joined in as well.

The farm laws were revoked in November 2021, more than a year after farmers began protests on Delhi’s borders, with the agitation going on until the legislations were taken back.