Punjab BJP puts Modi photo on ration bags, hopes to expand influence

In the Industrial area of Jalandhar, 22 train rakes full of relief material from states as far away as Gujarat as well as neighbouring Delhi and Haryana are being unloaded in four warehouses, packed in sacks which bear the photo of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and being sent on their way to the 14 flood-affected districts of Punjab.

The sacks contain rice, wheat flour, pulses, cooking oil, spices—as well as an accompanying slogan which says, “BJP Punjab de naal,” or, BJP is with Punjab.

The message of the enormous flood relief operation, unfolding in an aggressive, planned and coordinated way, is unmistakable: PM Modi and the BJP stand with the people in its current hour of crisis, via a “sewa pakhwara”, a “service fortnight,” that began a week ago but is expected to continue for another few months.

BJP workers told The Tribune that as “the floodwaters recede and people return home to find that their lives have been turned upside down,” they will return to find everything from dinner sets to frying pans, cooking pots, casseroles and pressure cookers, charpoys, bedsheets, blankets, towels, all-size garments, footwear, ration, medicines, tarpaulins and mosquito nets—whatever it takes to re-establish a house.

“All the relief material being sent by BJP units from these states is good quality. We have deployed 80 labourers who work in two shifts to prepare kits of the items for distribution,” Jalandhar BJP president Sushil Sharma told this reporter.

Significantly, the BJP seems to be ramping up its presence as some other parties slow down their relief efforts. Party workers said the party wanted to send the message that it stands with the farming community in a time they most need help—never mind that it was the same farming community that forced the BJP to withdraw its three farm laws back in 2020 and refused to allow BJP candidates to enter their villages to campaign during the Lok Sabha elections last year.

Asked if the party was in an overdrive, with elections just over a year away, Sharma said, “Never have over 1.22 lakh people been affected like this before. The sole purpose of the relief work is service to the distressed.”

This reporter watched the flawless distribution mechanism and how workers were being marked man-to-man—packing ration kits and loading them onto trucks, which also bore large flags with the PM’s face on them.

“With every kit that we are sending, we are also giving two sets of cards. One card will go to the beneficiary and second to our nodal distribution officer in the pocket where the supply is being made”, Amritsar-based BJP leader Suraj Bhardwaj said.

The card, he said, carries the name, address, phone number and other details of every beneficiary. When the team reaches the beneficiary, an entry will be made of the relief material received by him/her. The party has devised the card system to check duplication and ensure each beneficiary gets adequate relief material in every subsequent visit.

Party leader Rajesh Bagha told The Tribune, “We are also set to hold 100 medical and veterinary camps from tomorrow at various locations to ensure that the flood-affected people and their animals remain disease-free. After winter sets in, we shall provide winter clothing also to the marooned villagers”.

The party is also planning to help farmers remove the silt from their fields and make them cultivable all over again. Through a centrally sponsored scheme, the BJP also plan to provide native species of dairy animals to the farmers.