Amrinder Singh Raja Warring

Amarinder Singh (Raja Warring)
President of Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee
Assumed office
9 April 2022
Preceded byNavjot Singh Sidhu
Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha
Assumed office
4 June 2024
Preceded byRavneet Singh Bittu
ConstituencyLudhiana
Minister of Transport
Government of Punjab
In office
20 September 2021 – 11 March 2022
Member of the Punjab Legislative Assembly
In office
March 2012 – June 2024
Preceded byManpreet Singh Badal
Succeeded byHardeep Singh Dhillon
ConstituencyGidderbaha
Personal details
Born (1977-11-29) 29 November 1977 (age 48)
PartyIndian National Congress
SpouseAmrita Singh
Children2

Amarinder Singh Brar, (born 29 November 1977)[1] also known as Amarinder Singh Raja Warring, or Raja Warring is an Indian politician.[2] He is a Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha and president of Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee.[3]

Political career

Warring was the president of the Indian Youth Congress, the youth division of Indian National Congress, from December 2014 to May 2018.[4]

MLA: First term

Warring was elected as a Member of Legislative Assembly from Gidderbaha from 2012–2017,[4] district Sri Muktsar Sahib, Punjab to the Punjab Legislative Assembly.[4][5]

MLA: Second term

In March 2017, he was re-elected as an MLA[4] for the second successive time, after completing his first term from 2012–2017.[6] He served as the Transport Minister in the Punjab government.[7]

Warring contested from Bathinda constituency in the 2019 Indian general election against Harsimrat Kaur Badal but lost the elections by over 20,000 votes.[8]

MLA: Third term

Warring was re-elected for the third cosequtive time as the MLA from the same constituancy during the 2022 Punjab Legislative Assembly election.[7] In April 2022, Warring was appointed by the national leadership of Congress as the chief of Congress in Punjab.[9]

MP: First term

In June, Warring won the 2024 Indian general election from Ludhiana Lok Sabha constituency and was elected as a Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha by defeating his nearest competitor, Ravneet Singh Bittu of the Bharatiya Janata Party by a margin of 20,942 votes.[10]

Family

Born to Kuldeep Singh and Malkeet Kaur, he lost his parents when he was still a child, and was brought up by his maternal uncles.[11] He is married to Amrita Singh, and he has a son and a daughter. She is a INC candidate in the upcoming state by-polls.[12] He was earlier known as Raja Sotha, with Sotha being the name of his maternal village. Later, he began using the name of his paternal village called Warring.

Corruption charges in Bus Body Building Scam

In June 2022, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) demanded a CBI probe, claiming Raja Warring, while serving as Punjab’s Transport Minister, caused heavy losses to the state by awarding overpriced bus body construction contracts. RTI responses suggested that instead of procuring bus bodies locally for ₹8.20–8.40 lakh, contracts were given to a Jaipur-based firm at ₹11.98 lakh per bus, involving a total of 840 buses. This allegedly caused a loss of approximately ₹4 lakh per bus, plus an additional ₹1.51 crore in transportation costs and ₹18 crore in taxes a cumulative estimated loss of around ₹60 crore.[13][14]

According to reports from the Rozana spokesman, the Vigilance Bureau initiated a probe into Raja Warring’s tenure. It flagged irregularities such as issuing numerous route permits to private operators and associates. The Bureau questioned why local bus body fitting—typically costing ₹4–7 lakh—was bypassed in favor of the much higher ₹11.98 lakh per body contracts. This was estimated to have caused a loss of around ₹100 crore to the Punjab Transport Department.[15][16]

Controversy over remarks toward the Mazhabi Sikh community

In November 2025, Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring faced criticism and legal action over remarks he made about the late Union Home Minister Buta Singh, who belonged to the Mazhabi Sikh community. A complaint was filed by Buta Singh’s son alleging that Warring used terms such as “Kala Mazhabi Sikh” (“Black Mazhabi Sikh”) in a derogatory context during a campaign speech, which the complainant characterised as offensive, casteist, and defamatory toward both the former minister and the broader Scheduled Caste community. An FIR was registered under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and other sections of the Indian Penal Code.[17] Warring later issued an unconditional apology for any hurt caused by his remarks. Rival political parties and organisations, including the Shiromani Akali Dal and Aam Aadmi Party, criticised the remarks and demanded action, while the Punjab State Scheduled Castes Commission took notice and sought responses from election officials. Allegations included that the language used could insult and harm the dignity of the Mazhabi Sikh community.[18][19]

Controversy over alleged “neck-twisting” remark

During a period of heightened political tension in Punjab, Amrinder Singh Raja Warring, president of the Punjab unit of the Indian National Congress, was accused by political opponents of making a veiled threat against a Dalit minister. The allegation centred on his use of a phrase translated by critics as “twisting his neck” during a public exchange. Opposition parties and some community organisations criticised the remark as inappropriate and potentially intimidating, particularly because it was directed at a minister belonging to a Scheduled Caste community. They argued that such language could be interpreted as threatening and insensitive in the state’s caste-sensitive political environment.[20]

Political Life

He rose into prominence in 2022, when he was made the Punjab Pardesh Congress Committee (PPCC) chief, right before Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Yatra.[21]

After his elevation in the state, during his public interaction across the state and at the PPCC office, he was seen wearing bright-coloured turban. Though Warring at the time denied that his decision to tie turban had any political tone, party insiders said it was a message for his adversaries - on who is the party leader in the state. It is said that he started wearing turban to show his leadership and aim for bigger role in state politics.[22]

In 2024, he made a controversial statement that - "Those leading the (Akal) Takht are people of Sukhbir Badal." Sukhbir Badal at the time was leader of the Shiromani Akali Dal, a party which was erstwhile ally of BJP and in strong opposition to Congress.[23]

In 2025, Punjab Congress president Amrinder Singh Raja Warring, in an ongoing tussle within its I.N.D.I.A. alliance parties, demanded resignation of its own partner Aam Adami Party's (AAP) Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann. He said that - "...accountability be fixed in the Majitha hooch tragedy, which involved illegal country liquor distribution and consumption, that took several lives in the Amritsar district." He termed these 27 deaths as 'cold-blooded murders' blaming it on AAP government.[24]

References

  1. ^ "Know Your PAN". incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in. Income Tax Department, Ministry of Finance, Government of India. Archived from the original on 20 March 2017. Retrieved 19 March 2017.
  2. ^ "Punjab portfolios: CM Channi keeps vigilance, mining, power; deputy Randhawa gets home, Soni health". Hindustan Times. 28 September 2021.
  3. ^ "Punjab Lok Sabha Election Results 2024: Full and final list of winners including Charanjit Singh Channi, Amritpal singh, Harsimrat kaur badal and more". TOI City Desk. The Times of India. 5 June 2024. Retrieved 6 June 2024.
  4. ^ a b c d Dhaliwal, Shub Karman. "Punjab Elections Results 2017: Panjab University alumni script success story, win Assembly poll". The Indian Express. Retrieved 19 March 2017.
  5. ^ India Today (13 July 2024). "Ex-legislators | In the major league now". Archived from the original on 6 August 2024. Retrieved 6 August 2024.
  6. ^ Kamali, Neel (18 August 2016). "Sukhbir's bid to regain Gidderbaha back for SAD". The Times of India. TNN. Retrieved 19 March 2017.
  7. ^ a b "In Muktsar, novel ways to reach out to voters". Tribuneindia News Service. Retrieved 14 March 2022.
  8. ^ "Bathinda Elections 2019: Punjab Lok Sabha Constituency Poll Dates, Parliamentary Election, Candidates, Schedule, Latest News | Opinion Poll, Exit Poll, 2014 Election Results and Survey Online". Firstpost. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
  9. ^ "Punjab Congress appointments: High command tries to maintain region, experience and caste balance". Tribuneindia News Service. 9 April 2022. Retrieved 12 April 2022.
  10. ^ The Economic Times (6 June 2024). "Bullish Wins & Bearish Losses: Here are the key contests and results of 2024 Lok Sabha polls". Archived from the original on 27 July 2024. Retrieved 27 July 2024.
  11. ^ Service, Tribune News. "Slip of the tongue". Tribuneindia News Service. Retrieved 9 February 2020.
  12. ^ "Members". punjabassembly.nic.in. Retrieved 9 February 2020.
  13. ^ "SAD demands CBI probe into alleged Rs 60-Cr scam by Raja Warring". The Statesman. 24 June 2022. Retrieved 7 September 2025.
  14. ^ "Let CBI investigate 60cr bus purchase 'scam' by Warring, says Akali Dal". The Times of India. 25 June 2022. Retrieved 7 September 2025.
  15. ^ Thaper, Amanat (14 September 2023). "Vigilance Probe Launched into Alleged Irregularities Involving Punjab Congress Chief Raja Warring". Rozana Spokesman. Retrieved 7 September 2025.
  16. ^ "Warring made money as transport min: CM". The Times of India. 10 September 2023. Retrieved 7 September 2025.
  17. ^ "FIR against Punjab Congress chief Warring over caste-based comments on Buta Singh". The Tribune. Retrieved 25 January 2026.
  18. ^ "'Inflammatory & defamatory': Badal slams casteist remarks against Mazhabi community by Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring". The Times of India. 4 November 2025. Retrieved 25 January 2026.
  19. ^ Mahajan, Anilesh S. (8 November 2025). "Why Raja Warring's Buta Singh row is Congress's Punjab bypoll headache". India Today. Retrieved 25 January 2026.
  20. ^ "Anti-Dalit mindset: AAP slams Congress leaders' remarks on Punjab Cabinet minister". India Today. 9 February 2026. Retrieved 13 February 2026.
  21. ^ https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/punjab/politics-over-warrings-turban-ahead-of-bharat-jodo-yatra-467721/
  22. ^ https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/punjab/politics-over-warrings-turban-ahead-of-bharat-jodo-yatra-467721/
  23. ^ https://www.hindustantimes.com/cities/chandigarh-news/akal-takht-slams-amarinder-singh-raja-warring-s-controversial-remarks-101729799114754.html
  24. ^ https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chandigarh/hooch-tragedy-amrinder-singh-raja-warring-seeks-accountability-terms-deaths-as-cold-blooded-murders/articleshow/121146645.cms