Congress MP Preneet Kaur Set To Join BJP: How It Impacts Punjab Politics?

New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Punjab has received a shot in the arm as suspended Congress MP Preneet Kaur is likley to switch sides and join the saffron party. She had voted against TMC MP Mahua Moitra in the Ethics Committee of Lok Sabha over the cash-for-query allegation, claiming she stood by the truth. Preneet Kaur is a Congress MP from Patiala Lok Sabha constituency in Punjab. She is the spouse of former Congress stalwart and ex-Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh.

She was suspended by the Congress party in February 2023 for alleged anti-party activities. The party had sought an explanation from her why she should not be expelled. She faced the wrath of the party after Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Raja Warring accused her of helping the BJP in Punjab.

She had distanced herself from the Congress’s activities since her husband was removed from the chief minister’s post by the Congress in 2021. She did not participate in Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra as well. Her husband, Captain Amarinder Singh had floated his own party before the Punjab Assembly elections. However, after a poor performance, he merged his party with the BJP.

Preneet, a four-time Congress MP from Patiala since 1999, lost only in 2014. She was the minister of state for external affairs in the UPA-2 government. She is a popular leader in her constituency, with strong social ties due to her approachability and bond with grass-roots workers.

She has already swayed nearly half of the Congress councillors, and in 2022, the BJP captured the civic body with Sanjiv Bittu as mayor. Even though the civic body’s term has expired, most councillors in the city and rural area Congress workers still back her.

Amarinder Meets Modi

Former Punjab Chief Minister and senior BJP leader Capt Amarinder Singh had a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday. Amarinder Singh said he discussed various issues pertaining to Punjab, including the farmers’ problems, with the Prime Minister.

He expressed hope that the farmers’ issue would be settled soon, to the satisfaction of all. Amarinder Singh was accompanied by his daughter and Punjab BJP Mahila Morcha chief Jai Inder Kaur.

The farmer unions, who are demanding a law on MSP, have rejected the government’s proposal. Farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal said on Monday that the forums decided to reject the proposal after deliberations. “If the government is not giving legal guarantee of MSP, it means that the farmers of the country will keep being exploited. This is not acceptable,” he said.

SAD-BJP Alliance Talks

The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and the BJP had parted ways in 2020 over the farm law protests, but rumours of a reunion between the BJP and its oldest NDA partner have been circulating since the Union government scrapped the three controversial farm laws in 2021. Now with the Lok Sabha elections nearing, there is again talk of secret negotiations between the SAD and the BJP to restore their alliance.

The alliance talk in Punjab coincides with the BJP’s plans to reforge ties with its old southern ally Telugu Desam Party (TDP) of Chandrababu Naidu and its welcome to Nitish Kumar of the Janata Dal (United) back into the NDA fold.

In Punjab, there have been occasional hints of the former allies coming together, but nothing concrete has happened yet. The reason is that there are significant hurdles that the BJP and the SAD have to clear, given the changed political landscape in the state.

After breaking free from the alliance, the BJP has aggressively wooed the state’s rural voters, especially in the Malwa region that was once an Akali bastion. During their 25-year alliance, the SAD contested 10 seats of the 13 in Punjab, leaving Hoshiarpur, Gurdaspur, and Amritsar to the BJP.

The BJP is unlikely to settle for this arrangement anymore, especially given that the SAD has lost its clout and the BJP has gained momentum ahead of the national polls.