The Bharatiya Janata Party will contest on 65 seats in the upcoming Punjab Assembly elections while its ally, former chief minister Amarinder Singh’s Punjab Lok Congress will field candidates in 37 seats.
Shiromani Akali Dal (Samyukt), the third alliance partner, has been allocated 15 seats.
Announcing the seat-sharing agreement of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) at a press conference in Delhi, BJP president J.P. Nadda said the three parties had come together for the sake of national security and welfare of the state.
“Security is a very important issue. This election is for stability and safety,” he said.
Hailing Punjab as a "leader", especially in defence and food security of the country, he said, "Today Punjab needs special attention, it needs a double engine government and a better coordination between the Centre and the state."
Amarinder, who had quit the Congress after a prolonged power tussle with party’s state unit president Navjot Singh Sidhu and launched his own political outfit, has already announced the first list of 22 candidates. The former CM will contest from Patiala Urban constituency.
Election to the 117-member Assembly will be held on February 20 and the counting of votes will take place on March 10.
