Sukhpal Singh Khaira (born 13 January 1965) is an Indian Politician serving as

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

MLA from Bholath constituency as his 3rd term. He was the Leader of Opposition in

Punjab Legislative Assembly The Punjab Legislative Assembly or the Punjab Vidhan Sabha is the unicameral legislature of the state of Punjab (India), Punjab in India. The Sixteenth Punjab Legislative Assembly was constituted in March 2022. At present, it consists of 117 ...

during July 2017 to July 2018. He started his political career with Youth Congress. In 1997, He became vice President of Punjab Youth Congress. He got political legacy from his father Sukhjinder Singh Khaira, stalwart Akali leader.

Personal life

Sukhpal Singh Khaira is the son of veteran Akali leader and former

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising a ...

education minister Sukhjinder Singh Khaira. He did his schooling from Bishop Cotton School,

Shimla Shimla (; ; also known as Simla, the official name until 1972) is the capital and the largest city of the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. In 1864, Shimla was declared as the summer capital of British India. After independence, the ...

Political career

In 1994, he was elected as Member Panchayat from Village Ramgarh, District Kapurthala. In 1997, he joined the Youth congress and was appointed vice president of Punjab Youth Congress. In 1999, Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee appointed him as secretary of their organisation. In 2005 he was appointed president of Kapurthala district's Congress committee (2005 to 2010). In 2006, he became elected director of Central Cooperative Bank, Kapurthala.

Member of Legislative Assembly 2007 - 2012

In 2007 he was elected as Member of Legislative Assembly from Bholath till 2012 under the

party,

Kapurthala Kapurthala is a city in Punjab state of India. It is the administrative headquarters of Kapurthala District. It was the capital of the Kapurthala State, a princely state in British India. The aesthetic mix of the city with its prominent buil ...

, Punjab after two failed attempts in 1997 and 2002. In 2009 he was appointed Punjab Congress Spokesperson and was reappointed in 2013. He later resigned in 2014 from the post, owning moral responsibility for the "poor performance" of the party in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls in the state. On 25 December Khaira announced his resignation from

party and declared his unification with the Aam Aadmi Party.

Member of Legislative Assembly 2017 - 2021

On 11 March 2017, Khaira won the Member of Legislative Assembly elections second time after failing in 2012 in his constituency of Bholath, however this time acting under the Aam Aadmi Party. In 2018 he was Suspended from AAP for anti party activities. He formed

Punjab Democratic Alliance Punjab Democratic Alliance was formed by Punjab Ekta Party leader Sukhpal Singh Khaira to contest 2019 Indian general election in Punjab on all 13 Lok Sabha seats. PDA was part of the nationwide Mahagathbandhan, and projected Mayawati as its ...

On 6 January 2019, Khaira left Aam Aadmi Party. On 8 January 2019, he formed a new political party,

Punjab Ekta Party The Punjab Ekta Party was a political party in India, founded by Sukhpal Singh Khaira on 8 January 2019. It was a Punjab-centric regional party which later merged with Indian National Congress on 17 June 2021. History *Sukhpal Khaira was elect ...

. On 16 March 2019,

announced his candidacy from Bathinda parliamentary constituency. On 25 April 2019 he resigned from

. On 23 May 2019, he lost from the Bathinda Lok Sabha Constituency.

Member of Legislative Assembly 2022 - present

On 10 March, Khaira won the Member of Legislative Assembly election third time from Bholath, this time as an

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British E ...

candidate. The Aam Aadmi Party gained a strong 79% majority in the

sixteenth Punjab Legislative Assembly Election for the Sixteenth Legislative Assembly was held in the Indian state of Punjab. Polling was done on 20 February 2022 to elect the 117 members of the Punjab Legislative Assembly. The counting of votes declaration of results was done on 10 ...

by winning 92 out of 117 seats in the

2022 Punjab Legislative Assembly election Legislative Assembly elections were held in Punjab on 20 February 2022 to elect the 117 members of the 16th Assembly of the Punjab Legislative Assembly. The votes were counted and the results were declared on 10 March 2022. The Aam Aadmi P ...

. MP

Bhagwant Mann Bhagwant Singh Mann (born 17 October 1973) is an Indian politician and current Chief Minister of Punjab. He leads the cabinet ministry of Punjab and is a member of the Aam Aadmi Party. He is a former actor, comedian and satirist. He previou ...

was sworn in as

Chief Minister A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union terri ...

on 16 March 2022. Congress party got only 18 seats and became an opposition party.

Controversies

Sukhpal Singh Khaira admitted to meeting

Arvind Kejriwal Arvind Kejriwal (Hindi: �ɾʋin̪d̪ ked͡ʒɾiːʋaːl born 16 August 1968) is an Indian politician, former bureaucrat, and activist who is the 7th and current Chief Minister of Delhi since February 2015. Currently, he is the national co ...

in early 2015. According to media the meeting was in pretext to join AAP Punjab, but prominent leaders of AAP Punjab blocked the entry of Khaira into the Party. In 2018, he was removed as the Leader of Opposition of the Punjab assembly, because of his problems with the party. Allegations were made on Khaira that he was trying to protect trans-border Heroin smuggler Gurdev Singh, he rubbished the allegations and invited the enquiry. However, in April 2018, Justice Mehtab Singh Gill Panel, constituted by Govt., declared that all 17 cases against Sukhpal Singh Khaira were falsely registered and demanded action against police officers.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Khaira, Sukhpal Singh Living people Punjab, India MLAs 2022–2027 1965 births Punjabi people People from Kapurthala district Punjab, India MLAs 2012–2017 Leaders of the Opposition in Punjab, India Punjab, India MLAs 2017–2022 Former members of Aam Aadmi Party from Punjab Indian National Congress politicians from Punjab, India