“One minute, with all due respect, can I talk? Thirty people entered my house, pushing their way through. This is my house. I am the local MLA. I am amazed how you people have just entered my house…”
Ganieve Kaur Majithia was having none of it after the Punjab Vigilance Bureau arrested her husband and former minister Bikram Singh Majithia, in a disproportionate assets case on June 25. Ganieve, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) MLA from Majitha in Amritsar, was in a combative mood as reporters clamoured around her.
This was a side of the first-time MLA that not many had seen, and a far cry from the 2022 Punjab Assembly election contest that, in Ganieve’s own words, she had not “opted for voluntarily”. However, the last few years have brought about a change, and the 48-year-old does not seem to be afraid to take on her opponents and even the police.
When the Vigilance Bureau again raided her office on Tuesday, Ganieve questioned a senior police officer on her right to access her workspace as an MLA. Holding up a document, she asked: “You want to search here again? Do that. I also want justice … Why am I not being allowed in my own office? … According to these rules, when a prisoner is in remand, he is allowed access to his lawyers, his relatives and his friends. When there is a search going on in the person’s premises, that person is allowed to be present… You have to maintain justice and law as well… What if you plant something inside my office?”
Akali Dal leaders said Ganieve’s strong defence of her husband and family highlights that she has found her footing in the party and is in a position to emerge as a key woman face for the party, a space that till now has only been occupied by her sister-in-law and former Union Minister Harismrat Kaur Badal.
Majithia and Harsimrat are siblings, and the party has closed ranks behind the Majithias while accusing the AAP government of overreach.
Ganieve Kaur arguing with the police officers who had raided her office. (Express)
Praising Ganieve, a senior leader said, “She was then a reluctant politician but not now. When she interacts with rural women, she is a typical Punjabi woman … When she faced the cops, she made it known that she knew her rights and speaks fluent English. She could be a real asset for the party ahead of 2027 Punjab assembly polls despite being new. She has entered the scene at a time when our 104-year-old party is facing an existential crisis in Punjab’s politics.”
A senior SAD leader said Ganieve had “come out of her husband’s shadow” and was carving out a space for herself. “There’s no comparison with Harsimrat, but she now has her own space,” said a senior SAD leader.
Ganieve’s roots are in Punjab’s Sangrur, but she grew up in Delhi. An Economics graduate from Delhi University, she later studied Art History and briefly worked at an art auction house. She married Majithia in 2009 and concentrated on raising their two sons. Till the 2022 elections came around, she had not shown any inclination to join politics and was rarely seen at public events.
Ahead of the 2022 polls when he was booked in a drugs case, Majithia announced he would contest elections from Majitha, his bastion, and Amritsar East. However, with Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu challenging him to contest from just one seat, the former minister retained the Amritsar ticket and, out of the blue, the Akali Dal fielded Ganieve from his stronghold.
During the 2022 campaign, Ganieve, who had by that point never visited the constituency or even campaigned for her husband, tended to shy away from media interviews. And if she gave one, Majithia would ensure her “raw political replies” were vetted before going to the press.
As the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) hurricane swept Punjab, Majithia lost from Amritsar East while Ganieve ended up becoming one of only three Akali Dal MLAs in the 117-member Assembly.
After three years, the first-time MLA says she has grown into her role as a public representative.
“I am still very new to politics. I have never seen all this in my entire life, but I am very clear that I need justice for my husband. I have to ensure that I do everything for the people of Majitha who have stood behind our family despite all these allegations. I was never a politician, but then life is all about adapting and fitting into the roles that are given to us,” she told The Indian Express.
Hitting out at the Vigilance Bureau, Ganieve told The Indian Express, “The day they raided our house in Amritsar, they cordoned off the entire colony as if the US President was visiting. I just want to ask why they are scared of Bikram? Such a reaction and muzzling come when something really scares you. The AAP government is scared of the love that people give to my husband and the truth he speaks.”
She said her “behenji (sister)” Harismrat had been her “biggest support” amid this crisis.
While Ganieve has not been booked in any of the cases against her husband, an FIR against him states, “The assets both immovable/movable in the name of Bikram Singh Majithia and his wife Ganieve Kaur have increased substantially for which no legitimate source of income has been provided.”
The fresh DA case against Majithia stems from the 2021 drugs case, according to the police.
The AAP has accused the Akali Dal of transforming from a Panthic movement to a “family-run business empire under the control of (party chief) Sukhbir Badal”.
“The Akali Dal was founded in 1920 to protect the Sikh faith, gurdwaras, and Panthic values. But after being captured by the Badal family, especially Sukhbir Badal, it shifted its focus to amassing wealth through corruption, launching hotels, transport businesses, and laundering money abroad, at the cost of Punjab’s youth and future,” said state Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema.
The Punjab and Haryana High Court will hear Majithia’s plea against his arrest on Friday.