MALERKOTLA POLITICS — Malerkotla is the 23rd district of Punjab. It holds a very special place in the history of the state. In 1705, the local ruler Nawab Sher Mohammad Khan raised his voice against the execution of the young sons (sahibzada’s) of Guru Gobind Singh Ji. That historic event is remembered as the Haa Da Naara.
Because of this blessing, the town was spared from violence during the Partition of India in 1947. When the border was drawn, many family members of the Nawab moved to Model Town in Lahore, Pakistan.
For decades, this Muslim-majority urban center lived peacefully within the farming belt of Malwa. On June 2, 2021, Malerkotla politics was separated from Sangrur and made Malerkotla a full district. People were promised major development.
Today, those promises remain unfulfilled.
The town faces broken drainage, high power bills, stalled hospitals, strikes by government staff, and bitter fights inside political parties.
As Punjab prepares for the 2027 state elections, the traditional leaders are losing control. The voting map of Malerkotla is turning into a multi-cornered battleground.
1. The ₹563 Crore Medical College: Malerkotla Politics Reality Check
When Malerkotla became a district, the state government promised a world-class government medical college for minorities. In March 2026, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann reiterated that a modern medical college and super-specialty hospital would be built in Malerkotla at an estimated cost of ₹563 crore.
On the ground, this mega-project exists largely on paper.
- Land Transfer Disputes: The proposed land has been stuck in bureaucratic disputes between the Punjab Waqf Board, the Municipal Council, and the revenue department. No formal construction foundation has been laid on the site.
- The Ailing Civil Hospital: The existing Civil Hospital was supposed to be upgraded to function as the interim teaching hospital. It suffers from a severe shortage of doctors, anesthesiologists, and ICU nurses.
- Referrals and Inconvenience: Emergency patients and accident victims cannot receive major operations locally. Families are forced to hire ambulances to take patients to Rajindra Hospital in Patiala or Christian Medical College in Ludhiana.
- Lost Opportunity for Youth: Minority students were promised local seats for MBBS and nursing degrees. Four years after the district was created, local youth still travel to other states or abroad for medical education.
2. Minority Concerns: Waqf Properties, Graveyards, and Police Actions
Muslims form the majority of the population in Malerkotla city. Local citizens report feeling treated as a captive vote bank by every major political party.
When visiting the old neighborhoods inside Delhi Gate, Sirhandi Gate, and Kelon Gate, residents highlight three major grievances:
A. Shortage of Graveyards (Kabristan)
The city population has grown, but the land available for graveyards has not expanded. In many older burial grounds, families have to dig over old graves because there is no open ground left. The Punjab Waqf Board owns extensive urban land across Malerkotla. Local residents allege that prime commercial properties were leased out to politically connected builders and wealthy businessmen at low rental rates. Meanwhile, basic community needs like boundary walls for burial grounds, water tanks, and janazagahs (funeral prayer spaces) lack state funding.
B. Internal Waqf Board Politics
The Punjab Waqf Board commands significant property wealth in the state. Local social workers argue that its administrative power is operated out of Chandigarh by political appointees. A very small portion of Waqf revenue is directed into local welfare initiatives, such as student scholarships, coaching centers for civil services, or pensions for poor widows.
C. Police Targets and NDPS Charges
The district police department faces continuous criticism from local civil rights activists and youth groups over its anti-drug campaigns. Activists state that instead of arresting cross-district drug networks, local police stations target daily-wage youths from poorer colonies under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act. These arrests are allegedly used to meet departmental monthly target figures, leaving genuine supplier networks untouched.
3. Industrial Crisis: Zari, Defense Badges, and High Electricity Bills
The real economic heartbeat of Malerkotla lies in its small workshops and home factories. The city is the largest center in India for hand-embroidered uniform badges, metal crests, school insignias, brass buttons, and police regalia. It also hosts a large scrap metal recycling market.
Today, this artisanal economy is facing severe strain.
High Power Tariffs
The state government provides 300 units of free power to domestic households. To balance revenue, commercial and industrial power rates have risen sharply.
Small workshop owners report:
- The base power rate, fixed charges, voltage surcharges, and Fuel Cost Adjustment (FCA) combine to push real unit costs to between ₹9 and ₹11.
- Running small power looms, welding units, and iron cutters has become financially unviable for tiny cottage businesses.
- Many units receive high power bills even during slack seasons due to high minimum fixed charges.
Competition from Surat and China
Decades ago, Malerkotla’s hand embroidery competed with artisan hubs like Lahore and Lucknow. Today, computerized embroidery machines in Surat and cheap machine patches imported from China have entered the market. A machine can produce fifty uniform badges in the time it takes a Malerkotla craftsman to hand-stitch one badge with needle and bullion wire.
High Taxes on Raw Materials
The industry requires raw materials like bullion wire, gold-plated thread, velvet, and brass sheets. High Goods and Services Tax (GST) rates on these inputs have squeezed profit margins down to 5 to 8 percent. The state government has not set up a dedicated Zari-Badge Industrial Cluster or provided freight subsidies.
Labor Dynamics: The Influx from Uttar Pradesh
As local youth seek overseas jobs or turn away from low-paying manual trades, skilled Muslim artisans from Uttar Pradesh (including Bareilly, Lucknow, and Moradabad) have settled permanently in Malerkotla. They work as the primary craftsmen in local shops. These workers live in small, rented rooms inside the old mohallas, earning modest wages that keep their families near the poverty line.
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4. Civic Breakdown of Malerkotla Politics: Monsoon Floods and DC Office Protests
The civil administration in Malerkotla faces ongoing municipal and employee disputes.
The Bypass Road Floods
When new highway bypasses were constructed around Malerkotla, they were built at an elevated road level. However, the drainage inside the old town was never rebuilt or deepened. During monsoon downpours, excess water from the outer bypass roads flows downward into the low-lying interior town.
Water levels rise several feet in commercial areas like Sirhandi Gate and Delhi Gate. The rainwater floods ground-floor shops and basements, destroying stored cloth, grain, and electronics. The city still lacks a unified stormwater management plan.
Clashes with Teacher Unions
The district administration has faced repeated friction with public-sector employees. Under Deputy Commissioner Viraj Shyamkarn Tidke, IAS, the Democratic Teachers Front (DTF) organized demonstrations outside the district administrative complex.
Teachers were assigned continuous booth-level electoral roll revision duties alongside routine classroom work. Union leaders alleged that senior district officials used harsh and inappropriate language against staff during administrative data reviews.
The local Bar Association joined the protests and boycotted judicial court work in solidarity, disrupting official administrative tasks for several days.
Inside the ruling camp, sitting AAP MLA Dr. Mohammad Jamil-Ur-Rehman finds himself increasingly isolated. Despite riding the historic 2022 anti-establishment wave to victory, Rehman’s exclusion from Bhagwant Mann’s cabinet severely curtailed his capacity to distribute high-level patronage.
Recognizing vulnerability on the urban Malerkotla seat, the AAP high command has engineered a parallel power center:
The Arrival of Dr. Gulzar Mohammad: In late August 2026, Dr. Gulzar Mohammad—a prominent local orthopedic surgeon who had previously maintained an apolitical profile—formally joined AAP at Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann’s official residence in Chandigarh.
The Council Defections: Dr. Mohammad did not arrive alone. Three key independent municipal councillors joined alongside him, flanked by influential community leaders including former Nagar Council heads and senior trade wing functionaries.
The Waqf Axis: Crucially, Dr. Mohammad’s entry consolidates a formidable family and social network. Being closely related to Punjab Waqf Board Chairman Mohammad Owais and District Trade Wing Chairman Azam Rana, Dr. Mohammad’s rapid elevation signals a deliberate move by Chandigarh to sideline the sitting MLA ahead of ticket distribution.
5. The Congress Civil War: Razia Sultana, Parvez Khan, and Jassi Khangura
For more than twenty years, the Congress party in Malerkotla was controlled by former Cabinet Minister Razia Sultana and her husband, former Punjab DGP Mohammad Mustafa. Razia Sultana won the assembly seat in 2002, 2007, and 2017.
Inside the local Congress, an open challenge to her leadership has emerged.
+-----------------------------+-----------------------------+-----------------------------+
| The Razia Sultana Camp | The Parvez Khan Factor | The Jassi Khangura Axis |
+-----------------------------+-----------------------------+-----------------------------+
| Relies on legacy clout, | Backed by loyalists of | Former MLA Jassi Khangura |
| past development tenures, | Charanjit Singh Channi; | and Muzamil Khan build a |
| and personal community | mobilizes municipal workers | non-dynastic network |
| goodwill | and disenfranchised youth | across the district |
+-----------------------------+-----------------------------+-----------------------------+
The Parvez Khan Challenge
Parvez Khan has emerged as an active local contender for the Congress ticket. He is backed by the faction of former Chief Minister and current Jalandhar MP Charanjit Singh Channi. Khan has built an independent following among municipal workers and younger party workers who argue that the party organization has been treated as a personal family office.
The Factional Paradox
At the state level, Razia Sultana has maintained a close political alliance with the Channi camp. However, in Malerkotla city, Channi’s local supporters are backing Parvez Khan. They argue that fielding the same family repeatedly will result in another defeat for Congress.
The Jassi Khangura Influence
Former MLA Jasbir Singh “Jassi” Khangura has also built a presence in local party affairs alongside emerging leaders like Muzamil Khan. Khangura is an experienced organizer with business resources across Malwa. His camp argues that if the Congress high command does not offer a fresh face, the party will struggle against its opponents.
6. SAD Strategy: Bibi Zahida Suleman
In past elections, the Shiromani Akali
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Dal (SAD) under Parkash Singh Badal frequently fielded bureaucratic or police proxies in Malerkotla. In 2012, SAD won the seat by fielding Begum Farzana Alam, the wife of former DGP Mohammad Izhar Alam.
Ahead of the 2027 election, SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal has shifted the party’s local approach.
SAD appointed Bibi Zahida Suleman as the constituency in-charge (Mukh Sewadar).
- A Working Journalist: Suleman is a state-level woman journalist and public commentator. She has built an audience by recording videos on public problems like hospital neglect, broken drainage systems, and administrative inefficiency.
- Direct Debate on Local Issues: Unlike previous Akali candidates who relied on closed-door meetings, Suleman uses digital media to question the local MLA and Deputy Commissioner directly on camera.
- Neutralizing the Woman Vote Factor: Razia Sultana was historically the only prominent Muslim woman legislator in the Punjab Vidhan Sabha. By selecting an articulate, working woman professional, the Akali Dal aims to challenge Sultana’s standing among female voters in the city.
7. The Right-Wing Malerkotla Politics Factor: Jagat Kathuria and the BJP
Malerkotla has long been viewed as an unwinnable seat for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) due to its unique demographics. However, local election data shows a shifting vote baseline.
The 2022 Numbers
In the 2022 assembly elections, the BJP-led alliance fielded Begum Farzana Alam under the Punjab Lok Congress symbol. She secured 3,766 votes (2.99%).
In contrast, in the 2017 elections, the combined SAD-BJP alliance candidate secured second place with over 46,000 votes.
When the alliance broke in 2022, the official Akali Dal candidate (Nusrat Ali Khan) saw his share drop to 8,421 votes (6.68%).
Organizing the Urban Trader Class
Under local leaders like Jagat Kathuria, the BJP has expanded its organizational presence inside Malerkotla. Kathuria has worked with Hindu shopkeepers, iron scrap traders, and small business owners concentrated near the inner markets.
In a multi-cornered contest where victory margins narrow, an organized voting bloc of 5 to 7 percent can change the outcome for both Congress and AAP.
8. Waris Punjab De: Advocate Zulfikar Ali Malik
The most unusual shift in Malerkotla’s political landscape is the active role taken by Advocate Zulfikar Ali Malik under the banner of Waris Punjab De.
Malik is a senior figure in the local legal community. He previously served as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Punjab Waqf Board and contested the 2022 assembly election as a candidate for the Sanyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM).
His alignment with Waris Punjab De brings the organization into Punjab’s urban Muslim center:
- Legal Support for Detained Youth: Malik has focused his public platform on legal cases involving local youths detained by the police under NDPS charges, demanding transparency and due process.
- Critique of the Sitting MLA: Sitting AAP MLA Dr. Mohammad Jamil-Ur-Rehman won the seat in 2022 with 65,948 votes during the AAP wave. However, he was not given a ministerial post in Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann’s cabinet. Malik and other critics argue that the MLA lacks the administrative leverage to deliver key projects to the district.
- A Panthic-Muslim Platform: While Waris Punjab De grew out of rural Panthic networks, Malik’s work in Malerkotla links concerns over police accountability directly to the urban Muslim working class.
9. Structural Realignment Ahead of 2027
The political map of Malerkotla is no longer defined by a simple contest between two legacy families.
The traditional political structure is shifting across several fronts:
- The promised ₹563 crore minority medical college remains stalled in paperwork.
- Small zari-badge and scrap workshops are dealing with high power bills and machine-made competition.
- The city lacks modern stormwater drainage, leading to regular flooding during monsoon showers.
- The Congress faces an internal fight between the Razia Sultana household, Parvez Khan, and Jassi Khangura.
- The Shiromani Akali Dal has abandoned old proxy formulas to back working journalist Bibi Zahida Suleman.
- The BJP has consolidated an urban business voting bloc under Jagat Kathuria.
- Waris Punjab De has established an active local presence through Advocate Zulfikar Ali Malik.
As the 2027 election approaches, the voters of Malerkotla are looking beyond traditional family endorsements. The upcoming contest will test whether the city’s established leadership can address its deep civic and economic challenges, or whether newer political voices will redefine the district’s future.
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