Sunil Kumar Jakhar
Sunil Kumar Jakhar | |
|---|---|
| President of Bharatiya Janata Party, Punjab | |
| Assumed office 4 July 2023 | |
| Preceded by | Ashwini Sharma |
| Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha | |
| In office 15 December 2017 – 23 May 2019 | |
| Preceded by | Vinod Khanna |
| Succeeded by | Sunny Deol |
| Constituency | Gurdaspur |
| President of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee | |
| In office 4 May 2017 – 18 July 2021 | |
| Preceded by | Amarinder Singh |
| Succeeded by | Navjot Singh Sidhu |
| Leader of the opposition in the Punjab Legislative Assembly | |
| In office 14 March 2012 – 11 December 2015 | |
| Preceded by | Rajinder Kaur Bhattal |
| Succeeded by | Charanjit Singh Channi |
| Member of the Punjab Legislative Assembly | |
| In office 2002–2017 | |
| Preceded by | Ram Kumar Goyal |
| Succeeded by | Arun Narang |
| Constituency | Abohar |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 9 February 1954 (age 71) Panjkosi, Punjab, India |
| Political party | Bharatiya Janata Party (2022–present) |
| Other political affiliations | Indian National Congress (1990 – 2022) |
| Spouse | Silvia Jakhar |
| Relations | Sandeep Jakhar (nephew) |
| Parent | Balram Jakhar |
| Residence(s) | Panjkosi, Punjab, India |
| Alma mater | Government College, Chandigarh (BA) Kurukshetra University (MBA) |
Sunil Kumar Jakhar (born 9 February 1954) is an Indian politician. Jakhar has been serving as the president of the Bharatiya Janata Party, Punjab unit since 4 July 2023. Jakhar, hailing from an established political family, is noted politically for his clean image and bluntness. Elected consecutively three times from the Abohar Assembly constituency (2002–2017), he was the Leader of the Opposition in the Punjab Vidhan Sabha from 2012 to 2015. Jakhar was a Member of Parliament from the Gurdaspur constituency from 2017 to 2019.
In his long political career, Jakhar has served in various offices and posts. He was a member of the Indian National Congress (INC) for five decades until 2022. Previously, Jakhar was the president of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee from 2017 to 2021. Following the ouster of Amarinder Singh as Chief Minister of Punjab in 2021, Jakhar was a front runner to replace him as Chief Minister; however, the INC leadership did not select him for the office. In May 2022, he joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), claiming that he wanted to support "nationalism, unity and brotherhood in Punjab". Jakhar is the only Punjab politician to have lead the state units of both the INC and the BJP.