Punjab news: According to sources, the Punjab president of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Sunil Jakhar has resigned as the state BJP chief, just over a year after he was named to lead the party in the state.
The state BJP has been rendered headless ahead of the panchayat elections on October 15 (Tuesday). He did not attend a crucial meeting of the state BJP to discuss and finalise the party’s strategy for the upcoming panchayat elections.
BJP denies reports about Sunil Jakhar's resignation as Punjab chief
The BJP denied rumours about the resignation of Sunil Jakhar as Punjab unit president, the party’s prominent Hindu face in the state. However, there is no official statement from the party so far.
Party sources said Jakhar has been upset for some time over the state of affairs and has already apprised the top leadership about his unwillingness to work as the state party president. He is said to have conveyed that he is unable to work freely, the sources added.
“He has offered to step down but the party advised him to continue to hold the post till the next election to the post likely in December and he agreed upon the advice,” a senior party leader said.
The sources said rumours about his purported differences with the party gained strength when he preferred to remain absent from a meeting called by him on Thursday to finalise the party’s strategy for the ongoing membership drive. “After abstaining from the meeting, rumours spread that he boycotted the meeting in protest,” a source said.
Jakhar has just returned from abroad after a month-long visit. Coming forward to deny media reports over the resignation of Jakhar, senior Punjab BJP leader Harjit Singh Grewal debunked fake reports of Jakhar’s resignation and unwillingness to work.
“Jakhar is the party’s senior-most leader and I met him two-three days ago and he has not expressed anything (over his decision to resign),” Grewal told a news channel, adding “owing to his preoccupations, he might not be able to attend the meeting (on Thursday)”.
“For his non-availability, it is wrong to link his resignation or disappointment with the party’s (central) leadership,” he added.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in July 2023 appointed former Congress leader Jakhar as its state unit president. Jakhar, one of the senior Congress leaders in Punjab, joined the BJP in May 2022, three months after the Assembly elections that the Congress lost.
A former Lok Sabha MP from Gurdaspur, Jakhar is a three-time MLA from the Abohar Assembly constituency. He is known for his plain speak and straightforward approach. Jakhar had been the Congress chief in the state for four years before being replaced by Navjot Singh Sidhu in 2021.
Punjab Panchayat elections | Here are FULL DETAILS
Elections to over 13,000 gram panchayats in Punjab will be held on October 15, the State Election Commission (SEC) said. Punjab State Election Commissioner Raj Kamal Chaudhuri said that with the announcement of the election schedule, the model code of conduct for the gram panchayat elections has come into force with immediate effect.
According to the election schedule, the filing of nominations will commence from September 27 and October 4 will be the last date. Nominations will not be accepted on September 28 as it is a public holiday. Scrutiny of nomination papers will take place on October 5 and the last date for withdrawal of nominations is October 7, Chaudhuri said.
Polling will be held from 8 am to 4 pm on October 15 through ballot boxes. Votes will be counted on the same day at the polling stations after the completion of voting, he said.
Polling will be held for 13,237 posts of sarpanch and 83,437 of panch. There are a total of 1,33,97,922 registered voters -- 70,51,722 males and 63,46,008 females. There will be 19,110 polling booths.
Chaudhuri said around 96,000 personnel will be deputed on election duty and 23 senior Indian Administrative Service (IAS) and Punjab Civil Service (PCS) officers would be appointed as general observers to ensure smooth and peaceful conduct of elections. He said the expenditure limit for a candidate contesting for the post of sarpanch is Rs 40,000 whereas those in the fray for the post of panch is Rs 30,000.
Early this month, the Punjab Vidhan Sabha had passed the Punjab Panchayati Raj (Amendment) Bill, 2024, to hold panchayat elections without symbols of political parties.
