Chandigarh: Union Home Minister Amit Shah Saturday, while launching BJP’s campaign in Moga, ruled out any alliance for the Punjab assembly elections, declaring that the party would contest the 2027 polls on its own strength.
“I am here today to take your blessings and start the election campaign of our party. You have given a chance to all political parties. Now, give us one chance,” Shah told the rally.
The Akalis ended its 24-year-old alliance with the BJP in September 2020 amid the farmers’ agitation against three central farm laws, and have since contested elections separately with limited success.
Shah made clear on Saturday that the BJP—which had historically played the junior partner in the alliance—intends to change that arithmetic entirely. “In 2027, BJP will fight elections to form its own government in the state,” he said.
The BJP’s traditional base in Punjab rests heavily on the Hindu community, which is estimated to make up a little over 38 percent of the state’s population. The community’s political affiliation, however, is not tied to any particular party—it has voted for the AAP and the Congress at different points in the past.
SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal, speaking to reporters in Sahnewal after Shah’s rally, maintained studied neutrality. “Every party has the right to take its own decision on alliances,” he said, adding that “for us the interests of Punjab and Punjabis are supreme, sovereign and above everything else”.
He noted that the SAD had itself contested the 2024 parliamentary elections alone.
Before that, addressing another gathering in Sahnewal, Badal sharpened his rhetoric against national parties. “Can Amit Shah (home minister) or Modi ji (Prime Minister Narendra Modi) have the same concern for you as the Badal family or the SAD,” he asked, accusing Delhi-based parties—including the Congress and the AAP—of coming to Punjab to “loot”. He cited the devastating floods of last year as evidence, claiming that both the AAP government and the Centre had abandoned Punjab to their fate while the SAD stood by them.
Reacting to Shah’s claim, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann said the BJP lacks the organisational strength to contest alone. “From where will the BJP bring 117 candidates to contest alone in Punjab,” he asked.
“A majority of the leaders sitting on the stage with the Home Minister today were inducted from the Congress. The BJP in Punjab is only a breakaway faction or wing of the Congress,” the CM alleged.
Shah anchored his pitch on the BJP’s 2024 Lok Sabha performance in the state. “It is our track record that wherever we have got 19 percent vote share, we have later formed the government there. This was true in Assam, Tripura, Manipur, and the next in line is Punjab,” he said.
The Home Minister then mounted a sweeping attack on the AAP government.
“We are being told that we are going to change the government in Punjab soon but let me tell you there is nothing to change because there is no government. There is no law and order in the state, gangsters move about freely and drugs are available everywhere,” he said.
The attack continued. “It is clear there is no government that functions. The chief minister of the state is like a pilot to his political bosses in Delhi whom he ferries from one place to another. The real power is being wielded by four subedars of the Aam Aadmi party. The chief minister has no qualms in selling the interest of a state to them,” Shah said.
He cited law-and-order incidents to press the case: “In the beginning of 2026, three sarpanch were killed. Traders and small shopkeepers were getting calls from gangsters. Drugs are freely available everywhere. There is a report that states that of the total amount of heroin recovered in India, 45 percent has been recovered from Punjab,” he said.
The Home Minister subsequently promised that a BJP double-engine government would end drug addiction in the state within two years.
Invoking the sacrifice of the ninth Sikh Guru, Shah said: “I want to say this from the stage today that had Guru Tegh Bahadur not been there, there would have been no Hindu in this country.”
He went on to accuse the AAP of corruption and self-promotion. Listing “scams” such as truck union land grabs and Smart City projects, Shah added: “And in order to show themselves in good light they are spending Rs 800 crores annually on advertisements.”
He said the AAP government had failed on every major promise—employment, enhanced pensions for the elderly, MSP on crops, eliminating drug addiction within four months, and opening medical colleges.
Mann, speaking at a press conference on the sidelines of the Invest Punjab summit in Mohali, pushed back. He said the BJP should examine its own record before pointing fingers.
“What happened to the promises made by the Bharatiya jumala party of ending black money economy, and putting Rs 15 lakh in everybody’s accounts? Has that money come,” he asked.
Mann said the BJP had always engaged in politics of hatred for which there is no space in Punjab, and challenged Shah’s standing to lecture the state on drugs.
“Where are the drugs coming from? The Government of India has not given any help to Punjab to counter this problem on the border even though we are fighting the national war on drugs. We have acquired our own anti drone systems to counter drones coming from across the border,” he said.
On being called a “pilot” to his Delhi leadership, Mann reply was pointed. “Is not Amit Shah also a leader of a Delhi-based national party or does he belong to Kotfatta in Punjab? So, if he can be here, leaders of other parties can be here too,” he said.
Mann also turned the gangster question back on Shah, asking why Lawrence Bishnoi—wanted for investigation in several states, including Punjab—remains lodged in Gujarat’s Sabarmati jail. “It is the BJP which has always shielded such elements and used them to create trouble. But in Punjab this game is not going to work. Punjab’s soil is known to be very fertile but let the BJP understand that the seed of hatred can never be sown here,” he said.
He criticised Shah for failing to address Punjab’s key concerns during his visit to the state, stating that people had expected announcements on MSP, farm loan waivers and a special package, but were left disappointed.
“The Modi government has withheld Punjab’s RDF and GST funds, and has still not released Rs 1,600 crore flood relief compensation. Not even Rs 16 has been received,” said the CM, adding that if promises were not going to be fulfilled why did BJP leaders indulge in “disaster tourism”.
Also Read: Land of milk and no money? Bread basket Punjab hits rock bottom in NITI Aayog Fiscal Health Index