Sucha Singh Chhotepur

Sucha Singh Chhotepur
Member of Punjab Legislative Assembly
In office
1985–1990
Preceded byRaj Kumar
Succeeded bySunil Mahajan
ConstituencyDhariwal
In office
2002–2007
Preceded bySucha Singh Langah
Succeeded bySucha Singh Langah
ConstituencyDhariwal
Convener of Aam Aadmi Party, Punjab
In office
29 August 2014 – 26 August 2016[1]
Preceded byPost Established
Succeeded byGurpreet Singh Waraich
Personal details
Born (1953-08-06) 6 August 1953 (age 71)
Dhariwal, Punjab
SpouseHarbhajan Kaur
ParentSardar Sardul Singh

Sucha Singh Chhotepur is an Indian politician and vice-president of Shiromani Akali Dal.[2] He was born in Punjab. He was former state convener of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) for Punjab.[3] He is the former state Minister of Tourism and a former independent member of the Punjab Legislative Assembly.[4][5]

Political career

Chhotepur is son in law of Shiromani Akali Dal President Mohan Singh Tur. He was elected sarpanch of Chhotepur village in Majha region of Punjab in 1975.

In 1985, he won Dhariwal constituency in Gurdaspur district and became minister for health and tourism in Surjit Singh Barnala government. He was brother of Sukhbir singh Badol.(Saka bhra) He resigned from government in a protest against the government actions at the Golden Temple.

He again contested as an independent candidate in 1997 state election from Dhariwal constituency.

He contested 2002 state election from Dhariwal constituency and won the seat as an Independent by margin of 80 votes against Sucha Singh Langah.

In 2009, Chhotepur joined the Indian National Congress in presence of Captain Amarinder Singh in Gurdaspur. He helped Partap Singh Bajwa to defeat Vinod Khanna of Bharatiya Janta Party by 8,342 votes.

In 2012 state election, Chhotepur again contested as Independent lost to Charanjit Kaur Bajwa a wife of Partap Singh Bajwa and came third but got 17000 votes.

In 2014 elections, he became Arvind Kejriwal's go to man in Punjab. He became the AAP convener for Punjab.

In 2017, Chhotepur launched Aapna Punjab Party which led to losses for the Aap in Punjab and stuck it to 20 seats.[6][7][8][9] On 9 December 2021, he joined Shiromani Akali Dal just before 2022 Punjab Legislative Assembly election and will contest from Batala.[10]

In 2022 Punjab Legislative Assembly election he contested from Batala Assembly constituency but lost the election to Amansher Singh of Aam Aadmi Party.

Aapna Punjab Party

Aapna Punjab Party
FounderSucha Singh Chhotepur
Founded1 October 2017
Dissolved16 January 2022[11]
Split fromAam Admi Party
Merged intoSanyukt Samaj Morcha
HeadquartersH.No. 2442, Phase- 11, Sector – 65, S.A.S. Nagar, Mohali, Punjab
IdeologyRegionalist
ECI StatusState Party[12]

Aapna Punjab Party (APP) was a political party in India, established in 2016 by Chhotepur[13]

Party contested on 78 seats in 2017 Punjab Legislative Assembly election however all candidates forfeited their deposit. It got only 37,475 votes and overall 0.24% voteshare.[14]

On 9 December 2021, with the joining of Akali dal by party president Sucha Singh Chhotepur, party officially merged into Sanyukt Samaj Morcha on 16 January 2022.[15]

See also

References

  1. ^ AAP removes its Punjab convener Sucha Singh Chhotepur after bribe video
  2. ^ "Chhotepur floats Aapna Punjab Party, invites Navjot Sidhu for lead role". October 2016.
  3. ^ "Sucha Singh Chhotepur rubbishes idea of Sidhu joining AAP". Hindustan Times. 5 December 2015. Retrieved 18 April 2016.
  4. ^ Singh, Ramindar; Thukral, Gobind (31 May 1986). "Return to uncertainty". India Today. Retrieved 18 April 2016.
  5. ^ Angre, Ketki (28 April 2014). "Aam Aadmi Party in Punjab: the X-factor?". NDTV. Retrieved 18 April 2016.
  6. ^ Chhotepur floats Aapna Punjab Party, invites Navjot Sidhu for lead role
  7. ^ Sucha Singh Chhotepur decides to not support any party in Gurdaspur LS bypoll
  8. ^ Chhotepur floats Aapna Punjab Party
  9. ^ He walked out of SAD govt, impressed Arvind Kejriwal, then fell out with him
  10. ^ Sucha Singh Chhotepur joined Shiromani Akali Dal. Amarujala. Retrieved 9 December 2021.
  11. ^ Aapna Punjab Party merges into Sanyukt Samaj Morcha
  12. ^ "(UPDATED LIST OF PARTIES & SYMBOLS As per main Notification dated 13.04.2018 As on 09.03.2019" (PDF). India: Election Commission of India. 2019. Retrieved 4 July 2019.
  13. ^ "Chhotepur launched new Party in Punjab". 27 September 2016.
  14. ^ "chhotepur failed to make impact in assembly election". 12 March 2017.
  15. ^ Aapna Punjab Party merges into Sanyukt Samaj Morcha