The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday appointed its Rajya Sabha MP Shwait Malik as the new president of its Punjab unit.Malik, a former Mayor of Amritsar, replaces Union Minister Vijay Sampla.The new state BJP President is considered close to Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who had unsuccessfully contested the Amritsar Lok Sabha seat elections in the April-May 2014 general elections.After his name was announced in New Delhi, Malik told media that he would work for strengthening the party in Punjab. He said that the BJP's alliance with the Shiromani Akali Dal would continue.Malik was picked up by the BJP to be its Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament (MP) from Punjab in 2016.The Akali Dal-BJP alliance finished third in the assembly elections in Punjab last year. The Congress won 77 seats in the 117-member assembly while new entrant Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) finished second with 20 seats.