Chandigarh: Punjab BJP president Sunil Jakhar skipped a crucial meeting of the state unit in Chandigarh Monday, giving fresh impetus to swirling speculation about his resignation. Jakhar has chosen to remain silent about the speculation.
The meeting was chaired by senior BJP leader Vijay Rupani, who told reporters that Jakhar was away in Delhi on a personal visit. The Punjab affairs in-charge stressed that the forthcoming panchayat polls and byelections to four assembly seats would be held under Jakhar’s leadership.
Last week, Jakhar didn’t attend another meeting of the state unit, fuelling conjecture that he had resigned from his post. State general secretary Anil Sarin, however, said the Opposition was spreading these canards.
Although Jakhar could not be contacted despite several attempts, sources in the party told ThePrint that the leader had met BJP chief J.P. Nadda on Friday and reiterated his offer to step down.
Miffed with BJP old guards
Jakhar, who switched from the Congress in 2022, is said to have told the party leadership that the state’s original leadership was resentful after he was made president last year. Sources said Jakhar was chosen over veterans who felt ignored.
A senior party leader in Delhi said Jakhar felt insulted that these leaders continued to speak against him, despite the fact that “they had nothing to offer to the party, had drawn electoral blanks more than once and even failed to create a cadre under them”.
He added Jakhar had brought this to the high command’s notice but the issue continued to persist. “These leaders have been carrying tales to Delhi even on petty issues like Jakhar not sitting in the party headquarters,” the leader said.
Jakhar, sources said, was also upset with the party leadership ever since three central ministers, led by Piyush Goyal, were sent to Punjab in February for talks with leaders of agitating farmers. The negotiations were held after farmers revived their agitation demanding the legalisation of MSP on crops, protesting on the Punjab-Haryana border.
The party source said that Jakhar is a farmer himself and the son of legendary farm leader Balram Jakhar. “Neither he nor the state party unit was taken into confidence about these meetings. State leaders were clueless about what transpired. But Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann was invited to the talks. The meetings remained inconclusive and it was left to the state unit to defend the high coimmand’s decision vis a vis the farmers,” the leader added. “Jakhar felt the high command did not trust him.”
The Bittu & SAD factors
Sources said Jakhar was also upset over the party’s choice of Ravneet Singh Bittu as minister, despite Bittu having lost the Lok Sabha election from Ludhiana. Bittu, once a colleague of Jakhar in the Congress, is the Union minister of state for railways and food processing. He was elected unopposed to Rajya Sabha from Rajasthan in August. The two-time MP from the Congress had joined the BJP just before the general elections.
Jakhar apparently is also perturbed by the BJP leadership’s decision not to ally with the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) in the parliamentary elections. He had said in public that this alliance was vital to maintain communal harmony in the state. “Jakhar sahib was all for a tie-up but neither side was ready to compromise on the seats,” the senior BJP leader said.
The BJP did not win a single seat in the state in the June parliamentary elections, despite contesting in all 13 constituencies. Jakhar had offered to resign then too, taking responsibility for the party’s abysmal performance. The high command, however, did not accept the offer, citing an increase in overall vote share from 9.63 percent in 2019 to 18.56 percent in 2024.
The crisis in the party comes ahead of the panchayat elections, in which more than 13,000 villages will elect panches and sarpanches. Although the polls will not use party symbols, every party is backing various candidates. Elections are scheduled to be held on 15 October. The process of nominations began Friday.
(Edited by Tikli Basu)
(Edited by Tikli Basu)