Sunil Jakhar meets disgruntled Vijay Sampla

Aparna Banerji

Jalandhar, April 20

State BJP president Sunil Jakhar on Saturday called on BJP leader Vijay Sampla at his residence in Hoshiarpur to placate him.

Jakhar’s visit came amid Sampla’s displeasure at the party allocating the Hoshiarpur ticket to Anita Som Parkash, wife of Union Cabinet Minister Som Parkash. Rumours of Sampla’s shift to another party have been circulating for days. Jakhar was accompanied by party leaders Vineet Joshi, Harjit Grewal and Sunder Sham Arora.

He’ll work for party’s interests

I am thankful to him (Sampla) that he has kept his concerns aside and taken a decision to favour the best interests of the party. Sunil Jakhar, State BJP president

Sharing various cryptic posts on his social media accounts, Sampla had removed the phrase — ‘Modi Ka Parivar’ — from his social media handles X and Facebook.

Jakhar held a closed-door meeting with Sampla in presence of Joshi and Grewal, during which the miffed leader raised several grouses with him. Jakhar stayed at his residence for nearly two hours. The duo then emerged and posed for photographs. Sources said the central leadership played a key role in facilitating the meeting.

The sources said Sampla had reportedly been upset over alleged barbs directed against him by supporters of the rival group in the constituency. This issue had also reportedly been one of the grounds for his refusal to campaign on the seat.

Even as the Akali Dal was reportedly keen to rope in Sampla, the leader had been weighing his options.

A senior BJP leader said, “It has been a concern with Sampla that insults directed from the other faction be addressed.”

The state president reportedly assured him regarding the issue. A senior leader BJP said, “Jakhar patiently listened to the issues raised by Sampla and assurances have been obtained from him that he will not join any other party. We don’t have cause to believe that he will renege on the assurance.”

Amid talk of him being offered another seat, supporters said, “Sampla is not interested in any other seat. It is also unlikely that he will campaign in the Hoshiarpur seat. His other concerns have been raised with the party.”

Addressing press, Jakhar said, “I am thankful to him (Sampla) that he has kept his concerns aside and taken a decision to favour the best interests of the party. I also respect the sentiments of his supporters and workers. It is the party’s duty to address his concerns. There will be plenty of responsibilities lined up for leaders as the party is going it alone in the elections.”

On whether Sampla could be allocated another seat, Jakhar said, “That decision rests with the high command.” The Hoshiarpur seat was won by Sampla in 2014 and by Som Parkash in 2019.