Punjab BJP Reorganisation Stirs Revolt as Veterans Say Turncoats Given Priority

A reorganisation of the Punjab BJP has triggered an internal backlash, with more than a dozen senior leaders said to have revolted against the party high command over what they describe as the sidelining of the traditional cadre in favour of political turncoats.

The friction traces back to the appointment of Sunil Jakhar, a former Congress chief, as Punjab BJP president on July 11, 2023, replacing party veteran Ashwani Sharma. Sharma was later made working president, but the leadership question resurfaced when a Jat Sikh, Kewal Dhillon, another high-profile defector from the Congress, was named state president on May 28, 2026.

Sharma, reflecting the mood of the sidelined old guard, said official posts are transitory while the foundational role of key leaders endures. "The BJP believes in we and us, not I. The work of a karyakarta never ends. Posts come and go," he said.

Discontent has surfaced in resignations and open revolts across district and state-level tiers. Jagmohan Singh Raju, a retired Indian Administrative Service officer, resigned as state general secretary after Dhillon's elevation. The names of prominent figures, including former Vice President Arvind Khanna, were absent from the August 2026 executive list.

Sukhminder Pal Singh Grewal, who served the BJP for 34 years and held posts including Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha president and Kisan Morcha national secretary, resigned his primary membership on August 2, 2026. In a letter to party National President Nitin Nabin, he accused the state unit of becoming a Congress-dominated apparatus that systematically ignores veteran cadres.

"Sadly, the Punjab unit today is no longer the organization that inspired countless dedicated workers like me. The values of commitment, respect, sacrifice, and ideological loyalty appear to be steadily losing their place," he wrote, adding that sincere karyakartas across Punjab feel neglected, unheard and disheartened.

Senior state leaders backed by the RSS have objected to Dhillon's elevation, accusing the high command of importing Congress culture into the BJP through a lopsided reshuffle that sidelines foundational strongholds such as Doaba and Majha while concentrating power in urban hubs.

Regional units have seen their own rebellions. Former cabinet minister and RSS-BJP veteran Tikshan Sud led an internal revolt after Satish Thakur Bawa was abruptly removed as Hoshiarpur district urban president 15 days into the role, a move that sparked the mass resignation of over 111 local office-bearers. Similar resistance came from Hoshiarpur rural district president Yogesh Sapra over his removal.

The sidelining is not limited to those who resigned or revolted. Bhupesh Agrawal, a 40-year veteran whose father, former BJP MLA Shambhu Prasad, was killed by terrorists in 1987, criticised the high command for bypassing loyalists in favour of Congress turncoats. He was among those manhandled by farmers in 2021 during the farmer unrest.

Manoranjan Kalia of Jalandhar, a former minister and national executive member who spent decades building the unit, remains a spokesman against the AAP government but was left without a command in the August 2026 list. Avinash Rai Khanna, a former MP and Rajya Sabha member who led the state unit through difficult years, has been reduced to the role of elder statesman, while Shwait Malik, another former Rajya Sabha MP and ex-state president, is remembered for past service but excluded from present power.

Vijay Sampla, a prominent Dalit leader from the Doaba heartland and a former Union Minister of State and NCSC chairman, also did not find a place in the organisational list. Som Parkash, another former Union minister of state, has been given the least glamorous of the residual jobs.

"As chairman of the disciplinary committee, Som Parkash is now the instrument used to issue show-cause notices to the Sangrur rebels," a senior BJP leader said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The unrest extends further. Ten resignations followed in the Faridkot local unit after the removal of Gaurav Kakad. In Sangrur, Maninder Singh Kapil, a two-decade veteran and former district president, launched an open protest and a "BJP Bachao Yatra" after being ousted 13 days into his tenure, drawing a show-cause notice. Another Sangrur veteran, Randeep Singh Deol, described state general secretary Manthri Srinivasulu as an external actor running a dictatorial regime, while former state cells coordinator Jatinder Kalra joined the dissent.

Surjit Kumar Jyani stands out as a rare exception, retaining the role of state vice-president as of August 2026. A BJP leader said the core grievance of the old guard is not that every veteran has been purged, but that premier leadership offices and prominent socio-political positioning have gone to figures with deep roots in the Congress.

Observers note that the appointments appear to be part of a deliberate long-term calculation by the high command to pivot away from the party's historical perception as an urban-centric Hindu party in Punjab and court dominant agrarian Jat Sikh demographics ahead of electoral milestones.