BJP appoints new heads for Punjab, Tripura, Delhi, Haryana units

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday (May 28) unveiled organisational changes in Delhi, Punjab, Haryana and Tripura, with its national president, Nitin Nabin, appointing new faces to helm the state units.

The saffron party is in power in three of the four states (except Punjab), and two of them are set to go to the polls in the next two years (Punjab in 2027 and Tripura in 2028).

Delhi: Harsh Malhotra is known for organisational skills

In Delhi, Union Minister Harsh Malhotra took over the reins from Virendra Sachdeva as the state BJP chief. The first-term MP from East Delhi is serving as the Minister of State for Corporate Affairs and Road Transport and Highways in the National Democratic Alliance government. The 62-year-old leader is known to be close to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, as well as the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).

Malhotra’s appointment is seen as part of the BJP’s continuing outreach towards its core vote bank in Delhi – the Punjabis and the trading community. Sachdeva also belongs to the Punjabi community, while Rekha Gupta, who took over as the chief minister of Delhi after the 2025 Assembly win, hails from the Bania (trading) community.

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Malhotra is the second Union minister, after Pankaj Chaudhary, the junior minister for finance, to be picked by the BJP to lead a state unit in the recent months. Chaudhary was made the state chief in Uttar Pradesh last December.

Reports say Malhotra is a seasoned organisational leader with strong ties to the RSS. The leader is known to be adept at handling organisational matters and the functioning of civic bodies. He had earlier served as the general secretary of the Delhi BJP. A former mayor of the erstwhile East Delhi Municipal Corporation, Malhotra is associated with social work and a non-profit organisation ‘Dadhichi Deh Daan Samiti’, which promotes donation of organs and body in the Delhi-NCR region.

Malhotra’s appointment has also boosted the speculation about an impending reshuffle in Modi’s council of ministers.

Punjab: Kewal Dhillon vows BJP will win state in 2027

In Punjab, former two-term MLA from Barnala, Kewal Singh Dhillion, replaced Sunil Jakhar as the state BJP president. Both leaders were previously with the Congress.

A Jat Sikh face from Punjab's electorally crucial Malwa region, which accounts for nearly 70 of the state's 117 Assembly seats, Dhillon was once a confidante of former state chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh, who too is currently with the BJP, albeit remains sidelined. Dhillon joined the BJP in 2022.

Dhillon's appointment is also significant as it disproves media reports doing the rounds in recent months about the BJP planning to look beyond the formidable Jat Sikh community and build itself for next year's Punjab polls by consolidating non-Jat Sikh groups like the Sainis, Khatris and other Punjabi Hindus and Dalits.

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Shortly after he was appointed the Punjab BJP chief, Dhillon, 76, expressed confidence that the saffron outfit will form in the northern state after the 2027 polls.

Thanking the party leadership, he said it was his first target. He also hit out at the current Aam Aadmi Party government in the state, accusing it of not fulfilling its election promises made to the people. He said the state was witnessing a “goonda raj”.

“Once we form the government in Punjab, we will make it the No. 1 state in all areas. After West Bengal, the lotus will now bloom in Punjab too,” he said.

The former Congress state legislator became the BJP state vice-president in Punjab after joining the party four years ago. As Dhillon takes over from Jakhar, whose three-year tenure in the position concludes in July, sources said some Punjab BJP leaders had been pushing for a Sikh face to lead the state party unit.

Haryana: Archana Gupta second woman BJP chief in Haryana

In Punjab’s neighbour Haryana, the BJP chose Archana Gupta as its state head, replacing the incumbent Mohan Lal Badoli. She is only the second woman leader to head the BJP in Haryana since the party's birth in 1980, after the late Kamla Verma, who served from 1980 to 1983, and also became a minister in the state government three times.

Gupta is a former member of the Vishva Hindu Parishad who joined the BJP in 2019. She failed to secure a party ticket for the 2024 Assembly elections despite serving in various organisational roles since 2020. Hailing from Panipat, she has also worked as the BJP’s district unit president.

A doctor by profession, Gupta thanked the party for giving her the responsibility while speaking with ANI and said, “My priority will be to strengthen the organisation further, bringing together all communities, and ensuring greater participation of women in politics and the economy.”

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“When the Prime Minister introduced the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, other political parties opposed it. Women saw clearly which party supported them and which opposed them. In Bengal, people already gave a strong reply to TMC. Women will stand firmly with the BJP, the Prime Minister and the Chief Minister of Haryana,” she said.

Tripura: Abhishek Debroy is former CM aide

In Tripura, 44-year-old sitting MLA Abhishek Debroy was picked as the BJP’s state chief to replace Rajib Bhattacharjee, a Rajya Sabha MP. Debroy, who represents Matarbari, is a close aide to former Tripura CM Biplab Deb. Last month, he was reportedly attacked by supporters of Pradyot Debbarma's Tipra Motha, a constituent of the ruling NDA coalition in the state and the Centre, while campaigning for the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council elections.

Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha congratulated Debroy on his appointment.

“Heartiest congratulations to Abhishek Debroy ji on being appointed as the president of BJP Tripura Pradesh. Confident that under his dynamic leadership and organisational vision, the party will grow stronger and continue working dedicatedly for the welfare of Tripura's people,” he said in a social media post.

Saha had earlier met Modi and Nabin in New Delhi to discuss organisational matters, party leaders said.