BJP Names Kewal Singh Dhillon Punjab President in Bold Sikh Outreach Ahead of Assembly Polls
मुख्य बातें
- •BJP appoints Kewal Singh Dhillon, a Jat Sikh leader from Malwa region, as Punjab president ahead of assembly polls.
- •Dhillon replaces Sunil Jakhar and becomes the second Sikh to head BJP in Punjab after Daya Singh Sodhi.
- •The appointment is part of a broader leadership reshuffle in four states, including Delhi, Haryana, and Tripura.
- •BJP aims to woo Sikh voters, a key demographic in Punjab, as it seeks to expand beyond its traditional urban Hindu base.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has made a strategic move to strengthen its presence in Punjab by appointing Kewal Singh Dhillon, a prominent Jat Sikh leader from the Malwa region, as the state unit president. The decision, announced on Thursday, is part of a broader leadership reshuffle in four states, including Delhi, Haryana, and Tripura. The appointment signals the BJP’s intensified effort to expand its influence beyond its traditional urban Hindu voter base and engage with the influential Sikh community, which played a significant role in the agitation against the farm laws.
Dhillon, aged 76, hails from the politically crucial Malwa region, known for its agrarian dominance. His appointment is seen as a bold yet calculated gamble by the BJP, given that three major political players in Punjab—Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, Congress state president Amrinder Singh Raja Warring, and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal—belong to the Jat Sikh community. The BJP has historically relied on urban Hindu voters in Punjab, but its alliance with the Akali Dal, which primarily draws support from the Sikh electorate, ended in 2021. Since then, the BJP has been working to carve out its own political space among Sikh voters.
