WITH the Punjab Assembly elections a few months away, the state’s political parties have shifted into campaign mode. Leadership changes, organisational restructuring and voter-centric promises have taken centre stage. The ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has seized the initiative by finally implementing its flagship 2022 promise of direct financial assistance to women under the Mawan Dhiyan Satkar Yojana. Covering nearly 36 lakh women beneficiaries at an annual cost of around Rs 1,400 crore, it enables AAP to claim that every major election promise has now been fulfilled. Simultaneously, Arvind Kejriwal has hinted at early elections while projecting Mann as the party’s chief-ministerial face.
The Opposition, too, has begun putting its electoral machinery in place. The Congress has retained Amarinder Singh Raja Warring as its Punjab chief while appointing former Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi as chairman of its campaign committee, hoping to combine organisational cohesion with Channi’s electoral appeal. The BJP has sought to broaden its rural and Sikh outreach by appointing veteran Jat Sikh leader Kewal Singh Dhillon as state president, complemented by an intensive statewide campaign spearheaded by Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini. The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), battling for political relevance after successive electoral setbacks, is also attempting a revival. Sukhbir Singh Badal has intensified grassroots outreach through the Punjab Bachao campaign, encouraged former leaders to return to the party and sought to reclaim its traditional Panthic constituency by raising religious and farmers’ issues.
Punjab’s election has effectively begun. Welfare schemes, leadership projection and identity politics will dominate the campaign, but voters must judge parties not by pre-election optics alone. The real test is who offers the most credible vision for governance, fiscal prudence, economic revival and lasting social stability.
