Hectic lobbying on in BJP for state president post

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is poised to appoint a new president for its Punjab unit, as the current state chief, Sunil Jakhar, continues to distance himself from party activities. Jakhar was absent from the bypoll campaign and did not attend the first post-election meeting of the party in Jalandhar today.

Sources indicate that the new leader would be appointed before the upcoming civic polls, scheduled to held in December, giving the appointee time to prepare for the elections. The race for the top position has sparked intense lobbying between two camps — traditional BJP leaders and those who have recently switched from the Congress.

Traditional BJP leaders, who have remained with the party, are strongly advocating for one of their own to be appointed as the state chief. Key contenders from this group include Ashwani Sharma, Manoranjan Kalia and Subash Sharma besides few others. They argue that the party has not seen electoral benefits after incorporating leaders from other parties into key positions.

On the other hand, Congress-turned-BJP leaders such as Kewal Dhillon, Manpreet Singh Badal and Rana Gurmeet Sodhi are also vying for the position. Despite their recent electoral losses in the Lok Sabha and bypolls, they are banking on their experience and organisational skills from their previous party. Their confidence is bolstered by the appointment of Ravneet Singh Bittu as Union Minister of State for Railways despite his defeat in the Lok Sabha elections.

The upcoming civic polls are crucial for the BJP, especially after their poor performance in the recent byelections. The party did not win any of the four bypolls and three candidates, other than Kewal Dhillon, lost their security deposit.