CHANDIGARH: Discontent is growing within the Punjab BJP over the recent appointment of district presidents, with senior leaders and long-time party workers reportedly raising objections to the organisational changes.
The BJP high command on Saturday summoned state unit president Kewal Singh Dhillon and state secretary (organisation) Mantri Srinivasulu to Delhi for a meeting. The meeting comes a day after Shiromani Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Singh Badal met Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Dhillon and Srinivasulu left for Delhi from Ludhiana while they were holding meetings with the party’s newly elected state office-bearers and district presidents. A meeting on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in the state was also scheduled.
The agenda of the Delhi meeting was not immediately clear. However, sections of the state unit said the growing dissent following the formation of the new executive could be discussed.
BJP national general secretary (organisation) BL Santosh and Nitin Nabin are expected to meet Dhillon and Srinivasulu.
Another section of party leaders said the meeting could be a follow-up to Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s preliminary meeting with the Punjab leadership on preparations for the state Assembly elections. The party’s future poll strategy in Punjab could also be discussed.
A section of the Punjab BJP leadership is upset with the recent organisational changes. Former Cabinet minister and senior party leader Tikshan Sood and his loyalists have resigned from their posts in Hoshiarpur in protest.
The controversy has intensified in several parts of the state, with party insiders questioning the process through which the new district-level appointments were made. In Faridkot, around 10 party office-bearers, including a Mandal president, have reportedly resigned in protest. The resignations are linked to the replacement of a district president who had been appointed only a few days earlier.
Similar discontent has emerged in Sangrur, Patiala and other parts of the state, sources said.
The leaders have alleged that senior local leaders and long-time workers were not adequately consulted before changes were made in the district-level organisation. Some party functionaries claimed that district presidents were replaced without prior consultation and that workers associated with the party for decades were being sidelined while newer or preferred faces were given key organisational responsibilities.
The reported dissent has not been directed at Punjab BJP president Kewal Dhillon, party sources said. The dissatisfied leaders and long-time workers have instead attributed their grievances to Mantri Srinivasulu.
With the 2027 Punjab Assembly elections approaching, the developments have assumed political significance.