On 10 August, when the swollen rivers of Punjab breached embankments and gushed into villages, few imagined the water would stay for weeks. By 9 September, as rooftops, fields, and cattle lay submerged, Prime Minister Narendra Modi finally flew over the devastation in an aerial survey. Only then did the Centre announce a relief package of Rs 1,300 crore.

By then, the damage was immense. Entire districts looked like inland seas. Families huddled in gurdwaras. Crops that fed millions had vanished beneath muddy waters.

For many Punjabis, this was not just a natural disaster but a political message. The Centre’s silence and delay fed into an old suspicion: that Punjab continues to be punished for rejecting the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party’s brand of politics.

Punjab is among the few Indian states where the BJP has never gained a foothold. The dream of a non-Sikh chief minister remains out of reach. For decades, the state’s electoral loyalties have swung between the Akalis, Congress, and more recently, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). The BJP, despite its dominance elsewhere, remains a marginal player here.

That political distance has deepened since the farmers’ protests of 2020–21. Largely led by Punjabi farmers, the year-long agitation forced Modi into a rare climbdown, withdrawing his government’s controversial farm laws. For the BJP, it was both a humiliation and a reminder of Punjab’s defiance. Modi himself was heckled during the 2022 campaign when protesters blocked his convoy, preventing him from addressing a rally.

“The Centre’s cold shoulder is no accident,” argues political analyst Rajinder Pal Singh Brar. “Modi’s relationship with Punjab was strained long before the floods. But the farmers’ protest turned it into open hostility. The state embarrassed him globally, and he has not forgiven it.”

Years of declining minimum support prices, rising input costs, and shrinking water tables have pushed farmers into debt

Crops drowned, lives uprooted

Why South Punjab Always Pays The Price Of Pakistan’s Floods

This hostility has now collided with a climate crisis. Punjab, known as........

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