Sukhbinder Singh Sarkaria is a high profile and senior most politician of Indian National Congress (INC), he is serving as the sitting MLA representing the Raja Sansi constituency in Amritsar district, Punjab. He previously held high ranking positions as a Cabinet Minister in Punjab Government where he managed portfolios of Disaster Management, water resources etc.
He was born on 13 March 1956 in Amritsar. He is the son of Narinder Singh Sarkaria & Amarjit Kaur. He completed his Bachelor of Science from Khalsa College Amritsar, affiliated with Guru Nanak Dev University (GNDU) during the academic year 1975-76.
Sukhbinder Singh Sarkaria joined active politics during the late nineties as chairman of Block Samiti (Verka), moving on to serve as president of the District Congress Committee (Amritsar Rural) in 2002. His administration experience was further enhanced through service as chairman of the Punjab Energy Development Agency (PEDA) and as a member of the Punjab Mandi Board. In May 2004, he contested the Tarn Taran Lok Sabha by-election as a candidate of the Indian National Congress (INC), positioning himself as an acknowledged political personality at the state level even after losing the election. Sarkaria turned his attention towards state assembly politics in February 2007, securing victory as an MLA from the Raja Sansi constituency against SAD candidate Vir Singh Lopoke. In March 2012, defying the strong tide of popularity of the Akali Dal in Punjab, he managed to secure his re-election by a slender margin of 1,084 votes. He accomplished the rare feat of achieving an electoral hat-trick in March 2017, defeating Lopoke by 5,727 votes.
Due to his steadfast loyalty to his political party, he became a Punjab Cabinet Minister on April 21, 2018. He had been assigned several significant departments such as Revenue, Rehabilitation & Disaster Management, Water Resources, and Mining & Geology. In the wake of the reshuffle in June 2019, his departments changed to Housing and Urban Development along with Water Resources. In the wake of the party crisis in September 2021, Sarkaria continued to hold his cabinet portfolio as Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi gave him these departments up until March 2022. During the March 2022 elections, although there was an enormous landslide victory for the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Sarkaria exhibited strong regional resilience by winning his fourth consecutive MLA term in Raja Sansi by defeating Lopoke by 5,474 votes. As an opposition member, he worked as the Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) in the 2022-2023 session. Being a life-long member of the Congress Party, he proved his significance by becoming Co-Chairperson of the Punjab Manifesto Committee.
He worked on Canal Water & Irrigation Initiatives and addressed severe groundwater depletion in the Majha region.
He also brought Revenue Department Modernization, worked on online land registries, launched portal applications and also brought upgrades on property registration and online mandates.
He worked on upscaling internal road networks, civil dispensaries etc.
He combines his professional background in agriculture with his current role as an MLA. He is married to Nirmaljit Kaur, she is self-employed. He holds the assets of Rs. 12,20,02,000 (12 Cr+) and liabilities of Rs. 1,51,14,000 (1 Cr+).
He holds an old Criminal case, under section 366 IPC and section 34 IPC in 1977.
There was also an internal party rivalry when local rivals issued a press release demanding disciplinary action against him for damaging the party’s image in 2014.
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[NGN/PK]
N/A
Punjab
INC
N/A
2022
1
Graduated
12,20,02,000
Agriculturist
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