Leaving aside its Hindu-based party image, the BJP on Thursday, for the first time, appointed a Jat Sikh leader — Kewal Singh Dhillon — as the Punjab party president with an eye on the 2027 Assembly elections.Dhillon, a former Barnala MLA, is an industrialist-cum-politician widely credited with bringing Pepsi to Punjab during the militancy years. He also played a key role in making Barnala a district.Punjab remains the last major citadel for the party where Sikhs are in a majority and where the BJP has long struggled to gain power.Dhillon replaces Jattvibeil Jakhar, who has not been assigned a new role yet. However, party sources said Jakhar had an important role to play in the 2027 elections and was likely to remain a significant force in the party’s Punjab campaign.Ravneet Singh Bittu, who was another strong contender for the post, is likely to be re-elected to the Rajya Sabha and retain his position as the Minister of State for Railways in the Union Cabinet, said the sources.After his appointment, Dhillon told The Tribune his priority was Punjab’s progress, especially farmers’. “The BJP will ensure that the state farmers get the MSP on all crops listed by the Centre. If Haryana can give the MSP on 21 crops, why not Punjab,” he said.“Punjab will have a ‘kamal ka phool’ in 2027. After West Bengal, it is time for transformation in Punjab. We will have a BJP government,” he said.On the unusual change of making a Sikh face the president of the state BJP, he said, “Punjabis do not differentiate between religions. They have always lived as one.”Party insiders say Dhillon’s appointment is a calculated political signal. He hails from Sangrur district, the home turf of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann. By picking a Jat Sikh leader with deep roots in Malwa and one who had a long political career in the Congress, the BJP is attempting to present a broader social face in a state where it has struggled to shed the perception of being confined to urban Hindu voters. After the collapse of its alliance with the SAD, the party has struggled for an independent political identity in Punjab.Born in Tallewal village in Barnala district, Dhillon entered politics through the Congress and won the Barnala Assembly seat in 2007, retaining it in 2012. He remained close to former Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh for years, though Capt Amarinder on Thursday distanced himself from the appointment. “I did not recommend him to anyone,” Capt Amarinder told The Tribune. “He has not met me ever since I resigned as Chief Minister in September 2021. He has been on his own.”  In 2019, the Congress fielded Dhillon from the Sangrur Lok Sabha seat against Bhagwant Mann. He lost but stayed politically active. In February 2022, after he was expelled from the Congress, he joined the BJP. He subsequently contested the Sangrur Lok Sabha bypoll on the BJP ticket, taking on AAP directly in Mann’s stronghold, though unsuccessfully.When the Congress had expelled Dhillon, party MP Manish Tewari publicly noted that Dhillon had brought PepsiCo to Punjab “when nobody was willing to invest during terrorism”.Challenges, however, remain formidable. Dhillon will need to keep a delicate balance across Punjab’s three regions — Malwa, Majha and Doaba — each with distinct political temperaments and leadership aspirations.An additional challenge comes from the people of Anandpur Sahib, Ropar and Mohali, who identify with the Puadh region and have long sought separate political recognition. Managing these layered regional identities while building a unified party structure will be among his most demanding tests.Not everyone within the party is pleased. Traditional BJP leaders expressed quiet dissatisfaction. “First it was Jattvibeil Jakhar who came from the Congress. Now, another Congress-turned-BJP leader has been made state chief,” said a leader, adding that the vacuum had been created because traditional leaders remained confined to their coterie and failed to connect with party workers.