Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Jalandhar has become one of the clearest political signals that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has started preparing for the 2027 Punjab Assembly elections, during the visit, the Prime Minister spoke on several key issues facing the state and presented the BJP's priorities for Punjab. Political observers also viewed the visit as the beginning of the party's election campaign in the state.
According to party leaders, the BJP has asked its senior leadership to take a more active role and speed up preparations for the upcoming Assembly elections and the Jalandhar visit was seen as the first major step in this direction.
In his speech, Prime Minister Modi strongly criticised the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), the Congress and the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and his remarks also indicated that the BJP is preparing to contest the Punjab elections independently, with no sign of reviving its former alliance with the Shiromani Akali Dal.
The Prime Minister focused on several issues that the BJP plans to raise before the people of Punjab, which included the state's:
Growing debt
Drug problem
Law and order
Corruption
Employment opportunities
Investment
Development
Welfare delivery
Governance reforms
Dearness Allowance (DA)
These issues are expected to remain at the centre of the BJP's campaign for the 2027 Assembly elections.
AAP emerged as the BJP's main political target during the visit. Prime Minister Modi accused the Punjab government of failing to control drugs, improve law and order, tackle corruption and provide effective governance, he also criticised AAP's popular slogan "kattar imaandar" and referred to it as "kattar beimaan" while attacking the ruling party.
Apart from AAP, the Prime Minister also criticised the Congress and the Shiromani Akali Dal. He accused the Congress of being busy with internal power struggles instead of focusing on the state's development, Akali Dal was criticised for allegedly putting its political survival ahead of Punjab's interests.
Along with political attacks, the BJP also highlighted development as a major campaign theme, during the visit, Prime Minister Modi inaugurated and announced several development projects. According to the party, these projects are expected to benefit more than 50 Assembly constituencies across the Malwa, Doaba and Majha regions of Punjab.
The BJP said these projects would improve connectivity, attract investment and create employment opportunities and the party also repeated its promise of faster development if Punjab has a BJP government along with the BJP-led Central Government.
Dalit outreach was another important part of the visit. Prime Minister Modi met Sant Niranjan Das, the head of Dera Sachkhand Ballan, he also spoke about the teachings and legacy of Sant Ravidas Ji, political observers believe this outreach is aimed at strengthening the BJP's support among Dalit voters, especially in the Doaba region, where a large Dalit population lives.
The Prime Minister also made symbolic gestures towards Punjab's farming community, he wore a green turban during the public rally, a move that political observers viewed as an effort to connect with farmers. During his speech, he also spoke about MSP and highlighted agriculture-related measures taken in neighbouring Haryana.
Women and welfare also featured in the BJP's political messaging, Prime Minister Modi criticised the Punjab government over governance and welfare delivery and with this BJP is expected to place greater focus on women-focused welfare schemes as part of its campaign before the Assembly elections.
Another major point raised by the Prime Minister was the idea of a "double-engine government", he compared Haryana's development with Punjab and said that if the BJP forms the government in Punjab while remaining in power at the Centre, development projects could move faster. The BJP has used this message in several other states where it campaigns for both state and central governments to work together.