Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini, currently leading the charge for the BJP in Punjab, has signalled that the party will contest the 2027 Assembly elections in the border state under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.Answering a question by The Tribune on the BJP’s top challenge of the lack of a prominent face in the state, Saini said PM Modi was the party’s “biggest face in Punjab”.“All of us are the faces and PM Modi is the biggest face. We have many leaders in the state,” Saini, who was in Delhi for an event today, said.The Haryana CM drew parallels between West Bengal and Punjab and said, “In West Bengal, we fought the elections on the face of PM Modi. We have a Chief Minister, and a strong Chief Minister, a Chief Minister who will take the state to great heights.”Tasked by the BJP with expanding outreach across Punjab, especially among OBCs, Saini today played down the factor of Jat Sikh dominance in Punjab politics and said the BJP wanted to take everyone together. “Jat Sikhs have immense contribution to the development of Punjab. The BJP believes in sabka saath, sabka vikas,” he said.A prominent OBC leader of the BJP, Saini has, however, been enlisted by the party to campaign in Punjab where 30 per cent people are OBCs and 32 per cent Scheduled Castes. In Punjab, the BJP is experimenting with an umbrella coalition of OBCs and SCs, besides playing on the core strength of Hindu consolidation, which paid off in Bengal.Asked if the BJP was a serious contender in Punjab, Saini, routinely seen travelling across the state in a turban, said, “Punjab has made up its mind to elect the BJP. Punjab’s people have been betrayed by the Congress and AAP. They are now waiting for the election dates.”On why Punjab would rely on the BJP, not even a fringe player so far, Saini said, “Because the adjoining BJP government in Haryana delivered on all poll promises, especially to the women, while Punjab’s AAP government did not.”Saini justified his Punjab tours, saying both states were one earlier. “Some parties have created differences for vested interests. Punjab was one. Most of my relatives are in Punjab,” said Saini, whose mother Kulwant Kaur is a non-Jat Sikh.Divert Chenab waters to resolve SYL rowHaryana CM Saini said the Chenab waters could be diverted to Punjab for further sharing with Haryana to resolve the SYL issue. The Indus, Jhelum and the Chenab were allocated to Pakistan under the 1961 IWT, which India suspended in the aftermath of the Pahalgam attack