Punjab floods: How the disaster puts Bhagwant Mann government to the ultimate test

Currently grappling with its worst floods since 1988, Punjab faces a long and arduous road to recovery.

With less than two years to go before the next assembly elections, the disaster may be Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann’s most significant test in office.

According to official estimates, all 23 districts have been declared flood-affected, with more than 1,900 villages submerged. Nearly four lakh people have been impacted, and over 40 lives lost.

While the state machinery responded with rescue and relief efforts, much of the immediate support came from within Punjab itself. Ordinary villagers mobilised resources to provide food, shelter, and assistance, while celebrities contributed to relief drives. As a result, the state has so far reported adequate supplies for those displaced.

The agricultural toll, however, is severe. Standing paddy crops have been largely destroyed, and the fodder for livestock is running short. The greater challenge will emerge once the floodwaters recede—which is when rehabilitation begins.

Farmers and households face not only crop losses, but also damage to property, with concerns mounting over the potential outbreak of waterborne diseases as well.

Politically, the Mann government is already under pressure.

Opposition parties and social organisations have criticised the administration for not doing enough, even as all major parties joined relief efforts. Questions are also being raised over whether the devastation could have been mitigated, as the release of excess water from dams inundated several villages.

Mann visited affected areas and instructed officials to ensure proper relief measures, but his sudden illness and subsequent hospitalisation have cast uncertainty on the CM personally leading the recovery effort.

The coming weeks are likely to be crucial.

With lakhs of people displaced and livelihoods at risk, public sentiment is firmly focused on the pace of rehabilitation.

If either the state or central government is seen as slow, or engaged in political blame games, frustration could quickly escalate into anger. Union Agriculture minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has visited the flooded areas, while PM Narendra Modi is also expected to visit soon.

The AAP has also asked its senior leaders to join the rescue and rehabilitation efforts, because too much is at stake for the party after it lost the Delhi polls.

Punjab’s political scene has already undergone a dramatic shift in recent years, with the Aam Aadmi Party sweeping aside the Congress, Akali Dal and BJP in the wake of the farmers’ year-long agitation. Now, as the state struggles through one of its gravest crises in decades, the relatively-new AAP will be put through a character-defining test.