Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal Tuesday said the INLD-Akali Dal alliance would form the next government in Haryana, even though he made it clear that the Akali Dal's fight was with the Congress, not the BJP.
The Akali Dal, which has an alliance government with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Punjab and a political alliance with the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) in Haryana, said that it would "work to oust the corrupt Congress regime from Haryana politics".
Asked by the media whether its ties with the BJP would be strained due to the tie-up with the INLD in Haryana, Badal, also the Punjab deputy chief minister, said: "The Akali Dal's ties with the INLD were decades old and would continue. The Akali Dal would announce its two candidates for the Ambala and Kolianwali assembly constituencies in the next two days."
Assembly elections for 90 seats in Haryana are likely to be held next month.
Terming his party's ties with the BJP in Punjab "were permanent and not open to any speculation or conjecture", Badal said that the alliance will fight the forthcoming civic polls there together as per its traditional seat-sharing formula.
The BJP in Haryana has told its central leadership to ask the Akali Dal not to get actively involved in campaigning in Haryana's assembly polls as the BJP is fighting against the Congress and the INLD there.
