On the back of its first ever win in the West Bengal Assembly elections, the BJP is now eyeing Opposition-ruled Punjab’s 2027 Assembly polls as the party looks to expand its national footprint. On Friday, a day after the BJP appointed Kewal Singh Dhillon as the first Sikh president of its Punjab unit, the results of state’s urban local body elections came as a boost for the party. In the elections to eight municipal corporations, 75 municipal councils and 20 nagar panchayats all spread across 1,977 wards, the BJP has gone from winning 49 wards in 2021 to crossing the 170-ward mark this year. Though the party only placed fifth in terms of wards won – behind the AAP, Congress, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and Independents – the civic poll results signal the party’s growing influence in Punjab’s urban and semi-urban belts.…