Kewal Singh Dhillon takes charge as Punjab BJP chief

Portrait of the last Sikh ruler Ranjit Singh installed in Punjab BJP office for first time as saffron party marks its transition to its first Jat Sikh chief with a blend of ‘ardaas’ and ‘puja’ rituals

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday installed Kewal Singh Dhillon as its first-ever Jat Sikh state president.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday installed Kewal Singh Dhillon as its first-ever Jat Sikh state president.

The 76-year-old industrialist-turned-politician formally took charge in Chandigarh amid a symbolic blend of traditional Sikh ‘ardaas’ and Sanatan Dharma ‘puja’ rituals, underscored by the historic installation of a portrait of the 19th-century Sikh ruler Maharaja Ranjit Singh inside the state chief’s office.

“Today marks the beginning of a new chapter for Punjab,” Dhillon said shortly after taking charge. “We are drawing inspiration from the golden, inclusive governance of Khalsa Raj of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, where every community thrived equally.”

The entire BJP top leadership from the region, including Haryana chief minister Nayab Singh Saini, outgoing party’s state chief Sunil Jakhar, outgoing working president Ashwani Sharma, Union minister Ravneet Bittu, Rajya Sabha members Satnam Sandhu, Ashok Mittal and Vikramjeet Singh Sahney, party’s national general secretary Tarun Chugh, former ministers Manoranjan Kalia, Manpreet Badal, Rana Gurmeet Sodhi, parliamentary board member Iqbal Singh Lalpura attended the event.

Former MP Preneet Kaur and her daughter Jai Inder Kaur’s attendance was seen as a deliberate move to maintain a family presence, particularly after her husband, former chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh, publicly distanced himself from the appointment by stating that Dhillon was not his confidant and questioning his recent electoral track record.

Addressing the gathering, Dhillon said the BJP is no longer a marginal player or confined to specific pockets in Punjab. “We are heading straight into the villages, to the farmers, and to the grassroots to restore the state’s lost glory and bring back prosperity. The party’s aim now is to form the next government in Punjab.”

A large number of BJP supporters from rural areas and the Sikh community were seen during the installation ceremony.

Chugh termed Dhillon’s installation as state unit chief “a historic milestone for the party in Punjab.”

Jakhar said the organisational transitions are a sign of a healthy, evolving party.

“I welcome Kewal Singh Dhillon ji to this responsibility. The foundation we have built over the last three years to make the BJP an independent force in Punjab will now be carried forward with renewed vigour. My support remains fully with the leadership to ensure the party’s victory.”

Haryana chief minister Nayab Singh Saini joined the preliminary religious rituals but chose not to share the political stage during the main leadership addresses.

Saini, while addressing the workers and leaders after the event, said Punjab is poised to elect a BJP-led ‘double-engine government’ in the 2027 assembly elections.

“The party would further strengthen its grassroots presence and emerge as a credible vehicle for development, good governance and economic progress in the state,” he said.

Union minister Ravneet Singh Bittu urged Dhillon to carry all the party leaders along and work in unison. “We are ready to go door-to-door across Punjab before the assembly polls,” he said.

Bittu also dropped hints about contesting the next assembly polls.

“I have spent almost 17 years as a Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha member in Delhi, and now I want to come back to Punjab,” Bittu said during an interaction with a news channel after the event. Bittu was made Union Minister of state for railways after losing the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. He was later elected as a Rajya Sabha member from Rajasthan, with his term set to end on June 21. “I have conveyed my feelings to the party leadership. The final decision rests with high command,” he said.

Strategic shift to go solo

The shift in leadership comes as the BJP prepares to contest the 2027 Punjab assembly elections on its own.

Earlier, the BJP had been restricted to an urban-centric force in Punjab, largely playing non-Jat politics by consolidating urban traders, Hindus, and Dalit communities while relying heavily on its three-decade-long alliance with the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) to secure rural and Sikh votes. However, that alliance collapsed in September 2020 over the controversial and now-scrapped central farm laws, forcing the saffron party to recalibrate its strategy.

Dhillon, a two-time Congress MLA from Barnala (2007–2017) who defected to the BJP in June 2022 following the Aam Aadmi Party’s landslide victory, has risen through the organisational ranks from vice-president to core committee.