After a continuous dismal performance by the BJP in Punjab, Ashwani Sharma on Monday tendered his resignation from his post, Ashwani Sharma was the chief of BJP Punjab. Under him, the saffron party failed to increase its footprint in Punjab. The BJP's performance in the Jalandhar Bypolls was dismal as it was number 4 in terms of total votes received. Not only this, Union Home Minister Amit Shah recently addressed a rally at Gurdaspur and that too flopped miserably. True Scoop News in its earlier report had mentioned that Amit Shah's Gurdaspur rally failed to make its impact as the Punjab BJP could not gather an audience in large numbers. Sources close to the development had informed that Amit Shah had to address a rally of less than 1000 people but it was expected that he will address a gathering of 4,000. Also ahead of the reshuffle in the Modi government, Ashwani Sharma had to resign from his post and reports suggest that former Congress leader who joined BJP- Sunil Jakhar is the front-runner for the post and the Saffron party is expecting a change in fortune for itself in Punjab. Notably, the BJP is yet to confirm Ashwani Sharma's resignation report officially, however, multiple reports suggest that he has tendered his resignation.
As per reports, Sunil Jakhar is among the front-runners to be the new BJP Chief. Although the BJP is yet to make any announcement, sources in the known developments revealed that the name of the new BJP Chief is yet to be finalized. Apart from Sunil Jakhar, the name of Fatehjang Singh Bajwa is also under consideration. For the unaware, Fatehjang Singh Bajwa was also in the Congress party, however, he has now switched to the BJP. However, Sunil Jakhar's is at the top of the list.
Now, the question arises why Sunil Jakhar's name is at the top and is likely to be the new BJP chief.
Hailing from Jaat Community, Sunil Jakhar was quite fruitful for Congress when he was with the grand old party. However, in May 2022, Jakhar quit the Congress party and joined the BJP in the presence of JP Nadda. Sunil Jakhar was among the senior leaders of the Congress party when he announced that he is quitting the Grand Old party during Facebook Live. Sunil Jakhar is a three-time MLA who had entered the poll fray in Punjab in the 2001 assembly elections. Jakhar also remained the leader of the Opposition in Punjab Vidhan Sabha from 2012 to 2017. Jakhar had also slammed the Congress government after Prime Minister Modi was stopped by protesters in Firozepur on January 5 this year. He has also served as the Chief of PPCC. Apart from his achievement, Sunil Jakhar is a big name in Punjab politics. After Captain Amarinder's resignation, many party leaders had suggested Jakhar be made the new CM of Punjab to the Congress High Command, however, Charanjit Singh Channi emerged as the new CM. It means Jakhar's stature in Punjab is so big that even (then) multiple Congress leaders had suggested the party to make him the New CM of Punjab.
After Channi's appointment, Jakhar's relationship with Congress was downgraded. He slammed the Channi government over the lapses in PM Modi's security in Ferozepur, Punjab. He was accused of indulging in anti-party activities after he criticised senior Congress leader Ambika Soni and former CM Charanjit Singh Channi.