Laljit Singh Bhullar, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA from Patti in Tarn Taran district and a former Punjab cabinet minister, announced on Tuesday morning that he will not contest the upcoming Punjab Assembly elections. Bhullar, who is currently in jail, shared the decision in a post on his official Facebook page and thanked his supporters and the people of the Patti constituency.

Source: TV9 Punjabi

In the post, Bhullar wrote that he had heard the brothers and sisters of the Patti constituency wanted the party to field him in the election once again, but that he had decided not to contest this time. He said he thanked all the people of Patti from the bottom of his heart, bowed his head before their affection, love and respect, and would remain indebted to them for life, thanking everyone who had stood by him and kept their love and trust in him.

What it means for the Patti seat

AAP has already released its first list of 40 candidates for the 2027 elections, and neither Bhullar's name nor the Patti seat figured in it. The party has appointed Jaskanwar Singh Gill, known as Jassa Patti, as the constituency in-charge in Bhullar's absence. KhabarGaon reported that there is now discussion that AAP could field Jassa Patti, a well-known wrestler who joined the party in April 2026, from Patti in a later list instead of Bhullar, and Bhullar's post has intensified that discussion. AAP has not yet announced its Patti candidate, and no party reaction to Bhullar's announcement had been reported at the time of publishing.

Source: KhabarGaon

The case that put Bhullar in jail

Bhullar's name surfaced in March 2026 in the death of Dr Gagandeep Singh Randhawa, the Amritsar district manager of the Punjab State Warehousing Corporation. Randhawa died on March 21, 2026 after consuming a poisonous substance at his Amritsar home. Before his death he recorded a video in which he allegedly named Bhullar, and his wife Upinder Kaur filed a police complaint alleging — as allegations that have not been tested in court — that Bhullar, his father Sukhdev Singh and his personal assistant Dilbag Singh had pressured Randhawa over warehouse-construction tenders in the Patti and Khemkaran areas, and had threatened and harassed him. These are the complainant's allegations; Bhullar has not been convicted of any offence in the case.

After Randhawa's death, an FIR was registered on March 22 at Ranjit Avenue police station in Amritsar against Bhullar, his father Sukhdev Singh and PA Dilbag Singh under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita sections 108 (abetment of suicide), 351(3) (criminal intimidation) and 3(5) (common intention). Bhullar resigned as a cabinet minister, and police arrested him on March 23 from Mandi Gobindgarh in Fatehgarh Sahib district, after he posted that he was not absconding and was surrendering. He was produced before an Amritsar court, given police remand of five days and then three more days, and was sent to judicial custody on April 1, where he has remained since, according to TV9 Punjabi.

Bhullar, a former transport and prisons minister, won Patti in 2022 by defeating Shiromani Akali Dal leader Adesh Partap Singh Kairon and Congress leader Harminder Singh Gill, ending the Kairon family's long hold on the seat. What happens next in Patti now rests with AAP's next candidate list: the party must name a new face for a seat its sitting MLA has publicly stepped away from, months before the 2027 contest.