The BJP appointed former Congress leader and former Barnala MLA Kewal Singh Dhillon as the party’s new Punjab chief on Thursday, making him the first Jat Sikh face to lead a BJP state unit. This is a politically significant move ahead of the 2027 Punjab Assembly elections.
Following the dissolution of its three-decade alliance with the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) in September 2020 over the now-canceled farm legislation and subsequent political failures in Punjab, the appointment is perceived as part of the BJP’s broader attempt to reevaluate its Punjab strategy.
Both of the leaders selected by the BJP to lead its Punjab section since the breakup of the SAD-BJP coalition, Sunil Jakhar in 2023 and Kewal Dhillon currently, were prominent members of the Congress who joined the saffron party in 2022.
Jakhar, whose three-year term was set to expire in July, is replaced by Dhillon, 76. In June 2024, Jakhar made a resignation offer after the BJP, which had broken away from the SAD and run for all 13 seats on its own for the first time, failed to secure a single Lok Sabha seat in Punjab despite increasing its vote share from 9% to 18.5%. The BJP had simultaneously started internal deliberations for a more extensive organisational reorganisation, even though the high command did not instantly accept his resignation and requested him to stay. An upcoming change within the state unit was indicated by the appointment of former state party chairman Ashwani Sharma as working president in July 2025.
In response to his promotion in Chandigarh on Thursday, Dhillon stated, “I was unaware of the announcement by the party high command…” I shall, however, carry out all tasks assigned to me. In 23 states, the BJP is in power. After Bengal, the next turn is in Punjab. The “lotus” will bloom in Punjab in 2027.
Jakhar stated, “Being the president of the Punjab BJP has been a matter of great honour and responsibility,” in response to the change of leadership. Throughout this journey, Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji’s trust and Union Home Minister Amit Shah ji’s advice have been a continual source of strength.
The Punjab BJP’s strength has always come from its karyakartas, leaders, and followers throughout the state, whose dedication and collaboration made this term significant and unforgettable. My best wishes and unwavering support are with Kewal Dhillon ji as this responsibility now transfers. Jakhar continued, “I am sure that the organization will continue to grow stronger and serve Punjab with even greater commitment under his leadership.”
While Jakhar’s appointment in 2023 was seen as an attempt by the BJP to win over urban Hindu voters and former Congress supporters, Dhillon’s promotion represents a different political strategy: increasing the party’s acceptability among Sikh voters in a state where the BJP has struggled on its own since the dissolution of the Akali alliance.
According to the 2011 Census, the population of Punjab is 38.5% Hindu and 57.69% Sikh. Dhillon’s selection is largely seen as a symbolic and calculated attempt to reach out to Sikh voters, despite BJP officials’ insistence that Punjab politics cannot be seen only through a religious lens.
A top BJP politician stated, “The BJP is working on the same school of thought as other political parties, but it is definitely not necessary to have a Sikh face as president as Punjab is a secular state.”
Former Punjab Chief Minister and former Congressman Captain Amarinder Singh is thought to be connected to Dhillon, a Jat Sikh from Tallewal village in Barnala district. Before changing parties in 2022, Dhillon, a seasoned politician and well-known businessman, had a lengthy political career that was mostly based in the Congress.
Dhillon was a senior vice-president of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee and a two-term Congress MLA from Barnala during the SAD-BJP administration from 2007 to 2017. He lost the 2017 Assembly elections by almost 2,000 votes to Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) from Barnala.
He ran against Bhagwant Mann of the AAP in the Sangrur Lok Sabha seat in 2019 on behalf of the Congress, but Dhillon lost by more than one lakh votes. He was not given a ticket from Barnala by the Congress prior to the 2022 Assembly elections; instead, Munish Bansal, the son of former Union minister Pawan Kumar Bansal, was put forward. Dhillon allegedly declined to run for the party candidacy, which led to his expulsion from the Congress.
Dhillon joined the BJP in June 2022 after the then-ruling Congress’s dismal performance in the Assembly election and the AAP’s resounding triumph. He was fielded by the BJP almost immediately in the Sangrur Lok Sabha bypoll, which was required after Mann resigned from Parliament after being appointed Chief Minister of Punjab. With more over 66,000 votes, Dhillon placed fourth in the bypoll, but BJP leaders saw it as an acceptable beginning because he received more votes than the SAD candidate, who came in fifth.
After the AAP’s Meet Hayer left the seat after winning the Sangrur Lok Sabha election, Dhillon ran for the Barnala Assembly bypoll once more in November 2024. Out of the four Assembly by-elections held in Punjab at the time, Dhillon was the only BJP candidate to save their security deposit, finishing third.
Dhillon rapidly solidified his position inside the BJP organization, serving as the state party vice president and a member of the BJP’s core committee in Punjab, despite continuing to lose elections after joining the party.
His nomination also highlights the BJP’s ongoing reliance on Congress politicians to increase its political influence in Punjab following the Akali split. The party has been depending more and more on erstwhile Congress faces to fill the void left by the lack of a robust independent mass base in rural Punjab.
The move from Jakhar to Dhillon also carries a political irony.
After constantly voicing his dissatisfaction over the 2021 political scandal in Punjab, when he was passed over for the Chief Minister’s position following Amarinder Singh’s resignation, ostensibly due to his Hindu face, Jakhar left the Congress in May 2022. Jakhar has previously brought up the matter in public on multiple occasions. Four years later, the BJP has installed its first-ever Sikh state president in Punjab in Jakhar’s place.
After his appointment, Dhillon, on the other hand, spoke calmly. He had responded to prior rumours about his promotion by saying, “I am a worker of the party, whatever responsibility the party gives me, I will perform it with diligence.”
Dhillon has completed his education up to Class 12 and has disclosed assets worth more than Rs 212 crore, according to his affidavit submitted during the 2024 Barnala Assembly bypoll. Dhillon’s holdings have increased significantly from Rs 78 crore in his 2012 Assembly poll declaration, reflecting his status as one of Punjab’s most well-known businessmen-politicians. Dhillon has also been known to support farmers’ unions; on multiple instances, when protesters held dharnas outside his house, he would feed them tea and water and let them use the lavatory. Everyone has the right to demonstrate in a democracy. Dhillon would say, “They are my own people.”
But the greater obstacle for the BJP is not symbolic. Dhillon’s appointment will ultimately be evaluated based on his ability to assist the BJP in forming a larger social and political coalition in Punjab before to the 2027 Assembly election, given the dissolution of the SAD alliance, his limited penetration among rural voters, and his lack of notable electoral achievement thus far.
Punjab Chief Minister and AAP leader Bhagwant Mann responded to the appointment on X on Thursday, saying, “Congratulations to BJP leader Kewal Dhillon, who was defeated by the people of Barnala in 2017, 2019, and 2024, on becoming the Punjab BJP president.” Warm regards to Sunil Jakhar. May God provide Ashwani Sharma, Tarun Chugh, Fatehjang Bajwa, Ravneet Bittu, and Manpreet Badal the fortitude to bear this disgrace. According to sources, Mann was making reference to the other contenders for the position of state BJP chief.
