Punjab elections: Shiromani Akali Dal fields 11 Hindu candidates

CHANDIGARH: Shiromani Akali Dal has fielded 11 Hindu candidates in the upcoming polls in Punjab, a shift from its traditional practice of banking on identity politics in the Sikh-majority state.

SAD, which has been depending on its partner Bharatiya Janata Party to win the predominant Hindu votes in urban areas, will contest 94 seats in the 117-member assembly. BJP has put up candidates in 23 seats. Congress, which is contesting all 117 seats, has given 26 tickets to Hindu candidates.

Analysts, however, say the move to field Hindu candidates will not strengthen the Akalis at the expense of BJP. "This will not weaken BJP. A BJP voter will surely vote for an Akali candidate even in an urban seat," says Pramod Kumar, director of the Chandigarh-based Institute for Development and Communication and head of the Punjab Governance Reforms Commission.

Kumar points out that Akalis started appreciating the limits of their religious politics in 1996, when, at their 75th anniversary conference at Moga, they embraced Punjabi identity instead of just Sikh identity.

Until 1996, only a Sikh could become an Akali leader.