CHANDIGARH: Amid growing discontent over its recent organisational overhaul in Punjab, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national president Nitin Nabin has directed the state leadership to address grievances and strengthen the party’s organisation ahead of the 2027 Assembly elections, with plans to expand its presence to all 24,000 polling booths.
Sources said a meeting between BJP national president Nitin Nabin, Punjab BJP chief Kewal Singh Dhillon and state organisational secretary Manthri Srinivasulu was held late Friday night at Nabin’s New Delhi residence. The meeting was also attended by BJP national general secretary (organisation) BL Santosh and the party’s observer for Punjab organisation, Satish Poonia. Dhillon and Srinivasulu had been summoned to Delhi by the party high command.
Sources said the meeting reviewed the recent spate of resignations in the Punjab BJP, with Nabin asking Dhillon to assuage prevailing anxieties and pacify disgruntled leaders. The open expression of concerns by a section of the state leadership was not surprising, sources said.
The party is also trying to build its base in the state and reach out to the grassroots, as for many decades it was limited to just 23 Assembly segments in the urban areas of Punjab.
The meeting noted that dissatisfaction with appointments is part and parcel of any organisational change, but sincere efforts should be made by those in responsible positions in the party to reach out to leaders and cadres who are upset.
“The meeting was purely devoted to organisational matters and ways to strengthen the BJP in Punjab, as the state leaders have to reach out to everyone in the party who feels left out and all of them have to move forward together,” said a party leader.
Sources claimed that speculation about a potential alliance between the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and the saffron party, after SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Parliament, was not discussed at the meeting.
“The meeting between the two leaders was significant, but these matters have not yet percolated down and if those discussions, even if there, may be at the highest levels,” said sources.
It is learnt that discussions were also held on programmes of the state unit to be organised to mark August 14 as “Vibhajan Vibhishika Smriti Diwas” (Partition Horrors Remembrance Day).
Dhillon and Srinivasulu had left for Delhi from Ludhiana midway through meetings with the party’s newly elected state body office-bearers and district presidents. A meeting on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in the state was also scheduled after these meetings.
A large section of the Punjab BJP leadership is upset with the recent overhaul of the state unit. Former cabinet minister and senior party leader Tikshan Sood and his loyalists have resigned from their posts in protest in Hoshiarpur.
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. The disagreement has now spilled into the public domain, highlighting growing differences within the state unit.
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, said sources.
The leaders have alleged that senior local leaders and long-time workers were not adequately consulted before changes were made to the district-level organisation. Some party functionaries have claimed that district presidents were replaced without prior consultation and that workers who have been associated with the party for decades are being sidelined, while newer or preferred faces are being given important organisational responsibilities.
Interestingly, the reported dissent has not been directed at Punjab BJP president Kewal Dhillon. The dissatisfied leaders and long-time workers have attributed their grievances to Manthri Srinivasulu, claimed party sources.
