Prem Singh Chandumajra is now calling for all Punjabis to come together to save Punjab and the Panth. On the surface, it sounds like a powerful appeal for unity. Yet the timing is hard to ignore. After years of Akali splits, breakaway factions, and efforts to build alternatives to the Shiromani Akali Dal, several leaders from these camps are now speaking the language of unity. At the same time, voices within the wider breakaway Akali space, including Bibi Jagir Kaur, have also indicated openness to possible understandings with the BJP. As old political lines begin to blur and alliance speculation grows, one question is becoming increasingly difficult to avoid: If unity was always the goal, why did Punjab politics spend years creating new factions only to circle back toward old political equations ?

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