The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has suspended its own MLA Sukhveer Singh Maiserkhana after he publicly flagged the shortage of teachers in Punjab’s government schools, including the School of Eminence where his two children study. The MLA, who represents the Maur constituency in Bathinda, had accused the AAP leadership and the Punjab government of failing to address the shortage despite repeatedly raising the issue with the party.
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has suspended Maur Assembly Constituency MLA Sukhveer Singh Maiserkhana from the party’s primary membership https://t.co/R8RDQYFZAV
— IANS (@ians_india) October 3, 2026
Maiserkhana went live on Facebook on Saturday, 3rd October, and expressed his frustration over the lack of action. He said he had repeatedly asked the government to fill vacant teacher posts, but his complaints had not been resolved. He also challenged the AAP government’s claims about improvements in the state’s education system, saying that the reality at the ground level was different. “I am going live after feeling sad. I kept demanding the filling of teacher posts, but it has not been done yet,” the MLA said.
AAP MLA Sukhveer Singh Maiserkhana exposed his own govt: • Teacher shortage in his Maur constituency • Repeated complaints ignored • CM Bhagwant Mann allegedly refused to meet him • Claimed AAP MLAs are being sidelined & humiIiated What happened next? AAP SUSPENDED him for “anti-party activities.” https://t.co/T7aEiDlv5k
— Sunny Raj (@SunnyRajBJP) October 4, 2026
The issue became more personal for Maiserkhana because his own son studies at a government School of Eminence. According to the MLA, the school is also facing a shortage of teachers. He said that among the ruling party’s MLAs, he was the only one whose children studied in a government school.
The MLA also revealed that he had approached the party leadership several times but failed to get the matter resolved. He said he was told that Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann had called him, but said that the Chief Minister did not meet him. “But he did not meet me,” Maiserkhana claimed. “How long will I tolerate? What did I do wrong to the party?”
He further said that he was aware that he might not receive a party ticket for the upcoming elections, but maintained that he would continue raising issues affecting people. “I know I will not get the ticket, but I will continue to fight for the people,” he said.
Maiserkhana also expressed fear that an FIR could be registered against him. He said the school principal had even told his son to ask his father to help ensure that the school had enough teachers. “My fight is for schools. If nothing is done in schools, then what will one do with such education?” the MLA asked.
The AAP, however, did not accept the allegations as a criticism of the government that could be debated within the party. Instead, it suspended Maiserkhana with immediate effect.
AAP Punjab general secretary Harchand Singh Barsat said in the suspension letter that the MLA had been involved in “anti-party activities and indiscipline”. The letter stated that his “primary membership from the party is suspended with immediate effect”.
Teachers have been protesting over recruitment, pay and regularisation
The controversy comes at a time when the administration was simultaneously grappling with mounting unrest among educators on the ground in Punjab. Around 180 Elementary Teacher Training (ETT) teachers, accompanied by their family members, staged protests outside the residence of AAP leader Manish Sisodia in Sector 39, Chandigarh on 21st September. This followed an earlier demonstration on 22nd August, outside the residence of Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema, which had ended in police detentions.
Government school teachers protest outside Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema’s residence, demand equal pay scales. https://t.co/adSO5V01Sq
— News Arena India (@NewsArenaIndia) October 3, 2026
The ETT teachers and their family members have been raising demands related to recruitment, reinstatement, regularisation, pay scales and service benefits.
The dispute involving the 180 ETT teachers goes back to their recruitment in 2016 under the previous SAD-BJP government. The teachers were later dismissed over alleged irregularities and deficiencies in the recruitment process. They were subsequently reinstated following a court order.
The teachers now want the government to take action against those they hold responsible for the problems in the recruitment process. According to the protesters, a later IAS report attributed the recruitment problems to an error by a clerk in the Education Department. The teachers have alleged that the clerk manipulated the process to favour certain candidates and have demanded his suspension and action against those responsible.
The protesters have also accused the present AAP government of protecting the departmental official.
The teachers have also been demanding pay parity with other teachers recruited during the same period. They allege that they are covered under the Central 7th Pay Commission scales while other teachers recruited in the same batch receive Punjab government pay scales. According to them, this has created a substantial difference in salaries and other service benefits.
One teacher said that around 12,700 teachers are working in government schools in pre-primary, LKG, nursery and primary classes. The protesters say the AAP government had promised before coming to power that temporary and contractual employees would be regularised. They allege that after the government came to power, their remuneration was increased only to a limited extent, while the government described the move as effective regularisation.
The teachers, however, argue that the decision did not provide them with the same benefits and service conditions as regular government employees.
“We are demanding the suspension of the Education Department clerk who orchestrated such a massive scam to accommodate his own people. We are fighting for our rights,” one protester said.
The agitation has also drawn attacks from opposition parties. Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal accused the AAP government of turning its back on teachers and alleged that those demanding regularisation and fair pay were being met with police action instead of solutions.
BJP leader Tarun Chugh also criticised the government, saying that police action was being used against teachers seeking regularisation, fair pay and dignity.
Visuals from previous protests showed teachers being removed by police and taken away in buses. Protesters have also revealed that turbans were dislodged and women protesters’ dupattas were pulled during the police action.
Shame on AAP! TO SAVE EDUCATION SYSTEM OF PUNJAB AAP MUST GO! Teachers in Punjab are protesting against CM Bhagwant Mann since yesterday! For teachers in Punjab: – No salaries – No appointmemt Rather than listening to them , CM Bhagwant Mann and Super CM Kejriwal ordered women teachers to be beaten up by lathis! Where is " B team of Kejriwal"!
— Pradeep Bhandari(प्रदीप भंडारी)🇮🇳 (@pradip103) October 3, 2026
CJP’s Punjab school PR and the ground reality
Recently, a team led by Cockroach Janta Party’s co-convenor, Saurav Das, visited a few selected institutions in Punjab, including a government School of Eminence, a senior secondary school, and a primary school in Ludhiana, as part of their so-called “School Thik Karo” campaign. After visiting AAP-ruled Punjab, instead of highlighting the ground realities, the team appeared to focus on PR of the state’s government schools, suggesting that everything was functioning perfectly.
Their focus was limited to a tiny fraction of the state’s educational landscape, specifically visiting institutions like Ludhiana’s School of Eminence, which represents only a single exemplary showcase out of roughly 19,000 government schools across the state.
The cherry-picking of premier facilities by CJP’s Saurav Das obscures the harsh ground-level realities faced by everyday students and teachers. The severe shortage of teaching staff across regular schools, the grievances of protesting educators, and the suspension of its own MLA after he flagged the issue, despite his own child studying in an understaffed government school, highlight a deep chasm between political narratives and the actual state of public education in Punjab.
