Sunil Kumar Jakhar (born 9 February 1954) is an Indian politician and member of

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major List of political parties in India, Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the List of ruling p ...

, who was formerly president of

Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (or Punjab PCC), formerly known as the Punjab Provincial Congress Committee in colonial India, is the affiliate of the Indian National Congress in the state of Punjab. On 9 April 2022, Amrinder Singh Raja War ...

(2017- 2021). Elected consecutively three times from

Abohar Abohar is a city and municipal corporation in the Fazilka district of the Indian state of Punjab, southeast of Fazilka city and northeast of Sri Ganganagar. It is near the India-Pakistan border. Abohar's population is 211745. The city is known ...

, Punjab constituency (2002-2017), he was a Leader of opposition in Punjab Vidhan Sabha from 2012-2017. He was a member of the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British E ...

(INC) for five decades until 2022. In May, 2022, he joined the

(BJP) claiming that he wanted to support "nationalism, unity and brotherhood in Punjab". Earlier, Jakhar was elected as a

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

from

Gurdaspur Gurdaspur is a city in the Indian state of Punjab, between the rivers Beas and Ravi. It houses the administrative headquarters of Gurdaspur District and is in the geographical centre of the district, which shares a border with Pakistan. The ...

, Punjab to the Lok Sabha, the lower house of

Indian parliament The Parliament of India (IAST: ) is the supreme legislative body of the Republic of India. It is a bicameral legislature composed of the president of India and two houses: the Rajya Sabha (Council of States) and the Lok Sabha (House of t ...

in a by-election in 2017.

Early life and background

Jakhar was born on 9th February 1954 in

Panjkosi Panjkosi is a village in the Western part of Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically ...

village of

Fazilka district Fazilka district is one of new and 23 districts in the state of Punjab in India. The district headquarters of the Fazilka District are at Fazilka. History On 27 July 2011, the Government of Punjab created two new districts: Fazilka district by ...

in Punjab and his family belongs to

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

Jat community. His father was

Balram Jakhar Balram Jakhar (23 August 1923 – 3 February 2016) was an Indian politician, who served as the Speaker of the Lok Sabha and Governor of Madhya Pradesh. He was also the longest serving Speaker of the Lok Sabha. Early life and education Jakhar ...

, a prominent Indian politician of the

Congress party The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British Em ...

, who served as the

Speaker of the Lok Sabha The speaker of the Lok Sabha (IAST: ) is the presiding officer and the highest official of the Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Parliament of India. The speaker is elected generally in the first meeting of the Lok Sabha following general ...

and founded the Bharatiya Krishak Samaj, a farmers' organization.

Sunil Jakhar Sunil Kumar Jakhar (born 9 February 1954) is an Indian politician and member of Bharatiya Janata Party, who was formerly president of Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (2017- 2021). Elected consecutively three times from Abohar, Punjab constitue ...

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 Punjab (; Punjabi Language, Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also Romanization, romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the I ...

government (1992-1995). His other brother, Surinder Jakhar, served as chairman

IFFCO Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Limited, also known as IFFCO, is a multi-state cooperative society. IFFCO is wholly owned by Cooperative Societies of India. The society is engaged in the business of manufacturing and marketing of fertilize ...

for four terms before his accidental death in 2011. Sunil Jakhar obtained a bachelors BA degree from the Government College, Chandigarh; and did his post graduate MBA program from Kurukshetra University.

Political career

Jakhar first became a member of

Punjab Vidhan Sabha The Punjab Legislative Assembly or the Punjab Vidhan Sabha is the unicameral legislature of the state of Punjab in India. The Sixteenth Punjab Legislative Assembly was constituted in March 2022. At present, it consists of 117 members, direct ...

from

in 2002. In 2007 and 2012, he was re-elected from Abohar. he became member of parliament after winning a by-election in Gurdaspur. He left the

on 14th May, days after receiving a notice from Congress High-Command. He joined the

on 19 May 2022 at Delhi. 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 Fazilka, also known as Bangla, is a city and a municipal council in Fazilka district of Punjab, India. In 2011, it was made the headquarter of the newly created Fazilka district. The Trans-Afghanistan Pipeline (TAPI) project originating in ...

prison.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jakhar, Sunil State cabinet ministers of Punjab, India Living people Punjab, India MLAs 2002–2007 Punjab, India MLAs 2007–2012 Punjab, India MLAs 2012–2017 People from Fazilka district India MPs 2014–2019 Former members of Indian National Congress from Punjab Leaders of the Opposition in Punjab, India Lok Sabha members from Punjab, India People from Gurdaspur district 1954 births Bharatiya Janata Party politicians from Punjab