Punjab elections 2027: Amit Shah, Kejriwal to address rallies in Moga — Why the district holds special place in Punjab politics

Kejriwal’s rally has been scheduled just ahead of Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s visit to Moga in early March, when the BJP will sound the poll bugle in Punjab with a rally. The party is looking to find its feet in Punjab after its breakup with erstwhile ally Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) in 2020.

The two rallies highlight a broader trend as over the years, all major political parties in Punjab—including SAD, Congress, AAP, and BJP—have preferred to launch their campaigns from Moga, a centrally located Malwa district in the heart of the state.

Moga’s central location makes it easily accessible, and party workers from all three regions—Majha, Malwa and Doaba—can reach here in almost equal travel time. Also, Moga remains a hotbed of farm activism and farm union activities.

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Moga — SAD’s ‘lucky charm’

Traditional parties, like the over 100-year-old SAD, consider Moga their “lucky charm”. SAD’s 75th anniversary conference, popularly known as the ‘Moga convention’, proved to be a watershed moment for the party in February 1996 when Akali Dal, broadening its horizon, shifted from being the representative of not just the Sikhs and ‘panth’ but that of all communities in Punjab.

From a radical to moderate approach, the party refurbished itself as a non-supporter of terrorism to woo Hindu and other communities after years of Khalistan extremism in the state. The slogan that came out was “Punjab, Punjabi and Punjabiyat”. In 1997, the SAD-BJP alliance stormed to power in Punjab with the late Parkash Singh Badal as the chief minister.

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In 2006 and 2011, the SAD again kick-started its poll campaign from Moga for the 2007 and 2012 polls, respectively, and stormed to power for two consecutive terms.

Killi Chahlan village also holds significance for the Akali Dal, as it is from there that the party launched its major campaigns and rallies for decades.

While SAD-BJP had formed the government for an unprecedented second term in a row in 2012 after starting their campaign with a ‘Maha Vikas’ rally at Killi Chahlan on December 18, 2011, the Moga lucky charm did not work in 2017 when Congress swept to power with a majority, banking on anger against the Badals due to the sacrilege issue and drugs.

To placate people who were angry over the sacrilege cases, the SAD had organised a ‘Sadbhavna rally’ on November 28, 2015, at Dana Mandi in Moga, to “promote communal harmony and peace in state”.

SAD patriarch late Parkash Singh Badal while addressing party’s 100 years of foundation rally in Moga on December 14, 2021. (Photo: Gurmeet Singh)

On the 89th birthday of Parkash Singh Badal, the SAD held a massive ‘Paani Bachao, Punjab Bachao’ rally at Killi Chahlan ahead of the 2017 polls on December 8, 2016, on the SYL canal issue, when the water dispute with Haryana was at its peak. The rally portrayed Badal as the ‘saviour of Punjab waters’, and Moga, with one of the largest farming community bases, was once again chosen as the venue. But the SAD-BJP faced crushing defeat in 2017 against Congress, and was not even the main Opposition after securing fewer seats than the AAP.

To revive its political fortunes after its breakup with the BJP, the SAD turned to Killi Chahlan again in December 2021, ahead of the Assembly polls in 2022. But it failed to pay off. The SAD had organised a massive rally to commemorate its 100 years of foundation on December 14, 2021, addressed by party patriarch and five-time CM, the late Parkash Singh Badal, but could only win three seats in the 117-member Punjab Assembly in 2022.

The land at Killi Chahlan village, where political rallies are held, is privately owned and rented out whenever a rally is scheduled, with fields cleared to host the event. It also provides ample parking space for vehicles, and with a gurdwara located right in front of the venue, political leaders usually perform ardaas (prayer) before proceeding for the rally, a senior SAD leader told The Indian Express.

Not just SAD, but Moga also Cong and AAP’s favourite

The Congress and AAP also prefer Moga to launch their campaigns. The AAP, which stormed to power in Punjab with a brute majority in 2022, had announced its “third guarantee” for women in Moga on November 22, 2021, when Kejriwal, during the ‘Mission Punjab’ tour, announced a monthly allowance of Rs 1,000 for women if the party came to power. The promise is yet to be fulfilled. Women voters had played a major part in AAP’s 2022 landslide victory in Punjab.

In 2020, after Punjab farmers launched massive protests against three controversial farm laws, both the Congress and AAP chose Moga to woo farmers ahead of the 2022 polls. On October 4, 2020, senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi held a ‘Kheti Bachao Yatra’ with then chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh and interacted with farmers before addressing a rally in Badhni Kalan. He also went on a tractor ride with Punjab Congress leaders.

On March 21, 2021, the AAP had sounded poll bugle in Punjab for 2022 polls by organising a ‘Kisan Maha Sammelan’ – a rally dedicated to farmers and in support of their protest against three farm laws at Baghapurana, where Kejriwal said that he had come to “salute farmers of Punjab who were first to raise their voice against three farm laws against the BJP-led Centre”.

Gandhi was also scheduled to start the party’s campaign with a rally at Killi Chahlan in January 2022, but it was cancelled due to COVID-19 restrictions, and the Election Commission of India (ECI) imposing a ban on political gatherings.

Ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the Congress had launched its campaign for parliamentary elections from Moga, and Gandhi addressed a ‘Mission 13’ rally at Killi Chahlan. Earlier named ‘Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan’ rally as a tribute to Pulwama martyrs, it was renamed as ‘Mission 13’. Congress won eight of 13 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab.

AAP’s Kisan Mahasammelan at Baghapurana of Moga on March 21, 2021 (Express Photo: Gurmeet Singh)

Ahead of the Punjab polls in 2017, when a rebellion was brewing inside Congress against then state party chief Partap Singh Bajwa amid a demand to replace him with Captain Amarinder Singh, the ‘Captain Liyao, Punjab Bachao’ rally was held at Baghapurana of Moga, where the then leader of Opposition in Vidhan Sabha, Sunil Jakhar, had said, “The writing is on the wall and Captain Amarinder Singh is going to be the next CM. He is the saviour of the waters of Punjab, now he has to be the one for the entire Punjab.” The Congress came to power in 2017 with Captain as the CM. He is now with the BJP.

On September 11, 2016, even the then newbie AAP chose Baghapurana to launch its ‘Kisan manifesto’ for farmers for the 2017 polls, and Kejriwal addressed that farmers’ rally. It was followed by Captain Amarinder Singh’s ‘Kisan Yatra’ in October to woo farmers.