Former Punjab Chief Minister and senior BJP leader Capt Amarinder Singh is undoubtedly the tallest political figure in Punjab right now. His popularity may be down, but he doesn’t have any competitor in political stature and standing. He has served Punjab twice as the chief minister for about nine-and –a-half years. He has dominated the political space for a long time, right until his unceremonious exit in September 2021, when he was forced to resign as the chief minister.
Although he did try to reassert and reinvent himself by launching his own political outfit, Punjab Lok Congress and aligning with the BJP, it did not yield any results. Like other political parties, his party was also swept away by the Aam Aadmi Party tsunami in 2022. His party did not win any seat. He lost his own family borough Patiala also. Since then he took a long sabbatical, primarily due to his chronic back problem, for which he got operated on and has now fully recovered.
The scion of the Patiala royal family is not only the most known and senior most political face in Punjab right now, he is the best bet for the BJP. He has once again started hogging the limelight with a series of interviews with multiple prominent media outlets. In a recent marathon interview with a national television news channel, among other things, he came out with a bold suggestion that the BJP, in case it wants to form the government in Punjab, will have to align with the Akalis. Otherwise, he added, the party will have to wait for another one or two elections to build up the cadre and be able to form the government on its own.
This goes quite contrary to the officially stated position of the party. Some party leaders, including state working president Ashwani Sharma and Union Minister of State in Railways Ravneet Singh Bittu, have said on record that the party will fight the 2027 assembly elections on its own. State BJP president Sunil Jakhar has also on earlier occasions favoured an alliance with the Akalis. However, of late he has not spoken on this issue.
Also read: Importance of being Capt Amarinder Singh
Capt Amarinder is not known to make casual statements and suggestions. Nor is he known to go public with anything that goes against the official party line. The only exception is the issues of national interest. Like he supported the surgical strike against Pakistan in the aftermath of Pulwama terror attack while being the Congress chief minister in 2019 and now, opposing the ‘Agnipath’ recruitment scheme in the defence forces, while being with the BJP. Otherwise, he sticks to the party position.
He appears to have started dropping hints that the BJP may likely go for an alliance with the Akalis for the 2027 assembly elections in Punjab. No doubt a few state leaders from Punjab may have said that the party will fight independently, but officially at the national level no senior leader has said anything on the issue. The national leadership has been quiet on the subject.
The two parties had apparently reached an agreement in principle ahead of the 2024 General Elections, but the negotiations failed over one or two seats. Had the two parties fought those elections together, the alliance might have won seven of the 13 seats on the basis of the combined number of votes and would have been within striking distance in two more seats.
Obviously, all these factors might be weighing on the BJP leadership’s mind. It is obvious that in case the two parties do not fight together they do not stand any chance to win on their own. Nor will they be in a position to win as many seats so that they could stitch together a post-poll alliance and form the government. The two parties going separately will give an edge to the Congress, as the ruling AAP is faced with a strong anti-incumbency sentiment.
Also read: Expansion or power: BJP’s dilemma in Punjab
It is in this context that Capt Amarinder’s suggestion to the party holds a lot of importance. Moreover, the recent interview where he favoured an alliance was done immediately after he returned from Delhi where he is understood to have met the senior party leadership. Not only did he suggest an alliance, he also spelt out his Punjab-specific agenda, particularly on the issue of river waters, Panjab University and the status of Chandigarh. He also strongly opposed the ‘Agnipath’ scheme that restricts the tenure of soldiers in the defence services to just five years. He took a clear pro-Punjab position on all these issues and spelt out what common Punjabi feels about them.
As the state steps into the crucial year ahead of the 2027 assembly elections, in a way, Capt Amarinder has already spelt out his agenda, which in all likelihood may end up as the agenda of his party as well. Not only has he spelt out an agenda, he has already announced his arrival on the political centre stage in Punjab, thus assuming the role of the face of BJP for 2027 assembly elections, which has already created ripples in political waters.
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