The Punjab Assembly had unanimously passed a resolution rejecting the Centre's VB-G RAM G rural employment scheme, arguing that it would place an additional financial burden on the state. Yet months later, the Bhagwant Mann Government moved to implement the very same scheme. Punjab BJP president Kewal Singh Dhillon has alleged it was brought in "through the backdoor", while Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh Raja Warring has questioned whether the sudden reversal points to a political understanding with the BJP. The development raises a larger question: If the Government reverses a stand it once defended inside the Assembly, is this pragmatic governance, or political convenience ? Has Bhagwant Mann's Government changed its policy, or changed its politics ?
पंजाब विधानसभा ने केंद्र की VB-G RAM G ग्रामीण रोजगार योजना को सर्वसम्मति से यह कहते हुए खारिज कर दिया था कि इससे राज्य पर अतिरिक्त वित्तीय बोझ पड़ेगा। लेकिन कुछ ही महीनों बाद भगवंत मान सरकार ने उसी योजना को लागू करने का फैसला कर लिया। पंजाब भाजपा अध्यक्ष केवल सिंह ढिल्लों ने आरोप लगाया कि इसे "पिछले दरवाज़े" से लागू किया गया, जबकि पंजाब कांग्रेस अध्यक्ष अमरिंदर सिंह राजा वड़िंग ने सवाल उठाया कि क्या यह अचानक लिया गया फैसला भाजपा के साथ किसी राजनीतिक समझ का संकेत है। ऐसे में एक बड़ा सवाल खड़ा होता है: यदि कोई सरकार विधानसभा के भीतर जिस नीति का विरोध करती है, बाद में उसी को लागू कर देती है, तो क्या यह व्यावहारिक शासन है या राजनीतिक सुविधा ? क्या भगवंत मान सरकार ने अपनी नीति बदली है या अपनी राजनीति ?
The BJP has once again looked outside Punjab, appointing Rajasthan leader Satish Poonia to prepare the party for the 2027 Assembly elections. The decision comes after repeated leadership changes and organisational experiments in the state. It raises an uncomfortable question: After years of trying to expand in Punjab, has the BJP still failed to produce a leadership capable of steering its own state unit ? If every electoral challenge requires a new outsider to take charge, is the party building a Punjab BJP, or merely operating a branch office directed by the high command ? More importantly, can a party truly understand Punjab's complex political, social and cultural realities through leaders parachuted in from outside? What does this say about the BJP's strategy in Punjab ?
