Punjab BJP likely to have nominated chief, ex-Cong leaders lead race

The Punjab BJP is likely to have a nominated chief this time, with the announcement likely to be made after the party elects its national president later in January, according to party sources.

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The development has come as the BJP has not been able to complete its membership drive in the state, a precursor to the internal elections to pick its Punjab chief. A BJP source said in the absence of internal polls, it is the party’s national president that nominates the state chief.

The BJP is likely to hold the polls to elect its national president, replacing JP Nadda, later in the month.

Last year, in a blow to the BJP, its Punjab chief Sunil Jakhar had tendered his resignation from the post.

The source attributed the delay in holding the internal elections to the Assembly bypolls and the civic body elections held in the State recently.

Meanwhile, names of three former Congress leaders are doing the rounds to replace Jakhar, a former State Congress president who had switched over to the BJP after the Punjab Assembly polls in 2022.

The contenders

According to sources, former Punjab Finance Minister Manpreet Badal is learnt to have the backing of Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal.

Former Barnala legislator Kewal Dhillon is being backed by Punjab general secretary (organisation) M Srinivasulu while former Punjab Minister Rana Gurmeet Sodhi is being supported by Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri.

Names of senior BJP leaders Avinash Rai Khanna, Ashwani Sharma, Tarun Chugh and Subhash Sharma are also being considered to lead the party, which is looking to find a foothold in the State after ending of its its nearly three-decade-long ties with the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) over three years ago.

After a number of prominent Congress leaders joined it ahead of the Lok Sabha polls earlier this year, the party had seen a surge in its vote share, which almost doubled to 18.56 per cent from 9.65 per cent it got in 2019.

Surge in vote share

However, the party could not win any of the 13 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab.

A source said the party leadership is analysing the reasons behind the surge in its vote share in the parliamentary polls and “very excited” about its increasing base in districts like Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Bathinda and Hoshiarpur.

There have been ground-level reports of massive participation of people in the drive launched by the party for the construction of the Ram temple in Uttar Pradesh’s Ayodhya, the source added. Meanwhile, a special meeting of the party on its membership drive is scheduled for Thursday in Chandigarh under General Secretary (organisation) BL Joshi.