The Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) is going to witness a new wave of resurgence in Punjab. In Hindi speaking belt Punjab is the only State where the BJP requires special thrust. Before last Assembly election Punjab was continuously witnessing contest between the Shrimoni Akali Dal (SAD) and the Congress party. The SAD was accompanied by the BJP on multiple occasions.
In Punjab it all set that the contest in 2024 LS poll will be held between the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the BJP. There is galaxy of leaders joining the BJP from other parties. Yesterday the AAP lone MP Sushil Kumar Rinku who won Jalandhar LS by-poll with comfortable margin joined the BJP. He joined along with an MLA of AAP from Jalandhar West MLA Sheetal Angrul.
Just before Rinku Ludhiana Congress party MP Ravneet Singh Bittu had joined the BJP. He was two term MP from Ludhiana. He is grandson of former CM late Beant Singh. Beant Singh has great respect in Punjab and in entire country as he along with police officer late K P S Gill had eliminated insurgency from the State. Patiala MP Preneet Kaur had also resigned from the Congress party and joined the BJP. Most of the Congress party leaders in Punjab had deserted the party and joined the BJP. Among them are Capt Amarinder Singh, State BJP president Sunil Jakhar and many others.
Another Congress party leader Navjot Singh Siddhu is also looking an opportunity to desert the Congress party. Neither the BJP nor the AAP is giving him due recognition so he is in party. Many other Congress party MLAs, MPs and party cadres will join the BJP soon. Even AAP cadres are also joining the BJP due to Arvind Kejriwal’s political uncertain future.
These leaders who deserted the Congress party were in a state of flux due to the mishandling of the Congress party affairs by the Congress high command. Unceremoniously the Congress high command had changed popular CM Capt. Amarinder Singh with Charanjit Singh Channi. This step was taken by the Gandhi family only to anoint its puppet Charanjit Singh Channi as the Chief Minister.
Since Capt. Amarinder Singh has his own stature so he didnot bow down to the Gandhi family diktats and took decision of his own for the welfare of masses and State. But Gandhi family never like such kind of people. Sharad Pawar in Maharashtra, late Virender Patil in Karnataka are some of the examples who have to either quit the party or the post due to their personal stature and own decisions.
In Punjab the stage is set for the contest between the AAP and the BJP in 2024 LS poll. In such condition anti-AAP voters will gravitate towards the BJP as had happened in West Bengal in 2019 LS polls. The BJP can spring surprise in Punjab too in 2024 as it did in West Bengal in 2019.
Punjab was the stronghold of the Congress party since long. In 2019 LS poll the Congress party got only 52 seats by contesting on 421 seats. While only in Punjab the Congress party won 8 seats by contesting on 13 seats. Out of 52 seats in 2019 the Congress party won 31 seats only from three States of Tamil Nadu, Punjab and Kerala. So the Congress party had lot of stake in Punjab in 2024 at least to maintain its 2019 seats tally.
But recent turn of events in Punjab clearly demonstrates that the Congress party may fail to open its account in Punjab in 2024 LS elections. Two by-polls for Lok Sabha were held in Punjab between 2019 to 2024. In June 2022 Sangrur LS seat by-poll was held due to resignation of incumbent MP Bhagwant Mann as he became the CM and resigned from his LS membership.
In the by-poll the congress party forfeited its deposit on this seat.In 2019 LS poll the Congress party got 27.43 per cent of votes and was the runner on the seat. While in by-poll the Congress party came to third spot with forfeiting its deposit. In second by-poll of Jalandhar Lok Sabha seat held after Rahul Gandhi’s much talked Bharat Jodo Yatra (BJY). The incumbent MP Santokh Singh died during course of his journey with Rahul Gandhi in his BJY.
In the by-poll the Congress party put his widow Karamjit Kaur Chaudhary as party candidate to play emotional card. But the Congress party failed to win the seat. The Congress party vote share reduced by 10 per cent in by-poll with respect to 2019 LS poll on the seat. Jalandhar LS seat was with the Congress party since 1999 without any break. This clearly demonstrated that the golden days for the Congress party in Punjab is over.
