Chandigarh: In a significant political development ahead of the 2027 Punjab Assembly elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday inducted several senior leaders from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Congress and Shiromani Akali Dal, signalling an aggressive push to expand its footprint in the state.
Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini formally welcomed former Congress MP Jagmeet Brar into the BJP at the party’s Chandigarh office. Former Officer on Special Duty to Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, Onkar Sidhu, also joined the BJP, along with senior Akali leader Charanjit Singh Brar. Former Kotkapura MLA Ripjeet Singh Brar, the brother of Jagmeet Brar, was also inducted into the party. Jagmeet Brar had earlier contested the 2022 Punjab Assembly elections from the Moga Mandi seat on an Akali Dal ticket.
Punjab BJP president Sunil Jakhar said the new entrants reflected a growing public shift towards the party. He stated that the BJP’s expanding presence in Punjab mirrored the aspirations of the people, who were increasingly concerned about governance, security and stability in the state.
Former Union minister and MP Preneet Kaur said Punjab was witnessing a clear change in its political direction well before the 2027 elections. She expressed confidence that the BJP was steadily emerging as a credible alternative capable of forming the next government in the state.
Union Minister Ravneet Singh Bittu said the BJP would contest all 117 Assembly seats in Punjab and asserted that people had begun to see the party as best placed to address issues such as drug abuse, organised crime and unemployment. He said development would gain momentum in Punjab once the BJP formed the government.
Party leaders indicated that the BJP is concentrating heavily on the Malwa region, which accounts for 69 of the state’s 117 Assembly seats. All the newly inducted Brar family members belong to the Malwa belt, highlighting the party’s focus on strengthening its organisational base in the region seen as crucial for electoral success.
Addressing the gathering, Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini said the BJP’s growing strength in Punjab was encouraging. He claimed that fear and insecurity had increased among the public in recent years and maintained that only the BJP could provide effective governance and restore public confidence, as it had done at the national level.
