CHANDIGARH: Buoyed by its victory in West Bengal, the BJP has decided to throw its full weight into Punjab, amidst talks of the Bharatiya Janata Party and Shiromani Akali Dal re-alliance before the 2027 assembly elections.
The saffron party today began its election strategy push in Punjab with senior leader and national general secretary (organisation) BL Santosh arriving in the state for a two-day visit with an eye on strengthening the party organisation.
The BJP has officially been saying that it will contest all 117 assembly seats in Punjab this time.
“Punjab is fully ready for change, and the BJP is fully prepared to make this change a reality. In the upcoming Assembly elections, the BJP will contest all 117 Assembly seats in Punjab and, by securing a victory, will form its government in the state,” said Santosh while addressing the first zonal meeting held in Patiala.
Santosh is the topmost link official between the BJP and its “mothership”, the RSS. The position of national general secretary (organisation) in the BJP hierarchy is the only top post reserved for RSS leaders.
He was retained in the post during the recent BJP organisational overhaul. Santosh is being accompanied to Punjab by BJP national joint general secretary Saudan Singh, who is in charge of RSS-BJP coordination across the northern states.
Santosh will hold a series of zonal meetings with BJP leaders and organisational functionaries across Punjab to review organisational activities and strengthen the party's organisational preparedness.
He will hold zonal meetings across major districts of the state: Patiala, Bathinda, Ludhiana, Jalandhar and Amritsar. He today chaired meetings at Patiala and Bathinda.
The Patiala meeting brought together representatives from Mohali, Patiala North, Patiala Urban, Patiala South, Fatehgarh Sahib and Sangrur, while the Bathinda meeting covered Barnala, Mansa, Bathinda Rural, Bathinda Urban, Muktsar Sahib, Fazilka and Faridkot.
On August 25, the organisational meetings will continue in Ludhiana, Jalandhar and Amritsar. The Ludhiana meeting will cover Ludhiana Rural, Ludhiana Urban, Moga, Jagraon, Khanna, Malerkotla and Ropar.
The Jalandhar meeting will include Jalandhar North, Jalandhar Urban, Jalandhar South, Hoshiarpur Urban, Hoshiarpur Rural, Nawashahar and Kapurthala.
The final zonal meeting will be held in Amritsar, covering Amritsar Urban, Amritsar Rural I and II, Tarn Taran, Gurdaspur, Batala, Pathankot and Ferozepur. A separate meeting with the state general secretaries is also scheduled in Amritsar.
The two-day organisational programme is aimed at reviewing the party's organisational functioning across different regions of Punjab and further strengthening coordination and preparedness at the grassroots level.
Santosh’s visit comes close on the heels of the Punjab BJP restructuring, which left several senior leaders miffed, and he is expected to pacify them.