Manpreet Badal, nephew of Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, joins hands with the Congress
In Punjab, which goes to polls next year, the Congress has gained a Badal.
Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal's estranged nephew Manpreet Badal, a former minister, has merged his four-year-old party with the Congress after meeting Rahul Gandhi.
He said his party had agreed to the tie-up without conditions and would not accept any position for now. "To take the agenda of Punjab forward, Congress is a good platform, the right platform and the only platform that was available," he said, flanked by Congress leaders including recently appointed chief Amarinder Singh.
Manpreet Badal, 53, was Finance Minister in the state for four years till he broke away from the ruling Akali Dal in 2010 following differences with his uncle, and deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, his cousin.
A year later, he formed the People's Party of Punjab, which debuted in the 2012 assembly polls but failed to make a mark. Manpreet Badal contested two seats but lost both.
The fledgling party did manage to win six per cent of the votes, which ended up splitting the opposition votes and dashing the Congress' hopes for a comeback despite strong anti-incumbency against the Akali Dal. The Akali Dal-BJP combine won a second straight term. Punjab had, before that, always voted alternately.
With Manpreet Badal on board, the Congress hopes to score in Badal strongholds in next year's assembly polls. In the national election last year, the party fielded Manpreet Badal in Bathinda against his sister-in-law Harsimrat Kaur, but lost.
Sources say the Congress wants to leave nothing to chance with Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) aiming at replicating its Delhi success in Punjab and thus shaking up the dynamics of a state that has for years seen a straight contest between the Congress and the Akali-BJP.
On Thursday, Mr Kejriwal launched his party's campaign in Muktsar, known to be a Badal stronghold. AAP won four seats in Punjab in its debut national election and believes it has a fighting chance to make it big in the 2017 polls.