ABC of Punjab politics: Here's a look at major political parties ahead of Assembly polls in 2022

With former Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh announcing that he is set to float his own party and declaring that he is open to an alliance with the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP), the 2022 Assembly election in the state is likely to see new political dynamics. Meanwhile, BJP's age-old ally Shiromani Akali Dal has found a new partner this time. Aam Aadmi Party, which managed to win just 20 seats in the past elections, is striving hard to become a major player in the state.

With these changing dynamics at play, here is a look at the major political players in Punjab.

Aam Aadmi Party

History: Formally launched on 26 November 2012, the Aam Aadmi Party made forays into Punjab politics in 2016 after trouncing the largest national players at that time -- Bharatiya Janata Party and Congress -- in Delhi Assembly Elections.

In its electoral debut, the Aam Aadmi Party emerged as the second-largest party in the Delhi Legislative Assembly polls of 2013. It formed the government for 49 days with 28 of the 70 seats in the Assembly with support from the Congress party. Its main agenda was to quickly introduce the Jan Lokpal bill in the National Capital Territory of Delhi. When this didn't come to fruition, the AAP government resigned.

In the 2015 Delhi Assembly polls, it emerged victorious with a record margin. It won 67 of 70 seats, while the rest three went to the Bharatiya Janata Party.

Past Election Performance: In the 2014 General Elections, the party fielded 434 candidates but won a meagre four seats from Punjab. This, however, allowed AAP to become a recognised state party in Punjab, paving the way for it to contest in the 2017 Punjab Assembly polls. However, the party that was predicted to give the Congress a close contest, did not fare as well as expected and won 20 seats

Alliance: In all likelihood, the AAP will be facing the polls alone. The party has not commented on the possibility of a post-poll alliance so far as well.

Election Agenda: This time around, AAP's election strategy revolves around the three controversial farm laws by the Centre. AAP enjoys the unique position of not having any contact with this political hot potato. Congress' previous chief minister Amarinder Singh, dubbed 'black laws' architect' by his bete noire Navjot Singh Sidhu, was the one who passed very similar laws in the state Assembly. Whereas Akali Dal had initially supported the bills as an NDA ally but walked out of the government later when farmers around the country rallied behind the issue. BJP, which is anyway a small player in the state, is the one who brought the controversial laws at the Centre. AAP on the other hand did not take a position until opposing it was the safest choice left.

Bahujan Samaj Party

History: BSP is the fourth largest party in Punjab after improving its vote share in 2012 elections. In 2012, the BSP came second from Balachaur Vidhan Sabha seat with 21,943 votes.

Past elections: The BSP is yet to win a seat in the Assembly. It contested on 111 seats in 2017 and won 0 seats. 

Alliance: It has allied with the Shiromani Akali Dal for the 2022 elections in contrast to its past position against the SAD. On 15 March 2016, Mayawati during a mega-rally in Nawanshahr on the birth anniversary of BSP founder Kanshi Ram in Punjab attacked the then SAD-BJP government as "anti-Dalit" and Arvind Kejriwal as a "baniya" who had "always worked against Dalit and Scheduled Caste people" before he became Delhi chief minister.

 

Election Agenda: It has strongly raised issues of sacrilege of Guru Granth Sahib at Bargari in Faridkot and subsequent firing on Sikh protesters at Behbal Kalan. It has also promised free housing for Dalits and power subsidies for farmers.

Bharatiya Janata Party

History: The country's largest political party in terms of representation in the Parliament and state Assemblies is rather a small player in Punjab thus far. It has been fighting elections in an alliance with the Shiromani Akali Dal since before its contemporary form even came into existence.

The Akalis first joined hands with Jan Sangh (the BJP’s predecessor) in 1967. The parties stitched together a pre-poll alliance for the 1997 Punjab Assembly elections, which continued till 2019 parliamentary polls when the Akali Dal walked out of NDA -- an alliance that the party patriarch Parkash Singh Badal, a founding member of the NDA, always referred to s ‘nau-maas da rishta (nail-and-flesh ties).

The bone of contention was the three farm laws that the Centre states will break the monopoly of large traders in the farmers' markets and offer more marketing options to small farmers. The Akalis however, contradict that the move is deeply injurious to the interests not only of farmers, but also the" khet mazdoor (farm labour), traders, arthiyas (commission agents) and the Dalits who depend on the well-being of agriculture."

Past Election performance: The BJP got 12 seats in the 2012 Assembly polls and 19 seats in the 2007 elections.

Alliance: With the Akalis out of the NDA, BJP is fishing for new partners in the market this time around. And Amarinder Singh's upcoming new party is a strong option.

Election Agenda: Since Akali Dal was the major partner in BJP's alliance with Punjab, its Punjab policy and agenda has been rather eclipsed by the agenda driven by the Badals. This time around the party is facing two tectonic shifts. It's going without the strong familial force of the Badals behind it. And with Punjab being the birthplace of the farmers' movement against the three contentious bills, BJP also faces resistance from most large farmer outfits and influential farming families. The party is yet to come out with a manifesto, but it will be interesting to see the points it highlights to try to throw attention off the farmers' protest.

Indian National Congress

History: Congress' fortunes within the state have become a focus of intense scrutiny, more importantly, because Punjab remains the only state in North India where the Congress still dominates. It is the oldest party in the state which has managed to retain its core support, notwithstanding its position in the Assembly benches. This has been the case because Congress is not just dependent on one social group for its votes. Unlike the Panthi SAD, pro-Hindu BJP or Dalit-lead BSP, Congress is the right milieu of all three social forces. It has ruled the state several times and has consistently maintained the highest vote share in the state, barring just one election. But the odds have changed this year with unpredictable opponents in the field. Congress' last chief ministerial face is an opponent now, its one main opponent - the NDA has split up into two forces now with the BJP teaming up with Amarinder and Akalis in alliance with BSP. Then there are the recent internal tussles which were superficially resolved but have left deep scars on the party's exterior.

Past Election performance: Congress has won over 70 seats twice: 87 seats in 1992 elections and 77 in the 2017 polls under the leadership of Amarinder Singh. It bagged 60-plus seats thrice, in 1972 (66 seats), 1980 (63) and 2002 (62) when Amarinder first became chief minister. Congress won 40-plus seats thrice in 1967 (48 seats), 2012 (46) and 2007 (44). The party won 38 seats in 1969, 32 in 1985 and its lowest 17 in 1977.

In the last two decades, almost half of the total Dalits, non-Dalit Hindus, OBC Sikhs and a third of the total Jatts have consistently voted for Congress. For this reason, barring one election, the Congress’ vote-share in the state Assembly has always been the highest. Vote-wise the best performance of Congress was in 1980 when it got 45.19 percent vote share, followed by 43.83 percent in 1992, 42.84 percent in 1972, 40.90 percent in 2007 and 40.09 percent in 2012. Its worst performance was in 1997 when it got a vote share of 26.38 percent.

Alliance: No alliances have been announced so far

Election Agenda: The party will try to ride on the wave of farmers' agitation which is primarily directed against the BJP. Its state unit chief Navjot Singh Sidhu has been targetting BJP for 'anti-farmer' policies and the Badals for their alleged corruption. The sacrilege issue is also likely to play a major role in the election as it was used as the pretext to script Amarinder's exit from the government, and eventually the party.

Shiromani Akali Dal

History: SAD is perhaps the only panthic political party in the country, and the second oldest in the country after Congress. It came into existence to give political voice to Sikh issues but after 1996 the Moga Conference party adopted a moderate Punjabi secular agenda. On 26 September 2020, they left the NDA over the farm bills.

The Shiromani Akali Dal controls Sikh religious bodies - Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee and the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee and hence enjoys support among the Sikh community, and primarily Jatt Sikhs. For many years the party remained unaligned with any of the national parties, but in 1998 it joined the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance coalition that ruled the country from 1998 to 2004. It was in 2007 that the Akalis and the BJP scripted a major victory in Punjab, which led them to also win the succeeding polls. SAD found popular support in Punjab owing to the fact that many religious Sikhs find it difficult to support Congress because of Operation Bluestar and the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.

Past Election performance: The party won 15 seats in the 2017 elections, losing badly to Congress after a decade-long rule. The 2012 Assembly Elections in Punjab received attention for being the first elections after the reorganisation of Punjab in 1966 to witness the return of an incumbent party, the Akalis in alliance with the BJP. SAD bagged 68 seats in these polls.

Alliance: The Akalis first joined hands with the Jan Sangh (the BJP’s predecessor) in 1967. The parties stitched together a pre-poll alliance for the 1997 Punjab Assembly elections, which continued till 2019 parliamentary polls. The BJP had been part of post-poll alliances with governments led by Akalis in Punjab four times, from 1967 to 1980.

As farmer protests continued to roil Punjab, the Shiromani Akali Dal, one of the oldest allies of the BJP and a founding member of the NDA, announced they were exiting the ruling coalition at the Centre in protest against the farm legislation pushed through Parliament by the Modi government.

The Shiromani Akali Dal's president Sukhbir Singh on 12 July 2021 announced his party will form an alliance with the Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) for the Punjab assembly elections, which will be held in 2022, and said the coming together of both parties was a "new day in politics".

Election Agenda: The party will try to ride on the wave of farmers' agitation which is primarily directed against the BJP. It will also try to unite the Sikh votes, including Dalits by allying with BSP. It has promised to fight against the drug problem, find a solution to the stubble burning problem, and has offered 75 percent job reservation for Punjab's youths in public and private sector jobs.

Amarinder Singh

History: Former Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh has quit Congress and will launch a new political party soon in the run-up to Assembly elections in 2022. He resigned as the chief minister of a Congress government after prolonged infighting with cricketer-turned-politician Sidhu. Amarinder had said he felt humiliated at the way the party high command in Delhi handled the party affairs in Punjab. He was miffed with the high command for appointing Sidhu as the Congress state unit chief. The last straw was the leadership's decision to call Congress Legislative Party (CLP) meet, which is the prerogative of the chief minister.

Past Election performance: NA

Alliance: Amarinder Singh said he is hopeful of a seat arrangement with BJP in 2022 Punjab Assembly polls if farmers protest is resolved in farmers’ interest. He said he is also looking at an alliance with like-minded parties such as breakaway Akali groups, particularly Dhindsa and Brahmpura factions.

Election Agenda: Amarinder Singh appears to be angling for the nationalistic angle as he has been highlighting Punjab's status as a border state in the past few months. He has tried to implicate Sidhu as a Pakistan-sympathiser, and his old party Congress as too indecisive or weak to take the helm of a state that shares its border with Pakistan. He will be fighting against the current anti-incumbency but will hope to blame it on the meddling from Congress' central leadership.

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FP Staff