Chandigarh: In what Punjab BJP leaders believe will set a tone for "change" in Punjab, Union Home Minister
Amit Shah will sound the BJP poll bugle for the 2027 Punjab polls by addressing a rally in Killi Chahlan in Moga on Saturday.
In its solo run to expand its political footprint in the State beyond its core urban base, this will be the first mega rally of the saffron party in Moga, which has a history of being a venue for major rallies of all the political parties, including its former ally, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), given its geographic location, which makes it central and almost equidistant to almost all the farthest districts of the State.
According to the Punjab BJP general secretary, a massive area of 84 acres has been reserved for the rally—22 acres of which is for the pandal, nearly 54 acres for parking, and the remaining area for other arrangements, including refreshments.
Sarin said, "The rally will break all records in terms of a political rally held by any party in Punjab. The politics of Punjab is going to take a new turn."
Mobilising support for the rally in a locality, former BJP MLA K D Bhandari is heard saying, "This rally will change the direction of Punjab. According to us, 1 lakh people will gather in the rally. The party hired 3700 buses to take our workers for the rally."
According to Punjab BJP president Sunil Jakhar, Amit Shah was coming for the rally "not to distribute doles, but to tell people why BJP should be brought to power in Punjab". As per Jakhar, people tested all other political parties and were left "disillusioned"; the BJP was the "only alternative" to safeguard Punjab and its interests.
According to Union minister of state for railways and food processing industries Ravneet Singh Bittu, "Union home minister Amit Shah will give a clarion call to save the youth and farmers of Punjab." In a post on Facebook, Bittu, while describing the Moga rally of the BJP as the "beginning of a new chapter in the pious land of Punjab", said, "Let us become a part of this movement to root out drugs and gangsterism."
The BJP rally, which is titled ‘Aao miljul ke badliye Punjab; sukhi rahe saada Punjab (let's usher in a change in Punjab, may Punjab remain prosperous)', is being held at a time when the saffron party's former ally, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), is in the middle of the first phase of the party's election campaign for the 2027 Punjab elections, where it is holding 40 rallies across the state under its mass contact programme, ‘Punjab Bachao – Sukhbir Singh Badal Liyao', beginning with the first rally on February 17 in Qadian.
Also, the ruling
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) completed 4 years in power and is riding high on fulfilling its "main guarantees", including Rs 1000 per month to the women (Rs 1500 for Dalit women) of Punjab aged 18 and above, for which it reserved Rs 9300 crore in the last budget of its term presented on International Women's Day on March 8, a Sunday this year.
The Amit Shah rally, according to Punjab BJP leaders, will give a major fillip to the party's outreach in the state, where it was going all out to hard-sell itself as a formidable alternative. In the BJP's outreach in Punjab, Haryana chief minister Nayab Singh Saini, the BJP leader from the neighbouring State coming from the OBC community, was on a spree to visit Punjab quite frequently.
Apart from striking a chord with the OBC community, Saini was critical of the AAP-led Punjab govt, projecting BJP-ruled Haryana as a better governance, pro-farmer and pro-people model. At the start of February, Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Dera Sachkhand Ballan, a significant centre for the Ravidassia community, on the occasion of the 649th birth anniversary of Guru Ravidas.
Punjab BJP has two MLAs in the 117-member Punjab Assembly after, having parted ways with the SAD, it contested the 2022 Punjab elections in alliance with the then breakaway SAD faction Shiromani Akali Dal (Sanyukt) and former chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh's Punjab Lok Congress (PLC), which he subsequently merged into the BJP after joining the saffron party.
Punjab BJP unsuccessfully contested all 13 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab solo in 2024, though its vote share increased from 9.63% in 2019 to 18.56% in 2024.
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