Amarinder Singh meets Amit Shah, Nadda on seat sharing

New Delhi: Former Punjab chief minister Capt. Amarinder Singh, who had recently floated a new outfit -- the Punjab Lok Congress -- after his unceremoniously exit from the Congress, on Monday held a meeting with Union home minister Amit Shah and BJP president J.P. Nadda in New Delhi to discuss the seat-sharing formula for the coming Punjab Assembly elections, where the two have announced an alliance.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to launch the campaign of the BJP and its new allies in Punjab in the first week of January when he will address a rally in Firozpur.

The BJP has already said that it will contest the Punjab Assembly polls in alliance with Capt. Singh’s party and former Akali Dal leader Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa’s fledgling outfit.

A committee has been formed to decide the seat-sharing formula among the three, with the BJP likely to contest mainly in urban constituencies.

Union minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, the BJP’s election in-charge for Punjab, also attended the meeting. Mr Dhindsa also met the BJP’s top brass. The three parties will release a joint manifesto, which will have a major emphasis on security in the border state.

Capt. Singh has been meeting various BJP leaders recently to chalk out a joint strategy for the Punjab elections.