BJP’s Ranjit Singh Moment: Punjab Must Give This Promise a Serious Hearing
BJP has capacity, but will Punjab accept a repainted Badal slogan?
Los Angeles/ June 23, 2026
NRIpress.club/Ramesh/ A.Gary Singh
Maharaja Ranjit Singh is not merely a name in Punjab’s history. He is the highest benchmark
of governance this land has known. Any party that invokes him is not making an ordinary
political promise. It is placing itself before a very high court of public memory.
Historians have spoken of him with rare admiration. Matthew Lockwood, who nominated
Maharaja Ranjit Singh in the BBC World Histories poll, described him as a modernising and
unifying force whose reign “marked a golden age for Punjab and north-west India.” Indu
Banga and J.S. Grewal’s volume on the Maharaja described his reign as “the most glorious
epoch in the history of the Punjab.” Jawaharlal Nehru, in The Discovery of India, quoted
Henry T. Prinsep’s famous assessment: “Never was so large an empire founded by one man
with so little criminality.”
This praise was not sentimental. Maharaja Ranjit Singh inherited a fractured Punjab. The
Mughal order had collapsed. Afghan invasions had scarred the land. The Sikh missals were
divided. Trade was insecure. Agriculture was uncertain. Law and order had broken down.
From this disorder, he created a state that gave Punjab stability, dignity and confidence.
The capture of Lahore itself tells the story. Lahore was then under the weak rule of the
Bhangi Sardars, Chet Singh, Sahib Singh and Mohar Singh. Historical accounts record that
the people of Lahore were dissatisfied with their rule. Prominent Hindu, Muslim and Sikh
citizens of the city invited Ranjit Singh to occupy Lahore and free them from misrule. Lahore
did not merely fall to the sword. It opened its doors to the promise of order. That was the first
great political lesson of Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s rise: people ultimately invite strong
governance when weak rulers make daily life unbearable.
His greatness lay not only in military success, but in the quality of his rule. He created a
strong army, but did not build a state of fear. He ruled in the name of the Khalsa, but did not
reduce Punjab to narrow sectarianism. His court had Sikhs, Hindus and Muslims. Fakir
Azizuddin, a Muslim, was among his trusted men. Diwan Dina Nath, a Hindu, served with
distinction. His army drew talent from different communities and even from Europe. His state
was rooted in Sikh values, but open in spirit and Punjabi in character.
That is why Maharaja Ranjit Singh still speaks to Punjab. He represents order without
oppression, faith without bigotry, pride without hatred, strength without cruelty, and
governance without distance from the ordinary citizen.
It is in this context that the BJP’s recent invocation of Maharaja Ranjit Singh deserves serious
attention. BJP national leader Nitin Nabin has said that the party wants to build a Punjab of Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s dreams. Punjab BJP president Kewal Singh Dhillon has spoken of
the Maharaja’s governance model and even invoked Sarkar-e-Khalsa.
This is a significant political development. For a long time, BJP in Punjab was seen mainly as
an urban party, a junior alliance partner, or a force confined to a limited social base. That
phase appears to be changing. By invoking Maharaja Ranjit Singh, BJP is attempting to enter
the deeper civilisational and emotional vocabulary of Punjab. It is not merely asking for
votes. It is trying to speak the language of Punjabi pride, Sikh memory, strong governance
and inclusive order.
This shift should not be dismissed casually. Punjab needs a party that can think beyond
slogans and manage the state with seriousness. BJP today has organisational discipline, a
strong national leadership, administrative experience across many states, and the capacity to
connect Punjab’s needs with national resources. It has shown in other parts of India that it can
deliver infrastructure, highways, logistics, digital governance, welfare delivery and
investment-focused administration. Punjab badly needs this scale of governance.
Our state is passing through a deep crisis. Agriculture is trapped in the wheat-paddy cycle.
Groundwater is falling, although the AAP government has made appreciable progress in
improving canal water irrigation. Industry has moved to neighbouring states; courtesy
industrial packages to neighbouring hilly states, the law & order situation and general social
environment against corporates. Border districts remain neglected. Drugs, crime and
gangsterism have damaged public confidence. The youth are leaving. Farmers feel
economically weakened due to agricultural policies. Traders feel insecure. The ordinary
citizen feels the state is either absent or arrogant.
In such a situation, BJP’s call to restore a Maharaja Ranjit Singh-style governance model can
become meaningful if it is tied to a concrete Punjab centric agenda, which is very unique
from other states, given its demography, geography and history. The party must promise not
only law and order, but also economic revival. It must offer a credible plan for
diversification, pulses and oilseeds, food processing, agro-industry, border-area development,
industrial revival, stronger policing, and youth employment. It must reassure farmers that
national policy will not ignore Punjab’s contribution to food security. It must reassure Sikhs
that their institutions, history and identity will be respected. It must reassure Hindus, Sikhs,
Muslims, Christians and all communities that Punjab’s strength lies in togetherness.
This is where BJP has an opportunity. It has the power at the Centre. It has a clear leadership
structure. It has resources, reach and execution capacity. If it genuinely applies itself to
Punjab, it can bring a new seriousness to the state’s politics. It can also break the old cycle
where Punjab is either taken for granted by national parties or trapped in family-controlled
regional politics.
But BJP must also understand the emotional terrain of Punjab. The slogan of Maharaja Ranjit
Singh’s rule is not new.
Parkash Singh Badal had used this line before. After returning to power in 1997, he spoke of
ushering in Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s rule in Punjab. His government placed the Maharaja’s
portrait behind the Chief Minister’s chair. Government press notes spoke of a rule “reminiscent” of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. Badal also linked Sarkar-e-Khalsa with halemi raj, a
rule based on compassion and justice.
Badal understood the emotional power of the Maharaja’s name. But over time, the Akali Dal
could not live up to that ideal. A party that once had a natural claim over Punjab, Panth and
Punjabiat became associated with family control, administrative decline, rural anger,
sacrilege-era wounds, drug allegations and loss of moral authority. The slogan survived, but
the credibility collapsed.
That is why Punjab may not automatically fall for a repainted slogan. The people of Punjab
have heard this before. They have seen Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s portrait used, his name
invoked, his legacy praised and his model promised. They will now ask a simple question:
what is different this time?
For BJP, the answer cannot be ambiguous. It has to prove its intent in clear, visible and
credible terms. Punjab has strong emotional and psychological issues with BJP. There are
Sikh anxieties, religious fears, doubts about how Sikh institutions and identity will be treated,
and a lingering feeling among many Punjabis that Delhi often does not understand Punjab’s
mind. These perceptions may be exaggerated at times, but in politics perceptions also become
realities.
Then there are the scars of the recent Kisan Andolan. I personally believe that the agitation
was built substantially on a false narrative created and pushed by vested interests. Yet it
would be politically unwise to ignore the emotional impact it left behind. Many farmers still
carry anger, suspicion and hurt. BJP cannot simply say that the matter is over. It must
patiently rebuild trust with Punjab’s farmers and rural society.
This is the real test. BJP has capacity. It has national power. It has execution strength. But in
Punjab, capacity alone will not be enough. It must be joined with sensitivity. It must be seen
walking into villages, listening to farmers, respecting Sikh sentiment, engaging with
institutions, and speaking the language of Punjab without condescension.
If BJP can combine national execution capacity with Punjabi sensitivity, if it can join strong
governance with respect for Sikh sentiment, if it can bring investment and strengthen
agriculture, if it can protect Punjab’s identity while connecting it to India’s growth story, then
this call can become a turning point.
Punjab is tired of traditional politics of promises, corruption, governance gaps. It wants order,
jobs, dignity, fairness and hope. Maharaja Ranjit Singh gave Punjab all these in his time. BJP
now says it wants to revive that spirit.
This promise deserves a hearing. But it also carries a responsibility.
To invoke the Lion of Punjab is to accept Punjab’s highest test. BJP has the capacity to meet
that test. It must now show the will, the wisdom and the Punjab-specific roadmap to do so.
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