India Elections: Modi Visits Panjab to Campaign, Farmers Protest

On 23-24 May, Indian PM Narendra Modi visited Panjab to campaign for BJP. Farmer unions had declared they would boycott the speeches and not allow BJP workers to reach venues at Patiala, Gurdaspur, and Jalandhar. On the first day, Patiala became a fortress; 7,500 security personnel were deployed. Farmers were stopped at Rajpura toll plaza. Modi appeared in a saffron turban and invoked a personal connection with Sikhs saying he was a blood relation, as one of the originalPanj Pyare (five beloveds), Bhai Mohkam Singh, was from Dwarka, Gujarat. There is no evidence of his blood relation with the Bhai. Boasting, he said had he been PM of India in 1971, he would have ‘taken Kartarpur Sahib from Pakistan’ – that was not part of military operations. He talked about Sikh links with the Ram Temple at Ayodhya which are based on a misinterpretation of secondary texts. He alleged all INDIA bloc allies have fueled separatism in Panjab and said political parties siding with INC are guilty of 1984 Sikh genocide which is guilt by association with INC, while BJP supported INC’s decisions in 1984. At Patiala, Modi was campaigning for four-time ex-INC MP Preneet Kaur. However, her husband Captain Amarinder Singh, also ex-CM Panjab from INC, was missing from the stage, allegedly unwell. In Gurdaspur, Modi did not wear a turban. A night before his rally, police detained major farmer leaders from the area at their homes. Appropriating the keywords that guided the Farmers’ Protests 2020-21, Panjab BJP head Sunil Jakhar said that with PM Modi, fasal (crops) and nasal (future generations) are secure. Later, the laborers that had been promised payment for attending Modi’s rallies complained about non-payment. Panjab goes to poll on 1 Jun.