After being virtually razed to the ground in Punjab assembly polls, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is trying to resurrect itself with the help of erstwhile Congress leaders — its foe-turned-friends — especially in the state’s rural areas. And to complement their efforts, BJP’s senior leadership — including national president JP Nadda, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, and Union Defense Minister Rajnath Singh — will be visiting the state in the next month.
Intensifying its preparations for the ‘Mission-13’ ahead of the impending 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the saffron party has also planned to target the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) over the issue of drugs — both addiction and smuggling — by launching a ‘Jagriti Lehar’ in the month of March. Under this, the BJP will take out a yatra in the cities and villages across the State to create awareness among the youth against drug addiction.
Limited to only two seats each in the Lok Sabha and also the state assembly, BJP is going all out to expand its base in the state — exploring the unexplored territories like rural belt, farming community, Sikh population, scheduled caste and backward section, among others.
For the same, it has taken on board Congress’ several top leaders, including the likes of former Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh, former state Congress president Sunil Jakhar, state’s two-time Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal, besides former Cabinet Ministers — Rana Gurmeet Singh Sodhi, Balbir Singh Sidhu, Raj Kumar Verka, Gurpreet Singh Kangar, and Sunder Sham Arora. Congress’ former MLA Kewal Singh Dhillon has also joined BJP, and also unsuccessfully contested the Sangrur Lok Sabha bypoll.
“BJP is getting support not only in cities but in rural areas as well,” said Punjab BJP president Ashwani Sharma, while calling upon the party workers to take the BJP-led Central Government’s public welfare schemes and policies to every household in the villages and motivate them to take advantage of it.
“These leaders have emerged as mass leaders and have a hold on both the rural and urban segments. People know them, listen to them…and this would help the BJP to send across its message, the programmes and policies of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and its vision for Punjab to the people in a better way,” a senior BJP leader said, while talking with The Pioneer.
And the list may not just end here. Capt Amarinder, on several occasions, has given indications that many other Congress leaders may soon jump on the BJP’s bandwagon. At the same time, it has been learnt that some ‘disgruntled’ Congress leaders have held meetings with senior BJP leaders in Amritsar.
It is believed that during Amit Shah’s Punjab visit, other than some Congress leaders, some senior SAD leaders may also join the BJP.
This would be for the first time that BJP will contest the 2024 parliamentary poll on its own. Till now, it was contesting on just three of the total 13 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab, giving a lion’s share of ten seats to its decades-old alliance partner — Shiromani Akali Dal. However, the two fell apart after the Centre’s controversial farm laws (now repealed).
The BJP, with the help of Congress leaders and their supporters and workers, is building up its cadre even in the state’s rural areas — which was earlier taken care of by the Akali Dal.
The saffron party has exhibited great respect and full faith in Capt Amarinder and Jakhar. The two have not only been included in the national executive body, but were also made part of every important meeting concerning the state.
Top BJP leaders in Punjab in Feb
To complement the state-level efforts, the BJP’s central leadership will also be visiting the state frequently holding rallies, local interactions, and meetings covering all assembly segments, starting from the first week of February. “Senior leaders will be visiting the state in February. Several rallies have also been planned. Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s January 30 rally, that has been cancelled as of now, will also be planned soon…local level meetings, involving leaders who have reach among the grass root, will also be arranged…So, it will be like intense exercise,” said the BJP leader.
Yatra Against Drugs, Corruption
To target the ruling AAP, BJP will also launch a yatra against drugs and corruption in all the Lok Sabha constituencies in the state. “BJP’s yatra will focus on drugs and corruption. We will try to make the Punjab youth and public aware against the drugs and make the state drug-free…The yatra will start in March and culminate in August after spending 18 days in the constituency,” said the state BJP chief.
Two Lok Sabha MPs, two MLAs in Punjab
Currently, the BJP has just two MPs in Lok Sabha — Union Minister of State Som Nath from Hoshiarpur and Sunny Deol from Gurdaspur. In the state legislative assembly, the BJP also has just two MLAs — Ashwani Sharma and Jangi Lal Mahajan. BJP had contested the 2022 state assembly polls in alliance with Capt Amarinder’s Punjab Lok Congress (now merged with the BJP) and SAD (Sanyukt), fielding its candidates on 65 seats out of a total 117 — playing the role of senior alliance partners for the first time in Punjab. As AAP swept the elections with a record 92 seats — highest ever by any political party, BJP managed to win two seats, with the candidates of its allies even failing to secure their deposits.
Resentment Brewing Among Traditional BJP Leaders
The dominance of former Congress leaders in the saffron party — apparent from the list of state office bearers recently announced by the BJP — is resulting in brewing resentment amidst the traditional party cadre, especially in the Malwa area. In Patiala, the party workers have raised a banner of revolt against the Congress leaders dominating the list of district office bearers, resulting in the postponement of Amit Shah’s rally.