| Balbir Punj | |
|---|---|
| MP | |
| Constituency | Orissa |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 2 October 1949 Lalowal, Gurdaspur district, Punjab |
| Political party | BJP |
| Spouse(s) | Kaushalya Devi |
| Children | 2 daughters |
| Residence | Noida |
| As of November 22, 2010 Source: [1] |
|
Balbir Punj (1949-) is a journalist and columnist from India. He is a member of the Rajya Sabha representing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Punj was born in Lalowal, Gurdaspur, Punjab. He started his career in journalism for the publication Motherland in 1971. He also worked for Financial Express from 1974 to 1996. He is considered a core member of BJP's strategy team who plays an important role in key decisions. Punj is close to Zee Group, Ruias and the Ambani family. He is a close aide of RSS, mainly known as the troubleshooter of BJP. He specializes in writing about the Indian Economy, he can be often seen on news channels debating issues. Balbir Punj is a respected journalist of independent India. He was also IIMC chairman and Youth Commission chairman. Punj is known to be well connected in almost every field. His values are traditional and Indian. He is a hardcore RSS man who acts as a link between BJP & RSS.[1] He is the head of the BJP in Gujarat. He is mainly sent to Gujarat to guard Modi in his bad times. His proximity to Arun Jaitely and S. Gurumurthy made his way to prestigious Gujarat BJP incharge. It is well known Punj declined BJP's Rajya Sabha deputy leader post so he can focus on RSS and BJP links.
He has written columns in the Indian weekly magazine Outlook. Lately his contributions to Outlook have become less frequent. Currently he writes a regular column for the daily newspaper The Pioneer.[2]