Chandigarh: In a significant boost to the Punjab BJP, several prominent political figures — former MP Jagmeet Singh Brar, his younger brother and former MLA Ripjit Singh Brar, breakaway Akali faction leader Charanjit Singh Brar, and former OSD to Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann, Onkar Singh — joined the saffron party on Friday. Their induction took place at the Punjab BJP headquarters in Chandigarh in the presence of state BJP chief Sunil Jakhar, Haryana chief minister Nayab Singh Saini, Punjab BJP working president Ashwani Sharma, and Union minister Ravneet Singh Bittu.
Jagmeet Singh Brar, once a heavyweight in the Congress and a former member of the Congress Working Committee, has had a long and chequered political journey. He had famously defeated Sukhbir Singh Badal in the 1999 Lok Sabha elections from Faridkot. Brar was suspended by the Congress in 2014 after he publicly questioned the party leadership under Sonia and Rahul Gandhi, though his suspension was later revoked. In 2016, he was expelled for alleged anti-party activities and subsequently appointed the Punjab chief of the Trinamool Congress before quitting the party in Jan 2018. Brar and his brother Ripjit joined the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) in 2019 but resigned in late 2022.After formally entering the BJP on Friday, Brar praised PM Narendra Modi for his outreach to the Sikh community, including the opening of the Kartarpur corridor. He said that he and his brother would work “unconditionally” for the BJP.Another entrant, Charanjit Singh Brar, resigned earlier this week from the breakaway SAD (Punar Surjeet) faction, alleging that the new group had failed to uphold ideological principles. On joining the BJP, he lauded the party for initiatives benefiting Sikhs — specifically citing the removal of Sikh names from the “black list” and the Kartarpur corridor. Comparing the BJP to “the world’s biggest democratic party”, he likened joining it to “clearing the UPSC exam”. He also targeted SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal for “destroying” local leadership.Onkar Singh, removed as OSD to CM Bhagwant Mann in 2024, said Punjab was lagging behind neighbouring states and asserted that only the BJP could revive it.Welcoming the new entrants, Haryana CM Saini said people had made up their minds in favour of the BJP, while Sunil Jakhar termed the inductions a “vital expansion” reflecting ground sentiment.
