Newsmaker | Billionaire industrialist Kewal Singh Dhillon bets on BJP for second shot at Lok Sabha

Dhillon, who was considered to be a confidant of former Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh, is a renowned industrialist with business interests in real estate, beverages, and entertainment, and is worth Rs 132.88 crore according to the affidavits he submitted to the Election Commission. He contested the Assembly elections thrice for the Congress, winning in 2007 and 2012. Both times, the Congress was in the Opposition. He lost to the AAP’s Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer by 2,432 votes in 2017 and his hold in the party ensured his candidature against Mann two years later in the parliamentary polls.

But soon all that changed for the veteran Congressman as he found himself out in the cold. According to party insiders, he was expecting a ticket in this year’s Assembly elections but, to his surprise, the party chose former Union Minister Pawan Bansal’s son Manish Bansal. Though the Bansals are from the Tapa area in Barnala’s Bhadaur constituency, they have been in Chandigarh since 2009, when Pawan was elected to Parliament from the Capital.

Initially, Dhillon announced he would contest the polls as an Independent. But later he dropped the idea and did not help Bansal in his campaign. Three days before the February 20 elections, the veteran leader was expelled from the party. At the time, the party’s Anandpur Sahib MP Manish Tewari expressed shock at the party’s decision, saying, “When no one was prepared to invest a penny in Punjab during days of terror, he brought @PepsiCo to Punjab in 1980s. He was a Congressman when it was an invitation to assassination.”

Accompanied by Sunil Kumar Jakhar, another former state Congress chief who joined the BJP last month, state BJP president Ashwani Sharma, and Union Minister Som Parkash, Dhillon filed his nomination papers on Monday. “Only the BJP can save Punjab,” he told the media. “And that can be done by Modi saab, Amit Shah ji. They can improve the financial condition of the state and even can make farming a profitable venture.”

In his first address to BJP workers in Sangrur, Dhillon said, “This is your own election and you all have to fight it. I joined the BJP after a great deliberation with the senior leaders of the BJP. As of now, the whole of Punjab is under threat. Law and order have gone for a toss and it is really difficult to come out of the house.”

Attacking the AAP and his former party, he said, “Badalaav (change) is over within three months of this AAP government. The kind of insecurity in Punjabi youth can be seen by visiting the Canadian embassy as nearly 20 lakh applications of Punjabis are lying pending there. Punjabis are the most hardworking people while the Congress used to call them drug addicts.”

Dhillon added, “I am really thankful to our PM for repealing farm laws but till the time farming does not become a profitable venture in the state, we cannot survive. And I know that only the BJP can do this … Modi ji changed Gujarat’s skyline when he was the chief minister of that state. UP, where law and order were issues, is now the most peaceful state and huge investment is taking place. Punjab is in dire need of support from the Centre. I have been told by BJP leaders that nearly Rs 25,000 crore of investments have been planned for Punjab which will also generate employment avenues. I am sure that the Centre will lend a helping hand to Punjab and this tag of poor law-and-order situation will be removed. If anyone can make this state prosperous, it is Modi saab and Amit Shah. I had a discussion with Amit Shah ji and he has his vision clear for 2024 polls as well. The state will develop if the BJP is given a chance.”