Punjab BJP President Sunil Jakhar has expressed his intent to step down from the post of state president of the party. He did not attend the membership campaign meeting held on Thursday. According to sources, Jakhar is upset with the elevation of Ravneet Singh Bittu as a Union Minister because even after the latter lost the Lok Sabha elections, BJP sent him to Rajya Sabha from Rajasthan.
Ravneet Singh Bittu, just like Jakhar, is a turncoat from the Congress. While Jakhar switched parties in 2022, Bittu changed parties in 2024, just before the Lok Saha elections.
Jakhar is also not happy with the Punjab strategy of the BJP high command. He met PM Narendra Modi a week ago and expressed his displeasure.
However, he has yet to put his resignation to paper. The development comes just before the Punjab Panchayat elections scheduled for 15 October. The nominations for the sarpanch and panch posts will be filed between September 27 and October 4.
Sunil Jakhar's Record As BJP Chief
Sunil Jakhar had resigned from the Congress and joined the BJP in 2022. He was promoted to the BJP's Punjab president post in 2023. However, the BJP could not win a single seat in the Lok Sabha elections in Punjab held this year under the leadership of Sunil Jakhar.
On the flip side, Sunil Jakhar's presence in the BJP is likely to have boosted the party's penetration among the public which was reflected in the increased vote percentage of BJP in Punjab. BJP got about 18% votes in Punjab, which was a jump of nearly 9% from the 2019 polls.
Sunil Jakhar's Political Journey
Sunil Jakhar is a resident of Panjkosi village of Abohar tehsil in the Firozpur district of Punjab. In 2002, Sunil Jakhar was elected as Abohar MLA for the first time. He became MLA from this seat thrice. From 2012 to 2017, Sunil Jakhar also served as the Leader of Opposition in the Punjab Legislative Assembly. On 19 May 2022, Sunil Jakhar left the Congress and joined the BJP. After this, the party made him the president of the Punjab BJP.