Sukhpal Khaira was elected in 2017 from the
Bholath constituency on the ticket of the
Aam Aadmi Party. After the resignation of
H. S. Phoolka as
Leader of the Opposition in the Punjab Assembly, Khaira was appointed as his replacement. However, due to differences with central leadership he was eventually sacked from the post.[3]
On 6 January 2019 he resigned from the Aam Aadmi Party[4] and on 8 January formed new party. He also declared interest in making an electoral coalition with like -minded parties in Punjab for the
2019 Lok Sabha elections.[5]
Ideology
As per Khaira, it is a party to "liberate Punjab from the clutches of corrupt traditional parties" of Punjab.[6]
It is a Punjab-centric party which promises to end corruption, sand mining, transport, cable mafia, provide justice in the
2015 Guru Granth Sahib sacrilege case, and stop police firing incidents.[1]
The Party has raised alarm on the prevailing water crisis in the state. While Khaira has expressed concern on the dwindling groundwater levels mainly caused by excessive irrigation and heavy use of pesticides, he has also blamed the previous and the current governments of both the state and the center for giving water to
Rajasthan and
Haryana states from Punjab's share in an arbitrary manner and also failing to implement crop diversification and water saving irrigation techniques.[7]