Amarinder Singh (Raja Warring) | |
|---|---|
| | |
| President of Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee | |
| Assumed office 9 April 2022 | |
| Preceded by | Navjot Singh Sidhu |
| Member of Parliament,Lok Sabha | |
| Assumed office 4 June 2024 | |
| Preceded by | Ravneet Singh Bittu |
| Constituency | Ludhiana |
| 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 by | Manpreet Singh Badal |
| Succeeded by | Hardeep Singh Dhillon |
| Constituency | Gidderbaha |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 29 November 1977 |
| Party | Indian National Congress |
| Spouse | Amrita Singh |
| Children | 2 |
| Residence(s) | Shri mukstar sahib,Punjab |
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]
Warring was the president of the Indian Youth Congress,the youth division of Indian National Congress,from December 2014 to May 2018. [4]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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.
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]
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]
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]
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]