No alliance with BJP in Punjab, says Sukhbir Badal

The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) will not join hands with its former partner, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal said on Friday,  The Akali Dal chief told reporters: "700 lives have been lost (at the farmers' protests)... the country saw the martyrdom of these people. I had told the Prime Minister... that the farmers won't agree to the black laws that were framed by the government." On being asked if his party can now consider an alliance with the BJP in Punjab, he replies with an emphatic "no".

Over the last year, the Akali Dal had urged the government several times to hold talks with farmers camping near the borders of Delhi. Sukhbir Singh Badal, his wife Harsmirat Kaur, and many other party leaders had also led demonstrations.Earlier, Akali Dal patriarch Parkash Singh Badal had also hit out at the government soon after PM Modi's big announcement in his address .

A historic victory of farmers on the historic and sacred day of Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji's Parkash Purab. It's a defining moment in the history and the greatest event in the history of farmers' struggles all over the world: Party patron S. Parkash Singh Badal (1/4) pic.twitter.com/278HqQ5X6v

— Shiromani Akali Dal (@Akali_Dal_) November 19, 2021

Farmers from Punjab,Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, and Rajasthan have been camping at Delhi borders for about a year now amid the pandemic and harsh weather conditions. They say they won't return to their homes unless the laws are cancelled in parliament.