2027 Punjab election: BJP gains boost in Muktsar with 4 Sikh leaders joining 

BJP has gained a boost in Punjab’s Muktsar district, a stronghold of SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal and Congress president Amrinder Singh Raja Warring, with four Sikh leaders joining the party. The new members include two-term former Faridkot MP Jagmeet Singh Brar, his brother Ripjit Singh Brar, Sukhbir Badal’s former OSD Charanjit Singh Brar, and CM Bhagwant Singh Mann’s former OSD Prof Onkar Singh.

Their entry is expected to strengthen BJP in Muktsar and the Malwa region. The leaders hail from politically sensitive areas: Jagmeet and Ripjit from Charewan village in Muktsar, Charanjit from Fakkarsar village in Gidderbaha, and Onkar Singh from Roranwali village in Lambi, a Badal family stronghold. Lambi is currently represented by Agriculture Minister Gurmeet Singh Khuddian, who defeated former chief minister Parkash Singh Badal in 2022.

Jagmeet Singh Brar, known for fiery speeches and dubbed “Awaz-e-Punjab”, is a key BJP catch. His experience and oratory skills could make him a crucial campaigner for 2027 Assembly election. A veteran politician with multiple party switches, Jagmeet has commanded loyalty across Muktsar, Gidderbaha, and neighbouring areas. His political career has been marked by several switches. He began his public life in All India Sikh Students’ Federation, spent many years in the Congress, led Lok Yudh Morcha, and even served on Congress Working Committee. After his expulsion from the Congress, he formed Lok Hit Abhiyan, which he later merged with the Trinamool Congress, becoming its ad-hoc state president. He subsequently joined SAD, unsuccessfully contested the Maur seat, and later floated the non-political Punjab United Regional Forum. Speculation about his re-entry into the Congress surfaced last year but failed to materialise.

Jagmeet’s brother Ripjit Singh Brar may help BJP in Faridkot district, where he once held the Kotkapura seat, while Charanjit Singh Brar, a ground-level organiser, could revive the party in Gidderbaha. A former OSD, first to Manpreet Singh Badal and later to Sukhbir Badal, he has also served as naib-tehsildar. BJP leaders believe that if entrusted with Gidderbaha, Charanjit could help revive the party in a constituency where the party nominee Manpreet could get 12,227 votes in the byelection last year. The equation between Charanjit and Manpreet Badal – now both in BJP – will be closely watched. After initially remaining with SAD, he joined Manpreet’s People’s Party of Punjab (PPP), but later switched back to SAD. He subsequently became one of the founder members of SAD (Punar Surjit), which he left two days ago.

Prof Onkar Singh, a former Assembly in-charge for CM Bhagwant Mann in Dhuri, Sangrur district, is expected to bolster BJP in Lambi, where candidate Rakesh Dhingra polled just 1,116 votes in 2022.