BJP banks on Jakhar to set its house in order in Punjab

With Jakhar at the helm, the BJP looks to expand its support base in the state, where it had been playing second fiddle to SAD for years. The party will also leverage his popularity among masses In a bid to set its house in order before 2024 general election, the BJP has kick started its long anticipated party overhaul appointing new chiefs in Punjab, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Jharkhand. Former Punjab Congress chief Sunil Jakhar has been named Punjab unit president replacing Ashwani Sharma. The BJP has also replaced Bandi Sanjay as Telangana unit president appointing G Kishan Reddy in his place. Jharkhand BJP will be headed by tribal strongman Babulal Marandi and Andhra Pradesh will have D Purandeshwari as state chief. She will relinquish responsibility as national general secretary of the BJP. Former Andhra CM Kiran Reddy who recently joined the BJP has been included in the BJP national executive. Jharkhand BJP will be headed by tribal strongman Babulal Marandi and Andhra Pradesh will have D Purandeshwari as state chief. She will relinquish responsibility as national general secretary of the BJP. Former Andhra CM Kiran Reddy who recently joined the BJP has been included in the BJP national executive. However, with the appointment of Sunil Jakhar as new Punjab BJP president, the BJP seems to have covered a long distance as far as its new president’s outlook is concerned. Jakhar, who narrowly missed the chance to become Punjab CM in September 2021 and remained Punjab Congress chief for close to four years till July 2021, has the image of a liberal Punjabi Hindu politician.  It was under Jakhar’s leadership that the Congress wrested control of the state from the SAD-BJP combine after 10 years in March 2017 assembly polls. He was also instrumental in the Congress winning eight out of 11 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab in 2019 polls defying the nationwide Modi wave. In 2017, Jakhar also won the Lok Sabha byelection from Gurdaspur — a seat that has been BJP’s pocket borough for the past 30 years, having been represented by the likes of Vinod Khanna and Sunny Deol. Jakhar remained three-time MLA from 2002 to 2017 from Abohar and one-time MP Sunil Kumar Jakhar had left the Congress party after hinting that the non-acceptance of a Hindu face was the reason behind not making him the Punjab Chief Minister.  In May last year, three months after the Congress debacle in the Punjab Assembly polls, Jakhar had moved to BJP following a spell of bad blood with the leadership of the grand old party with whom his family had decades of association. That the 69-year-old Jakhar is central to the BJP’s plans for Punjab was evident when he was inducted as a member into the BJP National Executive in December last year along with ex-Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh.