Former Faridkot MP Jagmeet Singh Brar, his brother and former Kotkapura MLA Ripjeet Singh Brar, Onkar Singh Sidhu, former Officer on Special Duty (OSD) to Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, and Shiromani Akali Dal (Punarsurjit) general secretary Charanjit Singh Brar on Friday joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), indicating the party’s renewed thrust in Punjab’s Malwa region ahead of the 2027 Assembly elections.
The majority of these leaders had switched to various parties before joining the BJP.
The leaders joined the BJP in the presence of Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini, Punjab BJP president Sunil Jakhar, Union Minister of State for Railways Ravneet Singh Bittu, and other senior party leaders. All the new entrants hail from the Malwa belt, which accounts for 69 of 117 Assembly seats in Punjab.
Welcoming the leaders, Haryana CM Saini said the BJP family was growing stronger and claimed that people had faith in the party’s governance model. Promoting what he termed the ‘Haryana model’, Saini said, “The BJP government in Haryana had made 217 promises in its 2024 manifesto, of which 53 had already been fulfilled, while 163 would be completed by the end of this financial year.”
He alleged that Punjab is witnessing an atmosphere of fear, and people need a steady government, which could be provided by the BJP.
Punjab BJP president Sunil Jakhar said the party welcomed all leaders into its fold and claimed that people in Punjab were increasingly looking towards the BJP for progress and stability. “The BJP is the only party that can put Punjab back on the path of development,” he said.
Union Minister Ravneet Singh Bittu said the BJP was preparing for the 2027 Assembly polls across all 117 constituencies. “We welcome all new members into the BJP family. The party is strengthening its organisation at the grassroots level,” he said.
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Jagmeet Singh Brar debuted as Congressman
Jagmeet Singh Brar, 68, a former Faridkot MP, has had a long and chequered political career spanning multiple parties. Though his father was associated with the Shiromani Akali Dal, Brar began his political journey with the Congress. He rose to prominence after defeating Sukhbir Singh Badal in the 1999 Lok Sabha elections from Faridkot, at a time when the SAD-BJP alliance was in power in Punjab, and Parkash Singh Badal was the chief minister.
Brar has contested 11 elections so far, including eight Lok Sabha polls, but has won only twice — in 1992 and 1999. He was expelled from the Congress in 2016, after which he briefly served as president of the Punjab unit of the Trinamool Congress before quitting the party in 2018. In a surprise move, he joined the Shiromani Akali Dal in 2019 ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.
In the 2022 Assembly elections, Brar contested from the Maur constituency on an SAD ticket but lost his security deposit. He was expelled from the Akali Dal in December 2022 for alleged anti-party activities. After remaining politically inactive for over three years, Brar has now joined the BJP.
His younger brother Ripjeet Singh Brar, who won the Kotkapura Assembly seat in 2007 on a Congress ticket, had also joined the SAD along with Jagmeet Brar in 2019 and exited the party in 2022.
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Charanjit Singh Brar, ex-political advisor to Sukhbir Singh Badal
Charanjit Singh Brar, who joined the BJP on Friday, has also switched political affiliations several times. Originally associated with the Shiromani Akali Dal, he briefly joined Manpreet Singh Badal-led People’s Party of Punjab in March 2011 before returning to the SAD in August, the same year, as political advisor to then deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal. He unsuccessfully contested the 2022 Assembly elections from Rajpura on an SAD ticket.
After the 2022 polls, Charanjit Singh Brar revolted against the Akali Dal leadership and quit the party in 2023. He was serving as general secretary of SAD Punarsurjit, a splinter group of the Akali Dal, but resigned earlier this week, stating that the party had deviated from its original path, before joining the BJP.
Onkar Singh Sidhu, once a close aide of Punjab CM Mann
Onkar Singh Sidhu, considered a close associate of Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann during their early political years, was appointed officer on special duty (OSD) to the chief minister after the 2022 Assembly elections. He was responsible for managing Dhuri Assembly constituency — Mann’s home seat — and the political activities of Mann’s wife, Gurpreet Kaur. Sidhu was removed from the OSD post in September 2024.
The induction of leaders from across party lines, particularly from the Malwa region, is being seen as part of the BJP’s strategy to expand its footprint in Punjab ahead of the 2027 Assembly elections.
