One of the most surprising aspects of the break-up between the BJP and the Shiromani Akali Dal alliance in Delhi is the fact that it took place under the watch of BJP’s Sikh face: Union Minister Hardeep Puri, the party’s joint in-charge for the Delhi Assembly elections. Only last year Puri had contested from the Amritsar Lok Sabha seat with the help of the Akali Dal, but lost.

This is not a coincidence. Shedding the alliance with Akalis is part of BJP’s larger plan: Of cultivating a pro-Hindutva Sikh leadership. And Puri is a critical element in this.

Puri, currently minister for civil aviation in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government, is a former diplomat. But his politics has also been shaped by the fact that he was a student leader in the 1970s who contested with the support of ABVP, the student wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.

Under Puri, the BJP is now trying to promote Sikh leadership that is pro-Hindutva and less concerned about Panthic issues. This is evident in some of the Sikh candidates it has chosen in Delhi.