Kerala breached, Punjab BJP’s new frontier; party vows introspection

Aditi Tandon

Advertisement

New Delhi, June 5

“We are ready for a long haul in Punjab,” says a BJP leader after the border state emerged as the new frontier for saffron forces when they thought they would make history on June 4 by winning at least one Parliament seat across all states of India, thereby becoming a truly pan-nation force.

However, Punjab halted that march, even though Kerala, a long-held Left and Congress fortress, was finally breached on Tuesday, with actor Suresh Gopi becoming the first-ever BJP MP from the southern state.

The lone Kerala win was as stunning for the BJP as the fact that it drew a blank in Punjab, which gave seven seats to the Congress, three to AAP, one to the Akali Dal and two to radicals.

“The Punjab results will stun you,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi had told The Tribune in a recent interview.

The stunner that came was certainly not the one the BJP was hoping for after the government opened the Kartarpur corridor for devotees, scrapped the GST on langar, declared December 26 as Veer Bal Divas in memory of Guru Gobind Singh’s sons, who sacrificed their lives in the line of duty, and held regular and massive outreaches with the Sikh community at regular intervals.

Baffled by a complete rout in the state, where it was contesting national elections on its own for the first time since 1997, BJP leaders admit that farmers’ issues could have resonated more deeply than was thought. That explains why Modi, in his victory speech at the BJP headquarters on Tuesday, made a special mention of the farmers.

“We will keep prioritising the task of modernising agriculture from the level of purchase of seeds to the level of sales in the markets. From pulses to edible oils, we will constantly work to make our farmers self-reliant,” said the PM, hailing the NDA’s third term at the Centre as a historic mandate, one that has come for the first time for any government since 1962.

The party leaders vowed deep introspection of the Punjab results, with the state high on the PM’s personal agenda.

In 2019, Sunny Deol and Som Prakash had won on the BJP ticket in Punjab’s Gurdaspur and Hoshiarpur, respectively. This time, all BJP candidates lost the elections with Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge’s prediction that “all defectors will lose” coming true.

The BJP, however, took heart from the fact that it bagged 18.56 per cent vote share in the state against 9.63 per cent in 2019.

“We will work resiliently in Punjab, identify the aspirations of the people and work to fulfil those,” said a leader.

Meanwhile, BJP’s Amritsar candidate Taranjit Singh Sandhu, who lost, has plans to open an office in the city and keep working for its residents, his defeat notwithstanding. Sandhu is likely to play a crucial role in the PM’s Punjab outreach, sources told The Tribune.

Will make farmers self-reliant

We will keep prioritising the task of modernising agriculture, right from the level of the purchase of seeds to sale in the market. From pulses to edible oils, we will constantly work to make our farmers self-reliant. — Narendra Modi, Prime Minister

Will fulfil people’s aspirations

We will work resiliently in Punjab, identify the aspirations of the people and work to fulfil those. — A BJP leader