Punjab Election 2022: Akali Dal swaps two seats with alliance partner BSP

CHANDIGARH: The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Wednesday decided to swap two seats with its alliance partner BSP for next year’s Punjab Assembly elections. SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal said his party has given two assembly seats, Sham Chaurasi and Kapurthala, to the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and took back the Amritsar North and Sujanpur assembly seats from it.

The Shiromani Akali Dal had last month announced its two candidates from Amritsar North and Sujanpur constituencies. At that time Badal had said that this decision has been taken with the consent of BSP. Both Amritsar North and Sujanpur were among the 20 seats given to the BSP under a seat-sharing arrangement between the two alliance partners.

SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal announced that it has withdrawn the Amritsar North and Sujanpur seats from the BSP. Senior SAD leader Daljit Singh Cheema on Wednesday said that the BSP has been given Sham Chaurasi and Kapurthala assembly seats. According to the alliance of the two parties for the 2022 assembly elections, the Mayawati-led BSP will contest 20 of the 117 assembly seats in Punjab, while the SAD will contest the rest.