Weighing Punjab polls, anti-BJP fixation

The country witnessed two interesting political developments on Sunday. One was Punjab elections and the other the meeting of some regional leaders with an aim of BJP-Mukt Bharat.

While the regional party leaders are still in the process of evaluating what their future would be and how to go about to try and defeat the saffron party in the next general elections, the fate of 1,304 candidates for 117 assembly constituencies has sealed in the ballot boxes.

After weeks of high voltage poll campaign in Punjab, the poll pattern on the day of election has sent mixed trends. From the way the poll percentage stopped around 63-64 per cent as against 77 per cent in 2017 polls, it is clear the fight is between Congress and Aam Aadmi Party. Though there has been a multi-cornered contest, the State appears to be heading towards a hung assembly. People did not appear to be having an absolute faith in any single party. BJP and Shiromani Akali Dal as expected may not cross the single digit figure.

The BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's efforts to woo the Sikh voters by organising interaction with Sikh religious heads and Afghan Sikhs at PM's residence and explaining his relationship with Sikhs claiming that he has blood relation with them as one of the Punj Pyaras of Guru Nanak Dev was from Gujarat and so on, might have pleased those who met Modi but the voters apparently are still not fully convinced. The recent farmers agitation also would have cast a shadow on the fortunes of BJP in Punjab.

So, the question now is what would happen in the event of a hung assembly? Which party will BJP support? If Congress emerges as the single largest party and falls short of a few seats, will BJP go with Congress as it did in Chandigarh mayoral elections when BJP candidate Sarabjit Kaur won by just one vote? What would BJP do if AAP emerges as the single largest party? The suspense would continue for another 18 days. The most interesting aspect is that Congress, the ruling party in Punjab, is fighting for its relevance in Punjab politics. On the other hand, the meeting between KCR and Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar proved only to be an exploratory one and it was decided to meet again. More than political strategies, they discussed about the problems faced by the country such as poverty, farmers issues etc. They seem to be still in the process of identifying the issues and who all would be like-minded. There is still no clarity on what the agenda would be. A lot of exercise needs to be done before the proposed front becomes a reality. The only point on which all of them are one is pack off BJP in the next elections. But how to create an atmosphere at the ground level is what needs to be assessed and decided.