Punjab Bureaucracy in 4 Years of AAP Rule: Suspensions for Some, Key Posts for ‘Blue-Eyed’ Officers
Kanwar Inder Singh/ royalpatiala.in News/ March 16,2026
Today, the Punjab government has completed four years in power. The state’s bureaucrats have witnessed many ups and downs during this period. Some were suspended, some remained without postings for months, and some even retired without holding any position. However, a few bureaucrats remained the “blue-eyed” officers of the incumbent government.
Despite the odds, many IAS and IPS officers remained among the most trusted officials of the present government during these four years.
Among the IAS officers is KAP Sinha, who is currently serving as the Chief Secretary to the Government of Punjab. Before assuming the charge of Chief Secretary in October 2024, he held several key positions, including Special Chief Secretary-cum-Financial Commissioner, Revenue and Rehabilitation. He also served as Special Chief Secretary for Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, Horticulture, Soil and Water Conservation, and Legal and Legislative Affairs.
Anurag Verma was appointed Chief Secretary by the AAP government in June 2023. However, after the appointment of KAP Sinha as Chief Secretary, he was posted as Additional Chief Secretary-cum-Financial Commissioner, Revenue, Rehabilitation and Disaster Management.
Ravi Bhagat is the Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister of Punjab. In addition, he also serves as Secretary of the Punjab Rural Development Board and Administrative Secretary of the Public Works Department (Buildings and Roads). Earlier, he served as Special Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister.
Krishan Kumar is the Principal Secretary of the Water Resources Department. He has held this portfolio since the formation of the AAP government in Punjab. Several ruling MLAs and opposition leaders levelled allegations against him over the 2025 Punjab floods, accusing him of causing a man-made disaster. Despite this, he continued to remain in the post.
Varun Roojam earlier served as Excise and Taxation Commissioner and is currently serving as Administrative Secretary, Transport. His wife, Simarpreet Kaur, is allegedly listed among the 18 beneficiaries in the infamous ‘Guava Scam’, who allegedly received hefty compensation wrongfully for land acquired by GMADA in Bakarpur village. The Enforcement Directorate had also raided his residence. Despite this, he continued to hold key positions.
Basant Garg returned from central deputation in 2024. After his return, he was appointed to the key post of Secretary Finance. Later, he was also given the charge of important departments such as Health and Family Welfare and Agriculture. On October 30, 2025, he was appointed Chairman of PSPCL and PSTCL, allegedly overlooking certain rules.
Abhijeet Kaplish is serving as Director of Mines and Geology, Punjab, while also holding the charge of Deputy Commissioner of Sri Muktsar Sahib. On one hand, he heads a district located around 250 kilometres away from the state capital, and on the other, he oversees the entire mining department of Punjab.
Sakshi Sawhney was appointed as the first woman Deputy Commissioner of both Patiala and Amritsar. She also served as Deputy Commissioner of Ludhiana. Currently, she is heading one of the key departments under housing and urban development, GMADA, as its Chief Administrator.
Apart from them, several other officers, including Tejveer Singh, Jaspreet Talwar, Manvesh Singh Sidhu, Vikas Garg, Ramvir, Sonali Giri, Surbhi Malik, Kumar Amit, Jatinder Jorwal, Preeti Yadav, Poonamdeep Kaur, Rajesh Dhiman etc remained in the good books of their bosses since the formation of present governmnet.
Whereas earlier some officers like KK Yadav, Jaspreet Singh, D.K. Tiwari, Gurpreet Singh Khaira, Neelima etc remained in good books, on key posts but later due to some reasons they were suspended. After some they were reinstated and posted again on key posts.
Some officers like Ajoy Sinha, Gurkiratkirpal Singh,Kanwalpreet kaur Brar, Rahul Bhandari, Ajoy Kumar Sharma, Vikas Pratap Singh, Mohammad Tayyab, Paramvir Singh, Puneet Goyal etc are kept without postings for long time. Even Ajoy Sinha retired without holding any post.
Similarly, several IPS officers also remained among the most trusted officials of the present government during these four years.
Gaurav Yadav is currently serving as the Director General of Police of the Punjab Police. Despite not being a regular appointee, he continues to head the elite force despite opposition and challenges.
Arpit Shukla holds a key position in the Punjab Police as head of the Law and Order wing, first as ADGP and now as Special DGP.
Parmod Ban has been heading the important Punjab Anti-Gangster Task Force (AGTF) since 2022.
L K Yadav earlier served as ADGP Crime and is currently heading the Bureau of Investigation (BoI).
Gurpreet Singh Bhullar is one officer who has always remained on key posts, regardless of which party forms the government in the state. Even under the present government, he has held important positions such as DIG, IG and Commissioner of Police. Currently, he has been serving as Commissioner of Police, Amritsar since September 2024.
Sukhchain Singh Gill served as IG Headquarters and acted as a key media face of the Punjab government on law and order and other issues for several years. In January 2026, he was appointed as the State Intelligence Chief.
Kuldip Chahal, who is currently DIG Patiala Range, was abruptly removed from the post of Chandigarh SSP in December 2022, nearly a year before the completion of his three-year tenure. After returning to the Punjab cadre, he was appointed to several top positions, including Commissioner of Police.
Swapan Sharma, currently Commissioner of Police, Ludhiana, has held key posts including DIG Ferozepur and Commissioner of Police Jalandhar in the present government. Congress MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira had filed a complaint against him over an alleged sleazy audio clip that went viral on social media.
Nanak Singh remained in the news wherever he was posted as SSP or DIG during the present government’s tenure. During his two terms as SSP Patiala, controversies followed him, whether related to Hindu-Sikh clashes or the Col Bath assault case. Currently, he is posted as DIG Ropar Range, where Col Bath has again alleged that he revoked the suspension of accused Inspector Harjinder Singh Dhillon and posted him in Mohali.
Varun Sharma is presently serving as SSP Patiala since May 2025. He earlier served in positions such as SSP, Sadak Surakhya Force Punjab, and AIG Provisioning. As SSP, he was appointed head of the SIT that investigated the case against Bikram Singh Majithia before his arrest last year.
Like them, several other officers, including PK Sinha, Kuldeep Singh, Jagadale Nilambari Vijay, Dhanpreet Kaur, Gulneet Singh Khurana, Sandeep Goyal, Gurmeet Singh Chuhan ,Inderbir Singh, Harmandeep Singh Hans, Jyoti Yadav etc remained in the good books of their bosses.
Whereas earlier some officers like SPS Parmar, Ravjot Kaur Grewal, Maninder Singh etc remained in good books, on key posts but later due to some reasons they were suspended. After some they were reinstated and posted again on key posts.
Some officers like Varinder Kumar, Naunihal Singh, Harpreet Singh Sidhu, Gurmeet Singh Chuhan are kept without postings for a long time. Harpreet Singh Sidhu, ADGP is still without posting from September 2025 since his return from central deputation. Naunihal Singh remained without posting for around a year.
