It is one of the few states where the ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has not been able to cut the ground in rural areas, although it remains a strong force in urban Punjab.
It is also among the few states, where opposition party Congress is in power and was till recently led by one of its experienced leaders, Captain Amarinder Singh, scion of the Patiala royal dynasty.
But the developments over the past few months leading to the unceremonious exit of Captain Singh, just a few months ahead of assembly elections has put the state on tenterhooks.
On the face of it, all this looked like an internal crisis of the Congress party, but as developments unfolded, the scenario appeared to be a larger political design to change the political and electoral fabric of the Punjab.
It is for the first time that the Punjab has gotten a Dalit (lower caste) chief minister. Dalits make for about one-third of the total 32 percent Schedule Caste votes in the Punjab and influence 54 assembly constituencies in the state where they make up to 30 percent of the population. Although Sikhism, like Islam, teaches equality and demolishes hegemonic structures in the society, in their application, they practice casteism like Hindus in India. The only difference is that like Hindus, they don’t deny those from lower castes entry to their places of worship. This is the only sphere in which Muslims and Sikhs don’t practice casteism.
Since 1967, the chief minister of Punjab has been predominantly from the Jatt Sikh community, despite being just 21 percent of the state population. The only exception was Giani Zail Singh, belonging to the Ramgarhia community, which is a part of a significant OBC (Other Backward Caste) community having a population of 31.3 per cent in the state. However, Scheduled Castes (Dalit) community never had a chief minister from their community nor had they enjoyed proper representation in government.
While many political parties had been promising to appoint a Dalit as deputy chief minister after the election, Congress party took the lead by appointing Ramdasia Sikh (Dalit convert), Charanjit Singh Channi as the chief minister.
The Akali-BJP Combination
After the Congress, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) -- a centre-right, Sikh-centric party -- has been a strong political force in the state, which has 57.6 percent of the Sikh population. They form the majority religion in 16 out of 20 districts of the Punjab state.
Since Akalis and Hindu nationalist parties had the common plank to oppose Congress, they first joined hands in 1967. Later, they stitched together a pre-poll alliance for the 1997 Punjab Assembly elections, which continued till the 2019 parliamentary polls. The BJP and its earlier version Jan Sangh had been part of post-poll alliances with governments led by Akalis in the Punjab four times, from 1967 to 1980. It worked for both parties as BJP had emerged as a formidable political force in urban areas, a favourite of the Punjabi Hindu businessmen and Akalis used to give a tough time to Congress in rural Sikh belts. Even when Akali Dal was soft-peddling the Sikh militancy issue in the 1980s, the BJP remained its valued partner.
The Akali-BJP alliance has similarities, the way BJP tied up with the National Conference (NC) and then with the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to gain ground in Jammu and Kashmir.
For now, Congress feels that it is ahead in the race, as it has already done what others are promising to do after the next election. However, political observers feel that it is too early to say whether or not it will benefit the party.
“The Congress certainly has an edge over others. But politics does not work on symbols. One is yet to see whether the chief minister remains the real decision-maker or it is left at the hands of Jat Sikhs who dominate the party,” said Professor SS Jodhka, of Jawaharlal Nehru University.
For now, the appointment of Channi may have settled the dust. But what is hard to ignore is that voices for a non-Sikh chief minister in Punjab are also getting shriller.
Congress, before finalizing Channi, was considering Sunil Jhakar, as well as Ambika Soni - both Hindus - for the top post.
But the idea was met by resistance and the decision of having a non-Sikh has been dropped for the time being.
On the other hand, the BJP, through its Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), cadres on the ground has been uniting Hindus promising a non-Sikh chief minister after the next elections. They are playing the same card as they did in the 2014 assembly elections in nearby Jammu and Kashmir, where they consolidated 29 percent Hindus against Muslims by promising them a Hindu chief minister in the only Muslim-majority state of India.
RSS Working Tirelessly On The Ground
Punjab so far has had three non-Sikh chief ministers, starting from Gopi Chand Bhargava who was appointed soon after Independence. Indian Punjab, unlike its counterpart in Pakistan, was trifurcated in 1966 into Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh.
Political pandits do not see the BJP making any major inroads in the Punjab this time, as it will be the first election that it will contest without an alliance with the Akali Dal. Sikh observers in the Punjab for a long time have been raising concerns over BJP RSS plan to have a non-Sikh as the head of the state.
Political pandits do not see the BJP making any major inroads in the Punjab this time, as it will be the first election that it will contest without an alliance with the Akali Dal
“These developments are not surprising. Ever since BJP has come into power in the centre, it has wanted to weaken the Sikh state of its identity and merge it with the Hindi belt,” said retired Professor BS Sandhu from Chandigarh.
In its attempt to align Sikhs with the Hindus, RSS for long has been making claims that Sikhs are the marshal arm of the Hindus. A claim that Sikhs have vehemently opposed, for they want to be recognized by their own Sikh identity.
But those who know the workings of the RSS, say that their aim of Hindi consolidation and the plan to divide Sikhs is taking shape in the hinterland.
“RSS works very patiently. While BJP may not see itself coming in power in Punjab next year, they have sown the seed and have initiated the discourse of Hindi versus Sikhs in the Punjab,” said a senior journalist and a political observer of Punjab who did not want to be quoted.
It took RSS almost 90 years before its political outfit, the BJP could form a majority government in the country. Before the BJP’s rise in politics, RSS worked with its members and associates across political parties. “For now, we might see the same thing unfolding in Punjab,” he added.
What is more worrying is that the BJP made similar tactical moves in Jammu and Kashmir. Just as the Punjab, where the BJP finds it difficult to woo the Sikhs, in Jammu and Kashmir they could never win the confidence of the Muslims.
It was a party restricted to the Hindus of Jammu. The question now remains that, after disempowering 68 percent of Muslims in Kashmir, is it now the turn of Sikhs in the Punjab to taste this medicine, manufactured in the Sangh Parivar’s factories to keep minorities out of power structure?