Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convenor Arvind Kejriwal has been fiercely attacking the Bharatiya Janata Party for the last few days on the issue of donation theft in Ayodhya Ram temple. He himself had reached Ram temple a few days ago. He has also described himself as a true Sanatani. Bharatiya Janata Party is accusing him of doing politics in the name of stealing offerings. Political experts are linking this with national politics as well as the politics of Punjab. Experts believe that Arvind Kejriwal is trying to woo Hindu voters to save the government in Punjab.
Aam Aadmi Party formed the government for the first time in Punjab in the year 2022. In that election, many voters of Shiromani Akali Dal and many Hindu voters also voted for the party. For this reason the party got a bumper victory and came to power for the first time. However, after this, in 2024, the Aam Aadmi Party suffered a major setback. The party won only 6 Lok Sabha seats and the vote percentage of Bharatiya Janata Party increased in this election. The main reason behind this was considered to be the issue of Ram temple.
BJP’s vote share increased due to Ram temple?
Bharatiya Janata Party got about 19 percent votes in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. This was the best performance of the party so far. One reason behind the increase in vote share was that the party had fielded candidates on more seats. Apart from this, the issue of Ram Temple was considered in favor of the party and due to this the vote percentage increased. In Punjab, BJP is seen only as a party of urban Hindus and the party continued contesting elections with Akali Dal for many years. In 2020, Akali Dal separated from BJP and NDA due to farmer laws. After this BJP is contesting the elections alone.
How many powerful Hindu voters are there in Punjab?
Punjab is a Sikh majority state but the Hindu population here is also considered politically important. According to the 2011 census, the total Hindu population in Punjab is 38.5 percent. There are 45 assembly constituencies in the state, where the number of Hindu voters is high. In some areas, Hindu voters decide victory or defeat.
Trying to get Hindus on your side
Aam Aadmi Party is trying to create new equations for the 2027 assembly elections. The party made a law on sacrilege to woo Sikh voters. However, this bet backfired on the Aam Aadmi Party as Akal Takht has raised questions on the law. After this, Aam Aadmi Party is now trying to win over Hindus in its fold and in this sequence, the party has started raising issues to Hindus from Punjab to Delhi. Bajan Sandhya is being organized in Punjab and it has been announced to build a temple in Amritsar. In this series, Arvind Kejriwal is raising the issue of donation theft in Ram temple so that he can get benefits in Punjab.
Everyone’s eyes on Hindus
Regarding the upcoming assembly elections in Punjab, all the political parties are trying to win Hindu voters to their side. Bharatiya Janata Party is traditionally considered a party of Hindus but due to the party’s less influence on the ground, Hindus do not vote for the party in large numbers. Earlier, Hindus were supporters of Congress Party and in 2022, it is believed that the votes of Hindus will be divided between Aam Aadmi Party and Congress.
