Kultar Singh Sandhwan

Kultar Singh Sandhwan is an Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) politician from Kotkapura in Faridkot district who has been Speaker of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha since 21 March 2022. He was born on 16 April 1975 at Kotkapura. He won the Kotkapura seat in 2017, chaired the Public Accounts Committee in the 15th Assembly, was re-elected in 2022 by a margin of 21,130 votes, and was then chosen Speaker of the 16th Assembly. Wikipedia says his grandfather Jangir Singh was a brother of Giani Zail Singh, which would make him the former President's grandnephew; a UNI report of June 2026 calls him Zail Singh's grandson, so reports differ on the exact relationship.

Key moments

• 14 October 2022: at the seventh anniversary of the Behbal Kalan police firing, in which Krishan Bhagwan Singh and Gurjit Singh were killed on 14 October 2015, he asked for 45 days to deliver justice. He said that if justice was not delivered by 30 November he would resign and join the protesters (The Tribune).
• 1 December 2022: the Behbal Kalan Insaaf Morcha demanded his resignation, saying the state government had failed to deliver what he had promised. A dharna at Behbal Kalan had been running since 16 December 2021.
• 13 April 2026: the Assembly unanimously passed the Jaagat Jot Sri Guru Granth Sahib Satkar (Amendment) Bill, 2026, which provides stricter punishment, including life imprisonment, for sacrilege against Sri Guru Granth Sahib (Outlook).
• May and June 2026: Sri Akal Takht Sahib asked the government to remove provisions it said were against Sri Guru Granth Sahib, the Khalsa Panth and the sentiments of the sangat, and Jathedar Giani Kuldeep Singh Gargaj said the law was made without consulting the Panth. Outlook reports that the Speaker was summoned on 8 May and given 15 days to amend the law, and that written objections were sent to the government on 11 May. On 29 June all Sikh MLAs and ministers were summoned, and UNI reported that Sandhwan presented himself before the Akal Takht Secretariat with them.

What he is known for. For presiding over the Assembly when the 2026 sacrilege law passed and was then challenged by Sri Akal Takht Sahib, and for the public pledge on Behbal Kalan that protesters have since held him to.