Undeterred by the resounding defeat in the Punjab Assembly elections just about two months back, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), it seems, is attempting to strengthen its foothold in the State with an eye on the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. With a political stalwart and veteran Congress leader Sunil Jakhar joining the saffron party on Thursday, ending the 50-year-old association with the grand old party, is expected to give the BJP a much-needed boost in Punjab amidst its efforts to build up a team for parliamentary polls.
On the political margins in Punjab ever since its decade-old ally, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), snapped ties over the issue of farm laws (now repealed), the saffron party is making frantic efforts to increase its footing in the border state — which is amongst the few in the country where the BJP is not in power. Currently, BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) governs 18 states, including 12 where BJP is in absolute majority.
BJP, which contested 65 seats in February 20 Punjab polls, could win just two seats with a vote share of a little over six percent. However, BJP is looking at the silver lining — an increase in its vote share, its expansion in Punjab where it has all along been playing a second fiddle to SAD, and foraying into unexplored territories.
In 2017, the party won three seats out of 23 it contested with a vote share of 5.3 percent, which, this time (in 2022), has increased to 6.6 percent — witnessing an increase of 1.3 percent.
With a senior Hindu-Jat leader like Jakhar, who is politically well-connected, with a clean image, and enjoys support among all sections, BJP is confident of expanding its base in the state. His joining the BJP may help the party in not only wooing the Jat community, but also winning back the Hindu votes — usually the BJP’s vote bank but drifted towards the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in 2022 state elections.
Notably, the Hindus constitute a little over 38 percent population in Punjab and they have been the traditional support base of the BJP.
Moreover, Jakhar’s claims of Congress ignored him for the Chief Minister’s post just because he was Hindu also matches with the BJP’s Hindu party image. In addition, Jakhar’s joining the BJP may also provide a push to the saffron brigade in the neighbouring Haryana.
Jakhar, who was welcomed into the saffron party in New Delhi by the BJP national president JP Nadda, attributed his decision to issues of “nationalism” and “unity”, saying that Prime Minister Narendra Modi understands the nerve of Punjab.
Notably, after the Congress ousted former Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh in September 2021, a Dalit leader Charanjit Singh Channi was elected to head the state, snubbing Jakhar’s claim for the coveted chair.
Days ahead of polls, Jakhar claimed that 42 MLAs backed him to be the Chief Minister after Capt Amarinder’s exit last year. But it was only after some of the Congress’ “advisors” advised that a Sikh should be made the Chief Minister — the claims that are believed to have worked against the party during elections.
After the Congress’ poll debacle, Jakhar faced the ire of party leaders, along with the then party chief Navjot Singh Sidhu and former Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi, for its “poor show”. The alleged that Jakhar’s claims for denying him the Chief Minister’s post for “not being a Sikh” raised an unnecessary controversy that eventually impacted the party’s poll prospects.
After the elections, Jakhar also went on to describe Channi as a “liability” for the Congress in Punjab, while also launching a veiled attack against senior party leader Ambika Soni for projecting him as an “asset” and supposedly scuttling his chances of being picked as Chief Minister after Capt Amarinder’s unceremonious ouster.
Quitting the Congress last week, coinciding with the second day of the party’s ‘Chintan Shivir’ in Udaipur, Jakhar did a Facebook live to announce his decision, while criticizing Sonia Gandhi for handling the party’s affairs.
“Three generations of my family served the Congress party over the last 50 years. Today, I have broken the 50-year-old tie with Congress over issues of nationalism, unity, and brotherhood in Punjab....I'm fighting for Punjab's brotherhood. The work which bullets of AK-47 were not able to do, they (Congress) did it with their tongue that a person from a particular community can't be elected (as CM). They not only insulted Hindu brotherhood but also Sikh brotherhood,” he added.
“It is not an easy job to leave as three generations of my family have served the party treating it as a family...My decision to leave is not personal but over issues such as nationalism, brotherhood, and unity in the State,” he said, adding that Prime Minister Modi has a good understanding of Punjab and had accorded it “special” status, albeit informally.
Jakhar said: “I met Prime Minister Narendra Modiji in Punjab. Got a chance to talk to him. Punjab has given many sacrifices. I believe that PM Modi has given special status [and] respect to Punjab. It might not have been conferred officially but Modiji understands the nerve of Punjab.”
Carrying the rich political legacy of his father Balram Jakhar — the longest-serving Lok Sabha Speaker and a Union Minister in the Narasimha Rao Government — Jakhar has represented the Abohar assembly segment consecutively in 2002, 2007, and 2012, besides representing the Gurdaspur Lok Sabha seat once.
BJP chief JP Nadda said: “Jakhar would have a special role in strengthening the party in the state. He is an experienced leader and comes from a family of politicians who have served the country for over three decades. He has an identity of his own distinct from the party. He has worked for the farmers, for the youth, and has an image of an honest politician.”
Jakhar, who announced his retirement from electoral politics in February, was served a show-cause notice by Congress high command and removed from all party posts last month over alleged anti-party activities in the run-up to state elections. The action was taken after Punjab Congress in-charge Harish Rawat, in his complaint to interim president Sonia Gandhi, had alleged that Jakhar's statements dented the party's electoral prospects.
Jakhar, who had been Punjab Congress chief for four years before being replaced by Navjot Singh Sidhu in 2021, announced his resignation on social media while calling it a formality. The 68-year-old leader has said that Congress is facing an existential crisis but they are behaving as if the responsibility of the nation rests on its shoulders.
