Amrinder Singh Raja Warring

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]