Saptrishi Soni
Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann has used the inauguration of a new girls’ school in Malerkotla to reinforce one of the Aam Aadmi Party government’s most important political messages ahead of the 2027 Punjab Assembly election: that women, children and ordinary families should be at the centre of public policy.
The new five-storey school building, constructed at a cost of ₹6.34 crore, was presented by Mr Mann as an example of how public investment can directly improve opportunities for young girls.
The building includes smart classrooms, libraries, common rooms and other modern facilities.
But the chief minister’s speech went beyond the project itself.
He highlighted the government’s provision of special bus services to more than 15,000 girls, saying transportation should not become a reason for a student to discontinue her education.
He also pointed to the government’s Mawan-Dhian Satkar Yojana, which he said was designed to provide financial assistance to women across Punjab.
According to the chief minister, 72.13 lakh women are already benefiting from the scheme.
The government has also sought to make education a major pillar of its political identity.
Mr Mann said 118 Schools of Eminence were being established to provide high-quality education to children from ordinary and economically weaker families.
He also highlighted the growing number of government-school students qualifying for national competitive examinations.
According to the figures cited by him, 882 government-school students qualified for NEET in 2026, while 361 qualified for JEE.
The government is using these figures to argue that investment in public education is beginning to produce measurable results.
For AAP, this is politically important.
The party’s original Punjab campaign was built heavily around promises of change in education, healthcare, employment and governance. As it approaches its next electoral test, it needs to show that these promises have produced outcomes rather than remaining political slogans.
The focus on girls and women could also prove significant.
Women are a major electoral constituency, and issues such as education, transport, healthcare, household finances and employment directly affect voting decisions.
By linking the Malerkotla school with women’s welfare and transport, the government is creating a wider narrative around female empowerment.
Mr Mann has also sought to connect education with economic mobility.
His argument is that children from ordinary families should be able to compete with students from affluent backgrounds if they receive quality education.
That message could resonate particularly strongly in Punjab, where young people and their families continue to place considerable importance on professional education and government employment.
The chief minister said the government had provided more than 69,000 government jobs based on merit. The government is likely to use employment figures extensively as the election approaches.
However, employment will remain a contested political issue. Opposition parties are expected to question the scale of recruitment compared with the number of young people seeking jobs and raise concerns over contractual employment and the availability of opportunities in the private sector.
The AAP government will therefore need to demonstrate that its education and employment policies are producing sustainable long-term opportunities.
The Malerkotla programme also provided an opportunity to showcase other government initiatives, including healthcare, agriculture, rural roads and investment.
Mr Mann said Punjab was moving towards greater use of canal irrigation and claimed that the proportion of agricultural land benefiting from canal water had risen significantly.
He also highlighted industrial investment, including Tata Steel’s operations in Punjab.
Taken together, these announcements indicate how AAP is likely to approach the 2027 election.
The party is expected to campaign around a combination of welfare, public infrastructure and service delivery, while portraying the opposition as divided and focused on political rivalry.
For the Mann government, the challenge will be to convert individual projects and government schemes into a broader public perception of improvement.
The new Malerkotla school is therefore more than an infrastructure project.
It is also a political symbol—of AAP’s claim that government schools can become institutions capable of competing with private education, that girls should not be prevented from studying because of distance, and that public investment can create opportunities for families regardless of their economic status.
As Punjab moves closer to the 2027 election, those themes are likely to become increasingly central to the Mann government’s campaign.
