Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Saturday ruled out the possibility of a post-poll alliance between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) in Punjab.
The senior BJP leader categorically said the alliance of the two parties was a "bad marriage".
The SAD did not allow the saffron party to expand its base in Punjab, he alleged.
The Congress is expected to declare its chief ministerial candidate for the Punjab assembly polls on Sunday with all eyes on party leader Rahul Gandhi who is likely to announce the name.
Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi and Congress' state unit chief Navjot Singh Sidhu are the main contenders to be the CM face for the party though both have assured Gandhi that whosoever was chosen they will stand by the decision.
Rahul Gandhi will declare the name during his visit to Ludhiana on Sunday during a virtual rally, said a party leader, who did not want to be named, on Saturday.
During his last visit to Punjab on January 27, Gandhi while addressing a virtual rally in Jalandhar had announced that the Congress will soon declare its chief ministerial face for the February 20electionsand a decision on it will be taken after consulting party workers.
Senior Congress leader Partap Singh Bajwa, meanwhile, told a TV channel that in his personal opinion there should be a status quo as far as announcement of the CM face is concerned. He further said there was not going to be a “big gain” with the announcement of the chief ministerial candidate.
Fighting the Uttar Pradesh assemblyelections, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday asked people to “send us to Delhi” to have all their problems solved by resorting to caste census.
Electioneering in Aligarh which goes to the polls on February 10 in the first phase of the seven-phase assemblyelection, Yadav made the remark in answer to a query on the issue of reservation.
"Send us to Delhi, we will solve all the problems. We are talking about caste census," said Yadav.
On the BJP fate in theelections, Yadav claimed that people in Aligarh have closed their doors on the BJP and seal its fate with locks, a product the district is known for.
"In my first meeting in Mau, I had promised that the doors of the BJP (headquarters in Lucknow and other offices) will be closed and a latch will be put on it.