The appointment of former Punjab finance minister Manpreet Singh Badal as a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national vice-president on Monday marked a political turnaround for the veteran leader who has hopped across every major political party before finding a footing in the BJP.From serving as the finance minister in the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) government then led by his uncle Parkash Singh Badal, to forming his own party, to joining the Congress under Capt Amarinder Singh before the 2023 shift to the BJP, Manpreet’s role as a national vice-president is his biggest in a party organisation set-up yet.The leader is known within political circles for his unique fondness for the number 786, considered sacred in Islam. His contact number, vehicle registration numbers have long ended with the digits, a curious personal quirk for a leader now representing a party rooted in Hindutva politics.Badal could not be reached for his comments and his plans for the party.Despite being among Punjab’s most articulate orators, he was not often seen in the forefront at any BJP rally or function in the state. His latest elevation, part of a sweeping organisational overhaul by party president Nitin Nabin that included appointment of 13 national vice-presidents, then left many in the Punjab unit understandably surprised.Badal had also remained on the margins ever since his defeat to Aam Aadmi Party’s Hardeep Singh Dhillon in the 2024 Gidderbaha bypoll. It was another factor that made his elevation a notable development.Observers said the appointment carried significance in context to Punjab politics. Badal’s base, the Bathinda and Gidderbaha belt, accounts for roughly half of the Malwa region. It forms a substantial chunk of the Jat Sikh voters, a community the BJP has long struggled to draw away from the Akalis and the AAP. With Malwa holding the largest share of assembly seats inthe state, his elevation was widely read as a calculated attempt to make inroads among Jat Sikh voters.Party sources said the appointment also completed a broader regional balancing act within the Punjab BJP’s leadership structure. The Majha region already has a prominent face in Taranjit Singh Sandhu, the former ambassador to the US who is now Lieutenant Governor of Delhi, while Doaba has long been represented by senior leaders such as Vijay Sampla, a former Union minister of state.Within the Malwa belt itself, Jattvibeil Jakhar represents the Abohar-Fazilka pocket, Rana Gurmeet Singh Sodhi holds sway in Ferozepur, party president Kewal Singh Dhillon comes from the Sangrur-Barnala area, and the family of Capt Amarinder Singh anchors the Patiala belt.What the party lacked, sources said, was a face who could take on Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh Raja Warring, a gap Badal’s elevation was meant to fill.