Can estimates be drawn from this about development in Punjab?
Polling
The idea of industrial development in any state can be gauged from new industrial power connections in a state. Punjab, with 23 districts, has around 3,400 new industrial connections.
At a time when Punjab continues to face serious challenges like drug abuse, migration, weak industry growth and law-and-order concerns, the BJP is increasingly reaching out to the NRI community, asking them to play a bigger role in the state’s economic revival and governance narrative. But the outreach also raises a deeper political question about priorities and ground strategy. Is the BJP’s growing focus on the Punjabi diaspora a serious economic vision for investment-led revival or a political attempt to build an external support base in a state where its local grassroots strength is still evolving ?
जब पंजाब नशे, पलायन, कमजोर औद्योगिक विकास और कानून-व्यवस्था जैसी गंभीर चुनौतियों से जूझ रहा है, ऐसे समय में भाजपा का बढ़ता ध्यान एन.आर.आई. समुदाय पर है और उनसे राज्य के आर्थिक पुनरुद्धार में बड़ी भूमिका निभाने की अपील की जा रही है। लेकिन यह पहल एक बड़ा राजनीतिक सवाल भी खड़ा करती है। क्या पंजाबी प्रवासी भाईचारे पर भाजपा का बढ़ता फोकस निवेश आधारित आर्थिक पुनर्जीवन की ठोस रणनीति है या ऐसे राज्य में बाहरी समर्थन आधार तैयार करने की कोशिश, जहां उसकी स्थानीय जमीनी पकड़ अभी विकसित हो रही है ?
After years of playing the junior partner in Punjab politics, the BJP is now signalling a clear shift, no more “small role”, no more uneven seat-sharing, and a claim that its growing strength deserves equal space in any future alliance. But while the rhetoric has become louder, the ground reality still points to a limited independent base, heavy dependence on urban pockets, and a strategy driven more by central faces, alliances and incoming leaders than by deep rural expansion.