Lucknow: A new political entrant is knocking on the doors of the Hindi Heartland. The Shiromani Akali Dal, which has mostly restricted itself to Punjab, is all set to test political waters in Uttar Pradesh by holding its first ever rally in the state in Saharanpur on September 25.
Former Punjab CM Sukhbir Singh Badal along with other important leaders are expected to attend Akali Dal’s first ever rally in the state. Sources said that if it gets a good response, the party might follow it up with more rallies.
As per sources, Saharanpur has been chosen for the first rally as the district shares its borders with Delhi, Uttarakhand and Haryana where Akali Dal already has some presence and which can also increase the turnout at the rally.
Also, the sources suggest that issues like neglect of Punjabis in government jobs in Uttar Pradesh can also be an issue which might be raised at the Saharanpur rally.
The decision to expand comes as western UP houses a decent amount of Sikh and Punjabi population who are mainly engaged in farming and other related businesses and the SAD hopes to tap this section.
The party’s UP chief, Gurpreet Singh Bagga, said the decision had been in the offing for a while.
“The kind of response we have been getting already from places like Meerut is extremely encouraging. There are many pockets in UP like Rampur, Bijnor, Meerut, Badaun, Lakhimpur Kheri, Shahjahanpur, Pilibhit, Rae Bareli and parts of central UP like Lucknow and Kanpur, where we feel our candidates are going to do well,” he said.
The SAD, which is also an ally of the National Democratic Alliance in Centre, hopes to also form a coalition with the BJP in the state for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, but it is unlikely that the BJP would offer any seats in the crucial state.
Sources said that SAD is prepared to go it alone in the state if it can’t reach an understanding with the BJP.
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