Sunil Jakhar, BJP’s Punjab plan lynchpin and chief: Seasoned Jat leader, ex-state Cong head

The BJP, whose support base in Punjab is mainly concentrated in urban areas involving Hindu voters, had embarked on a “Mission Punjab” after its two-decade-long alliance with the Sukhbir Badal-led Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) ended in September 2020 over the now-repealed three contentious farm laws.
However, the party could win only two seats in 117-member Punjab Assembly in the 2022 polls despite contesting the polls in an alliance with Capt Amarinder’s then Punjab Lok Congress and the Akali Dal breakaway faction Shiromani Akali Dal (Sanyukt) led by Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa.

With Jakhar at the helm of the state BJP, the party hopes to expand its support base in the state, where it had been playing second fiddle to the SAD for years.

Jakhar is a Jat Hindu leader, who has had a long political career. A three-time MLA and one-time MP, he is known for his connect with all communities. He seems to fit the bill for the BJP, which has been going all out to expand its support base in the Sikh majority state that also has a distinction of having about one-third Dalit population.

However, what could signal rumblings within the Punjab BJP, former party MLA from Abohar, Arun Narang, who had ended Jakhar’s winning streak by defeating him in the 2017 elections, opposed his elevation saying the BJP leaders who faced the brunt of the farm agitation were ignored while a leader who “remained a big face of Congress” was named as the state party chief.

Narang claimed that he had “resigned from all party posts” after Jakhar’s appointment, adding that he would continue to be with “Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the party” as “normal party worker”. He also blamed
Sharma for “not taking care of party workers” as the state party chief leading to his replacement with Jakhar. Narang added that he had a “grouse with party high command that many senior workers of the party who had been working for it for last 40 to 50 years were ignored”.

On his part, Jakhar tweeted to express his “gratitude” to PM Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and party national president J P Nadda “for reposing their trust in me and giving me this important responsibility of Punjab BJP president”, adding that “I will work relentlessly to safeguard interests of Punjab and aspirations of every Punjabi”. He also attached a photo showing him and Modi interacting with each other during the opening of Kartarpur Sahib corridor on the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev on November 9, 2019. Jakhar is a seasoned leader, who is known for putting his viewpoint forcefully and logically while maintaining decorum.

His father Balram Jakhar – a four-time MP and two time MLA – was the longest-serving Lok Sabha Speaker and a staunch Gandhi family loyalist.
Sunil Jakhar was first elected to the Punjab Assembly from the family pocket borough of Abohar in 2002 as a Congress nominee. He was then called a “reluctant politician”, but he learnt the ropes fast. He won from his seat in the 2007 and 2012 Punjab elections too. Jakhar was the Leader of the Opposition (LoP) between 2012 and 2015 during the SAD-BJP alliance government’s second term.

He lost the Assembly poll from Abohar in 2017, but was appointed as the PPCC chief in the same year. He was subsequently elected as the Gurdaspur MP in the bypoll that was necessitated due to the demise of then sitting BJP MP Vinod Khanna. He however lost to the BJP’s Sunny Deol in the 2019 Lok Sabha election. In 2021, he was replaced by Navjot Singh Sidhu as the Punjab Congress chief. In May 2022, Jakhar, who was miffed at the Congress high command for issuing him a show cause notice for his alleged anti-Dalit remarks that he denied, quit the party to join the BJP.

Warring: Decision taken long ago

Reacting on Sunil Jakhar’s appointment as Punjab BJP, Punjab Congress president Amrinder Singh Raja Warring Tuesday that “only the official announcement has been made now, while the decision was taken about one-and-half year ago.”

Responding to a media query on the sidelines of a meeting, Warring added, “The Congress party gave a lot of respect to the Jakhar family in the past 50 years, but he quit the party for minor political gains. Despite losing the assembly election on his home turf, he was appointed the state president, but he backstabbed the party that had always rewarded him with major profiles and responsibilities.” While taking a jibe at the BJP, he said that the announcement must have upset several BJP leaders in the state since it must be uneasy for other leaders to swallow the fact that someone who learnt the nuances of politics from Congress, joined the party about a year and half ago has been now appointed the state head.

Former CM Captain Amarinder Singh in a tweet said, “My heartiest congratulations to @sunilkjakhar on being appointed as the new president of @BJP4Punjab.”

(With inputs from Express News Service)