The alliance between the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and the BSP has hot up the politics in Punjab. The move has upset those who have been trying to woo the 32 per cent Dalit population in state. Congress MP Ravneet Singh Bittu sparked a controversy when he questioned the Akalis for giving Panthic (Sikh religious) seats to the BSP. Though Bittu said he has been misunderstood, all opposition parties were up in arms against him for saying 'religious' seats have gone into BSP kitty.
The BSP has been allotted seats with significant Dalit presence, and those seats which were earlier contested by the BJP as an Akali alliance partner. Bittu's comments reportedly meant that seats like Anandpur Sahib and Chamkaur Sahib, which are associated with Sikh history, have gone to BSP's kitty, along with Amritsar North and Central. The opposition parties, including the BJP, have demanded strong action against the Congress leader for his “casteist” remarks.
Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri decried the 'Panthic seats' comment. “The entire state was Panthic. Sikhism is an egalitarian religion. There are no differences. We all sit on the floor and partake of Guru ka Langar. Whatever differences there may be, were created later on and were not there in the minds of Sikh Gurus.”
After Sukhbir Badal-led Akali Dal ended the alliance with the BJP over the three controversial farm bills, it allied with the BSP nearly 25 years after they contested together.
Under the new alliance agreement, the BSP would contest twenty out of the 117 seats, including eight seats in the Doaba region, seven in Malwa and five in Majha. The seats are Kartarpur, Jalandhar West, Jalandhar North, Phagwara, Nawanshahr, Hoshiarpur City, Tanda, Dasuya, Chamkaur Sahib, Bassi Pathana, Mehal Kalan, Ludhiana North, Sujanpur, Boha, Pathankot, Anandpur Sahib, Mohali, Amritsar North, Amritsar Central and Payal. Though the BSP has not been able to win any seats in the last few elections as it contested alone, it has been getting chunk of Dalit votes in Doaba region.
Even after the seat allocation, the BSP cadre has been asking for change in a few seats as their presence is significantly higher in seats that have gone to Akali Dal.
The Anandpur Sahib seat is held by Kanwarpal Singh of the Congress. He had defeated BJP's Parminder Sharma in 2017. This seat will be contested by BSP candidate in the BSP-Akali alliance. In 2012, the seat was won by Madan Mohan Mittal of the BJP. In 2002, the seat was won by Congress' Ramesh Dutt Sharma.
The Chamkaur Sahib is a reserved seat. It is currently held by Charanjit Singh Channi, a minister in the Amarinder Singh cabinet. The seat was last held by an Akali Dal candidate in 2007.
The two seats in Amritsar district—Amritsar North and Amritsar North—which have now gone to the BSP were also earlier contested by the BJP as Akali alliance partner. The BJP had secured Amritsar central seat in 2007 when Laxmikant Chawla won. During the subsequent elections, BJP had fielded Tarun Chugh from the seat. Chugh is BJP's national general secretary. The seat was won by Om Prakash Soni of the Congress, also a state minister.
Amritsar North seat, to be contested by the BSP, was held by the BJP twice in 2007 and 2012 by its leader Anil Joshi. Congress's Sunil Dutti holds the seat now.
The BSP will contest on most of the reserved seats in the state.
Though the elections, expected to be four-cornered, are six months away, the politicians have began making attempts to attract attention.