AAP’s suspension order cites “anti-party activities and indiscipline” without addressing his underlying claims
The Aam Aadmi Party on Saturday suspended its own Maur MLA, Sukhveer Singh Maiserkhana, from primary membership “with immediate effect,” citing his “involvement in anti-party activities and indiscipline.” The move came within days of Maiserkhana publicly confronting his own government over a problem that is, by most accounts, real: a persistent shortage of teachers in Punjab’s government schools.
What Maiserkhana actually said
In a widely shared video and an emotional Facebook Live, Maiserkhana — who represents the Maur Assembly constituency in Bathinda district — said he had repeatedly raised the issue of vacant teaching posts with the party’s high command, including Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and Manish Sisodia, but the shortage in his constituency’s schools had persisted regardless.
He pointed to specific, checkable grievances: a school in Burj Sahima village that, he said, met the conditions for an upgrade but was never upgraded; Schools of Eminence operating without their full sanctioned staff, despite being flagship institutions for the government; and his own children studying in a government school, a choice he said he had made out of personal faith in the system he was now struggling to defend. “I have become tired of saying that teachers should be appointed. This is the situation of an MLA…” he said, visibly emotional, adding that the issue was not about his political career or a party ticket — telling the party, in effect, that it could cut his ticket if it wished. He is also reported to have used expletives twice during the broadcast.
The party’s response: silence on substance, action on tone
AAP’s Punjab unit did not address a single one of Maiserkhana’s specific claims — not the Burj Sahima upgrade, not the understaffed Schools of Eminence, not the broader statewide teacher vacancy problem he described. Its suspension order addressed only his conduct: “It has come to the notice of the Party that you have been found involved in anti-party activities and indiscipline. In view of the above, your primary membership from the Party is suspended with immediate effect.”
That framing is worth sitting with. Nothing in the public record suggests Maiserkhana crossed over to another party, campaigned against AAP, or did anything beyond airing grievances about his own constituency’s schools — loudly, emotionally, and reportedly with some strong language. The question this raises is a simple one: is drawing attention to a documented teacher shortage “anti-party activity,” or is it the most basic function an elected representative is supposed to perform?
Not an isolated instance
This is not the first time AAP’s Punjab unit has moved quickly against people who raised uncomfortable facts about the state’s education system. Earlier this year, the suspension of a government school teacher in Goindwal Sahib over an unrelated matter drew public pushback from teacher unions and even from AAP’s own local leaders, who argued the action was taken without a proper inquiry. Whether or not the two cases are directly comparable, they point to a pattern worth watching: problems in the schools system seem to generate faster disciplinary action against the messenger than against the underlying shortage.
What remains unanswered
AAP has not disputed Maiserkhana’s underlying claims about teacher vacancies, nor explained what corrective steps, if any, are being taken in his constituency’s schools. Until it does, the suspension reads less like an answer to a legitimate governance complaint and more like a message to other MLAs about what happens when you air one in public. Whether that message serves students in understaffed classrooms is a separate question — one the party’s statement does not address at all.
For all the latest updates, download PGurus App.
