Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh’s entry into the BJP has brought the politically significant Amritsar North constituency back into focus, opening up a fresh contest within the party even before the battle for the 2027 Assembly elections gathers pace.For the BJP, Kunwar’s induction brings in a former IPS officer who won the seat by a handsome margin of 28,318 votes on an AAP ticket in 2022. But for the party’s established local leadership, particularly those nursing electoral ambitions, his arrival could mean a fresh struggle for political space and the party ticket.Amritsar North has traditionally been an important political battleground for the BJP, with a sizable urban and Hindu electorate and significant commercial neighbourhoods. The constituency has witnessed victories by BJP leaders Baldev Raj Chawla in 1997 and Anil Joshi in 2007 and 2012.Joshi’s consecutive victories, followed by his induction into the SAD-BJP government as a Cabinet minister, had established him as the party’s most recognisable political face in the area. He fell out with the BJP and is now with the Congress, campaigning on the ground for the 2027 polls.Amritsar North presents an interesting picture. The BJP’s former strongman Anil Joshi is now in the Congress, the AAP MLA who defeated him in 2022, Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh, has joined the BJP, while the AAP’s charge in the constituency is now led by former Congress leader and ex-Mayor Karamjit Singh Rintu.The 2022 Assembly election brought another significant shift, with Kunwar, contesting on an AAP ticket, securing 58,133 votes and defeating SAD candidate Anil Joshi, who polled 29,815 votes. BJP candidate Sukhminder Singh Pintu finished fourth with 13,865 votes.Bargari connection: An ironic turn in Kunwar’s political journeyAnother thread connecting Kunwar’s professional career as an IPS officer, his political identity in Punjab, his differences with the AAP and now his entry into the BJP is the Bargari sacrilege incident of 2015 and the subsequent police firing at Behbal Kalan and Kotkapura.His role in the investigations and his repeated demand for accountability brought him to the centre of one of Punjab’s most sensitive political controversies.His political career with the AAP began in 2021, carrying this issue into electoral politics. His public positioning on the sacrilege cases, alongside his image as a ‘tough-on-crime cop’, became important elements of his political identity.Kunwar’s move to the BJP now represents an ironic turn in this political journey. The question is not merely why he has changed parties, but how he will reconcile the positions he took on Bargari with his new political affiliation.The timing is also significant. Kunwar’s induction comes as the BJP seeks to expand its political footprint in Punjab ahead of the 2027 Assembly elections. At the same time, he was a vocal critic of the SAD leadership over the sacrilege cases.A measured welcome from Amritsar BJP leadershipThe response from the local BJP leadership has so far been measured. Amritsar BJP urban district president Salil Kapoor publicly welcomed Kunwar’s induction, describing it as an addition to the party family and expressing confidence that his presence would benefit the organisation.However, there has been no detailed public statement from several established local leaders on how Kunwar’s arrival will affect the party’s constituency-level leadership or ticket aspirations.The question is especially relevant for the party’s old cadre, such as Sukhminder Singh Pintu, who was the BJP’s candidate in 2022, and other established party figures. Will Kunwar be projected as the party’s principal face in the constituency, or will he be expected to work alongside the existing leadership?Following his crossover to the BJP, the AAP’s Amritsar North halqa in-charge and former mayor Karamjit Singh Rintu has repeatedly questioned Kunwar’s political relevance and development claims.