New Delhi, June 6, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
Former Punjab Chief Minister and senior BJP leader Capt Amarinder Singh on Saturday met Union Home Minister Amit Shah and former BJP national president J.P. Nadda in New Delhi, a development that appears to have put to rest speculation about his political future and rumours of a possible return to the Congress.
A brief statement issued by Amarinder Singh’s office said that he met Amit Shah in the national capital and discussed various issues concerning Punjab. Sources said the veteran leader also met senior BJP leader J.P. Nadda during his visit to Delhi.
The meetings come against the backdrop of recent political discussions triggered by Amarinder’s public reservations over the appointment of former Congress MLA Kewal Singh Dhillon as president of the Punjab BJP.
Amarinder had earlier clarified that he had no role in Dhillon’s elevation and had not been consulted by the party leadership before the decision was announced.
Speaking after Dhillon’s appointment, the former Chief Minister had distanced himself from the move and rejected reports portraying the new Punjab BJP chief as his political protégé.
“I did not recommend him to anyone,” Amarinder had said, asserting that leadership appointments should be based on a person’s ability to strengthen the party and provide effective political direction.
Subsequently, Amarinder made it clear that despite his reservations about Dhillon’s appointment, he had no plans to quit the BJP.
Responding to speculation about a possible return to the Congress, he had categorically dismissed such reports.
“I am not leaving the BJP. Every day somebody says I am off to the Congress or that I have met somebody. It is all nonsense. I have not met anyone. I have not talked to anyone,” Amarinder had remarked.
While describing Dhillon as a “good friend” whom he had known for years, Amarinder maintained that his concerns were not personal but related to leadership requirements in Punjab’s political landscape.
The former Chief Minister questioned whether Dhillon possessed the political drive and organisational capability required to expand the BJP’s footprint in Punjab ahead of the 2027 Assembly elections.
“I may be wrong, I may be right. Time will tell. But my feeling is that he does not have the push in him that is needed in this game,” Amarinder had observed.
Interestingly, even as Capt Amarinder Singh publicly questioned the appointment of Kewal Singh Dhillon as Punjab BJP president and chose to stay away from the ceremony where the latter formally assumed charge, members of his family publicly backed the new state chief. Amarinder’s wife, former Patiala MP and former Union Minister Preneet Kaur, and his daughter Jai Inder Kaur, president of BJP Mahila Morcha Punjab, attended the function at the Punjab BJP headquarters in Chandigarh and extended their support to Dhillon.
Their presence at the event was seen by political observers as a signal that despite Amarinder’s reservations, there was no visible opposition from his family to the party leadership’s decision.
Amarinder had also rejected the argument that the BJP necessarily required a Sikh or Jat Sikh face to lead the party in Punjab, maintaining that leadership qualities and political capability should take precedence over caste or religious considerations.
Drawing upon his six-decade-long political career, Amarinder said political decisions should be guided by competence and vision rather than identity politics.
The former Chief Minister further reiterated his long-held view that the BJP should consider reviving its alliance with the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) if it aims to form a stable government in Punjab in the near future.
According to Amarinder, while building the party independently may be a long-term strategy, Punjab’s current political realities favour cooperation between like-minded parties if the BJP hopes to emerge as a serious contender for power.
The latest meetings with Amit Shah and J.P. Nadda are therefore being viewed as politically significant, particularly in the context of the recent leadership change in the Punjab BJP and the party’s preparations for the 2027 Assembly elections.
Political observers believe the meetings underscore Amarinder’s continued engagement with the BJP leadership and reaffirm his commitment to the party despite his publicly stated reservations regarding the appointment of the new state president.
FOLLOW NOW
