BJP’s expanding footprint in Punjab: Senior Akali leader Sarao quits SAD (Punar Surjit), joins saffron camp
Former *Additional Deputy Commissioner* Gurwinder Singh Bhutaal also takes plunge
In a development that adds to the string of political reverses confronting the Shiromani Akali Dal (Punar Surjit), senior vice president Sukhwant Singh Sarao quit the party on Sunday and formally joined the Bharatiya Janata Party at a function held in Chandigarh, in the presence of BJP state working president and sitting MLA Ashwani Kumar. Former *Additional Deputy Commissioner (Development)* Gurwinder Singh Bhutaal also took membership of the saffron party on the occasion, with both joining alongside a contingent of supporters.
Born and raised in the Akali fold, Sarao carries with him a substantial record in public administration. A law graduate from Punjabi University, Patiala, he served the Punjab government as Additional Deputy Commissioner (Development) at Sangrur and as Deputy Director, Panchayats, in the Punjab Rural Development and Panchayats Department. Choosing to step out of government service on his own terms, he sought premature retirement on September 30, 2011 to chart a course in electoral politics. The following year, he contested the 2012 Punjab Assembly election on a Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) ticket from the Lehra constituency in Sangrur district, where he narrowly lost to veteran Congress leader and former Chief Minister Rajinder Kaur Bhattal by a margin of 3,345 votes.
*In this assembly election, Bhagwant Singh Mann, now chief minister, who contested as Punjab Peoples Party candidate at that time, finished at third place by a margin of approximately 15,000 votes. Subsequently, Sarao has also served as a member of Punjab Public Service Commission.*
Sarao’s political journey has been closely intertwined with the fortunes of former SAD senior leader Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa. Long regarded as one of Dhindsa’s most trusted associates, Sarao followed him when Dhindsa broke away to form the SAD (Sanyukt) faction. His loyalty was further demonstrated when he voluntarily relinquished his claim to the Lehra seat to make way for Dhindsa’s son Parminder Singh Dhindsa, a former cabinet minister, when the latter shifted his political base from the Sunam constituency. In 2020, Sarao again followed Dhindsa into the SAD (Punar Surjit) and had been serving as senior vice president until he left the party.
Sarao’s exit comes as a notable blow to the SAD (Punar Surjit), a party that has struggled to consolidate its position since its formation and had pinned hopes on experienced figures like him to lend it organisational strength in Malwa. His joining the BJP, along with the former *Additional Deputy Commissioner*, is seen as a meaningful reinforcement for the saffron party’s Punjab unit, particularly in the Lehra constituency, as it looks to deepen its presence in the state ahead of future electoral contests.
Mentionably, his elder brother Giani Niranjan Singh Bhutaal, a senior SAD leader, had unsuccessfully contested the assembly election from Lehra constituency as an official candidate in 2002 and later chose to enter the fray as an independent candidate in 2007. Giani’s wife, who is Sarao’s sister-in-law, had been elected twice as a member of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee from the Moonak constituency.
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