Saffron-coloured posters bearing the slogan “Bengal ne ditti Bhajpa nu sewa, hun Punjab di hai vari” (Bengal gave BJP a chance to serve, it’s Punjab’s turn now) appeared outside the Bharatiya Janata Party headquarters in Chandigarh Friday, even as Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann continued targeting the BJP, alleging that the party’s “divisive politics” would not work in Punjab.

A large saffron poster was put up outside the BJP office, alongside a life-size cut-out of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the outer wall, reflecting the party’s aggressive political push in Punjab following its performance in West Bengal.

“Priorities of Punjab BJP are clear now. After Bengal, next is Punjab, and we will reach out to both the urban and rural masses. We are already doing this,” said Pritpal Singh Baliawal, a spokesperson of the BJP Punjab.

Baliawal added they would install similar posters in different parts of Punjab and outside district-level BJP offices as well.

Photographs of the BJP office with the posters were also shared on the official X handle of the BJP’s Punjab unit. Baliawal also posted the images on his X account with the caption: “Ladies and Gentlemen, are you ready for this? Get Ready… ‘Dhurandhar’.”

Since the West Bengal Assembly Election results, Punjab BJP leaders have repeatedly invoked the slogan “Punjab Next”. On Monday, Punjab BJP president Sunil Jakhar said that if the party could emerge strongly in West Bengal, it could do the same in Punjab.

“West Bengal was a major challenge for the party. If the BJP can come to power in Bengal, it can do so in Punjab too,” Jakhar had said, adding that Prime Minister Modi had a “special affection” for Punjab and the party would take its message to every household.

‘BJP should mend its ways’

Meanwhile, Mann once accused the BJP of trying to create divisions in Punjab and asserted that such politics would not succeed in the state.

Speaking during the from Bathinda Friday, Mann reacted to the BJP’s demand for sedition charges against him over his remarks linking Tuesday night’s low-intensity blasts in Jalandhar and Amritsar to the saffron party’s “election preparations” in Punjab.

“Now they will issue us certificates of being ‘desh drohi. The same people who did not hoist the national flag at RSS offices even after 52 years of India’s Independence,” Mann said.

He further alleged that the BJP believed in a “divide and rule” policy.

“This may work in Maharashtra or Uttar Pradesh, but it will not work in Punjab. Look at Bengal — after the poll results, violence erupted in many places. We will not let such a situation arise in Punjab. People of Punjab should remain united and should not allow such forces to come near them,” he said.

Mann also told the BJP to “mend its ways”.