Chandigarh:

Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal on Monday said he will not contest in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

Mr. Badal made the remarks after a day-long meeting with party leaders, district party presidents and members of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) to discuss candidates for the state assembly seat.

When asked if he would oppose the assembly elections, Badal, a lawmaker from Ferozepur constituency, said, “I will not oppose the elections.” Replying to another question, he said consultations were underway on a list of possible candidates.

He said the list of candidates will be announced after the consultation process is completed.

Replying to another question, he said: “We held a meeting of six parliamentary seats here where the district chief ‘halqa’ took charge and the SGPC members were called and their views were heard.”

Party sources said that of former ministers Anil Joshi, Parminder Singh Dhindsa and former MP Pawan Kumar Tinu The names are from Amritsar, Sangrur and Jalandhar (reserve) seats respectively.

Last month, the BJP announced that it would contest the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in Punjab alone, signaling that talks to re-align with Shiromani Akali Dal were over.

At the time, Mr Badal said principles were more important to his party “than a numbers game”.

The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) had quit the BJP-led NDA in September 2020 over the now-defunct farm laws. The two parties formed an alliance in 1996. In 2019, the South African Social Democratic Party and the Bharatiya Janata Party won two Lok Sabha seats each in Punjab.

Polling for 13 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab will be held on June 1.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)