Blow to BJP, Jakhar quits as Punjab unit chief ahead of panchayat poll

Punjab president of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Sunil Kumar Jakhar is learnt to have resigned as the state chief of the saffron party, just over a year after he was named to lead the party in the state.

The state BJP has been rendered headless ahead of the panchayat elections on October 15. Multiple sources close to Sunil Jakhar and in the Punjab and national organisation of the BJP have confirmed to The Tribune that Jakhar has put in his papers.

He did not attend a crucial meeting of the state BJP here today to discuss and finalise the party’s strategy for the upcoming panchayat elections.

Sources said a senior office-bearer of the state unit called Jakhar over the phone to inquire if he was attending the meeting. Jakhar reportedly told him that he was not attending today’s meeting and would not be attending any meeting as the state president in the future also. Jakhar declined to comment to The Tribune on his resignation saying this was internal matter of the party. Sources said that the BJP leadership has not yet accepted his resignation.

Sources said Jakhar had informed the party high command, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and national president JP Nadda, in July post the Jalandhar byelection that he did not want to continue as the state president.

He has not attended any meeting of the state unit of the party since July 10. He was not involved in the ongoing membership drive of the state BJP Party insiders said Jakhar was not comfortable with certain traditional BJP leaders and often had difference of opinion with them on policies and strategy.

The BJP did not win any seat in the Lok Sabha elections this year and the party lost the Jalandhar byelection also. Before he joined the BJP in May 2022, Jakhar — while being in the Congress — had submitted his resignation as the state Congress chief not once but a couple of times. He had submitted his resignation as PPCC chief when he had lost the 2019 Gurdaspur Lok Sabha election to actor Sunny Deol. That time, the Congress had not accepted it.

In May 2022, he had resigned from the Congress by going live on Facebook. He was upset with the Congress as he was sounded that he would be the next CM after the ouster of former Chief Minister Amarinder Singh in September 2021. However, Congress leader Ambika Soni had opened a front against him stating that a non-Sikh cannot be the CM of the Sikh majority state. Later, the Congress had named Charanjit Singh Channi as the successor to Amarinder.

Notably, BJP’s candidate from Ludhiana Ravneet Singh Bittu, a Sikh, was made the Union Minister of State for Railways and Food Processing despite losing the LS election. Sources said this may not have gone well with Sunil Jakhar.