GetWiki

{{short description|Indian politician}}{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2018}}{{Use Indian English|date=April 2018}}

factoids

Panjkosi, East Punjab>Punjab, India| residence = Panjkosi, Punjab, India| office = President of Bharatiya Janata Party, Punjab| term_start = 4 July 2023| predecessor = Ashwini Sharma| office1 = Member of Parliament, Lok SabhaGurdaspur (Lok Sabha constituency)>Gurdaspur| predecessor1 = Vinod Khanna| successor1 = Sunny Deol| term_start1 = 15 December 2017| term_end1 = 23 May 2019| office2 = President Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee| term_start2 = April 2017| term_end2 = 18 July 2021| predecessor2 = Amarinder Singh| successor2 = Navjot Singh SidhuList of leaders of the opposition in the Punjab Legislative Assembly>Leader of opposition in Punjab Legislative Assembly| predecessor3 = Rajinder Kaur Bhattal| successor3 = Charanjit Singh Channi| term_start3 = 14 March 2012| term_end3 = 11 December 2015| office4 = Member of Punjab Legislative AssemblyAbohar Assembly Constituency>Abohar| predecessor4 = Ram Kumar Goyal| successor4 = Arun Narang| term_start4 = 2002| term_end4 = 2017| party = Bharatiya Janata Party(2022–present)| otherparty = Indian National Congress(1990 – 2022)| spouse = | children = | website = | parents = Balram Jakhar}}Sunil Kumar Jakhar (born 9 February 1954) is an Indian politician and president of the Bharatiya Janata Party, Punjab unit since 4th July 2023.WEB,weblink Sunil Jakhar, BJP’s Punjab plan lynchpin and chief: Seasoned Jat leader, ex-state Cong head, Indian Express, Navjeevan Goyal, 5 July 2023, 5 July 2023, Previously, Jakhar was the president of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee from 2017 to 2021. Elected consecutively three times from Abohar Assembly constituency (2002-2017), he was a Leader of the opposition in the Punjab Vidhan Sabha from 2012 to 2017. He was a member of the Indian National Congress (INC) for five decades until 2022. In May 2022, he joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), claiming that he wanted to support "nationalism, unity and brotherhood in Punjab".WEB,weblink Days after quitting Congress, Sunil Jakhar joins BJP, Times of India, 19 May 2020, 29 May 2022, Earlier, Jakhar was elected as a Member of Parliament from Gurdaspur constituency to the Lok Sabha, the lower house of Indian parliament in a by-election in 2017.WEB,weblink Congress's Sunil Jakhar wins Gurdaspur Lok Sabha bypoll by huge margin, Times of India, Vibhor Mohan, 15 October 2017, 15 October 2017,

Early life and background

Jakhar was born on 9th February 1954 in Panjkosi village of Fazilka district in Punjab and his family belongs to Hindu Jat community.WEB,weblink Sunil Jakhar, Punjab leader from political dynasty that doesn't come up in everyday conversation, The Print, 22 September 2021, 29 May 2022, His father was Balram Jakhar, a prominent Indian politician of the Congress party, who served as the Speaker of the Lok Sabha and founded the Bharatiya Krishak Samaj, a farmers' organization. Sunil Jakhar is the youngest of his father's three sons. Jakhar's eldest brother, Sajjan Kumar Jakhar served as a minister in the Beant Singh's Punjab government (1992-1995). His other brother, Surinder Jakhar, served as chairman IFFCO for four terms before his accidental death in 2011.NEWS, Service, Tribune News, Sandeep fourth Jakhar to enter election arena,weblink 2022-04-26, Tribuneindia News Service, en, Sunil Jakhar obtained a bachelors BA degree from the Government College, Chandigarh; and did his post graduate MBA program from Kurukshetra University.WEB, Sunil Jakhar is a big Hindu face of the politics of Punjab, father was the Governor along with the Speaker of the Lok Sabha,weblink 2022-01-23, 2022-05-29, NCRNews, en,

Political career

Jakhar first became a member of Punjab Vidhan Sabha from Abohar Assembly constituency in 2002. In 2007 and 2012, he was re-elected from Abohar. He became a member of parliament after winning a by-election in Gurdaspur. He left the Indian National Congress on 14th May, days after receiving a notice from Congress High-Command. He joined the Bharatiya Janata Party on 19 May 2022 in Delhi. On July 4, 2023, Jakhar was made the president of BJP Punjab.According to some political analysts, Sunil Jakhar’s strengths are related to his ‘clean-image’, articulate approach, and polite attitude.

Controversy

On 7 January 2017, Jakhar sent a complaint to the Punjab chief election officer alleging that local Shiromani Akali Dal leader Shivlal Doda and his nephew Waris / others used seven different mobile numbers while in a Fazilka prison.WEB,weblink Punjab Polls 2017: Punjab MLA Sunil Jakhar lodges fresh complaints against SAD's Shiv Lal Doda, nephew - Times of India, timesofindia.indiatimes.com, dead,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20170108053502weblink">weblink 2017-01-08,

References

{{Reflist}}