BJP appoints four new state chiefs: Harsh Malhotra gets Delhi, Kewal Singh Dhillon replaces Jakhar in Punjab

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national president Nitin Nabin on Thursday announced a fresh round of organisational appointments, naming new presidents for its state units in Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, and Tripura. Separate notifications were issued by the BJP national general secretary Arun Singh.

BJP appoints 4 new state chiefs

 According to the party announcement, the four new state chief are: 

• Harsh Malhotra has been appointed President of the BJP’s Delhi unit.
• Kewal Singh Dhillon has been appointed President of the BJP’s Punjab unit.
• Archana Gupta has been named President of the BJP’s Haryana unit.
• Abhishek Debroy has been named the new President of the BJP’s Tripura state unit.

Harsh Malhotra is replacing Virendra Sachdeva as the new president of the BJP’s Delhi unit, while Kewal Singh Dhillon has replaced Sunil Jakhar as the party’s Punjab chief. Similarly, Archana Gupta has replaced Mohan Lal Badoli as president of the BJP’s Haryana unit, while Abhishek Debroy has replaced Rajib Bhattacharjee as the new chief of the party’s Tripura unit.

Kewal Singh Dhillon new Punjab unit chief 

A former MLA from Barnala, Dhillon, has been active in Punjab politics for a long time and is also considered a close associate of former Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh. He was previously a member of the Congress party before joining the BJP.

Dhillon represented the Barnala Assembly constituency in Punjab from 2007 to 2017 as a Congress nominee. Dhillon was defeated by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidate Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer in 2017 and also lost the 2019 Lok Sabha polls from the Sangrur seat at the hands of Bhagwant Mann. He joined the BJP in 2022 and fought the 2022 Sangrur Lok Sabha bypoll and the Barnala Assembly bypoll in 2024 but lost both.

According to political analysts, the BJP has taken this significant decision as part of a strategic move to project a Sikh face in Punjab, with an eye on the 2027 Assembly elections. It now remains to be seen what new strategies the Punjab BJP will adopt under the leadership of Kewal Singh Dhillon as it moves forward towards the 2027 elections.

After being appointed president of the BJP’s Punjab unit, Dhillon said he would discharge the responsibility entrusted to him by the party with complete dedication. “I will discharge the responsibility entrusted to me by the party with utmost dedication. The BJP’s ‘Lotus’ will bloom in Punjab, and we will form the government in 2027. Punjab may be weary, but it is not broken. Today, ‘Gunda Raj’ (lawlessness) prevails in Punjab,” he said.

Meanwhile, outgoing Sunil Jakhar said serving as the president of the BJP’s Punjab unit had been a matter of “great honour and responsibility.” Jakhar thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah for the trust and guidance extended to him during his tenure.

He also acknowledged the support and organisational guidance received from senior BJP leaders, including BL Santhosh, Jagat Prakash Nadda, and Nitin Nabin.

Harsh Malhotra, a first-time MP, now BJP Delhi chief 

Harsh Malhotra, a first-time MP, is known for his organisational acumen and has worked at the grassroots level to strengthen the party in Delhi. He is serving as the Union Minister of State for Corporate Affairs and Road Transport & Highways. He represents the East Delhi constituency in the Lok Sabha. 

He was fielded from the East Delhi Lok Sabha constituency in place of ace cricketer Gautam Gambhir, who wanted to focus on his cricket commitments, in the 2024 general elections. Malhotra managed to defeat his opponent, the INDIA bloc’s Kuldeep Kumar, by 93,663 votes.

Before his parliamentary role, Malhotra was in-charge of the General Secretary, BJP Delhi unit. He also served as a municipal councillor and the Mayor of the East Delhi Municipal Corporation. He first became a councillor of the erstwhile East Delhi Municipal Corporation in 2012 from Welcome Colony. The BJP leader was appointed chairman of the civic body’s education committee before taking over as mayor in 2015-16.

Archana Gupta, who hails from Panipat, had been serving as the State General Secretary of the BJP in Haryana before being appointed as the new state unit president.

Abhishek Debroy was fielded as the official BJP candidate from the high-profile Matarbari Assembly constituency in the 2023 Tripura Legislative Assembly election. He won the seat by defeating Congress candidate Pranajit Roy with a margin of over 9,000 votes.