NEW DELHI: Virtually ending speculation over any revival of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s alliance with the Shiromani Akali Dal, Union home minister Amit Shah on Saturday declared that the BJP will contest the 2027 Punjab Assembly elections on its own and seek to form its own government in the state.Addressing the party’s “Badlav” rally at Killi Chahlan village in Moga, Shah said the BJP had effectively launched its campaign for the Punjab polls, due early next year, and appealed to voters to give the party a chance after supporting the Congress, the Akalis and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).“Whenever we came before you, we came in the role of a younger brother. We could not have formed the government (on our own),” Shah said, referring to the BJP’s past alliance with the Shiromani Akali Dal.“Magar aaj mein keh kar jaata hu 27 (2027) kay chunav mein, Bharatiya Janata Party apni sarkar banane kay liye chunav ladne ja rahi hai (The BJP is now going to fight the 2027 election to form its government in Punjab),” he said, reported news agency PTI.
BJP sounds poll bugle from Moga
Shah said Punjab had given multiple chances to the Congress, the Akalis and the AAP, and should now give the BJP an opportunity.“We will bring change in Punjab,” he said.Shah claimed the BJP had secured 19 per cent of the vote in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections in Punjab and argued that wherever the party reached that mark, it eventually went on to form the government.“In 2024, the BJP got 19 per cent of the votes. And it is our track record, where the BJP gets 19 per cent of the vote, the next government formed there is of the BJP. And this happened in Odisha, Assam, Manipur, Tripura, Uttarakhand, and now it is the turn of Punjab,” he said.The BJP unsuccessfully contested all 13 parliamentary seats in Punjab in 2024, but its vote share rose from 9.6 per cent in 2019 to nearly 19 per cent.
Sharp attack on Mann government
Using the broader “Badlav” rally to target the Bhagwant Mann-led AAP government, Shah accused it of presiding over a breakdown in law and order and failing to tackle drugs, corruption and unemployment.“Today, Punjab has been destroyed due to debt, drugs, religious conversions, corruption and terror of gangsters,” Shah alleged.Shah also claimed the Mann government had become an “ATM” for AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal and said the chief minister was merely acting as Kejriwal’s “pilot”.“There is no government in this state. Had there been a government, the law and order situation would not have been so; the state would not have been reeling from the drug menace and farmers would not have been suffering…. Mann has only been acting as Kejriwal’s pilot,” he said.He also promised that if the BJP comes to power, it would eliminate the drug trade in Punjab within two years.“Give us your blessing in February, and we will root out the drug trade in Punjab within two years,” Shah said, reported PTI.
Religious conversion pitch also surfaces
While the main thrust of Shah’s speech was the BJP’s solo 2027 push, he also raised the issue of religious conversions in Punjab. Shah said that if the BJP forms the government in 2027, it will bring a law to check religious conversions in the state.“All of Punjab is facing the issue of religious conversions. I am saying this to all Hindu and Sikh brothers and sisters, you form the BJP government once, we will bring a Bill to check religious conversions,” he said.
Akali split backdrop
Shah’s remarks are politically significant because they strongly suggest the BJP is not looking to revive its long-standing partnership with the Shiromani Akali Dal.The SAD had ended its 24-year-old alliance with the BJP in September 2020 over the now-repealed farm laws.Before the split, the two parties had jointly contested elections for years, with the BJP usually fighting 23 Assembly seats and the Akalis contesting 94. The alliance formed governments in Punjab in 1997-2002, 2007-12 and 2012-17.The BJP currently has two MLAs in the 117-member Punjab Assembly.
