Chandigarh: Former Punjab BJP president Sunil Jakhar on Thursday, October 29, wrote to Punjab Governor Gulab Chand Kataria asking him to recommend that the Election Commission of India bring the Model Code of Conduct into force in Punjab at once, The Punjab Standard and The Statesman reported. SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal made a parallel demand, urging the Commission to impose the code and announce the 2027 assembly elections at the earliest, The Tribune reported.
Jakhar's immediate trigger was local. The seventh edition of the Jakhar Trust's anti-drug marathon in Abohar — run under the 'Nashon se Door, Khelon ki Aur' campaign and scheduled for Sunday, November 1 — was not given a no-objection certificate. In an order dated October 27, the Sub-Divisional Magistrate, Abohar, citing an October 24 report of the Deputy Superintendent of Police, Abohar, said the certificate could not be issued for now because of the law-and-order situation in the city, and asked the trust to pick a later date. A copy went to the Fazilka Deputy Commissioner. The order postpones the run rather than cancelling it.
In his letter, Jakhar seized on that stated reason, writing that although he opposes the government and its policies, he agreed with what he called its admission of the bitter truth for the first time. He wrote that 'no one is safe' in Punjab and alleged that people who speak out against drugs are being silenced — these are Jakhar's allegations in his letter, not findings of any court or investigating agency. He asked the Governor to recommend early enforcement of the poll code so that, in his words, honest officers could be posted under the Election Commission's watch, and attached a copy of the SDM's order.
Badal, chairing a meeting of SAD halqa in-charges, accused the ruling Aam Aadmi Party of a complete breakdown of law and order — an allegation by the SAD president, attributed here to The Tribune's report — and said, according to the report, that the administration has completely collapsed and Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann appears to have abandoned the field. At the same interaction, Badal said the SAD is open to an alliance with any party that accepts its principles, but ruled out the Congress and AAP, Hindustan Times reported; he did not confirm any progress towards a BJP tie-up. The SAD's statewide bus yatra is now planned from November 15.
Why the demand cannot be met as made
The Model Code of Conduct ordinarily comes into force only when the Election Commission announces the election schedule; neither the Governor nor the state government can bring it in early on its own. Punjab's assembly elections are due early next year, and a Commission delegation is currently in the state conducting a district-wise review of poll preparedness across all 23 districts — a review Awaaz Punjab has already reported. The demands are therefore a political escalation during that review, not a procedural step the Governor can complete alone.
No response from the AAP government to either Jakhar's letter or Badal's demand was available in the reports reviewed. What happens next: whether the Governor forwards any recommendation, and how the Commission responds during its readiness review, remains to be seen.
(Sources: The Punjab Standard, October 29, 2026; Jugti, summarising The Statesman, The Tribune and Hindustan Times, October 29, 2026)
Source: The Punjab Standard