Behind the BJP’s closed-door strategy meetings is a political figure from Rajasthan — Satish Poonia. The low-profile, backroom strategist, known for his amiable style, is in charge of steering the party in Punjab ahead of assembly polls next year.
Satish Poonia is back to his signature style of election management. He is building grassroots poll blueprints, replicating his structured Haryana campaign approach.
He then lost the assembly elections and lost his post of the party’s state unit chief. The party had been holding meetings over Punjab in the national capital. BL Santosh, the party’s organisational mainstay, has also planned a two-day tour of the state. This marks the very first time the party will set up its independent political stage at this historic Sikh religious fair, where Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Naib Singh Saini will address the crowd. It catapulted him into the national limelight and established him in the eyes of the BJP as meticulous in micro-management. “Punjab is a bigger challenge; we have almost always been in an alliance in Punjab and that too as a junior partner. The party’s network needs to be strengthened in the state, and the BJP needs to change the perception that it’s largely an urban party with little inroads into the rural hinterland. “I have always kept in mind that I am working for the party. I always tried to create an atmosphere of respect. He, however, has had a tussle with former chief minister Vasundhara Raje in the past. But he has made a stellar comeback, becoming a Rajya Sabha member and a national general secretary in charge of Punjab.
The BJP’s mega public engagement exercise in the state will kick off on August 28 at the Rakhar Punia Jor Mela in Amritsar. The 2024 assembly elections, where Satish Poonia’s management for the BJP helped the party secure a successful third term, proved to be the turning point in his career. But in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP’s vote share has increased, and we will work on that,” he said.
When NDTV asked him about his trade secrets, Poonia said his time in the ABVP helped him shape his skills as an organisation man. Satish Poonia said he never had any personality clashes within the party. I always maintained as the Rajasthan president — I will be happy the day I can apply tilak on my chief minister’s head,” he said.
