Sukhpal Singh Khaira

Sukhpal Singh Khaira (born 13 January 1965) is an Indian politician serving a third term as Indian National Congress MLA from Bholath constituency. He was the leader of opposition in Punjab Legislative Assembly during July 2017 to July 2018. He is the chairman of All India Kisan Congress since July 2022.

He started his political career with Youth Congress. In 1997, He became the vice-president of Punjab Youth Congress. He got political legacy from his father Sukhjinder Singh Khaira, a stalwart Shiromani Akali Dal leader. He is the national chairman of Kisan and Khet Mazdoor Congress.

Personal life Sukhpal Singh Khaira is the son of veteran Akali leader and former Punjab education minister Sukhjinder Singh Khaira.

He did his schooling from Bishop Cotton School, Shimla.

Political career In 1994, he was elected as a member of panchayat from Ramgarh village of Kapurthala district. In 1997, he joined the Youth congress and was appointed vice-president of Punjab Youth Congress. 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 Congress 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 for a 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 On 6 January 2019, Khaira left Aam Aadmi Party.

On 8 January 2019, he formed a new political party, Punjab Ekta Party. On 16 March 2019, Punjab Democratic Alliance announced his candidacy from Bathinda parliamentary constituency.

On 25 April 2019 he resigned from Punjab Legislative Assembly. 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 for a third time from Bholath, this time as an Indian National Congress candidate.

In July 2022, Khaira was appointed the chairman of the All India Kisan Congress.

Assets and liabilities declared during 2022 Punjab Legislative Assembly election During the 2022 Punjab Legislative Assembly election, he declared 50,32,93,187 as an overall financial asset and 2,87,27,277 as financial liability.

2024 Lok Sabha Elections from Sangrur In 2024 general elections, Khaira contested from Sangrur Lok Sabha seat where he was defeated by Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer of Aam Aadmi Party by a margin of 172560 votes.

Controversies Khaira admitted to meeting Arvind Kejriwal 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.

Legal and corruption-related allegations Relations with drug smugglers 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.

Money laundering and ED arrest (2021) Khaira was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in November 2021 in connection with a money laundering case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The case stemmed from a larger 2015 drug smuggling investigation involving heroin, gold, arms, and fake passports. The ED alleged Khaira had links with suspects in that case. A Mohali court later formally framed PMLA charges against him.

While granted bail by the High Court in early Jan 2024, he was immediately re-arrested within hours in a fresh case of criminal intimidation and witness tampering related to the same NDPS matter.

Allegations of accepting cash from party workers In 2018, internal party criticism surfaced when Punjab Congress president Sunil Jakhar demanded Khaira's resignation as Leader of the Opposition amid allegations of financial impropriety, specifically, claims by AAP colleagues that Khaira accepted cash from party workers.