Manjeet Sehgal

Both BJP and Akali Dal tested the waters by contesting 2022 assembly and 2024 Lok Sabha elections solo but the results made them realise that had they fought together, the vote percentage might have gone up.

Punjab party affairs in-charge Bhupesh Baghel failed to unite the Charanjit Singh Channi and Amarinder Singh Raja Warring factions during his nine-day Punjab visit.

They also attracted the attention of Punjabis living abroad. Logistical and financial help poured in, fuelling the agitation for one-and-half years.

Two brutal attacks hint that the unresolved sacrilege cases have not only made Sukhbir Badal a recurring target of radical anger but have also given radical elements and Khalistanis a potent weapon.

Government data shows that migrant labourers account for 12 to 15 per cent of Punjab's population; the majority (80 to 90 per cent) come from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.

Another reason prompting the Akal Takht heads to encourage Sikhs to have more children and marry at a prime reproductive age is the declining Sikh population.

The draft reservation and rehabilitation policy for Agniveers involve reservation of 10 per cent of police constable posts and 20 per cent of office guard posts for them. But this is yet to be implemented

Psephologists say BSP's exit removes one of the few remaining tactical bridges the Akali Dal still possessed to sections of Punjab's large Scheduled Caste electorate.

Elections in Punjab do not invent Dalit conversion; they only make it visible. Videos of turbaned men, most of them Dalits, stepping into baptismal tanks circulate every campaign season.

Arvind Kejriwal's party presents Jain's release as proof of political vendetta, while the BJP points to the ongoing investigations in Punjab as proof of corruption.