Sunil Jakhar is an Indian politician, member of the Bharatiya Janata Party, and a former member of the Indian National Congress. He served as Chairman, Punjab Congress Committee (2017-2021). As a member of INC, Jakhar represented the Abuhar parliamentary constituency from 2002 to 2012. From 2012 to 2017, he served as the Leader of Opposition in the Punjab Assembly. After being a member of INC for 50 years till 2022, he joined the BJP.
Wiki/Biography
Sunil Kumar Jakhar was born on Tuesday, 9 February 1954 in Panjkosi, Punjab (age 70 in 2024). His zodiac sign is Aquarius. After completing his BA from a government college in Chandigarh in 1974, he pursued his MBA from Kurukshetra University, Haryana (1997).
family
Parents and siblings
Sunil Jakhar belongs to a Hindu Jat family. His father, Balram Jakhar, was an Indian politician who served as Speaker of the Lok Sabha and Governor of Madhya Pradesh. Balram Jakhar passed away in 2016. He served as Speaker of the Lok Sabha for two consecutive terms from 1980 to 1989 and was the longest-serving Speaker of the Lok Sabha.
Sunil Jakhar’s father Balram Jakhar
Sunil is the youngest of three siblings. Sunil’s eldest brother Sajjan Kumar Jakhar served as agriculture minister in Beant Singh’s government in Punjab. In 1997, Sajjan Kumar contested the Punjab Legislative Assembly elections from Abohar Assembly constituency on an INC ticket. In the election, Sajan was defeated by the BJP candidate Ram Kumar. Thereafter, Sajan’s political journey came to an abrupt end when the party refused to give him an electoral vote in 2002. Sunil’s elder brother Surinder is a farmers’ rights activist, but he never dabbled in electoral politics. In 2011, Surinder accidentally shot himself.
wife and children
His wife, Silvia Jakhar, is a housewife from Switzerland.
Sunil Jakhar and Sylvia Jakhar
other relatives
Sunil Jakhar’s nephew Ajay Vir Jakhar (Sajjan’s son) serves as Chairman of Punjab Farmers Commission (2017-2021).
Ajay Veer Jakhar
address
Permanent Address
Panikosi, Tai.Fazilka-152128, Abohar District, Punjab
Current address
Punjab Bhawan, Copernicus Marg, New Delhi-110001
Political career
indian national congress party
1996 general election
He started his political career when he contested from the Ferozepur Lok Sabha constituency on the ticket of the Indian National Congress (INC) in the 1996 general elections. The seat was won by Mohan Singh Phalianwala of the Samajwadi Party (BSP).
2002 Punjab Legislative Assembly Elections
In 2002, Sunil Jakhar contested from Abha parliamentary constituency. He won the election defeating independent candidate Sudhir Nagpal by 7339 votes.
2007 Punjab Legislative Assembly Elections
In 2007, Sunil Jakhar contested from Abha parliamentary constituency. He won the election defeating the BJP candidate Ram Kumar by 17, 201 votes.
2012 Punjab Legislative Assembly Elections
In 2012, Sunil Jakhar contested from Abha parliamentary constituency. He won the election defeating independent candidate Shiv Lal Doda. From 2012 to 2017, he served as the Leader of the Opposition in the Punjab Provincial Assembly.
2014 Indian general election
In 2014, he contested the Lok Sabha polls from Ferozepur Lok Sabha constituency and was defeated by SAD’s Sher Singh Ghubaya by a margin of 31,420 votes.
Punjab Legislative Assembly Elections 2017
In 2017, Sunil Jakhar contested from Abha parliamentary constituency. He was defeated by BJP candidate Arun Narang, who won the election by a margin of 3,279 votes.
Gurdaspur by-election 2017
In 2017, a by-election was announced for the Gurdaspur Lok Sabha seat following the death of actor-turned-BJP politician Vinod Khanna. Jakhar contested the election and won the seat defeating BJP candidate Sawarn Singh Salaria by 1,93,199 votes. As an MP, he is a member of the Standing Committee on Science, Technology, Environment and Forests.
Indian general election 2019
In 2019, Sunil Jakhar contested from Gurdaspur Lok Sabha constituency. He lost to famous Indian actor and Bharatiya Janata Party candidate Sunny Deol by a margin of 82,459 votes.
Resign from Congress in 2022
Sunil Jakhar resigned from all positions in the Indian National Congress on May 14, 2022, days after receiving notification from the Congress high command; he made his public resignation from the Congress through a Facebook Live video decision, and in the video he ended by wishing Congress good luck and bidding farewell. He said,
These are my parting gift and my last words to members of Congress. I highlighted the need for chinta and not chintan shivir. Good luck and see you Congress. “
bjp
In May 2022, he joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), claiming that he wanted to support “nationalism, unity and brotherhood in Punjab”. While addressing the media after joining the BJP, Jakhar lashed out at the Congress, referring to Charanjit Singh Channi, the first Dalit chief minister of Punjab. He accused the party of insulting the spirit of brotherhood in Punjab by trying to divide the state on the basis of caste, community and religion ratios.
Sunil Jakhar joins the BJP in the presence of party president JP Nadda
On December 2, 2022, he was inducted into the National Executive Committee of the Bharatiya Janata Party along with Captain Amarinder Singh.
dispute
Alleged violation of election rules
In 2012, Akali Dal leader Shiv Lal Doda filed an election petition against Sunil Jakhar in the Punjab and Haryana High Court challenging the results of the 2012 Punjab Legislative Assembly elections . Doda claimed that due to an error in the announcement of the ballot papers, his voters and supporters, especially the illiterate, voted for the person with serial number 1 (Jahar) because they did not find Doda’s name at the end of the ballot paper. . The Punjab and Haryana High Court dismissed the election petition saying it was completely frivolous and vexatious, with a fine of Rs 50,000 being charged.
Linking Sukhbir Singh Badal to Bhim tank killer Shiv Lal Doda
In 2017, Jakhar lodged a complaint with the Chief Electoral Officer of Punjab, providing him with seven mobile numbers, which, according to Jakhar, Akali Dal leader Shiv Lal Doda and him The cell phone numbers were used by Amit Doda, the nephew of the suspect, who was in Fazilka jail. Shiv Lal Doda and Amit Doda are lodged in Fazilka jail after being accused of their involvement in the Bhim Tank murder of Abohar. Addressing a press conference, Jakhar claimed that even a DGP-level officer of Punjab Police was in regular contact with Doda through these phone numbers and demanded an impartial investigation. According to reports, Jakhar also reported to the Election Commission of India, requesting it to conduct a raid on Fazilka Prison, and subsequently found Shiv Lal Doda illegally meeting 24 outsiders in the prison, violating prison laws. Jakhar also claimed that providing such facilities to Doda would not have been possible without the active support of Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal, who was then deputy chief minister of Punjab.
Anti-SC rhetoric
In April 2022, Dalits filed a complaint against Sunil Jakhar, accusing him of making remarks against the community, claiming that his objectionable language had hurt the sentiments of Dalits. Apparently, Jakhar was indirectly targeting Charanjit Singh Channi, who has become the state’s first Dalit governor, after the Congress party contested the 2022 Punjab Assembly elections. After losing to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Jakhar said he felt responsible for the party. In a tweet, Jakhar called Channi a burden and blamed him for the collapse of INC in Punjab.
Assets – Are you kidding me?
Thank God Ms. “Pbi” who originally proposed him as CM did not declare him a “National Treasure” at the CWC
He might be an asset to her, but to the Party he’s just a liability.It was not the top brass but his own greed that brought him and the party down. pic.twitter.com/Lnf6vJgRzF
— Sunil Jakhar (@sunilkjakhar) March 14, 2022
Following the incident, members of the Punjab Guru Ravi Das Federation and the Punjab Ravi Das Guru Dharam Samaj burned the effigies of Sunil Jakhar. Later, Sunil Jakhar paid homage to Sri Ravidas Janan Ashtam Temple in Varanasi to express his unconditional apology.
Members of Sri Guru Ravidas protest in Ludhiana against Sunil Jakhar’s anti-SC remarks
congressional disciplinary action
The AICC came down heavily on Sunil Jakhar for violating the party line by issuing a show-cause notice seeking a reply within a week after making anti-SC remarks. There has since been speculation that Jakhar will be suspended for two years and removed from all party posts. When the deadline to respond to the notice expired, Jakhar refused to respond and said he was ready to face action.
Assets and property
movable property
- Deposits with banks, financial institutions and non-banking financial companies: Rs 8,60,38,105
- Corporate bonds, debentures and shares: Rs 20,09,133
- Personal Loan/Advance: Rs 3,71,345
- Motor vehicles: Rs 1,00,079
- Value of other assets such as claims/interest: Rs 1,29,45,673
real estate
- Agricultural Land: Rs 2,67,70,146
- Commercial Building: Rs 2,00,000
- Residential Building: Rs 12,25,04,180
In May 2019, Sunil Jakhar declared deposits of over Rs 737 crore in the name of his wife at the Zurcher Kantonal Bank in Zurich, Switzerland. Jakhar also claimed that he and his wife owned immovable properties worth Rs 2,88,41,688 and Rs 1,20,63,26,638 respectively.
net worth
As of 2019, his net worth is Rs 25,17,62,701
Facts/Trivia
- Sunil Jakhar broke the record in the Gurdaspur Lok Sabha constituency by winning the 2017 Gurdaspur by-election with 1.93 lakh votes. The previous record for victory in this constituency was held by former Congress MP Sukhbans Kaur Bhinder, who won by a margin of 151,000 votes in 1980.
- In the 1996 general elections, Sunil wanted to contest from Sikar Lok Sabha constituency, which his politician father had represented twice in the past, but the State Commission directed him to contest from Ferozepur Lok Sabha constituency. In an interview, Sunil cited this shift as the reason for his defeat in the 1996 election.
- Like Sunil, his father Balram also served as Leader of the Opposition (1977). Thereafter, he graduated from the Central Political College in 1980.
- Jakhar announced his retirement from electoral politics on the same day Rahul Gandhi announced then Prime Minister Charanjit Singh Channi as the party’s chief ministerial candidate for the 2022 Punjab Legislative Assembly elections. Jakhar revealed that he was disturbed because the party leader believed that Sikh faces were suitable for the CM post. He has since claimed that the party did not choose him as chief minister because he is a Hindu.
Categories: Biography
Source: HIS Education