Party undertakes constituency mapping to build independent organisation before crucial Punjab Assembly elections.
Despite having just two MLAs in the 117-member Punjab Assembly, the Bharatiya Janata Party has launched what senior party leaders describe as its most extensive organisational exercise in the state, undertaking a lane-by-lane mapping of all Assembly constituencies as part of a long-term strategy to emerge as a formidable political force ahead of the Assembly election scheduled for March next year.
Senior BJP leaders told The Sunday Guardian that the exercise is being carried out for the first time in Punjab and reflects a fundamental shift in the party’s approach towards a state where it had traditionally depended on its alliance with the Shiromani Akali Dal rather than building an independent grassroots organisation. The decades-old alliance ended in September 2020.
According to sources, the mapping exercise goes far beyond conventional booth management. Party workers are identifying constituency-wise demographic patterns, influential local personalities, social networks, organisational gaps and voter behaviour while preparing detailed assessments of each Assembly segment. The exercise is also aimed at understanding the micro-level political dynamics of every constituency before the party finalises its electoral strategy.
The BJP’s renewed focus assumes significance given its limited legislative presence in Punjab. The Aam Aadmi Party currently enjoys a comfortable majority in the Assembly, while the BJP has only two legislators. Despite this, the party is preparing for Punjab not as a fringe player but as a state where it intends to steadily expand its footprint and eventually emerge as a principal political force.
Sources said the leadership has recognised that Punjab presents unique political challenges. Apart from the language barrier, the BJP lacks the decades-old independent organisational network it has built in many other states because it largely contested elections in alliance with the Shiromani Akali Dal. This has prompted the party to first understand the state’s distinct political, social and electoral dynamics before attempting a major expansion.
As part of this effort, the BJP has reached out to a wide cross-section of individuals with deep knowledge of Punjab. According to sources, the party has been interacting with journalists, retired bureaucrats, former police and civil servants, social leaders and other individuals familiar with the state’s political landscape to understand constituency-level issues, voting behaviour, caste equations, regional sensitivities and local leadership patterns.
The party is also engaging local influencers and opinion makers across constituencies as it seeks to strengthen its grassroots organisation and identify areas where it currently has little or no presence.
Political observers tracking the BJP’s preparations said the party’s confidence has grown after its performance in Haryana.
The BJP leadership believes its Haryana strategy demonstrated that sustained organisational work and social coalition-building can overcome entrenched political equations. By projecting Nayab Singh Saini, an OBC leader, as Chief Minister and consolidating support among non-Jat communities, the BJP secured a third consecutive term in Haryana despite widespread expectations of anti-incumbency.
According to sources, while Punjab’s political landscape is significantly different, the BJP believes elements of that strategy can be adapted to the state. Its organisational focus is currently centred on expanding support among urban voters, Other Backward Classes and Dalit communities, which the party sees as the foundation of an independent electoral base capable of altering the state’s traditional political equations.
The BJP’s preparations are unfolding against a political backdrop that has changed considerably since the 2022 Assembly election, when the Aam Aadmi Party swept to power by winning 92 of the 117 seats. Since then, AAP has lost power in Delhi, leaving Punjab as the only state where it is in government, making the upcoming Assembly election critical for the party’s political future.
According to BJP sources, AAP is also finding it significantly more difficult to mobilise the organisational and financial resources that had powered its previous election campaign. They attributed this to the exit of seven AAP Rajya Sabha MPs who have since merged with the BJP, including Ashok Kumar Mittal, founder-chancellor of Lovely Professional University, industrialists Rajinder Gupta and Vikramjit Singh Sahney.
BJP leaders claimed that the departure of industrialists such as Mittal, Gupta and Sahney has substantially weakened AAP’s ability to mobilise campaign resources.
BJP leaders also claimed that the ruling party is facing significant anti-incumbency after more than four years in office. However, they acknowledged that the Congress continues to remain an important player in the electoral contest. According to sources, despite the anti-incumbency against the AAP government, the Congress has undermined its own prospects because of persistent internal factionalism and organisational discord in the run-up to the election. They said that if the Congress succeeds in resolving its internal differences, it could emerge as a serious challenger to the ruling party.
Sources said there is currently no final decision on projecting a chief ministerial face. While names such as Union Minister Ravneet Singh Bittu, Punjab BJP president Kewal Singh Dhillon, former state president Sunil Jakhar and other senior leaders continue to be discussed in political circles, the leadership is not treating that as an immediate priority.
“The focus at this stage is not on the chief ministerial face. The focus is on strengthening the organisation, understanding every constituency and significantly improving the party’s position in the state,” a senior leader familiar with the exercise said.
Party sources said the immediate objective is to establish the BJP as the principal opposition force in Punjab. The longer-term goal, they added, is to build an organisational structure capable of mounting a serious challenge for power independently, marking a significant departure from the party’s traditional strategy of relying on alliances in the state.
