News Analysis | BJP finds fresh winds of hope in Punjab
The HinduThe simmering anger against the BJP may not immediately mellow down among the farming community in Punjab after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a repeal of the controversial farm laws, but the decision has given enough impetus to the BJP to make inroads in the State ahead of the Assembly poll, due in early 2022. Even as a seat-sharing arrangement with former Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh’s newly launched party — Punjab Lok Congress — is on the cards, an official declaration on it is still awaited. As the BJP in the past continued to contest with the SAD, the Hindu voters had kept away from the BJP; however, with the BJP now all set to independently fight the upcoming Assembly election, the fight to garner the support of Hindu votes between the Congress and the BJP would be critical for both parties. Not only this, the BJP has been making attempts to garner the support of the Sikh community by presenting itself as the party that, during the past seven years in the Centre, has worked towards the interests of Sikhs – be it the initiative to start the Kartarpur corridor, which connects the Kartarpur Sahib gurdwara in Pakistan with Dera Baba Nanak shrine in India’s Gurdaspur district, waiving of Goods and Services Tax from ‘langar’ or granting Foreign Contribution Regulation Act registration to Gurdwara Harmandir Sahib, enabling it to receive foreign donations. Besides, the BJP and Amarinder Singh’s party together can upset the electoral calculations of the ruling Congress and the Shiromani Akali Dal,” said Ashutosh Kumar, a professor with the political science department of Punjab University.