THE PUNJAB police’s action against BJP leaders as they hold their “awareness camps” has raised the political temperature in the state.
Since May 20, the state BJP has been holding camps in rural belts as part of its campaign called “BJP de sewadar aa gye ne tuhade dwaar (BJP volunteers have come to your doorstep)”.
Through the campaign, the BJP wants to “spread the message about underutilisation of central schemes” in Punjab under the Bhagwant Mann-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government.
The BJP’s campaign involves holding small gatherings in different villages and towns of Punjab in order to “familiarise” people with various schemes of the BJP-ruled Centre, such as PM-Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana, Aayushman Jan Aarogya Yojana, Vishvkarma Yojana, E-Shram Yojana, among others.
The BJP’s exercise was said to be going on smoothly until August 20, when the Punjab police stopped it at 39 places, charging that its workers did not have any permission to organise camps there. The situation escalated Thursday when, in a state-wide crackdown, the police detained BJP leaders and workers at 28 places across the state.
The AAP has claimed that “no political activity has been stopped”, but “a few dubious people collecting personal data of people illegally” were being investigated.
The showdown between the two sides intensified Friday when Punjab BJP chief Sunil Jakhar, along with some other party leaders, was detained for a few hours by the police when he was on his way to one such camp in Raipur village of Abohar constituency in Fazilka district.
“These camps are being organised to make people aware of the various central government schemes that the AAP government is not implementing properly. Had they been doing it properly, why would we have stepped up this campaign?” asked Jakhar.
State BJP spokesperson Pritpal Singh Baliawal said, “The awareness camps have been set up by our party purely to make people aware of the various schemes that the Central government has to offer”.
The BJP, which had an alliance with the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) for a long time, has struggled to make headway in Punjab on its own. The BJP faced a debacle in the 2022 Assembly elections, managing to win only two seats. The party could not open its account in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls as well as in subsequent bypolls.
Pushed to a corner due to sustained farm agitations – mainly against the Centre over various issues, including legal guarantee for minimum support price (MSP) for crops – the BJP has not been able to make inroads in the state’s rural belts.
Despite the AAP government’s bid to “scuttle” its camps, the BJP claims its campaign has led to a “turnaround from the hostility party leaders have faced in villages since the 2020-21 farmers’ protests”.
“In urban areas, our teams have been reaching out to the masses for the past one year through common service centres (CSC). In rural areas, we started this campaign from May 20. Punjab has around 80 rural constituencies (of the state’s 117 Assembly seats). We have so far set up camps in 39 such seats – almost 50% – and the response was tremendous. But the Punjab government has its own insecurities,” said Baliawal.
As per the Punjab BJP, 1,444 such camps have been held in rural Punjab so far, with the party claiming that they have “benefited 1,56,581 people”.
These camps covered 2,850 rural booths in 1,501 villages, including CM Bhagwant Mann’s Sangrur seat, Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema’s Dirba constituency and state AAP president Aman Arora’s Sunam seat.
The BJP says its campaign has helped people avail latest instalments under the PM Kisan scheme. “Only 11.44 lakh farmers received the April-July 2025 instalment of PM Kisan in the state. We are helping farmers update their KYC, why is the AAP objecting?” Baliawal asked.
The BJP has announced that it would go ahead with its camps. “We will fight this tooth and nail… Fight us politically, and stop resorting to this cheap politics,” said state BJP working president Ashwani Sharma.
The AAP has denied the BJP’s charge of curbing political activity. “Some dubious people were collecting people’s personal data. To ensure cyber safety, we have asked the police to check this and appeal to people not to share personal information. Central schemes are introduced through state governments – how can a political party bypass that step? As per the Digital Personal Data Protection Act 2023, no personal information can be collected without consent,” said the AAP’s state spokesperson Neel Garg.
Senior BJP leader and ex-CM Capt Amarinder Singh also slammed the AAP government over the row. “Instead of strengthening law and order, curbing the rampant drug trade, and addressing crime, the Punjab Police is being misused to suppress BJP’s democratic initiatives,” he said.
The BJP leadership has submitted a memorandum to Punjab Governor Gulab Chand Kataria on the issue, alleging that the AAP government was targeting BJP workers. They also sought assurances that there would not be any further hurdles in holding the party’s camps in the state.