With nearly two years to go before Punjab votes again in the 2027 Vidhan Sabha elections, the political atmosphere is already thick with maneuvering. Opposition parties have switched into full campaign mode, but instead of clarity, they offer chaos. Punjab, facing crises on multiple fronts—economic, social, and political—is being offered not solutions, but a noisy, shallow blame game.
Congress: High Hopes, Zero Vision
Among the Opposition, the Congress appears the most enthusiastic about a potential comeback. That optimism, however, has led to a full-blown internal war for the Chief Minister’s chair. The result is an open scramble for power where factionalism trumps public service, and leadership bids are made not on merit, but on backroom lobbying.
What’s striking is not just the internal division—but the complete absence of a roadmap. Punjab is neck-deep in debt, its law and order is fragile, its youth are either jobless or leaving, agriculture is broken, and drugs and gangsters have hollowed out its social fabric. Yet not a single Congress leader, barring perhaps Rana Gurjeet Singh, has offered anything that even resembles a plan.
Rana Gurjeet’s recent pitch for crop diversification—moving away from the wheat-paddy cycle and promoting Maize and cotton and other sustainable alternatives—stands out only because it is the lone example of constructive thinking. Other Congress leaders are silent on agriculture. Silent on drugs. Silent on the industrial exodus. Silent on unemployment. And completely unbothered about Punjab’s collapsing public finances.
Instead, their strategy is painfully clear: blame AAP, and blame Capt. Amarinder Singh. The same Congress which was in power before AAP took over now disowns its own legacy. Ministers from that era speak as if they were innocent bystanders while Amarinder single-handedly ran the government into the ground. It’s dishonest, and worse, it’s intellectually bankrupt.
Punjab needs a recovery plan. But all Congress offers is medieval storytelling of the ailments and internal sabotage.
SAD: Diminished and Discredited
The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), once a party rooted in Sikh pride and peasant politics, now fights a battle for survival. The damage is self-inflicted—stemming from the 2015 sacrilege incidents, the firing at Behbal Kalan, and the party’s flirting with Dera Sacha Sauda for political gains. These events broke the moral spine of the SAD, and the wounds have not healed.
Traditionally, people forget easily. But today, social media doesn’t allow political sins to be buried. The memory of the desecration and the party’s failure to protect Sikh religious institutions is kept alive—and the SAD’s credibility continues to sink. The recent conduct of SAD and its leader Sukhbir Badal, who has usurped the party through centralization of authority and the playing dangerous game with the image of Akal Takht and its independence, has only deepened the trust deficit.
SAD’s political capital is at its lowest, and its reliance on a now-discredited religious narrative has become a double-edged sword.
BJP: Pushing Hard, Gaining Little
The BJP has been trying hard to gain a foothold in Punjab ever since its break-up with the Akalis. It’s running outreach campaigns, trying to woo sections of Hindus and even the Sikh middle class. But beneath the surface, nothing has changed.
The shadow of the farm laws continues to haunt its image. Among Sikh voters, the psychological apprehension and distrust toward the BJP remain strong. The biggest narrative being that RSS’s agenda to assimilate Sikhism into its fold eventually. BJP has failed to clarify that the ambiguity of Sikhs being a subset of Hinduism is derived from the Section 25 of Constitution and BJP or RSS has no such agenda (if at all).
Despite repeated efforts to extend symbolic gestures, the BJP has failed to gain meaningful traction. It may improve its vote share marginally, but a real breakthrough remains elusive, although several segments of society have started recognising the need of synchronised governments at state and the center for overall development.
Worse, its relationship with the SAD seems beyond repair. Public statements by leaders from both sides are openly hostile. SAD and senior BJP figures have exchanged very abrasive barbs that suggest any alliance revival is almost impossible. Interestingly, the same SAD which had alliance with BJP in three terms, now blames any political or religious leader who oppose their political agenda, as agents of RSS or BJP.
The BJP in Punjab looks like an outsider—attempting to enter through the backdoor but never really welcome at the front.
AAP: On the Decline, But Still Without a Challenger
The Aam Aadmi Party is struggling. Its promise of clean governance and radical change has not translated into sustained performance. Law and order has deteriorated. Drug mafias and gang violence continue. The debt situation has worsened, and businesses continue to flee the state.
Yet even in its weakness, AAP faces no meaningful challenge due to its certain populist steps and a extremely strong PR and publicizing of its schemes. The Congress is too fractured and visionless with no alternative agenda for deliverance. SAD is still busy cleaning up its image. BJP remains politically radioactive among large sections of voters. This vacuum may allow AAP to limp into the next election although with much reduced popularity but still the largest vote share.
Assuming 80% polling in a four cornered contest, the benchmark for a sure shot win becomes very low around 25%.
So, What’s the Alternative in 2027?
That’s the real tragedy: Punjab needs new leadership, new ideas, and urgent action—but the Opposition is offering none of that. The Congress blames. SAD pleads for relevance. BJP hopes without hope. And all the while, Punjab drifts deeper into uncertainty.
The electorate is being asked to choose between disappointment and disaster. Between nostalgia and noise. Between silence and slander.
Who will offer Punjab a real roadmap?
We know that there is a debt of ₹3.5 lakh crore , but what is your vision for this? We know that Industry is running away, what is your vision plan for industrial recovery? Everyone knows that Punjab is plagued with drugs but what is your agenda to end this menace? We all know that there is lawlessness but what is your agenda for law enforcement ? For the youth leaving in droves?
Don’t count us the problems, we all know. Can you give solutions?
If none of the Opposition parties can answer these questions, then they do not deserve to ask for the people’s votes. Blaming AAP may earn applause in TV debates, but without a vision, the Opposition is not an alternative—it’s just an echo chamber of old failures.