BJP rejigs 4 state units: Jat Sikh Kewal Singh Dhillon made Punjab chief ahead of polls

NEW DELHI: BJP on Thursday appointed Kewal Singh Dhillon, a Jat Sikh from the politically decisive Malwa region, its Punjab president, signalling its ambitious outreach to Sikhs as the state gears up for assembly polls and named Union minister Harsh Malhotra its Delhi unit president as part of top-level changes it made in four states, including in Haryana and Tripura.

With three contenders for power in the crowded political arena of Punjab being led by a Jat Sikh, a largely agrarian community, BJP's gambit on Dhillon is part audacious and part risky but also underscores its determined bid to make inroads in the influential demography which was at the forefront of agitation against farm laws, withdrawn by govt in 2021.

AAP leader and CM Bhagwant Mann, state Congress president Amrinder Singh Raja Warring and Akali Dal supremo Sukhbir Singh Badal hail from the community in a state where BJP's core voters bank has been urban Hindus.

As a junior ally of Akali Dal, it was expected to complement its partner's largely Sikh vote bank with its mostly Hindu voters to make a winning combination before their split in 2021 prompted BJP to seek to expand out of its urban base and make its own bid for power.It has rewarded Jat Sikhs like Taranjit Singh Sandhu, now Delhi LG, and Union minister Ravneet Singh Bittu with key positions. Dhillon (76) is only the second Sikh to head BJP in Punjab after former MP Daya Singh Sodhi. Seen close to ex-CM Amarinder Singh, who joined BJP in 2022, Dhillon replaces Sunil Jakhar, who too had a long stint in Congress and had expressed his wish to quit way back in 2024 but was persuaded by the BJP brass to continue.