Panchkula (Haryana): Wearing a saffron turban and scarf the Union Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday used his day-long visit to Haryana to send a politically loaded message far beyond the state’s borders firmly setting his sights on Sikh-dominated Punjab. The event gave a clear political message that the BJP has now set its eyes on Punjab’s 2027 Assembly elections.
Addressing a state-level Veer Bal Diwas function in Panchkula adjoining Chandigarh the joint capital of Punjab and Haryana, Shah not only invoked the supreme sacrifices of Sikh Gurus and the Sahibzadas but also aggressively underlined what the Narendra Modi-led government claims as its “corrective push” to undo decades of alleged neglect of Sikh history and sentiments.
“it is the national duty of all of us to tell the youth across the country about the life of Dasham Pita, Guru Gobind Singh Ji, and the martyrdom of the Sahibzadas”, Shah said adding in the history of those who fought for religion and country, no other person can be found who sacrificed his father, mother, and four young sons.
Shah said the bravery of children who laid down their lives for faith and nation was not just a Sikh legacy but India’s collective inheritance. “One feels pain, but also immense pride that this land produced a father who could dedicate all four sons to dharma and desh,” he added.
With Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini and senior BJP leaders on the dais, Shah’s speech blended reverence, history and politics projecting the BJP as a party reclaiming Sikh pride while subtly contrasting it with past regimes.
Shah repeatedly stressed that the sacrifices of the Sikh Gurus were “deliberately forgotten” after Independence and claimed that it was the Modi government which institutionalised remembrance by declaring December 26 as Veer Bal Diwas. “Today, three years later, Sahibzadas’ biographies are read in primary schools across the country. This is not symbolism; it is civilisational correction,” he asserted.
Shah described Sikhism as the backbone of India’s resistance to tyranny. He called Guru Tegh Bahadur “Hind di Chadar,” declaring that without his sacrifice, “neither Hindus nor Sikhs would have survived.” The Home Minister said India would remain indebted to the ninth Guru “even after 5,000 years.”
Without naming, Shah also targeted successive Congress led governments and reminded the gathering about the pain of partition turning to partition-era decisions, and questioned why Kartarpur Sahib was left outside India in 1947.
“That decision raises serious questions on the conscience of those who drew the lines,” he remarked.
Projecting Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the leader who restored Sikh dignity, Shah listed what he described as landmark steps the Kartarpur Sahib Corridor, reopening of 1984 anti-Sikh riot cases and jailing of the guilty, construction of the Jallianwala Bagh memorial, and granting citizenship to Sikh refugees. “No government has done more to honour Sikh faith and history,” he claimed.
Shah also portrayed Modi as a “fortunate Prime Minister,” noting that major Sikh milestones from Guru Nanak Dev’s 550th Prakash Purab to Guru Gobind Singh’s 350th birth anniversary fell during his tenure. “It is Guru Sahib’s blessings that one Prime Minister witnessed the legacy of all ten Gurus,” he said.
The Home Minister’s emphasis on Sikh history, sacrifices and grievances delivered from Haryana but directed unmistakably at Punjab signals a renewed BJP push to recalibrate its relationship with the Sikh community ahead of future political battles. Wrapped in homage, the message was unmistakably strategic: remembrance as politics, and faith as outreach. With a surge in the voter base in the border state for the BJP, the stakes in Punjab are high despite its weak organizational base but with a surg. With a special focus on Urban Voters base, the party also sees an opportunity to penetrate Dalit heartlands, particularly in Doaba and Malwa, where Dalits have traditionally backed Congress or AAP. With AAP currently ruling Punjab and facing unrest from farmers following police crackdown on protesting farmers, the BJP is focusing on shifting the narrative.
Moreover, Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini leaves no opportunity to target the AAP government in Punjab. With frequent visits and Punjab-focused statements, Saini is leading BJP’s push to project itself as a party of real change for Punjab’s distressed farmers, aiming to replicate its development model beyond Haryana.
“If BJP forms the government in the upcoming assembly elections in Punjab, then like Haryana, every farmer-friendly decision of the Modi government will be implemented, Our government will not only buy all the crops of the farmers at MSP, but will also give them all the respect that farmers are getting in Haryana”, Saini promised.
