Badal junior announced his plan for organising the mass show after calling on BJP President Rajnath Singh at his residence on Wednesday evening. Sukhbir was accompanied by senior Akali Dal leader Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa and Naresh Gujral, Rajya Sabha member of the Akali Dal and son of former prime minister Inder Kumar Gujral. BJP leader Balbir Punj, in charge of Punjab affairs, was also present.

Sukhbir’s ascendance as the party chief was a smooth affair with potential opponents of the move like Ranjit Singh Brahmpura and Kanwaljit Singh spearheading the exercise. Badal senior undertook a neat operation after winning them over.

However, Sukhbir obviously sees the need for public demonstration of a mass backing for this transition. Therefore, a grand show in Delhi would be in order. He has taken care to rope in the BJP too, whose support is crucial to the continuation of the alliance government in Punjab. Since the ultimate agenda of the father-son duo is the succession of Badal senior by Sukhbir as chief minister, it is imperative that the latter finetune his relations with the BJP. Badal senior has shared close personal ties with senior BJP leaders, and Sukhbir has to just go by the same script.

“We would also invite leaders of other parties to our maharally,” Sukhbir said after the meeting, indicating that other NDA allies too would be invited. It remains to be seen if the Badals will send an invite to Indian National Lok Dal leader Om Prakash Chautala, who is extremely close to them, but shares an uneasy equation with BJP despite being a possible ally of the party. The Badals have participated in his rallies in Haryana in the past and have also backed his nominees in successive elections.