Chandigarh: With the 2027 Punjab Assembly elections round the corner, political parties have stepped up their activities. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) are expanding their ground mobilisation through yatras, rallies and public interactions, while Congress, which has been positioning itself as the principal challenger to AAP govt, has yet to match the pace of its rivals.The contrast is particularly visible in the frequency and spread of political programmes. While AAP, BJP and SAD have maintained a regular presence through rallies, public meetings and outreach programmes, Congress has largely remained focused on individual events and protests rather than a sustained statewide campaign.The ruling AAP has formally launched its election campaign and released a four-page pamphlet. The party is also undertaking door-to-door outreach across constituencies through the “Ghar-Ghar Maan De Munafe” campaign, a public outreach initiative, besides holding roadshows and other political programmes.BJP, which is looking to strengthen its presence in Punjab, has also stepped up its activities. The party has been making efforts to build momentum through Nasha Mukt Punjab Yatra and public programmes, with its senior state and central leaders increasingly appearing together at party events.Several prominent leaders have hit the ground, including BJP president Nitin Nabin, Union ministers Hardeep Puri and Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Delhi chief minister Rekha Gupta, Haryana chief minister Nayab Singh Saini, Manoj Tiwari and Manjinder Singh Sirsa. Union home minister Amit Shah is scheduled to attend the concluding day of the yatra on Sept 30, while multiple rallies involving Prime Minister Narendra Modi are scheduled for next month.SAD, meanwhile, has been holding its ‘Punjab Bachao’ rallies, with senior leaders participating in the programmes. The party has also separately launched an anti-drug campaign targeting women through the ‘Maawan Diyan Insaaf Yatra’.For Congress, however, the level of ground activity remains comparatively limited. While the party has held protests and other programmes, it has yet to roll out a sustained statewide campaign.The appointment of Sachin Pilot as Punjab Congress in-charge in early Sept came after months of internal factional differences. His first major political programme in the state was the Sept 15 protest over the death of Gulzar Singh, which saw all the senior Congress leaders participate together. The party followed this with another protest in Chandigarh on Sept 25 against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.The delay in Rahul Gandhi’s proposed yatra has further contributed to uncertainty over Congress’s campaign calendar. Punjab Congress general secretary Captain Sandeep Singh Sandhu said the series of protests organised by the party in recent weeks were part of its campaign. He clarified that the Congress’s statewide campaign would be launched after Oct 3. Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee president Amrinder Singh Raja Warring said a detailed roadmap for the statewide campaign had been prepared to reach out to people.Prof Ashutosh Kumar of the department of political science at Panjab University said the 2027 Punjab Assembly elections were likely to be a multi-cornered contest and that Congress would need to plan its campaign carefully, taking into account the various factors at play.With the elections approaching, he said the party would need to campaign aggressively and gradually build momentum, while sustaining its campaign until the end. He said in the absence of a prominent state-level face for Congress, Rahul Gandhi remained one of the party’s prominent national faces and suggested that the party could make strategic use of his presence during the campaign to connect with voters. “Rahul Gandhi needs to campaign extensively in the state for better results and should not leave the campaign entirely to the state leaders,” said Prof Kumar.
