BJP HAS CAPACITY, BUT WILL PUNJAB ACCEPT A REPAINTED BADAL SLOGAN?
By Gurpartap Singh Mann
Maharaja Ranjit Singh is not merely a name in Punjab’s history. He is the highest benchmark of governance this land has known. Any party that invokes him is not making an ordinary political promise. It is placing itself before a very high court of public memory.
Historians have spoken of him with rare admiration. Matthew Lockwood, who nominated Maharaja Ranjit Singh in the BBC World Histories poll, described him as a modernising and unifying force whose reign “marked a golden age for Punjab and north-west India.” Indu Banga and J.S. Grewal’s volume on the Maharaja described his reign as “the most glorious epoch in the history of the Punjab.” Jawaharlal Nehru, in The Discovery of India, quoted Henry T. Prinsep’s famous assessment: “Never was so large an empire founded by one man with so little criminality.”
This praise was not sentimental. Maharaja Ranjit Singh inherited a fractured Punjab. The Mughal order had collapsed. Afghan invasions had scarred the land. The Sikh missals were divided. Trade was insecure. Agriculture was uncertain. Law and order had broken down. From this disorder, he created a state that gave Punjab stability, dignity and confidence.
The capture of Lahore itself tells the story. Lahore was then under the weak rule of the Bhangi Sardars, Chet Singh, Sahib Singh and Mohar Singh. Historical accounts record that the people of Lahore were dissatisfied with their rule. Prominent Hindu, Muslim and Sikh citizens of the city invited Ranjit Singh to occupy Lahore and free them from misrule. Lahore did not merely fall to the sword. It opened its doors to the promise of order. That was the first great political lesson of Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s rise: people ultimately invite strong governance when weak rulers make daily life unbearable.
His greatness lay not only in military success, but in the quality of his rule. He created a strong army, but did not build a state of fear. He ruled in the name of the Khalsa, but did not reduce Punjab to narrow sectarianism. His court had Sikhs, Hindus and Muslims. Fakir Azizuddin, a Muslim, was among his trusted men. Diwan Dina Nath, a Hindu, served with distinction. His army drew talent from different communities and even from Europe. His state was rooted in Sikh values, but open in spirit and Punjabi in character.
That is why Maharaja Ranjit Singh still speaks to Punjab. He represents order without oppression, faith without bigotry, pride without hatred, strength without cruelty, and governance without distance from the ordinary citizen.
It is in this context that the BJP’s recent invocation of Maharaja Ranjit Singh deserves serious attention. BJP national leader Nitin Nabin has said that the party wants to build a Punjab of Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s dreams. Punjab BJP president Kewal Singh Dhillon has spoken of the Maharaja’s governance model and even invoked Sarkar-e-Khalsa.
This is a significant political development. For a long time, BJP in Punjab was seen mainly as an urban party, a junior alliance partner, or a force confined to a limited social base. That phase appears to be changing. By invoking Maharaja Ranjit Singh, BJP is attempting to enter the deeper civilisational and emotional vocabulary of Punjab. It is not merely asking for votes. It is trying to speak the language of Punjabi pride, Sikh memory, strong governance and inclusive order.
This shift should not be dismissed casually. Punjab needs a party that can think beyond slogans and manage the state with seriousness. BJP today has organisational discipline, a strong national leadership, administrative experience across many states, and the capacity to connect Punjab’s needs with national resources. It has shown in other parts of India that it can deliver infrastructure, highways, logistics, digital governance, welfare delivery and investment-focused administration. Punjab badly needs this scale of governance.
Our state is passing through a deep crisis. Agriculture is trapped in the wheat-paddy cycle. Groundwater is falling, although the AAP government has made appreciable progress in improving canal water irrigation. Industry has moved to neighbouring states; courtesy industrial packages to neighbouring hilly states, the law & order situation and general social environment against corporates. Border districts remain neglected. Drugs, crime and gangsterism have damaged public confidence. The youth are leaving. Farmers feel economically weakened due to agricultural policies. Traders feel insecure. The ordinary citizen feels the state is either absent or arrogant.
In such a situation, BJP’s call to restore a Maharaja Ranjit Singh-style governance model can become meaningful if it is tied to a concrete Punjab centric agenda, which is very unique from other states, given its demography, geography and history. The party must promise not only law and order, but also economic revival. It must offer a credible plan for diversification, pulses and oilseeds, food processing, agro-industry, border-area development, industrial revival, stronger policing, and youth employment. It must reassure farmers that national policy will not ignore Punjab’s contribution to food security. It must reassure Sikhs that their institutions, history and identity will be respected. It must reassure Hindus, Sikhs, Muslims, Christians and all communities that Punjab’s strength lies in togetherness.
This is where BJP has an opportunity. It has the power at the Centre. It has a clear leadership structure. It has resources, reach and execution capacity. If it genuinely applies itself to Punjab, it can bring a new seriousness to the state’s politics. It can also break the old cycle where Punjab is either taken for granted by national parties or trapped in family-controlled regional politics.
But BJP must also understand the emotional terrain of Punjab. The slogan of Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s rule is not new.
Parkash Singh Badal had used this line before. After returning to power in 1997, he spoke of ushering in Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s rule in Punjab. His government placed the Maharaja’s portrait behind the Chief Minister’s chair. Government press notes spoke of a rule “reminiscent” of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. Badal also linked Sarkar-e-Khalsa with halemi raj, a rule based on compassion and justice.
Badal understood the emotional power of the Maharaja’s name. But over time, the Akali Dal could not live up to that ideal. A party that once had a natural claim over Punjab, Panth and Punjabiat became associated with family control, administrative decline, rural anger, sacrilege-era wounds, drug allegations and loss of moral authority. The slogan survived, but the credibility collapsed.
That is why Punjab may not automatically fall for a repainted slogan. The people of Punjab have heard this before. They have seen Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s portrait used, his name invoked, his legacy praised and his model promised. They will now ask a simple question: what is different this time?
For BJP, the answer cannot be ambiguous. It has to prove its intent in clear, visible and credible terms. Punjab has strong emotional and psychological issues with BJP. There are Sikh anxieties, religious fears, doubts about how Sikh institutions and identity will be treated, and a lingering feeling among many Punjabis that Delhi often does not understand Punjab’s mind. These perceptions may be exaggerated at times, but in politics perceptions also become realities.
Then there are the scars of the recent Kisan Andolan. I personally believe that the agitation was built substantially on a false narrative created and pushed by vested interests. Yet it would be politically unwise to ignore the emotional impact it left behind. Many farmers still carry anger, suspicion and hurt. BJP cannot simply say that the matter is over. It must patiently rebuild trust with Punjab’s farmers and rural society.
This is the real test. BJP has capacity. It has national power. It has execution strength. But in Punjab, capacity alone will not be enough. It must be joined with sensitivity. It must be seen walking into villages, listening to farmers, respecting Sikh sentiment, engaging with institutions, and speaking the language of Punjab without condescension.
If BJP can combine national execution capacity with Punjabi sensitivity, if it can join strong governance with respect for Sikh sentiment, if it can bring investment and strengthen agriculture, if it can protect Punjab’s identity while connecting it to India’s growth story, then this call can become a turning point.
Punjab is tired of traditional politics of promises, corruption, governance gaps. It wants order, jobs, dignity, fairness and hope. Maharaja Ranjit Singh gave Punjab all these in his time. BJP now says it wants to revive that spirit.
This promise deserves a hearing. But it also carries a responsibility.
To invoke the Lion of Punjab is to accept Punjab’s highest test. BJP has the capacity to meet that test. It must now show the will, the wisdom and the Punjab-specific roadmap to do so. (Writer is is PPSC Member)
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