FACTORS AT PLAY
PM SECURITY BREACH
Wednesday’s incident involving an unprecedented breach in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s security during his first visit to Punjab in two years has altered the political narrative in the state, giving the BJP a stick to beat the Congress with on national security ahead of the state elections. Grabbing the issue with both hands, the saffron party is trying to paint the Congress’ incumbent government and its state leadership as a set-up not capable of running the show in the sensitive border state by insinuating that even the PM is not safe here. This may resonate with its core vote bank, the urban Hindu populace, in the state where the communal fault lines are deeply etched. The Congress is hitting back at the PM and his party by accusing them of defaming Punjab and Punjabiyat for electoral gains
DRUGS
Dominating the political discourse of Punjab for the past decade, the drug issue is at the centre stage once again with the FIR against former Akali minister Bikram Majithia. There is hardly any change in the supply on the ground even as the Captain Amarinder Singh led-dispensation of the Congress government claimed of waging war against drugs through the Special Task Force (STF) against drugs. The Channi-led dispensation is now terming action by the Amarinder dispensation mere eyewash with claims that only addicts were arrested and big fish of the trade were spared. Congress’ own Rajya Sabha member Shamsher Singh Dullo on January 3 claimed that chitta was freely available in every nook and corner of Punjab. The Channi government is claiming that the FIR against Majithia as a major achievement in breaking the drug nexus in Punjab.
SACRILEGE
The 2015 sacrilege of Guru Granth Sahib in Bargari that brought down the SAD’S tally to a record low in 2017 may hound the Congress this time. The Capt Amarinder Singhled government arrested and chargesheeted Dera Sacha Sauda followers and acted against police officials involved in the firing on protesters in Kotkapura and Behbal Kalan, but people are not satisfied. It was the inaction against the Badals irked Congress ministers, including now CM Channi (he was technical education minister that time) and worked against Amarinder. After Channi became CM, he tried to act against those involved in the 2015 sacrilege but nothing happened in 100 days as legal experts claim there’s not much the government can do when the cases are in the court. IG Kunwar Vijay Partap, who probed the sacrilege cases in the Congress tenure, has already joined the AAP and is contesting from Amritsar North. In April 2021, the Punjab and Haryana high court termed the probe by him politically motivated. The recent sacrilege attempt at the Golden Temple only reopened old wounds.
FARMERS’ ISSUES
After having led the agitation for over a year on Delhi’s borders against the now repealed farm laws, the unions have turned back and are all set to take the poll plunge. Twentytwo farm bodies have formed the Sanyukt Kisan Morcha. They are seeking complete debt waiver, pegged to have crossed Rs 1 lakh crore. The Channi government claims of having met all promises made to farmers, including compensation for pink bollworm attack, state advisory price of sugarcane and debt waiver. However, farmers say their promises are only half met and say the state government failed to supply adequate DAP fertiliser to farmers for sowing wheat.
SAND MINING
The issue became a major poll plank for opposition parties, particularly the Congress, ahead of the 2017 state elections when the previous SAD-BJP government was accused of running sand mafia and supplying building material at exorbitant prices. During his four-and-a-halfyear tenure as CM, Capt Amarinder Singh faced allegations of having failed to check the mafia. On taking over in September last year, Charanjit Singh Channi announced the supply of sand at Rs 5.5 per cubic feet. However, his claims are being punctured from within the Congress, state unit president Navjot Singh Sidhu and also by the opposition.
ECONOMY
Punjab was among the most affluent states in the country for decades, thanks to the Green Revolution, but its economic growth slipped thereafter and it has been a matter of concern for successive governments. The growth rate in the state has been slower than even the national average for most part of the last one decade. The primary reasons, according to economists, are slowdown in agricultural growth and lack of industrial push. Though agriculture cushioned the impact of the pandemic in the past two years, the state needs to push agriculture reforms, including diversification, for better growth and manage its finances better to put its economics back on track. All parties keep talking about this but politics trumps economics as is evident from the ongoing freebie race for voters.
JOBS
When the Congress promised one job per household and undertook registration of unemployed youngsters in the 2017 assembly elections, it was among the key promises that saw the party through. After nearly five years in power, the ruling party’s chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi and state chief Navjot Singh Sidhu, who got these positions five months ago, were announcing rozgar (employment) guarantees with the state polls weeks away, a sign that the promise remains unfulfilled. All other parties have been luring young voters with promises ranging from job opportunities, guarantees and quotas in government and private sectors. Not a surprise as the state’s unemployment rate is higher than the national average.