bjp-at-punjab-crossroads

The Bharatiya Janata Party remains “headless” in Punjab after the incumbent president Sunil Jakhar resigned from his post two months ago.

 

And if the party insiders are to be believed, the Punjab BJP has been “headless” since the day Jahkhar was appointed state president in July 2023. This is because, most of the leaders and cadres believe, Jakhar never took over the formal command to lead his forces.

 

The entire fault does not lie with Jakhar. He was a hardcore “dyed in wool” Congressman by birth, by upbringing, by politics and by temperament. So much so when a section of Congress leaders supported the abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019, he was critical of them.

 

People close to Jakhar reveal that he has never felt “at home” in the BJP. He joined the party in May 2022 within a few months of the Punjab assembly elections.

 

Jakhar was nourishing a deep hurt caused by the Congress not appointing him the Chief Minister of Punjab, as he was a Hindu. 

 

Interestingly, it was one of the senior Hindu leaders from Punjab, Ms Ambika Soni who is believed to have sabotaged his chances of becoming the Punjab Chief Minister, by suggesting that only a Sikh should be appointed to this position.

 

This was even though after Capt Amarinder Singh was made to resign in September 2021, the majority of Congress legislators had favoured Jakhar to be the CM. Eventually, the Congress appointed Charanjit Singh Channi. 

 

Jakhar obviously did not join the BJP for any ideological inclinations. The BJP committed the mistake of handing over him the reins of the party within one year of his joining the party and that too when he was on the last lap of his political marathon. 

 

Jakhar was not thought to be very impressive as the Punjab Congress president either. However, when he was the president, Congress was in power in Punjab. The activity revolved around mostly the government and the ministers where the party president found a limited role for himself.

 

Giving due credit to Jakhar, he may not have been feeling “at home” in the BJP, but he remained sincere and committed to the party he has joined.

 

His deep grudge against the Congress was an added reason for him to work for and ensure the success of the party in the state, which conversely would mean the defeat of the Congress.

 

The problem with the BJP in Punjab is that it is being “supervised” by people from outside who do not have much hold over the language, culture and history of the state. It is difficult for them to understand the “political idiom” of Punjab. 

 

The current BJP state in-charge Vijay Rupani is a former Gujarat Chief Minister. The organizing secretary Mnathri Srinivasulu is from Andhra Pradesh. They are not as familiar with the “political terrain” of Punjab as they need to be. Others have done a better job in the past.

 

The BJP runs the risk of frittering away the massive advantage it gained in the state in the 2024 General Elections with an 18.5 per cent vote share. It was for the first time that the BJP could gain such massive vote share and that too when it was fighting on its own without any alliance. It overtook its former alliance partner the Shiromani Akali Dal by over 6 per cent votes.

 

The ruling Aam Aadmi Party realizing the BJP’s potential has appointed Aman Arora, a minister in the government and a prominent Hindu face of the party, as its state president. 

 

However, the BJP either remains unmindful or clueless as to how to go about in Punjab. It is faced with the immediate challenge of elections to five municipal corporations of Ludhiana, Patiala, Jalandhar, Amritsar and Bathinda. These five cities are the party’s strongholds with a massive presence of BJP supporters there. 

 

Although the municipal elections are fought entirely on different issues from the parliament or the assembly, their outcome will reflect on the strength of the party and the morale of the cadres.

 

The party needs to, at least, retain if not further consolidate its vote share of the parliamentary elections. It stands a very good chance of winning a couple of these corporations also, particularly, Ludhiana, the biggest and the most prestigious, only if it puts things in place in time. 

 

The party must take these elections seriously and appoint at least one senior national leader in each of the five cities where the elections are being held. The municipal corporation elections will set the template for the assembly elections, which, though, are still over two years away.