On Thursday, Sunil Jakhar, senior Congress leader and former chief of its Punjab unit formally joined the Bharatiya Janata Party days after he quit the Congress. “There is an element of casteism in the Congress but BJP has equality for all,” he said on May 19 in presence of BJP President JP Nadda.
Former Punjab Congress Chief Sunil Jakhar joins Bharatiya Janata Party in presence of party president JP Nadda in Delhi pic.twitter.com/eoUHhHH1Ul
— ANI (@ANI) May 19, 2022
According to the reports, Nadda officially inducted Jakhar into the party and stated that he would play a critical role for BJP in Punjab. “I welcome Sunil Jakhar to Bharatiya Janata Party. He is an experienced political leader who made a name for himself during his political career. I am confident he will play a big role in strengthening the party in Punjab”, he said.
I welcome Sunil Jakhar to Bharatiya Janata Party. He is an experienced political leader who made a name for himself during his political career. I am confident he will play a big role in strengthening the party in Punjab: BJP president JP Nadda in Delhi pic.twitter.com/SqJFjIMS8T
— ANI (@ANI) May 19, 2022
On May 14, Jakhar had quit Congress and had said that Congress leaders sitting in Delhi were responsible for ruining the party in Punjab. In a 35 minute long Facebook Live video named ‘Dil Ki Baat’, he had urged Rahul Gandhi to retake control and had warned him to distance himself from sycophants. “Congress is facing an existential crisis. Good luck and goodbye”, he had noted.
“…Good luck and goodbye Congress…” says former Punjab Congress chief Sunil Jakhar in a Facebook live as he quits the party. pic.twitter.com/ABk8lKSN7W
— ANI (@ANI) May 14, 2022
The saga actually began on November 10, 2021, when former state Congress president Sunil Jakhar called Punjab CM Charanjit Singh Channi a ‘really compromised CM’. He also had said that CM Channi was not an asset as portrayed by the party leadership.
The Congress leadership then on April 11 issued a show-cause notice to Jakhar for ‘breaching the party discipline’. The Congress disciplinary committee also removed him from all the party posts and alleged that Jakhar was involved in some anti-party activities. The former MP May 14 also castigated Sonia Gandhi for issuing a show-cause notice despite him not holding any position in the party.
“I don’t hold any post (in the party). I have an ideology. I want to ask Sonia Gandhi that being Congress president, doesn’t she know that I hold no position in the party? Then why a show-cause notice is being given to me?”, he had said on the day he quit the Congress party.
‘Dil ki Bat’
— Sunil Jakhar (@sunilkjakhar) May 14, 2022
https://t.co/JfJqcPP2SA
On Thursday, while joining the BJP, Jakhar revealed that he was deliberately sidelined from Congress because he had pointed out that the party can’t treat Punjab in percentages and divides people over caste. “I had a 50-year-old relationship with Congress, my family has been with the party for three generations since 1972. I considered it family”, he said reiterating that there is an element of casteism in Congress, but BJP has equality for all. “You can remove Sunil Jakhar from a party post but can’t silence him”, he said addressing the Congress party.
The statement by Jakhar came at a time when the Congress party was holding the ‘Chintan Shivir’ in Udaipur, a last ditched attempt to relaunch itself ahead of the crucial 2024 general elections. Jakhar commenting on the ongoing mess in the Congress party had said that the ‘chintan shivir’ was merely a formality and should have been called ‘chinta shivir’, or a gathering to express concerns. “But the worry was nowhere to be seen. If there had really been a sense of worry, there would have been a committee on the party’s poor show in Uttar Pradesh,” he had said in the video message.
He had also questioned why Harish Rawat, the former chief minister of Uttarakhand, was appointed as the party in charge of Punjab. “Harish Rawat ji had one foot in Punjab and the other in Dehradun”, he had remarked. Rawat was to a considerable measure responsible for the party’s failure in Punjab, according to Jakhar, although he did not want to blame him entirely.
The former Punjab Congress head also blamed the party’s defeat on party leader and Rajya Sabha MP Ambika Soni. He accused her of leading Rahul Gandhi, the party’s leader, astray, not only in Punjab but also in other states. Jakhar claimed Soni wanted to divide Hindus and Sikhs, and questioned why she hadn’t been kicked out of the party. “There can be no resurgence of the party unless you get rid of leaders like Ambika Soni,” he had said. `
After Jakhar quit, former Punjab Congress Chief Navjot Singh Sidhu had called him an asset worth his weight in gold and had urged the grand old party not to ‘lose’ him. “The Congress should not lose Sunil Jakhar. Is an asset worth his weight in gold. Any differences can be resolved on the table”, he had tweeted.
The congress should not loose #sunilkjakhar …. Is an asset worth his weight in gold …. Any differences can be resolved on the table
— Navjot Singh Sidhu (@sherryontopp) May 14, 2022
Jakhar joining BJP is of importance as he is one of the important non-Sikh political leaders of Punjab. Reports mention that he might be sent to the Rajya Sabha from Punjab.
