Marking a shift in Panjab's political landscape, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) organized its maiden political conference at the historic Maghi Mela in Muktsar on 14 Jan. The Mela (fair) is held in the memory of forty Sikh martyrs known as Muktas (liberated ones) in the 1705 Battle of Khidrana against the Mughals. BJP leaders issued a 'clarion call' for a BJP-led government in the state in 2027, focusing their attack on the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Indian National Congress while notably sparing the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) from direct criticism. Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini said Haryana purchases 24 crops at Minimum Support Price and urged Panjab to opt for a 'double engine' government. Former union minister Anurag Thakur said after fighting Mughals and the British, Panjab now faces a new battle against drugs, lawlessness, and what he termed the 'K-Company' (referring to Arvind Kejriwal). Union State Railway Minister Ravneet Singh Bittu slammed AAP Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann for spending four years 'telling lies and cracking jokes,' saying the CM has pushed Panjab into a debt trap of USD 45.8B. SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal accused AAP of misleading Panjabis with false promises and alleged that nearly 50% of recruitments in the state have gone to outsiders. He claimed that over USD 440M has been spent on advertisements alone. Meanwhile at the AAP stage, CM Mann highlighted the issue of 328 missing saroops (tome) of the Guru Granth Sahib (Sikh scripture and charter). He said, 'The Special Investigation Team has found 169 missing saroops from a religious shrine near Banga, Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar district with records existing for only 30. No agency, neither SGPC (Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee) nor those who managed them, had proper documentation.' The management of the shrine Rasokhana Nabh Kanwal Raja Sahib, village Majara Nauabad has countered the allegation and given details of all the saroops with them. On 18 Jan, in protest against the allegation on the shrine, Banga Member of Legislative Assembly Dr. Sukhwinder Singh Sukhi resigned from his cabinet rank and post of Chairman, Punjab State Warehousing Corporation (earlier coverage).
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