Sunil Jakhar

Some Lesser Known Facts About Sunil Jakhar

• Sunil Jakhar is an Indian politician who was elected as an MLA consecutively three times from the Abohar Assembly constituency (2002-2017) on a party ticket from the Indian National Congress (INC). After serving as the Leader of Opposition in Punjab Vidhan Sabha from 2012 to 2017, he became the President of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (2017- 2021). On 19 May 2022, Sunil Jakhar joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

• Sunil Jakhar’s father, Balram Jakhar, is the longest-serving Speaker of the Lok Sabha. ^[14]Business Standard

• Following the footsteps of their father, both Sunil and Sajjan ventured into politics and joined the INC. Sajjan Kumar contested the 1997 Punjab Legislative Assembly elections from the Abohar assembly constituency as a candidate of the INC, but he was defeated by the BJP candidate Ram Kumar in the elections. Consequently, the party did not entrust Sajjan with a ticket in the following elections. Meanwhile, Sunil’s other brother Surinder actively advocated for farmers’ rights, but he never got into electoral politics. Unfortunately, Surinder died in a freak accident while cleaning his revolver at his farm in 2011.

• Balram Jakhar’s decision to not contest in the 1996 Lok Sabha elections led to the beginning of Sunil Jakhar’s political journey. In the elections, Sunil, as a candidate of the INC, contested from the Ferozepur Lok Sabha constituency, but he did not win. The seat was won by Mohan Singh Phalianwala of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). Sunil attributed the defeat to his late shifting by the party from Sikar in Rajasthan, a seat that his father had represented twice, to Ferozepur.

• After two electoral failures, Sunil struck back when the Gurdaspur Lok Sabha seat fell vacant in 2017 after the demise of four-time MP Vinod Khanna. Jakhar contested the bypoll to fill the seat on a ticket from the INC and won the election defeating the BJP candidate Sawarn Singh Salaria by 1,93,199 votes.

• Winning the elections by 1.93 lakh votes, Sunil Jakhar broke the previous record of Congress MP Sukhbans Kaur Bhinder, who had won the Gurdaspur Lok Sabha seat with a margin of 1.51 lakh votes in 1980. ^[15]The Indian Express

• Jakhar announced his retirement from electoral politics when Rahul Gandhi declared Charanjit Singh Channi as the party’s chief ministerial face for the 2022 Punjab Legislative Assembly elections. Jakhar attributed his disappointment to the party leaders who were of the opinion that a Sikh face would be suitable for the CM post in Punjab. He also claimed that the party had rejected him as its chief ministerial candidate because he was a Hindu.

• At Lok Sabha, he was a member of the Standing Committee on Science & Technology, Environment & Forests.

• He owns a Jeep Cherokee. ^[16]India Today

• On 14 May 2022, he announced his exit from the Indian National Congress in a Facebook live video. While wrapping his address, Jakhar wished Congress good luck and goodbye. ^[17]The Indian Express He said,
  

  This is my parting gift, my last words spoken to the Congress men. I have highlighted things which need a chinta not chintan shivir. Good luck and goodbye Congress.”