With four major parties making plans to run independently inside the impending Lok Sabha elections, Punjab’s political landscape is poised for a first-rate showdown. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), Congress, and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) have all determined to move solo at the Punjab soil.
The polling dates have been set, and the election could be held in seven levels across India starting on April 19. The effects may be introduced on June 4.
- Punjab has thirteen parliamentary seats. During the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP and SAD won seats each as allies before they parted ways. The Congress secured 8 seats and AAP gained from the closing constituency. As a long way as the vote share was worried, Congress
- become on the top with 40.12%, accompanied by SAD (27.45%), BJP (9.63%), and AAP obtained (7.38%).
The Lok Sabha polls in Punjab come simply a couple of years after the kingdom, in a shock verdict, brought AAP to energy.
Key troubles that dominate Punjab elections:
Farmers’ protest
In Punjab, the primary farmers’ motion (2020–21) had a vast political effect, compelling SAD to sever its 24-year alliance with the BJP. This helped AAP benefit floor in rural regions beforehand of the 2022 nation assembly elections. The Congress, which become in power inside the state and subsidized the farmers, suffered due to the fact, at the most essential factors of the agitation, it was preoccupied with inner squabbling.
Issues about farmers, together with the Minimum Support Price, are possibly to be essential to the campaign this time around as well.
Unemployment and rural debt
Major troubles like unemployment and rural debt will in all likelihood take centre level in the election campaign inside the country. The opposition perspectives the BJP’s implementation of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 and the revocation of Article 370 for Jammu and Kashmir as divisive and uniformity-enforcing measures. The BJP intends to emphasize these as accomplishments. Debt in rural regions is a main issue as properly; of the nearly 9,000 farmers who died by way of suicide among 2000 and 2018, 88% had significant debt.
Drug abuse
The drug abuse disaster is some distance from over in Punjab. For instance, government statistics imply that heroin seizures in 2022 reached 647 kilogrames, up 14% from 568 kg in 2021.
Even even as the ruling birthday celebration has been taking movement such as presenting to ‘decriminalise’ drug use and sending addicts observed in possession of tiny quantities of medication to de-dependency facilities, a complete approach is required to treat the hassle in place of a fragmented one.
Overall debt
In 2023–2024, Punjab turned into predicted to have a price range deficit of around 5.0% of the GSDP. Although that is much less than the 5.2% from the previous monetary year, it’s miles still greater than the preliminary estimate of 3.8%. The primary authorities allowable ceiling for the finances deficit in FY23 and FY24 changed into 3.5% and 4%, respectively, greater in each of those years.
Of all the Indian states, Punjab has one of the maximum debt levels. Its great liabilities are projected to be 46.8% of GSDP through the quit of 2024.
Water crisis
The water problem in Punjab has been a chief source of unrest. Before the Green Revolution inside the middle of the 1960s, hundreds of small-scale farmers staged a nonviolent protest against the government’s imposition of high irrigated water expenses. Climate trade and the Green Revolution have made Punjab’s water problem and the persevering with civil unrest worse.
Since the excessive-yielding range seeds want 3 times greater water than conventional seeds, the groundwater level in Punjab is losing by way of round 0.49 metres consistent with year. The loss of water has brought about both minor and primary issues, ranging from neighborhood farmers’ union demonstrations in opposition to the concretisation of canals to the Punjab-Haryana dispute over the Sutlej-Yamuna Link Canal.
Final Thought
Punjab’s 2024 Lok Sabha elections showcased a fierce tug-of-war between grassroots agrarian concerns and political manoeuvring. The farmers’ agitation and deepening water crisis framed the political narrative, forcing parties to respond or risk being sidelined. Leading to:
- A political fallout for BJP in agrarian heartlands
- A resurgence for Congress
- Continued challenges for AAP in navigating governance vs public anger
As Punjab prepares for future polls, addressing farmer welfare, water sustainability, and federal cooperation will be crucial for any party that hopes to stay relevant.
