Punjab to face relentless election calendar as 2025 brings two more by-elections. After a long series of elections in 2024, Punjab is now getting ready for two more Assembly by-elections in 2025. The state, which was under the code of conduct for nearly five months last year, is now preparing for polls following the Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) campaign for the Delhi Assembly elections, scheduled for February 5.
Punjab AAP unit has already kept Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann busy in Delhi, and he spent much time in the capital on Monday itself. Mann has joined a delegation of AAP at the Election Commission of India, delaying the inauguration of Punjab’s first boutique hotel, Ran Baas, on Monday. The inauguration has been scheduled for Wednesday instead.
Another has been caused due to the demise of AAP MLA Gurpreet Singh Gogi from the Ludhiana (West) constituency, as he had died under suspicious conditions due to a gunshot last week. He is survived by his vacant seat, and under rules, the Election Commission must organize a by-election in the constituency within six months of the fall, which has been set between mid-July this year.
The second by-election looms over the Banga Assembly segment. Shiromani Akali Dal MLA Dr. Sukhwinder Kumar Sukhi, who joined AAP in August 2024, resigned from his party and the Assembly, but his resignation is yet to be accepted by the Speaker. The matter is now with the High Court, which has directed the Speaker to hear the petitioner by February 11. If the resignation is accepted, another by-election will follow.
Punjab has been in almost continuous election activity since March 16, 2024, when the code of conduct was enforced for Lok Sabha elections scheduled for June 1. There was the by-election in Jalandhar (West) in June, Panchayat polls in September, and municipal elections in December. By-elections to Gidderbaha, Barnala, Chabbewal, and Dera Baba Nanak were held on November 20, keeping all political parties on campaign mode throughout the year.
This election schedule has been relentless. The Punjab government has held only five Cabinet meetings in 2024, and no Cabinet meeting has been convened so far in 2025. A scheduled Vidhan Sabha session in January to reject the Centre’s draft agriculture marketing policy was also postponed because of the Delhi elections. Instead, the state government sent a written rejection of the policy to the Centre.
With by-elections looming and political activities spilling into 2025, Punjab is perpetually in an electioneering mode, leaving little space for administrative focus.
