Overview
- Major Bhupinder Singh Dhillon and his son were formally inducted into the BJP in Chandigarh on Monday in a ceremony led by Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini and Punjab BJP president Kewal Singh Dhillon.
- Dhillon served for 25 years as Parkash Singh Badal’s political secretary, held the rank of minister of state during the earlier SAD–BJP government, and is a retired Army officer who fought in the 1971 war.
- The event also included the joining of Pradeep Joshan, a Sanour municipal chief and AAP SC‑wing leader, plus a group of local activists who the BJP says strengthen its grassroots presence.
- BJP leaders framed the move as an organisational gain in the Malwa region and a possible opening in the Lambi belt, while the party has publicly kept the option of contesting all 117 Assembly seats if a pact with the Shiromani Akali Dal is not agreed.
- The induction updates a longer story of post‑2020 rupture between SAD and BJP that preceded the AAP’s 2022 victory and follows signs of renewed BJP–SAD talks after recent high‑level meetings and improved BJP vote share in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.