Ex-MLA Jakhar is new Punjab Cong president

Sunil Jakhar, senior Congress leader and three-time MLA from Abohar, was announced as the president of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) on Thursday. Jakhar was among the two senior Congress leaders, along with former CM Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, who had lost the recently concluded Punjab Vidhan Sabha polls. Considered to be a close confidante of Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh, Jakhar sided with Singh when a war of words erupted between him and former PPCC president Partap Singh Bajwa.

Jakhar, however, distanced himself from the party after he was sidelined for the Rajya Sabha seat nomination. In 2016, he was removed from the post of Congress Legislative Party (CLP) leader in the Vidhan Sabha, and was replaced by Charanjit Singh Channi in view of the 2017 polls. A prominent face in the party, Jakhar's name was pitched for the post of PPCC President for quite some time, after he missed out on ministerial positions following his loss in the recent election from his bastion, Abohar.