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JP Nadda meets four Punjab BJP leaders to assess ‘ground realities’
BJP chief JP Nadda met Punjab leaders to assess the situation after three ex-ministers rejoined Congress, causing a setback for the party in the state. More leaders are rumored to be in talks with other parties.
With apprehension of more exodus, Bharatiya Janata Party chief JP Nadda met four Punjab leaders to assess ‘ground realties’ and a way ahead.
This comes after three ex-ministers, including a core committee member, re-joined Congress, leaving BJP top brass in the state red-faced. The exodus of ex-ministers Raj Kumar Verka, Balbir Sidhu and Gurpreet Kangar, who had left the Congress to join the BJP after the 2022 state poll debacle, is also being seen as a setback for the newly appointed Punjab BJP chief Sunil Jakhar, who had given the trio key posts in the party.
On Sunday, Nadda met former minister Rana Gurmeet Sodhi, former MLA Fateh Jung Bajwa, former Barnala MLA Kewal Dhillon and former Congress leader Dr Lakhwinder Kaur Garcha to know their grievances.
The development comes amid rumours that more leaders are in talks with other parties and may leave the BJP in the near future. Nadda’s meeting comes amid the backdrop of the BJP trying to position itself as a serious player in the border state.
Last week, the BJP top brass in Delhi had rushed senior leaders, including former Gujarat chief minister and Punjab affairs in-charge Vijay Rupani and its vice-president and in-charge of Northern states Saudan Singh, to assess the situation at the ground. Rupani met with the senior leadership of the state unit, including Punjab BJP chief Jakhar, and took feedback.
Nadda’s move to meet leaders individually is a signal that the high command doesn’t want a repeat of the October 14 incident. A leader privy to the development said the BJP chief held one-on-one meetings with these leaders at the party’s national headquarters to assess ‘ground realties’ and national general secretary (organisation), BL Santosh, was also present.
In the meeting, the leaders shared their feedback on the reasons behind their discomfort with the party and ground realities.
“We were especially asked by the BJP chief to come to see him and discuss the party’s challenges in the wake of the recent desertion of few leaders back to the Congress. We have apprised the national party chief about why there was a growing discontentment among the few leaders,” said one of the leaders, who was part of the group that met Nadda on Sunday.
The meeting, party senior leaders say, is an effort to quell further rebellion.
Earlier too, Nadda has met a group of leaders owning allegiance to the party, including former general secretaries during Ashwani Sharma’s tenure-Subhash Sharma, Jeevan Gupta and Rajesh Bagha. All these leaders were also given the one-on-one opportunity by Nadda to express their views about the party’s functioning.
“The party had a grand start in Punjab after the 2022 assembly polls when many leaders started joining the BJP from other parties. However, our strategy of inducting too many outsiders and giving power to them seems to have backfired as the gap between the workers and the state leadership has widened,” one of the leaders named above said.
When contacted, Rana Gurmeet Sodhi downplayed the meeting and said they met Nadda to discuss many party issues, and the discussions were held over the growing popularity of BJP in Punjab.
Fateh Bajwa said the meeting was held in a cordial atmosphere and the party chief was kind enough to get suggestions from the Punjab leaders on how the party can be strengthened at the booth level.
