Making a big leadership change in the Punjab unit of the BJP, senior leader Sunil Jakhar was appointed as the new chief on Tuesday. Sunil Jakhar's appointment as Punjab BJP chief came after the saffron party did not perform well at the Jalandhar bypoll and also people did not turn up at Union Home Minister Amit Shah's rally in Gurdaspur. Notably, the countdown for the 2024 General Elections has begun and the opposition has been trying to present a united front to overthrow the saffron party from the majority. In such a case, the BJP has been continuously losing the faith of the people on the ground in Punjab. Therefore, in order to gain people's trust once again, BJP has backed Sunil Jakhar who helped Congress achieve success in the State when he was the chief of the Grand Old Party. Talking about the BJP looking to bolster NDA, True Scoop News in its exclusive report revealed that there have been discussions inside the party contemplating realliance with Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD). Now, the newly appointed BJP Chief of Punjab, Sunil Jakhar has reacted to the reports.
Sunil Jakhar in an interview with a news portal did not reveal clearly whether BJP is mulling to alliance with SAD for the upcoming 2024 General Elections, but he indeed dropped a hint saying that such a decision will be taken by party’s central leadership. Notably, Jakhar did not refuse that BJP is not looking to alliance with SAD, but he stated that if such things happen his job would be to ensure that the saffron party negotiates with a position of strength not weakness. “Late Akali Dal patriarch Parkash Singh Badal had very good relations with Atal Bihari Vajpayee, LK Advani, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi and would often urge the BJP to leave the rural assembly segments for the Akali Dal to contest. The result is there for all of us to see," said Sunil Jakhar in an interview with a news portal.
For the unaware, SAD parted ways from the NDA after the Modi government passed three farm bills. After months of farmers' protest, the Modi Government had to repeal all three newly passed farm laws which was the ultimate cause of the breakup of SAD from the NDA. Now, with three farms laws are already repealed, the BJP and the SAD have no grudge against each other and therefore, contemplating joining forces might help both parties in the upcoming Lok Sabha Elections 2024.
Sunil Jakhar's achievements
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.