While the Congress-led Opposition is working out its next steps in the campaign against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, the BJP is gearing up to expand its organisational footprint in Punjab, bringing in two key strategists to steer its preparations for the Assembly elections.Four-time Lok Sabha MP from Gujarat’s Navsari, CR Paatil, is expected to play a central role in shaping the campaign. He has already held several rounds of informal meetings with Punjab BJP leaders.The second key figure is former Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national general secretary (organisation) Sandeep Pathak, the only rebel AAP MP to have been elevated to a position in the BJP’s organisation. Pathak was appointed BJP national secretary when party president Nitin Nabin recently announced his new team.With Paatil and Pathak on board, the BJP has stepped up its preparations in the border state, with plans being drawn up for outreach at the booth, mandal and district levels.Both leaders attended an official meeting focused on Punjab for the first time on Monday. The meeting was chaired online by Nabin.While Paatil’s involvement signals Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s direct oversight of the Punjab strategy, Pathak’s induction points to the party’s preparations for candidate selection.As AAP’s chief election strategist in 2022, Pathak had personally selected candidates for the Punjab Assembly elections, helping deliver a sweeping victory for the party under Arvind Kejriwal and Bhagwant Mann. He later had a bitter falling-out with AAP and was among the Rajya Sabha MPs who merged with the BJP earlier this year.About a month ago, the BJP sounded out Pathak to begin working on Punjab, where he is understood to retain close ties with several influential figures in AAP.His role in candidate selection and the expansion of the BJP’s organisational network will be closely watched, given his experience in collecting and analysing ground-level data and political feedback.The Tribune has learnt that the BJP is focusing on strengthening its presence in around 80 of Punjab’s 117 Assembly constituencies.At Monday’s meeting, Paatil asked senior state leaders, including state chief Kewal Dhillon, former state presidents Jattvibeil Jakhar and Ashwani Sharma, and BJP vice-president Manpreet Badal, to concentrate on constituencies where the party already has a presence.Paatil’s direct involvement in Punjab is being seen within the party as a signal of Modi’s interest in the state. He is expected to report directly to the Prime Minister.A seasoned election strategist, Paatil has a record of commanding electoral victories. He secured the country’s largest winning margin in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, defeating his nearest rival by around 6.89 lakh votes. He also won by a substantial margin in 2014 and 2024.Besides overseeing election management and planning in Modi’s Lok Sabha constituency of Varanasi, Paatil served as the BJP’s election co-in-charge for the 2025 Bihar Assembly elections, assisting then Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, who was in charge. The BJP-led NDA won the election.Known for his focus on booth-level management and micro-planning, Paatil’s role in Punjab will be closely watched, as will the timing of his visit to the state.He will also be involved in working out the alliance arrangements with the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD). BJP sources told The Tribune on Tuesday that an alliance with the SAD was inevitable.