Chandigarh, Feb. 28 -- With the 2027 Punjab assembly elections less than a year away, the Bharatiya Janata Party has turned to Haryana chief minister Nayab Singh Saini to establish an independent political footprint in the state and woo the sizeable Other Backward Class (OBC) and rural electorate.

The saffron fold currently holds just two of the 117 seats in the Punjab assembly, reflecting the scale of the challenge before it. Saini, himself an OBC leader, has in recent months emerged as one of the most visible BJP faces in Punjab amid the party's aggressive push to strengthen its place in Punjab, following its split from its erstwhile ally, the Shiromani Akali Dal.

According to information compiled from public appearances and social me...