BJP in Punjab - Don't let the time tick away

Crowned as being the single largest party in India with comfortable majority at centre and many states the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) sets a perfect example of how to scale from nothingness to the highest corridors of power in a democracy. The wide support base of the party has helped it reach a level of 282 seats in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections giving it absolute majority, a feat achieved after 30 long years by any political party in India. Not only this, the party has seen its support base rising in even those states in which making inroads was considered a distant possibility at a point of time in the past. Significant spike in vote share in states like West Bengal, Tamilnadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh is a testimony to the statement above. The prominent proof of a Modi wave even post Lok Sabha elections has been displayed in the just concluded Haryana assembly polls where the party jumped from 4 seats to 47 seats in 5 years time thus enabling it to make a BJP government in Haryana for the first time ever.

Although Hindutva has been a central theme but 2014 elections were
fought purely on the development theme

With states like Jammu & Kashmir, Jharkhand & probably Delhi on the electoral radar now, one can say with reasonable surety that Modi wave will bring all the three states in BJP kitty. But attaining this position on a national level wasn't an easy task. What BJP banked upon was the corruption scandals that had ripped apart the faith of people in the Congress government, mis-governance by the Congress on all fronts, Gujarat Model of development which was a ready example of good governance for the people and the most important factor 'the Modi Wave' coupled with volunteering by lakhs of volunteers from the BJP, RSS and various other organisations who toiled hard to place BJP at such a position.

Massive crowd at Narendra Modi's rally during campaigning for Lok Sabha Electioms

The win at the Centre gave the party political muscle as well as the confidence to negotiate with its allies in state elections. BJP demanded more number of seats to contest since the same allies banked on Modi wave for their electoral success in Lok Sabha elections. Both in Maharashtra and Haryana the party decided to go alone after failed negotiations with alliance partners and the results have been clear. To sum up, BJP got a clear majority in Haryana and in Maharashtra it got more seats than what the alliance partner was willing to offer the BJP had it contested with alliance.

Successive sweep in the twin elections has added to the confidence of BJP cadre and has assured them that BJP can handle its affairs on its own.

Talking about Punjab, the state has three major political parties, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), the Congress and the BJP. SAD-BJP alliance is the current ruling alliance in the state which won consecutively for the second term in 2012 assembly elections making it a first consecutive win by any alliance in the history of Punjab (after bifurcation of Haryana and Himachal Pradesh from Punjab in 1966).

The roots of BJP in the state can be traced back to Jan Sangh days. Eminent leaders like Dr. Baldev Prakash, Shri Hit Abhilashi, Shri Balram Das Tandom (one of the founding members of Jan Sangh & present Governor of Chattisgarh), Shri Yagya Dutt Sharma & Lala Lajpat Rai (Ludhiana) contributed to the development of Jan Sangh and later BJP in Punjab. Severe terrorism in the state which led to targeting of Hindus in the state was a set back for BJP in Punjab. Many of its leaders like Shri Hit Abhilashi were assassinated by militants & many others left active politics due to fear of life.

The present Akali-BJP alliance came into existence in 1997 when the duo won 93 of 117 assembly seats. Widespread corruption by the SAD party lead to defeat of SAD-BJP alliance in 2002 when Congress came to power. But in 2007 the alliance again won and have been ruling Punjab since the past 7 years.

The alliance has always appeared to be a peaceful one but there has been a rise in internal differences between the duo in the past 3-4 years. The major reasons for conflicts between the BJP and SAD are:

1. Suppression of BJP leaders and workers by the leaders of SAD thus alienating the party support in the state.

2. Suppression of the BJP vote bank in Punjab by SAD leaders. The BJP vote bank consists of urban businessmen and the businessmen have been bombarded with taxes like property tax which were not levied till date. Charging electricity at exuberant rates from the urban consumer at the expense of free power to rich farmer community has further eroded the BJP support base in the state.

3. Charges of corruption against SAD leaders & corruption in government departments coupled with drug menace which is playing havoc with the lives of youth has put SAD in bad light. The BJP is being questioned for its reasons to support a mismanaged alliance partner.

The BJP itself is also at fault for its shabby condition in the state as the party's state unit was forced to be bogged down by the SAD in the past in order to get lasting support at Centre whenever need arrived. Punjab has 13 Lok Sabha Constituencies with SAD contesting on more than 2/3rd of them.

2014 General Elections witnessed poor performance of the BJP-SAD alliance in the state which bagged 6 out of 13 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab. BJP suffered a huge blow when Mr. Arun Jaitley was defeated from Amritsar by the Congress candidate by a huge margin. The reasons for defeat, drug menace, corruption & disoriented youth!! BJP's state cadre and vote bank in Punjab has been eroded to a large extent.

Mr. Arun Jaitley (Finance & Defence Minister) was defeated from Amritsar Lok Sabha Constituency

Since June 2014 BJP has started raising voice against the SAD attitude towards its members as well as its vote bank. If lessons from Maharashtra are to be learnt then the party should think of the Punjab strategy at the earliest. A buildup of leadership base as well as worker base should be taken up to make necessary amends in the way Punjab unit has functioned. Projecting a strong leader as the face of party in the state can help it garner much needed support.

Popular opinion in Punjab for a strong face in politics brings the cricketer turned politician and BJP's ex-MP for Amritsar Lok Sabha constituency Mr. Navjot Singh Sidhu in the limelight. Mr. Sidhu a man with an energetic & charismatic personality & excellent oratory skills is seen as a youth icon in Punjab. His arch rivalry with the Badal father-son duo and regular jibes at them targeting corruption and drug menace in the state at the behest of Badals elicit wide response and applause in the state. Not only this, Mr. Sidhu is seen as an ideal fit by both the urban business class voters as well as the rural farmers since he has taken combined issues of both classes head on.

Mr. Sidhu's popularity as an honest & forward looking leader has been increasing.
Social Media has been actively coming in support of Mr. Sidhu as the next CM of Punjab

BJP should realise that the time is ripe to take some bold decisions in order to revive its eroding base in the state which has produced eminent leaders for the party since the Jan Sangh days. The party has faced enough ire of the people due to its soft stand on the issue of corruption by SAD leaders. Its tally came down from 19 seats out of 23 seats contested in 2007 elections to 12 seats out of the same 23 seats in 2012 elections. With more than two years in hand regaining the support base is very much possible when the party has a charismatic leadership waiting to be tested and the Modi wave which can be readily banked upon to take the public of Punjab in confidence and give them a corruption free government and a prosperous Punjab!!