Farm stir upsets SAD, BJP reconciliation plan, Akalis press pause, BJP’s rural push takes a hit

The Punjab farmer unions’ “Dilli Chalo” agitation is heating up state politics with the Lok Sabha elections just round the corner. It has already had an impact on the attempts being made by former NDA allies, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and the BJP, to reach out to each other in a bid to restitch their alliance for the upcoming polls.

Both camps are closely tracking the outcome of the talks undertaken by the BJP-ruled Centre with the agitating farmer bodies to resolve the standoff.

The third round of talks between farm unions and three Union ministers — Piyush Goyal, Arjun Munda and Nityanand Rai — on farmers’ various demands — including a law on minimum support price (MSP) for crops and loan waivers — concluded on a “positive note” on Thursday-Friday night. They will meet again on Sunday evening, with the meetings also involving Chief Minister and AAP leader Bhagwant Mann.

The Sukhbir Badal-led SAD has already expressed solidarity with the protesting farmers, with the party’s core committee, its highest decision-making body, going into huddle on Thursday to deliberate on the fast-developing situation.

The SAD core committee, while reiterating the party’s full support to the farmers, decided that the party should not pursue a re-alliance with the BJP until a solution is found for redressal of their grievances.

A member of this top SAD panel told The Indian Express that a majority of its members were of the view that “at this stage and till the issues of farmers are resolved and the farm agitation ends, Akali Dal must not explore an alliance with BJP”.

Another senior Akali leader said, “Though 75 per cent of the top party leaders were of the view that having an alliance with BJP was in the interests of both the parties, but