Jatinder Pal Malhotra, 60, was re-elected as president of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Chandigarh unit for another three years after no other nominations were filed for the post on Wednesday.
Although Malhotra, who was appointed in October 2023, had not yet completed his first term, the nomination process for both the Chandigarh president and National Council members was held as part of the BJP’s ongoing organisational elections, Sangathan Parv.
For the two positions of BJP National Council members, former Chandigarh member of Parliament Kirron Kher and former city BJP chief Sanjay Tandon submitted their nominations and were also elected unopposed.
Narinder Singh Raina, a senior BJP MLA from Jammu and Kashmir and the party’s national secretary, served as the returning officer for the elections on Wednesday. Raina is also the state co-in-charge for Punjab.
Malhotra, a resident of Sector 21, belongs to the Sanjay Tandon camp and offers business consultancy to food processing plants. Originally from Amritsar, his family moved to Chandigarh in 1964. Raised in the city, Malhotra completed his schooling at DAV Public School in Sector 8, followed by his graduation from DAV College in Sector 10. He later earned a master’s degree in public administration from Panjab University.
Influenced by his mother, who was actively involved with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), Malhotra’s connection with the organisation began early. In 2011, he ventured into politics by contesting the local civic body elections but was defeated by the late Congress candidate Mukesh Bassi. Despite the setback, his political involvement deepened, leading to his appointment as the Chandigarh BJP president in October 2023.
{{/usCountry}}Influenced by his mother, who was actively involved with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), Malhotra’s connection with the organisation began early. In 2011, he ventured into politics by contesting the local civic body elections but was defeated by the late Congress candidate Mukesh Bassi. Despite the setback, his political involvement deepened, leading to his appointment as the Chandigarh BJP president in October 2023.
{{/usCountry}}His leadership had faced scrutiny after the BJP’s loss in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, where party’s Sanjay Tandon was defeated by INDIA bloc’s Manish Tewari by a narrow margin of 2,504 votes. Speaking to HT, Malhotra said, “Although our party is strong at every level in the city, we will make it even stronger. With the NDA government at the Centre, we will take the city’s development to the next level.”
Regarding the upcoming mayoral elections on January 24, he remarked, “In a day or two, we will announce our candidate and we are confident of winning the elections.”