BJP National President: ‘Will Transform Panjab to Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s Dream’

June

2026

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national president Nitin Nabin started his three-day maiden visit to Panjab on 20 Jun by paying obeisance at Darbar Sahib (Golden Temple) in Amritsar. Addressing journalists after offering prayers, Nabin said, 'Just as Maharaja Ranjit Singh (MRS) gave a unique governance identity to Panjab, we all want to create the Panjab of his dreams.' Nabin also said, ‘I come from Patna Sahib, the birthplace of the tenth Sikh Sovereign Guru Gobind Singh. The place is my karmabhoomi (field of action).’ Panjab's election pitch has been straying over the years from developmental issues to religious and historic symbolism. In 2015, Captain Amarinder Singh, then in the Indian National Congress (INC), swore on the Gutka Sahib—selected compositions from Guru Granth Sahib (Sikh scripture and charter)—that he would eradicate drugs from the state. INC won Panjab in 2017, but did little to curb the drug menace. After a decade, the menace has grown. Captain Amarinder’s oath on the Gutka Sahib was tokenism. Now BJP is invoking Gurus and MRS whose independent reign 1801–1839 is known for being secular, allowing everyone to practice their religion without fear or state interference. This is not how the right-wing BJP has governed India in the last decade where it targets Muslims, tribals, and women. MRS’s rule is also considered Sikh Empire or Khalsa Raj (Rule) and remains an inspiration for the Sikh demand for a separate country Khalistan. Either BJP does not know Panjab well enough and is invoking historical and religious figures as tokenism, or if it does, and is deliberately fanning flames for votes from Sikhs who constitute 58% of the state’s population, according to the 2011 census. Nabin also said, 'Just as the BJP achieved victory in Bengal, we will fight hard in Panjab and make the lotus (BJP symbol) bloom here too.' This is a bad comparison because though Panjab and Bengal were in the forefront of India’s struggle for freedom from the British, both were Partitioned in 1947, they are very different states in composition and temperament. The statement betrays BJP’s mindset that it can stream roll the diversity of India into its centralized vision of the country (earlier coverage).