Chandigarh: The Punjab Bharatiya Janata Occasion (BJP) on Tuesday filed what it known as a “grievance” in opposition to the Bhagwant Mann-led authorities, citing “critical breakdowns in governance, preparedness and accountability” in tackling the state’s current floods.
This distinctive “indictment” will not be a authorized indictment however extra of a political doc, a part of the social gathering’s broader “rural outreach” technique to broaden its foothold in areas the place it has nearly no political presence or faces lively hostility.
Whereas the jury continues to be out on whether or not the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and the Bharatiya Janata Occasion will be a part of forces for the 2027 meeting polls, the Bharatiya Janata Occasion has began planning its electoral technique with a view to going solo. Up to now few months, the social gathering’s state wing has centered on villages in Punjab, areas as soon as managed by the Akalis as allies of the Bharatiya Janata Occasion.
The state’s incumbent chief, Ashwani Sharma, has launched a scathing assault on the AAP authorities, releasing a 10-page so-called “chargesheet” alleging that the Punjab authorities has failed miserably to guard its individuals or reply successfully, regardless of repeated warnings, knowledgeable studies and huge sources at its disposal.
Regardless of the horrors of the 2023 floods, no classes have been discovered, Sharma stated.
“The investigation was by no means accomplished and key suggestions have been ignored. Even when the Meteorological Division issued early warnings, the AAP authorities’s response remained reactive reasonably than proactive. Whereas Punjab was drowning in misery, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann was busy touring exterior the state,” he stated.
Final month, state social gathering chief Sunil Jakhar attacked the federal government, alleging that Mann and his employees have been mendacity to the general public over using the Centre’s catastrophe aid funds of Rs 12,000 crore for Punjab. State finance minister Harpal Cheema denied the existence of funds as claimed by the Heart, whereas state chief secretary KAP Sinha stated the funds existed solely as financial institution accounts.
Throughout a particular session of Parliament final month to debate the influence of the floods, the Bharatiya Janata Occasion held a parallel session at its Chandigarh workplace and squarely accused the federal government of not being ready for the catastrophe.
“The Bharatiya Janata Occasion is ostensibly attempting to make its presence felt within the worst-hit areas of the floods. That is according to their general efforts to work in direction of reparation with farmers,” stated Dr Kanwalpreet Kaur, Division of Political Science, Sector 10, DAV College, Chandigarh.
“The Bharatiya Janata Occasion’s relationship with farmers in Punjab hit all-time low in the course of the Delhi-Singhu border protests, however three years on, they’re hoping to undo a number of the harm,” she added.
Additionally learn: Punjab is smoldering over the rape and homicide of a 5-year-old boy, deepening the fault line between Punjab and Parvasi
Problem to the countryside
BJP leaders say the social gathering has determined to sort out Punjab’s rural challenges head on.
“The Bharatiya Janata Occasion already has a base in city and semi-urban areas, and whereas strengthening it there, it’s also working in villages. the It isn’t simply the entire story. Our leaders have been out on the bottom offering help throughout floods. I personally went to the locations the place villagers are planning to construct examine dams,” social gathering spokesperson Vineet Joshi informed ThePrint.
In Could this 12 months, the social gathering launched a six-month-long village marketing campaign titled ‘BJP’. de sevadar ar homosexual tuhade doorThis included internet hosting particular camps in villages to register beneficiaries of the central scheme.
As a part of the election marketing campaign, the social gathering aimed to cowl 50 constituencies and attain out to 1.57 lakh individuals registered underneath numerous federal authorities schemes together with Kisan Samman Nidhi, Ayushman Bharat, Beti Bachao and Beti Padhao. Aside from permitting beneficiaries to obtain direct monetary help from the Indian authorities underneath these schemes, the Bharatiya Janata Occasion additionally wished to register new beneficiaries.
Nevertheless, the Bharatiya Janata Occasion’s support efforts encountered appreciable resistance from the state authorities, which requested social gathering leaders to not intrude in its governance. In August, Jakhar was detained in Fazilka after the federal government ordered support operations to stop.
“The explanation why the Mann authorities compelled us to close down this system is as a result of it was so profitable. We have been in a position to full over 1,443 villages in 39 constituencies. 150 to 200 individuals in every village benefited from these camps. We are going to revive the camps as soon as flood-related actions scale back,” Punjab BJP spokesperson Anil Sarin informed ThePrint on Wednesday.
“The federal government shut us down on the pretext that we have been amassing information. We have been serving to eligible beneficiaries get their rights from the Indian authorities,” Sarin stated.
It has been a troublesome problem for the BJP to penetrate the agriculturally-based rural areas of Punjab. In the course of the years that the Bharatiya Janata Occasion was in energy in Punjab, it had an alliance with the SAD, however its management was restricted to some city areas of Pathankot, Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Amritsar, and Hoshiarpur.
The alliance was complementary, with the Akalis specializing in rural Sikh Jat farmers and the Bharatiya Janata Occasion having some affect over city Hindu voters. The social gathering lacked an organizational construction within the villages and had no illustration even on the block stage.
When the alliance parted methods over three controversial farm legal guidelines dropped at the Heart by the BJP in 2021, farmer unions declared it their social gathering. “Enemy primary”.
Bharatiya Janata Occasion leaders have been chased from their villages, making campaigning within the 2022 parliamentary elections almost not possible, and continued difficulties within the 2024 parliamentary elections. However issues have modified since then. Occasion leaders say they not face resistance and that native models have strengthened their organizational buildings.
“Issues have modified from these days when villagers have been kicking out their leaders from their villages. Throughout our outreach camp, banners and posters with the prime minister’s photograph have been put up, however nobody protested. After we known as off the camp, we had a listing of at the least 100 villages that had approached us for the camp,” Sarin stated.
“And it wasn’t simply stopping at villages and elevating the profile of the Bharatiya Janata Occasion. The villagers have been actively cooperating. Bulletins have been comprised of the gurdwara and the village sarpanch created consciousness,” he added.
“We’ve got a community proper all the way down to the sales space stage, proper all the way down to the villages. A number of villages come collectively to type a Shakti Kendra, and a Shakti Kendra additionally has a chief. And over 615 mandals have a chief, underneath whom there are 30 members. The mandals are supported by six morchas. Our organizational construction in Punjab is full,” Sarin stated.
However what actually gave the Bharatiya Janata Occasion energy in Punjab was its elevated vote share within the 2024 meeting polls. The social gathering’s vote share doubled from 9.63% within the 2019 election to 18.5%.
“The Bharatiya Janata Occasion believes it will probably pull a rabbit out of a hat in Punjab, identical to it did in Haryana in 2014. And the meeting election outcomes confirmed they only must preserve going,” Dr Kaur stated.
“The BJP’s technique, primarily based on presenting a centralized farmer-friendly plan and agenda, stays tenacious. BJP leaders carry on the transfer, assembly individuals in villages, organizing native occasions, and most significantly, selecting largely native faces from villages reasonably than outsiders to symbolize the social gathering,” she added.
(Edited by Sague Kitty)
Additionally learn: Tractors, boats, langars and music have turn into a lifeline as Punjab battles floods. The neighborhood spirit stays intact
