The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has set out to intensify its activities in Punjab and reach out to people with a message that the party is the only alternative to the current political dispensation said people aware of the details.
“There is a political vacuum in Punjab and the BJP is the only party that can restore law and order and address the governance deficit,” said a senior party leader, speaking on condition of anonymity. The leader said political activity in the state is set to take off following union home minister Amit Shah’s visit to flag off an anti-drug rally in Amritsar in March.
“The party unit (in Punjab) has been flagging several problems including rampant drug and alcohol abuse; demographic changes, particularly in the border villages, and unemployment. However, the protest outside the police station in Ajnala by (radial preacher) Amritpal Singh and his followers has exposed the deterioration in law and order,” said the party leader quoted above.
The BJP’s outreach comes amidst fears that separatism could rear its head again in the border state where traditional political heavyweights Shiromani Akali Dal and the Indian National Congress have been decimated and replaced by the Aam Aadmi Party.
Punjab has not been a BJP stronghold — the party used to contest seats in the state in alliance with the Shiromani Akali Dal — but it has been trying to get a toehold in the state after its alliance came apart following the latter’s opposition to the farm laws mooted by the union government that were subsequently rolled back.
“After the Aam Aadmi Party came to power there has been a spurt in violence and a resurgence of the separatist sentiment by groups such as Amritpal Singh’s Waris Punjab De. These events have stoked fears that Punjab could again face the horrific killings that marked the 1980s. There are indications that this (separatist sentiment) is being supported from outside India and there has been little done by the AAP government and the state police to allay fears of the common people,” the party leader cited in the first instance added.
Expanding its footprint in the state, however, has not been easy for the BJP. It has faced alienation and anger following the year-long protest against the farm laws that found resonance on the ground. A second party leader said the statements by some BJP leaders that alleged there was collusion between the separatists and the farmers who were part of the protest created a schism between the party and the people.
“The protest could have been handled better…there is no denying that some of our leaders spoke out of turn. Despite the goodwill for PM (Narendra Modi), he was not allowed to attend an event, which was shameful,” the second leader said. The leader was referring to the security lapse in January last year when the PM’s cavalcade had to stop atop a flyover while he was on en route to the National Martyrs Memorial at Hussainiwala.
The BJP has also been trying to shed its image as a “Hindu party” and has been working doubly hard to assure people that its policies and politics are inclusive. “When SAD was part of the NDA, there was a tacit understanding that we were the junior partners, we contested seats only in the urban areas and there was an impression that our vote catchment was only the Hindus that account for about 38% of the population,” the second person added, asking not to be named.
Though the party is not counting on allies, it is hoping that former chief minister, Amarinder Singh, whose outfit, the Punjab Lok Congress merged with the BJP, will help build bridged with the Sikh community. But senior party leaders ruled out SAD’s return to the NDA fold.
It is also resting hopes on the outreach by the Rashtriya Sikh Sangat, an arm of the BJP’s ideological parent, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh to counter radicalisation of young people by Waris Punjab De and similar outfits. The RSS had earlier flagged the issue of the farm agitation being used to stoke pro-Khalistan sentiments.
The party is also trying to forge a dialogue with the Akal Takht, the apex Sikh religious authority. “If the Takht takes a stern stance against Amritpal and similar groups it will go a long way in curbing such instances,” said the first leader.
