As Punjab prepares for the 2024 parliamentary election, it seems to have become a four-cornered electoral battle field among major political parties as well as the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) that claimed huge popularity in the State in 2022.
The incumbent AAP and Congress belonging to the INDIA bloc are fighting each other in Punjab. For this election, however, SAD has decided to contest all seats separately from BJP after being alliance partners since 1996 till 2020 when SAD broke away from NDA coalition’s fold. Also for the first time every seat in State will have BSP candidates alone. The Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar), led by Simranjit Singh Mann – a known Sikh hardliner – too has put up its candidates.
Punjab’s thirteen Lok Sabha constituencies will go to polls on June 1 in the last phase of General Election. In 2019, the parliamentary election was largely a triangular fight between Congress, SAD-BJP (as alliance partners) and AAP which is now multi-directional contesting elections in many corners of India by 2024. In the 2019 Lok Sabha election, Congress won eight seats with a vote share of 41%; AAP got one seat (7% vote share), while BJP (9%) and SAD (28%) won two seats each.
Punjab is under AAP rule seeking votes on performance and policies. This forthcoming election is going to be crucial since it is likely that people may not favour an incumbent chief minister who only half way through his term of office especially if anti-incumbency factor sets in.The stakes are high for Bhagwant Mann, Chief Minister leading the campaign.However, within months of winning big during Assembly byelection earlier in this year where it secured thumping majority; party received blow on losing its strong hold Sangrur at Parliamentary byelection, though in 2023,it managed to win Jalandhar Parliamentary Bielection.
In its last gasps of campaign, AAP is struggling to solicit public sympathy because its party supremo and CM Delhi, Arvind Kejriwal has been arrested as it continues targeting the Central Government BJP accusing it putting democracy and constitution at risk. Even though it engages in a war of words with its rivals, farmer groups have been raising questions about unfulfilled promises by the AAP leaders including minimum support prices on crops which were pledged during the 2022 Assembly election. Opposition parties also accused of not keeping their word and mismanaging governance by the AAP government in Punjab. The opposition has been attacking the AAP over several unfulfilled promises and poor governance both inside and outside State. The opposition is blaming Aam Aadmi Party for not paying ₹1,000 per month as women’s pension in Punjab when they were campaigning for that initiative.
In Punjab, the Congress, which is the main opposition party, is focusing on the anti-AAp factor and BJP at the center. When it comes to how this congress views their hope for success that depends on its support of farmers who were demonstrating against farm sector laws recently repealed by Delhi and now in Haryana-Punjab border. The manifesto of congress as a political party is yet another reason it thinks will help it do better than 2019 when under Amarinder Singh, then a captain Amartinder joined BJP (in power), won eight seats.
A regional party with more than hundred years of history, SAD has gone into doldrums following the electoral drubbings in 2017 and 2022 Assembly elections; however, any frantic effort to reposition itself within panthic politics may come handy in ensuring its place back into state politics. And so in an attempt to win votes from Sikhs and Scheduled Castes (SCs), while trying various tactics such as social engineering; also lastly having democracy and federal structure, so that fiscal and political autonomy are given to states; this was some of the pitch put forward by this party through its manifesto.
The BJP without any alliances is going head-on into battle with farmers’ anger still simmering against it as it tries to make a dent in Punjab by wooing Sikhs and SCs along with some new social engineering. In India’s total population composition, about 32% are SCs that makes for highest percentage across all states. In his rally at Patiala last week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi mentioned five ‘Panchteerth’ holy sites that had been developed by BJP pertaining to B.R. Ambedkar’s life story. According to Mr.Modi, they have set up a temple dedicated to Sant Ravidass Ji Maharaj at Madhya Pradesh which is ruled by the BJP whilst at Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh, Sant Ravidas birth place is being expanded to accommodate the followers of that religion which one can easily understand to mean that this party has an eye on SC votes.
The BJP has been in an alliance with SAD and has been acting as a ‘junior partner’ in the election race in Punjab; however, since the SAD quit the alliance, there is no doubt that BJP had become extremely active in the state. The BJP contested three Lok Sabha seats — Amritsar, Hoshiarpur and Gurdaspur — while its ally Akali Dal contested 10 out of 13 seats during their alliance. Following its break-up with SAD, BJP brought several Sikhs including Captain Amrinder Singh and former Congress leader Rana Gurmit Singh Sodhi into its fold to present itself as being pro-Sikh. During this time, they were targeting urban Punjab while Jat Sikh farmers from rural areas who were traditionally voting for congress later changed their allegiance moving towards AAP which later formed the government after last year’s assembly elections. The party through public meetings and other forms of communication have made known to people about some measures taken for Sikhs since it came into power in 2014.
To win voters, BSP is making the Dalits a political plank by focusing on problems of Scheduled Castes.
Amongst others, some candidates running for Parliament in this present election are Congress party State President Amarinder Singh Raja Warring, from Ludhiana Lok Sabha constituency will be up against BJP’s Ravneet Singh Bittu, a former congress leader and Lok sabha MP from Ludhiana and grandson to the late Chief Minister Beant Singh.
Congress MLA Sukhjinder Randhawa is contesting from Gurdaspur Lok Sabha seat currently held by Bollywood actor Sunny Deol of BJP. The AAP has put up Amansher Singh Kalsi. The party had dropped Mr. Deol and fielded Dinesh Singh Babbu who is a three-time MLA this time round.
The AAP’s only Lok Sabha MP Sushil Kumar Rinku was chosen as latter party candidate from Jalandhar after he abandoned the party for BJP. Charanjit Singh Channi, former Chief Minister has been fielded by Congress in Jalandhar while the AAP has fielded ex-MLA Pawan Kumar Tinu; Mohinder Singh Kaypee represents SAD here.
In Bathinda, the BJP has put forth their 2011 batch IAS officer Parampal Kaur Sidhu as its candidate. Currently Bathinda is represented by SAD MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal, wife of former Deputy CM and Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal. Gurmeet Singh Khuddian is an AAP minister here also contesting for elections.
The Congress’ candidate for Patiala was Dharamvir Gandhi while Preneet Kaur who was once a Congress leader and an MP on that side stood as the BJP’s flag bearer: Mrs. Kaur is a four-time MP having served as Union Minister in her last term; she happens to be the wife of Capt. (retd.) Amarinder Singh. The AAP has opted for Punjab’s own Health Minister Balbir Singh in Patiala as its candidate, whereas SAD has chosen N.K. Sharma, a former MLA.
In Amritsar, the AAP has put up State Cabinet Minister Kuldeep Dhaliwal against Gurjeet Aujla of Congress. Taranjit Singh Sandhu a former diplomat for BJP is also in race likewise Anil Joshi representing SAD.
In Sangrur, Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer serving as state minister on behalf of the AAP whereas Sukhpal Singh Khaira appears on behalf of Congress.
In Punjab’s closely fought contest 2,14,61,739 voters will decide the electoral fate of candidates from 13 Lok Sabha seats to which at least three or four contenders have staked their respective claims as equals for not less than ten years.
