Punjab AAP faces fresh turmoil as third legislator exits in two days

Former IPS officer and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh on Monday resigned from the Punjab Legislative Assembly, dealing another setback to the ruling party months ahead of the 2027 Assembly elections.

Singh, who represents the Amritsar North constituency, announced his decision in a social media post, saying he had submitted his resignation to Punjab Assembly Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan.

His resignation comes a day after two other AAP legislators, Chetan Singh Jouramajra and Harmeet Singh Pathanmajra, quit the party's primary membership, adding to the political turmoil within the Punjab unit.

In his message to the people of Amritsar, Singh thanked them for their support and said he would remain indebted to them for the love and respect they had shown him.

Claiming that he had completed 90 per cent of the work expected of him as an MLA, Singh said his biggest achievement was ending the 'mai-baap culture' in politics by treating people, rather than political leaders, as his source of inspiration.

He also criticised what he described as 'ribbon-cutting politics' and said Punjab needed to unite to fight drugs, extortion, gangsterism and corruption.

"My only objective is Punjab First. I have no personal interests apart from this," he said, adding that his next objective was to work with people to develop a strategy for clean politics and transparent governance.

A former Inspector General of Police, Singh joined the AAP after taking voluntary retirement from the Indian Police Service ahead of the 2022 Punjab Assembly elections. He was among the party's prominent faces during its campaign.

His relationship with the party leadership, however, deteriorated over time. In June 2025, the AAP suspended him for five years over alleged anti-party activities after he publicly questioned the Punjab Vigilance Bureau's action against senior Shiromani Akali Dal leader Bikram Singh Majithia.

Singh had also been associated with the investigation into the 2015 sacrilege and police firing incidents in Punjab, which played a significant role in his entry into politics.