Amarinder Singh announces alliance with BJP, seat sharing talks on

New Delhi : Amarinder Singh on Friday announced an alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party for the upcoming Punjab elections, the move was anticipated ever since he had resigned from Congress.

The former Punjab CM announced the move after meeting the leadership in Delhi. He also tweeted pictures of him hugging Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, the BJP's Punjab in charge.

"Our alliance (with BJP) is confirmed. Only seat-sharing talks are going on. We will see who will contest where - our criteria for seat selection is purely winnability," Amarinder Singh told reporters.

"The alliance will definitely, 101 per cent win the elections," he added.

In a separate post, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat revealed that seven rounds of talks were held before coming to the conclusion.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's decision to withdraw the three controversial farm laws was driven partly by the party's plans for Punjab, a state where it played junior partner to the Akali Dal for decades until a break-up over the farm laws.

The alliance can be seen as a big transformation in the politics of Punjab, making the upcoming battle of elections more competitive.