Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal met Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Parliament House in New Delhi on Friday, fuelling fresh speculation about a possible shift in political equations between the SAD and BJP ahead of the 2027 Punjab Assembly elections.
Badal’s office did not disclose an official agenda for the meeting. However, SAD sources said the roughly 10-minute interaction focused on issues concerning Punjab, including law and order and alleged corruption in welfare schemes under the Aam Aadmi Party government.
The meeting has attracted attention because both the SAD and BJP have publicly maintained that they plan to contest the 2027 Punjab elections independently.
The two parties were longtime political allies before the SAD withdrew from the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance in September 2020 over the three contentious farm laws, which were subsequently repealed.
A BJP source described Friday’s interaction as politically significant given the current situation in Punjab, although neither party has announced any change in its electoral strategy.
The meeting comes just weeks after Modi visited Punjab on July 17 and criticised the Akali Dal during a rally in Jalandhar, accusing the party of becoming focused on personal interests rather than public welfare.
Badal subsequently argued that Modi’s criticism was directed at SAD Punarsurjit, a breakaway Akali faction, rather than the party led by him. His decision not to directly confront Modi over the remarks had already generated speculation about whether the SAD wanted to keep channels of communication with the BJP open.
BJP national president Nitin Nabin also indicated in June that communication channels had not been completely closed, even as the party prepared to fight the Punjab elections independently.
Friday’s meeting quickly drew reactions from the SAD-BJP rivals.
AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal mocked the interaction on social media and questioned whether an alliance between the two parties was taking shape.
Punjab Leader of Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa of the Congress also suggested that a reunion was predictable, claiming he had already expected the BJP and SAD to eventually come together again.
For now, however, the meeting has produced political speculation rather than a confirmed electoral realignment. Neither the SAD nor the BJP has announced an alliance or backed away from its stated intention to contest the 2027 Punjab election independently.
