By Satinder Bains
CHANDIGARH: As the Shiromani Akali Dal and BJP explore a possible electoral reunion, Captain Amarinder Singh’s own criticism of their earlier alliance deserves renewed scrutiny. In an April 2014 interview, the former Punjab chief minister—now a BJP leader—had portrayed the partnership as an arrangement to secure power despite fundamental differences over Punjab’s interests.
The contrast is particularly striking because Amarinder has subsequently advocated an understanding between the BJP and SAD. In recent public remarks, he argued that the BJP needed an alliance with the Akalis to win in Punjab. His present position stands against the case he made to border voters while contesting the 2014 Amritsar Lok Sabha election as a Congress candidate. www.tribuneindia.com
Speaking to this correspondent, then local editor of Amar Ujala, before an election meeting at Bachi village near the Pakistan border, Amarinder said the BJP and Akali Dal pursued conflicting political positions and remained together for the sake of power.
He cited specific disagreements: the BJP’s support for interlinking rivers against the Akalis’ opposition, differences over Chandigarh’s transfer to Punjab, and the SAD’s support for the Indian National Lok Dal against the BJP in Haryana.
Amarinder also claimed that the two partners were not campaigning together effectively in Amritsar because of their differences over issues. He challenged the Akali leadership to clarify whether it favoured expanding trade with Pakistan.
His argument went beyond criticism of individual leaders: he questioned the political coherence of the alliance itself. That makes his subsequent advocacy of the same partnership a substantive reversal.
At the centre of his 2014 campaign was the contention that Punjab needed peace and commerce across the border. Contesting against BJP leader Arun Jaitley, Amarinder warned that statements by Narendra Modi and Rajnath Singh were creating apprehension about a possible war with Pakistan.
He argued that Punjab’s border residents, farmers and traders would bear the greatest cost of any confrontation. Amritsar’s economic interests, he maintained, required improved relations and greater trade rather than escalating tensions.
His warning represented his assessment during that campaign; it was not evidence of an announced BJP plan to wage war.
The question in the present debate is therefore clear: have the differences Amarinder identified over Punjab’s interests been resolved, or has his assessment of their importance changed?
An electoral understanding may offer advantages to both parties. But Amarinder’s earlier objections concerned policy and political credibility, not merely the distribution of seats. Any renewed partnership would invite scrutiny of how its participants now reconcile those issues.
Amarinder’s own political journey adds weight to that scrutiny. After breaking with Congress in 2021, he formed the Punjab Lok Congress and contested the 2022 Assembly election in alliance with the BJP. He formally joined the BJP on September 19, 2022, merging his party with it. indianexpress.com
Now, as an advocate of an Akali-BJP understanding, he faces the contradiction between his past warning and present prescription: the arrangement he once criticised as a partnership for power is the one he has since recommended as a route to electoral victory.
That reversal does not establish his motives. It does, however, place a responsibility on him to explain what has changed. His 2014 interview provides voters with a clear record against which to judge that explanation.