Appointment of Punjab BJP chief: Amarinder’s absence fuels buzz over faultlines in party

Chandigarh, Jun 5 (PTI) A section of BJP leaders, including Amarinder Singh, Raghav Chadha and Harbhajan Singh, were conspicuous by their absence at a party event where its new state unit chief assumed charge recently, leading to speculation why they skipped the function. The buzz about Amarinder Singh, who quit the Congress in 2021, being not happy grew after he raised questions on the appointment of Kewal Singh Dhillon as Punjab BJP chief, saying he was not consulted.

Chadha, Harbhajan Singh and four other Rajya Sabha members from Punjab recently switched over from AAP and joined the BJP.

BJP senior spokesperson Pritpal Singh Baliawal on Friday, however, scotched rumours that Amarinder Singh could jump ship and return to the Congress.

"These are just rumours. He is not going anywhere, he is with BJP," Baliawal asserted.

The 84-year-old two-time chief minister Singh has been mincing no words in expressing his reservation to 76-year-old Dhillon being handed over reins of Punjab BJP months before the 2027 assembly polls, saying, "I dont think Kewal is in a position what BJP wishes him to deliver." Like Amarinder Singh, Dhillon too served in the Congress for a long time before joining the BJP in 2022.

At the party event here on Wednesday, Amarinder Singh's Preneet Kaur and daughter Jai Inder Kaur, both BJP leaders, were, however, present.

Notably, Preneet and Jai Inder Kaur have pledged their support to Dhillon.

Similarly, four of the six Rajya Sabha members from Punjab -- Chadha, Harbhajan Singh, Rajinder Gupta and Sandeep Pathak -- were also not at the event where Dhillon assumed charge.

However, the two other Rajya Sabha members - Ashok Mittal and Vikramjit Sahney - who had switched sides with these four attended.

Amarinder Singh has been expressing his reservation to Dhillon's appointment, whom he calls a "friend".

"In the past we have known each other as friends, but friends is one side and political ability is the second side," he had said.

"I don't think Kewal is in a position what BJP wishes him to deliver. I say that because he has been actively involved when I was president and chief minister and his performance on the field has not been the way it should be. The BJP should have given a proper thought," Amarinder Singh had said.

Congress leader and former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, who shares good personal equation with Amarinder Singh, when asked by reporters if there was a possibility that the veteran could return to the Congress, replied, "I cannot say, you will have to ask him (Amarinder)." Amarinder Singh also feels the BJP did not consult him on an important appointment of a state party chief when it comes barely months before the Punjab assembly polls.

Punjab polls are scheduled early next year and the BJP has said it will fight on its own.

"I was not consulted. I have been in Punjab politics for 60 years. It is up to to the party to decide what they want, but at least views of people who have spent their whole lives in politics should have been taken and then they decide what they have to do," Amarinder had said.

He had also touched upon the difference in the working culture of the Congress, his earlier party, and the BJP.

"It is certainly not the way I have functioned in the past, let us say the in the Congress. I was three times their president (Punjab unit)... I was always consulted. In fact, I was never told what to do. I did what I wanted to and what I thought was in the interest of Punjab," he said.

Amarinder felt Sunil Jakhar, whom Dhillon replaced as state unit chief, and Punjab BJP working president Ashwani Sharma were better choices for the state unit chief post.

"Why did you remove Mr Jakhar...Jakhar and Ashwani Sharma are old stalwarts. Make the person who can deliver," he said.

Amarinder Singh has also questioned the argument that the BJP required a Jat Sikh face in Punjab to lead the party.

"I do not believe in this business of looking for a Sikh or any other face...Whether it is a Hindu, Sikh, Muslim or a Christian, what difference does it make. Make the person who you think can deliver," he said.

In a recent media interaction, Amarinder Singh had said Congress leader Rahul Gandhi wishes him on his birthday.

"I know him since he was a child, so those feelings remain," he said.

Amarinder had also said that he had received a condolence message from Rahul Gandhi on the passing away of his cousin brother Randhir Singh, who was veteran sports administrator and India's first shooting gold-medallist in Asian Games. PTI