With just over three weeks left to vote, only a few close relatives of a few candidates and some foreign members of various parties are likely to participate in the physical campaign in the state, sources said.

A number of NRIs, who spoke to The Indian Express, said the Covid pandemic was one of the main reasons many of them decided to stay away from the physical elections in Punjab this time. . The entry of the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) into the Punjab fray as the new candidate in the 2017 Assembly polls has drawn many NRI volunteers. And the dismal performance of the AAP has also led some of them to lose interest in state politics.

A large number of NRIs reaching Jalandhar organize a road show in Jalandhar for the AAP. (Express photo)

During the 2017 election campaign, around 5,000 NRI volunteers had been active on the ground in Punjab after reaching the state from the US, Canada, UK, Australia, Germany , Italy and several other countries.

Surinder Mavi, a well-known NRI based in Toronto who had mobilized a large number of Punjabi NRIs as part of the “Chalo Punjab” campaign in favor of the AAP in the run-up to the 2017 election, said he n Didn’t plan to come to Punjab this time.

A member of the Punjab AAP media team, Atam Prakash Singh, claimed that the pandemic was the main reason why the NRIs were not coming to campaign in the February 20 elections in Punjab. “Their businesses have been affected by Covid and their financial situation is not as good as in the pre-pandemic period, which has led to their absence from the electoral campaign this time,” he said.

Recalling the NRIs’ support for the AAP in previous elections and how their participation afterwards made the campaign “colourful”, Atam said “they still give us a lot of moral support”.

The AAP had claimed in 2017 that about 35,000 NRIs had undertaken election campaigns for the party in the 117 Punjab Assembly constituencies.

NRI led by Baljit SIngh Bhullar of Germany campaigning in the village of Bhullar in Kapurthala. (Express photo)

Congress Minister and candidate for Urmur seat of Hoshiarpur, Sangat Singh Gilzian, who claims strong NRI support while his entire extended family lives in the US, admitted that only a few family members will come to campaign for him this time due to the Covid situation.

Gilzian said the NRIs are keenly interested in the elections in Punjab and a large number of NRI volunteers have been coming to campaign in Punjab since the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. Prior to 2014, a handful of foreign members of different political parties and their supporters came to join the election campaign in Punjab.

The AAP’s electoral success in Delhi and its foray into the Punjab polls appeared to be a key factor in attracting many

NRI is volunteering for the Punjab election campaign. Upset by issues like sacrilege and drugs, they wanted to “teach the mainstream parties a lesson,” said Canada-based NRI Kulbir Singh, who hails from Tanda in Punjab.

Door-to-door campaign by an NRI volunteer. (Express photo)

“Despite a wave of PAA in 2017, our aggressive campaign could not form the third alternative government in Punjab, then we decided to leave the state to its people only,” said Sudershan Singh, an NRI from Canada , who had campaigned in the 2014 and 2017 elections. He also said a majority of NRI volunteers were “shattered” by the way the people of Punjab voted for Congress in 2017.

North American Punjabi Association (NAPA) executive director Satnam Singh Chahal said NRIs were less interested in traveling to Punjab for an election campaign due to Covid and could support political parties digitally. There are about 55 lakh NRIs from Punjab living in various countries across the world.