Rajya Sabha MP Shwait Malik appointed as new Punjab BJP chief

Chandigarh, Mar 31: Rajya Sabha member of Parliament (MP) Shwait Malik was on Saturday appointed as the new BJP chief of the Punjab unit.

The announcement regarding Malik’s appointment was made by BJP national general secretary Arun Singh on Saturday afternoon. He will be replacing Union minister Vijay Sampla. Malik’s name was backed by Finance minister Arun Jaitley.

He belongs to BJP stronghold Amritsar and has served as mayor of the holy city.

In March 2016, he was picked by BJP high command for the Rajya Sabha nomination from the seat that fell vacant after Avinash Rai Khanna’s term expired. Other state leaders in the race for the post were national secretary BJP Tarun Chugh and former minister Manoranjan Kalia.