Who is Punjab's arrested minister Laljit Singh Bhullar

A grassroots leader who won big in 2022, Punjab’s former transport minister built a reputation for accessibility — and a rap sheet of controversies that ultimately ended his cabinet career

North Desk Correspondent

Chandigarh, March 23 — On Saturday morning, a warehouse corporation official in Amritsar recorded a video before ending his life. He named his minister. By evening, Laljit Singh Bhullar had resigned from the Punjab cabinet. By Monday afternoon, he was under arrest in Mandi Gobindgarh.

It was a swift and spectacular fall — but for anyone who had been watching Bhullar’s career closely, it was not entirely surprising.

The rise

Among the first ministers inducted by Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann after AAP’s landslide victory in the 2022 Punjab assembly elections, Bhullar won from Patti in Tarn Taran district and rose quickly. He was handed the transport and jails portfolio — two of Punjab’s most politically sensitive ministries — and cultivated a reputation as an accessible, hands-on leader willing to cut through bureaucratic delays.

During last year’s floods, he was seen on the ground, rowing boats and helping residents reach their marooned homes. In parts of his constituency, that image stuck. Supporters describe him as responsive in a way that many ministers simply are not.

But even as that reputation was being built, a parallel record was accumulating.

The controversies — one by one

June 2022 — The Sunroof Incident

Barely months into his ministerial career, a video surfaced showing Bhullar standing through the sunroof of a moving SUV during a victory rally, security personnel leaning out of vehicle windows alongside him. Opposition parties — Congress and Shiromani Akali Dal — pounced, dubbing him “Udta Mantri” and slamming what they called VIP culture in an AAP government that had promised to be different. Bhullar apologised, calling it an error in judgment.

 The Red Fort Video

An old video resurfaced showing Bhullar with the late actor-activist Deep Sidhu at the Red Fort on January 26, 2021 — the day a group of protesters entered the monument and hoisted a Khalsa flag during the farmers’ protest. Opposition leaders including Sukhpal Singh Khaira and Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa questioned AAP’s leadership. The BJP and Congress demanded explanations from both Mann and then Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. Bhullar maintained he was present only as a “farmer’s son” supporting the protest.

April 2024 — The Casteist Remarks

At an election rally in Patti in April 2024, while campaigning as the AAP candidate from Khadoor Sahib in the Lok Sabha elections, Bhullar allegedly made casteist remarks referencing former Congress MLA Harminder Singh Gill. The backlash was sharp. Bhullar apologised, saying the comments were made in the heat of the moment. Mann also issued a public apology — an unusual step that reflected deep unease within the party.

The final controversy

Gagandeep Singh Randhawa, district manager of the Punjab State Warehousing Corporation posted in Amritsar, allegedly died by suicide on Saturday after what his family describes as months of relentless harassment — mental pressure, physical assault, and death threats — linked to warehouse construction tenders in the Patti and Khemkaran areas of Tarn Taran.

In a video recorded before his death, Randhawa explicitly named Bhullar and his associates, alleging sustained pressure to award tenders to the minister’s father Sukhdev Singh Bhullar. The video went viral within hours.

The Amritsar police registered an FIR at Ranjit Avenue police station against Bhullar, his father, and his personal assistant Dilbag Singh — known as Baaga — under BNS sections covering abetment of suicide, criminal intimidation, and common intention. Mann asked for Bhullar’s resignation the same day and ordered a probe by Chief Secretary K A P Sinha.

On Monday, Congress MP Gurjeet Singh Aujla raised the matter in the Lok Sabha. Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who was about to leave the house, was asked to stay and listen. He told Punjab’s MPs that if they collectively submitted a written request, he would immediately order a CBI inquiry. The political pressure was now national.

Two hours later, Bhullar was arrested from Mandi Gobindgarh. In a Facebook post just before the arrest, he insisted he had not absconded and was surrendering voluntarily. “Every decision in my life has been guided by the welfare of the people and the path of truth,” he wrote.

What it means for AAP

Bhullar’s arrest is the most serious internal crisis AAP has faced in Punjab since coming to power. The party built its Punjab mandate on a platform of clean governance and zero tolerance for corruption. A minister allegedly pressuring a junior official to award tenders to his own father — and that official dying as a result — is precisely the kind of story AAP promised Punjab it would never have to tell.

Mann’s response was swift, and his statement on X — “no matter what position they hold or whether they are my relative or someone influential, protecting anyone is not our party’s agenda” — was unambiguous. Whether the speed of his response reflects genuine zero tolerance or damage control is a question Punjab will be watching closely as the case unfolds.