The National Democratic Alliance was formed in the 1990s and Shiromani Akali Dal had been an ally of the BJP from the very beginning. Matters have however come to a head on Thursday with Union Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal resigning from the Modi government amid protests against the three farm bills tabled by the Centre in Parliament.
"I have resigned from Union Cabinet in protest against anti-farmer ordinances and legislation. Proud to stand with farmers as their daughter and sister,' she had tweeted.
But while it is not clear whether this will ultimately lead to the SAD exiting the NDA alliance in the days to come, that is not the focus of this article. In this article we take a look at the past, and more specifically, at the SAD's multi-decade alliance with the BJP.
Over the years, the Shiromani Akali Dal had clashed with the NDA on several occasions. However, it has remained allied with the BJP in all Lok Sabha elections since 1998. As of 2020, BJP ally has two Lok Sabha MPs and three Rajya Sabha MPs.
At the state level however, things have been less rosy. To give a few recent examples, it had withdrawn candidates in Haryana from Lok Sabha poll, with the understanding that they would be accommodated in the assembly elections, and it had decided to not contest the Delhi assembly polls after being told by the BJP to change its stance over the amended Citizenship Act. It had however supported the party in the elections. In October 2019, the SAD had served ties with the BJP in Haryana, deciding to contest the state assembly polls with former ally, the INLD.
But these disputes does not seem to have affected the overall bond between the two parties. As Parkash Singh Badal noted in April 2020, "Our relation with BJP is sacred".
