Badal Dal may contest 12 seats in Delhi Assembly polls on its own

New Delhi/ Chandigarh, India (October 21, 2013): According to certain Punjab’s ruling party Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal) or the Badal Dal has apparently decided to contest alone in 12 seats in the upcoming Delhi Assembly elections.

The decision to contest election from 12 constituencies was taken the Badal Dal leadership reportedly failed to reach a seat-sharing agreement with the BJP, its alliance partner in Punjab. The 12 constituencies chosen by the Badal Dal are Rajouri Garden, Tilak Nagar, Hari Nagar, Moti Nagar, Timarpur, Adarsh Nagar, Greater Kailash, Kalkaji, Parparganj, Shadara, Shakur Basti and Vishvas Nagar.

According to a news reported by the New Indian Express (NIE): [e]xplaining the reason behind the move, a party leader said, “The BJP is not able to decide on sharing seats with the SAD [Badal Dal]. With little time to go for the elections, the leadership has asked us to contest from the seats having a big chunk of Punjabi and Sikh population independently.”

The reason for the parting of ways in Delhi was the deadlock over Rajouri Garden and Tilak Nagar seats. The BJP wanted the Badal Dal to choose from one of these.

The development does not bode well for both the allies. According to Badal Dal sources, the party can barely hope to get one seat while the BJP could lose the seats where Badal Dal puts up candidates. According to NIE Badal Dal sources said its Delhi unit is going to start holding poll meetings in the 12 constituencies from Tuesday.

However the NIE news report had also quoted Badal Dal Spokesman Daljeet Singh Cheema as saying: “Our talks with the BJP are going on and the final decision is yet to be taken.

“We hope things will work. The Delhi unit of the party had a meeting with SAD [Badal Dal] president Sukhbir Singh Badal and they have apprised him of the situation”, Cheema reportedly added.

“Meanwhile, Punjab Chief Minister and SAD patriarch Parkash Singh Badal had been maintaining from day one that his party would contest the Delhi Assembly elections in alliance with the BJP” NIE report reads further.