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The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is in a mood to make major changes in the Punjab unit ahead of the assembly elections to be held early next year. The tenure of current party president Sunil Jakhar was to end in July. After this, the party now had to decide on the new president and the party now wanted to bet on a Sikh face. The party has finally approved the name of Keval Singh Dhillon, which was in discussion for some time. National President Nitin Naveen has again chosen an old Congressman as the new head of Punjab BJP. The party has announced the name of Kewal Singh Dhillon, close to Captain Amarinder Singh.

Only Singh Dhillon fits into the party’s strategy. After West Bengal, BJP wants to form government in Punjab also but the party is facing many difficulties. The party is now moving out of its old votebank of urban voters and building an organization in the villages. Along with this, efforts are also being made to remove the tag of Hindu party. At present both the party head and the working head were Hindus. In such a situation, it was almost certain that a Sikh face would become the leader to woo Sikh voters.

Who is Kewal Singh Dhillon?

In the race for Pradhan, along with Singh Dhillon, other names were also in discussion but the party approved the name of Singh Dhillon only. Kewal Singh Dhillon is a senior leader coming from Barnala district. He remained in Congress for a long time and was also elected MLA from Barnala seat. He won the 2007 and 2012 Punjab Assembly elections on Congress ticket. He was counted among the big Jat Sikh faces of Punjab Congress. In 2017, he was defeated by Aam Aadmi Party leader Gurmeet Meet Hayer. After this, he also lost to Bhagwant Mann in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

After this, the party did not give him ticket in the year 2022. The Congress had expelled him on charges of anti-party activities just ahead of the 2022 assembly elections. In his place, the ticket was given to the son of former Railway Minister Pawan Bansal. After this he joined BJP.

BJP had given the ticket

Kewal Singh Dhillon is considered close to Captain Amarinder Singh. After joining BJP, he was given ticket from Sangrur Lok Sabha seat, which became vacant after Bhagwant Mann became the CM in 2022. However, he could not win the election on this seat. Since then he is among the senior leaders of the core committee of Punjab BJP.

Leader in favor of Sikh face

Punjab BJP leaders were now in favor of a Sikh face. National General Secretary of the party, Tarun Chugh is active in Punjab and he was advocating for the Sikh face. Haryana CM is also campaigning for the party in Punjab. He himself is touring the whole of Punjab wearing a turban. He also believed that the party should give a chance to a Sikh face. Till now the party has been strong only in Hindu dominated areas of Punjab and was dependent on Akali Dal for Sikh votes, but now the party has made up its mind to expand.

party strategy

Many names including Union Minister Ravneet Bittu were in discussion as Sikh face but only Singh Dhillon’s name has been approved. Kewal Singh Dhillon comes from the Jatt Sikh community, which is considered extremely influential in the politics of Punjab. The state’s large rural population and Jatt Sikh votes play a decisive role in many assembly seats. This is the reason why BJP has also put forward the leader of Jatt Sikh community.