Thousands marched through Manimajra, Chandigarh on Thursday, 12 November 2026, as Union Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri joined BJP workers, party functionaries, and members of the Sikh Sangat in the 'लोकतंत्र बचाओ, अराजकता हटाओ पदयात्रा' — the 'Save Democracy, Remove Anarchy March' — turning the Union Territory's streets into a flashpoint of historical memory and sharp political contest.

A walk through memory — and a pointed political charge

Minister Puri framed the padyatra around two interlocking themes: solidarity with the survivors of the 1984 anti-Sikh violence and a direct challenge to what he called 'the politics of hate, chaos and anarchy being propagated by the Congress-led opposition on the streets.' The juxtaposition was deliberate. The November 1984 pogroms — which erupted following the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on 31 October 1984 — left thousands of Sikhs dead, primarily in Delhi, and occurred under a Congress-led central government. For BJP, that history is never purely historical.

Puri wrote that the pain and struggle of survivors 'must never be forgotten, and their pursuit of justice must always remain alive even as many of them have overcome challenges and have been able to rebuild their lives.' The phrasing is careful — acknowledging resilience while keeping the demand for accountability firmly open.

Who walked with Puri in Manimajra

The gathering drew a cross-section of the party's Chandigarh and Delhi apparatus. BJP Chandigarh State President J.P. Malhotra, former Chandigarh presidents Sanjay Tandon and Arun Sood, Chandigarh Mayor Saurabh Joshi, and Chandigarh District President Bhupinder Singh Saini were among those on the march. Delhi MLA Karnail Singh also joined, underscoring that the event carried significance well beyond Chandigarh's boundaries.

BJP's '1984 card' — a long and consistent play

BJP leaders have consistently invoked the 1984 riots at public events to draw a contrast between Congress's historical record and what they present as their own commitment to social harmony and inclusive governance. The Chandigarh padyatra fits squarely into that pattern. By merging remembrance of 1984 with a critique of current opposition street mobilisation, the party signals that it regards both as expressions of the same Congress culture it wants voters to reject.

Puri anchored the forward-looking argument in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership, saying the nation stands committed to 'democracy, peace and policies of social and financial inclusion' as India progresses towards #ViksitBharat — the government's vision of a developed India by 2047. The hashtag does double duty: it ties a one-day padyatra in Chandigarh to a decade-long national narrative.

With assembly elections in key states on the horizon and opposition parties intensifying street-level protests, Thursday's march in Manimajra is unlikely to be the last time BJP deploys the memory of 1984 as both a moral argument and an electoral weapon.