BJP rejigs State units ahead of crucial polls

BJP on Thursday announced a fresh round of organisational appointments across several States. Union minister Harsh Malhotra was appointed as the new party chief of the Delhi BJP unit and senior leader Kewal Singh Dhillon as the president of its Punjab unit. Malhotra replaces Virendra Sachdeva as Delhi unit chief, while Dhillon succeeds Sunil Jakhar in Punjab.

In another significant change, Abhishek Debroy was appointed the new BJP president for Tripura, replacing Rajib Bhattacharjee, who remained party chief since 2022, while Archana Gupta was named the party’s Haryana unit chief, replacing Mohan Lal Badoli as the State president.

The appointment were announced by BJP national president Nitin Nabin as part of the party’s ongoing organisational reshuffle.

By choosing leaders like Dhillon and Malhotra, the BJP appears to be balancing regional influence, caste equations and administrative experience as it prepares for upcoming State and national-level political battles.

The appointment of Malhotra and Dillon, who was originally one of the faces of the BJP in Punjab, is intended to send out a positive signal to Punjabi voters in the capital ahead of the Punjab Assembly polls and MCD elections scheduled next year. Malhotra’s elevation is seen as crucial for the BJP’s preparations in the national capital, where the party is looking to strengthen its organisation and sharpen its political strategy.

Malhotra is a prominent BJP leader in Delhi who currently serves as a Member of Parliament in the Lok Sabha for the East Delhi constituency (elected in 2024).

He is also the Union Minister of State in the Ministry of Corporate Affairs and Minister of State in the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.

While Sardar Kewal Singh Dhillon, a two-time former Congress MLA from Barnala, had joined the BJP in 2022 and was subsequently appointed vice-president of the state unit of the party. BJP appointing Dhillon, a Sikh, as its Punjab unit chief indicates the party’s intent to strongly fight the state assembly polls due next year.

BJP leaders had been pushing for a Sikh face to lead the Punjab unit of the party. The BJP has already started preparations for the 2027 Punjab assembly polls, hoping to dislodge the AAP Government from power in the State. Dhillon replaces Sunil Jakhar, who was appointed as the Punjab BJP president in July 2023. Jakhar had also joined the BJP in 2022, ending his long association with the Congress.

The new BJP chief of Tripura, Abhishek Debroy, has been a member of the Tripura Legislative Assembly, representing the Matabari constituency, since winning his seat in the 2023 assembly elections as a BJP candidate.

Archana Gupta, newly appointed Haryana BJP president, is a doctor by profession. She was serving the party as its state general secretary. Gupta takes over from Mohan Lal Badoli. Gupta, who hails from Panipat, is the second woman after Kamla Verma, a veteran BJP leader, to lead the Haryana BJP as its president. She has also previously worked as the BJP Mahila Morcha President for the Panipat district. The newly appointed Haryana BJP chief is considered a close confidant of former Punjab chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh, who had also joined the BJP in 2022, about a year after his bitter parting with the Congress.