In a politically significant move ahead of the 2027 Punjab Assembly elections, the BJP on Thursday appointed former Congress leader and ex-Barnala MLA Kewal Singh Dhillon as the party’s new Punjab chief, making him the first Jat Sikh face to head a BJP state unit.

The appointment is being seen as part of the BJP’s larger attempt to recalibrate its Punjab strategy after the end of its three-decade-long alliance with the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) in September 2020 over the now-scrapped farm laws, and repeated electoral setbacks in Punjab thereafter.

Since the SAD-BJP alliance collapsed, both leaders chosen by the BJP to head its Punjab unit — Sunil Jakhar in 2023 and Kewal Dhillon now — are former Congress heavyweights who joined the saffron party in 2022.

Dhillon, 76, replaces Jakhar, whose three-year tenure was scheduled to end in July. Jakhar had offered to resign in June 2024 after the BJP failed to win a single Lok Sabha seat in Punjab despite contesting all 13 seats on its own for the first time after severing ties with the SAD, though its vote share rose from 9% to 18.5%. Though the BJP high command did not immediately accept his resignation and asked him to continue, the party had simultaneously initiated internal consultations for a broader organisational reshuffle. In July 2025, former state party chief Ashwani Sharma was appointed working president, signalling an impending transition within the state unit.

Reacting to his elevation in Chandigarh on Thursday, Dhillon said, “I wasn’t aware of the announcement by the party high command… However, I will fulfill all duties entrusted to me. The BJP has its government in 23 states… After Bengal, the next turn is in Punjab. In 2027, the ‘lotus’ will bloom in Punjab.”

On the change of guard, Jakhar said, “Serving as the president of Punjab BJP has been a matter of great honour and responsibility. The trust reposed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji and the guidance received throughout from Union Home Minister Amit Shah ji have been a constant source of strength during this journey.”

“The Punjab BJP’s strength has always rested in its karyakartas, leaders and supporters across the state, whose commitment and cooperation made this tenure meaningful and memorable. As this responsibility now passes on, my warm wishes and full support are with Kewal Dhillon ji. I am confident that under his leadership, the organisation will continue to grow stronger and serve Punjab with even greater commitment,” Jakhar added.

While Jakhar’s appointment in 2023 was viewed as the BJP’s attempt to attract urban Hindu voters and former Congress supporters, Dhillon’s elevation reflects another political calculation — expanding the party’s acceptability among Sikh voters in a state where the BJP has struggled independently after the Akali alliance ended.

Punjab has a 57.69% Sikh population and 38.5% Hindu population, according to the 2011 Census. Though BJP leaders maintain Punjab politics cannot be viewed purely through a religious lens, the choice of Dhillon is widely being interpreted as a symbolic and strategic outreach towards Sikh voters.

“It is definitely not necessary to have a Sikh face as president as Punjab is a secular state, but still the BJP is also working on the same school of thought as other political parties,” a senior BJP leader said.

Dhillon, a Jat Sikh from Tallewal village in Barnala district, is considered close to former Punjab Chief Minister and ex-Congress leader Captain Amarinder Singh. A seasoned politician and prominent industrialist, Dhillon has had a long political journey rooted largely in the Congress before switching sides in 2022.

A two-time Congress MLA from Barnala between 2007 and 2017 during the SAD-BJP government, Dhillon had also served as senior vice-president of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee. In the 2017 Assembly elections, he narrowly lost to Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)’s Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer from Barnala by around 2,000 votes.

In 2019, the Congress fielded him from the Sangrur Lok Sabha seat against the AAP’s Bhagwant Mann, but Dhillon lost by over 1 lakh votes. Ahead of the 2022 Assembly elections, the Congress denied him a ticket from Barnala and instead fielded Munish Bansal, son of former Union minister Pawan Kumar Bansal. Dhillon was subsequently expelled from the Congress after he allegedly refused to campaign for the party nominee.

Months later, following the then ruling Congress’s disastrous Assembly poll performance and the AAP’s landslide victory, Dhillon joined the BJP in June 2022. Almost immediately, the BJP fielded him in the Sangrur Lok Sabha bypoll necessitated after Mann resigned from Parliament following his elevation as Punjab Chief Minister. Though Dhillon finished fourth in the bypoll with over 66,000 votes, BJP leaders viewed it as a respectable debut since he polled more votes than the SAD candidate, who finished fifth.

Dhillon again contested the Barnala Assembly bypoll in November 2024 after the AAP’s Meet Hayer vacated the seat upon winning the Sangrur Lok Sabha election. Dhillon finished third, and was the only BJP candidate who saved their security deposit among the four Assembly bypolls held in Punjab at the time.

Despite remaining electorally unsuccessful after joining the BJP, Dhillon steadily consolidated his position within the party organisation and served as the state party vice president and member of the BJP’s core committee in Punjab.

His appointment also underlines the BJP’s continued dependence on leaders imported from the Congress to expand its political footprint in Punjab after the Akali split. The party still lacks a strong independent mass base in rural Punjab and has increasingly relied on former Congress faces to fill that vacuum.

There is also a political irony attached to the transition from Jakhar to Dhillon.

Jakhar had left the Congress in May 2022 after repeatedly expressing displeasure over the 2021 political controversy in Punjab when he was overlooked for the Chief Minister’s post after Amarinder Singh’s resignation, allegedly because he was a Hindu face. Jakhar has publicly referred to the issue several times in the past. Now, four years later, the BJP has replaced Jakhar with its first-ever Sikh state president in Punjab.

Dhillon, meanwhile, struck a measured tone after his appointment. “I am a worker of the party, whatever responsibility the party gives me, I will perform it with diligence,” he had said in response to earlier speculation over his elevation.

According to his affidavit filed during the 2024 Barnala Assembly bypoll, Dhillon has completed his education till Class 12 and has declared assets worth over Rs 212 crore. Reflecting his stature as one of Punjab’s most prominent businessmen-politicians, Dhillon’s assets have grown manifold from Rs 78 crore as per his 2012 Assembly poll affidavit. Dhillon has also been known to sympathise with farmers’ unions – when protesters staged dharnas outside his home on several occasions, Dhillon would serve them tea and water, and offer demonstrators to use the toilet in his house. “In a democracy, everyone has a right to protest. They are my own people,” Dhillon would say.

For the BJP, however, the bigger challenge lies beyond symbolism. With the SAD alliance gone, limited penetration among rural voters, and no significant electoral success independently so far, Dhillon’s appointment will ultimately be judged by whether he can help the BJP build a broader social and political coalition in Punjab before the 2027 Assembly battle.

Reacting to the appointment, Punjab CM and AAP leader Bhagwant Mann on Thursday said on X, “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. Heartfelt sympathies to Sunil Jakhar. May God give strength to Ravneet Bittu, Manpreet Badal, Fatehjang Bajwa, Tarun Chugh and Ashwani Sharma to endure this humiliation.” Mann was referring to the other names in the race for the state BJP chief, sources said.