Punjab Cong ex-chief Jakhar switches to BJP, praises Modi
Smriti Kak Ramachandran
NEW DELHI/ CHANDIGARH: Days after he resigned from the Congress bidding the party “good luck and goodbye”, veteran leader Sunil Jakhar, 68, on Thursday joined the BJP saying he felt the need to join party with “nationalistic” outlook.
BJP national chief JP Nadda welcomed the former Punjab Congress chief in the party fold at the BJP headquarters in Delhi.
“I broke the connection (with the Congress) not for a personal issue, but for the reason of nationalism… I think it is the right time to have a rethink when we move away from our ideology,” Jakhar, who resigned from the Congress ending his family’s 50-year connection with the party on Saturday, said after joining the BJP.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, people close to Jakhar said he may be nominated to the Rajya Sabha and be given some responsibility in Punjab.
Jakhar headed the Punjab unit of Congress for little over four years before being replaced with Navjot Singh Sidhu in July 2021. He was at the loggerheads with the Congress ever since the party leadership issued him a show-cause notice before removing him from all posts on April 30 for “anti-party” activities in the run-up to this year’s assembly elections.
Ahead of the Punjab polls held in March, Jakhar claimed the Congress refused to name him as the chief ministerial candidate because he was a Hindu, and the party felt that a Sikh candidate would have better chances of winning. Praising PM Narendra Modi, Jakhar said he met the PM when he came for the Kartarpur corridor inauguration and “understood his sentiments”. Welcoming Jakhar into the party, Nadda said, “Punjab is a border state with more than 50 km border with Pakistan and there are issues related to drugs and terrorism… There are attempts from the Pakistani side to make it a gateway for activities that might be detrimental to India. In such a scenario, nationalistic forces need to be stronger in Punjab.” Former Punjab CM Amarinder Singh, whose Punjab Lok Congress is an ally of BJP, congratulated Jakhar for joining the saffron outfit.
Accusing Jakhar of damaging the Congress, Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh Raja Warring said “Not unexpected. @sunilkjakhar may have formally joined the @Bjp4india today, he had started working for the party long before, playing blatantly Hindutva politics, damaging the party in every way. There was reason for him to rake up ‘Hindu’ card and the reason was revealed today,” Warring tweeted.