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Expelled from SAD in 2020, Bathinda AAP MLA not new to controversies
Kotfatta was expelled from SAD in 2020 after several Akali workers and many other people, including farmers, accused him of duping huge amounts of money from them
The controversial Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) legislator Amit Rattan Kotfatta, 43, who was arrested by the Vigilance Bureau on Thursday on the allegations of corruption, had earlier too faced charges of duping villagers and Akali workers.
In June 2020, Kotfatta was expelled from the Shromani Akali Dal (SAD) after several Akali workers and many other people, including farmers, accused him of duping huge amounts of money from them by promising high returns from investing in certain businesses.
With no political background, Kotfatta, the first-time MLA acquired a BTech degree in mechanical engineering from a private institute in 2003.
He was fielded as a SAD from Bathinda Rural, a reserved constituency, in 2017. He lost to AAP’s Rupinder Kaur Ruby by over 10,000 votes. After defeat Kotfatta remained active on his home turf and was mired in a controversy of swindling money from people.
After complaints started piling up, SAD chief Sukhbir Badal constituted a three-member panel of the party leaders to look into the allegations. The committee allegedly found that most of the duped people were Akali workers, and to avoid political backlash from the party cadre, Sukhbir expelled Kotfatta in 2020.
Interestingly, no first information report (FIR) was registered against him, and Kotfatta had hardly any political footprints in the constituency thereafter.
Kotfatta had steadfastly denied charges of misappropriation of money from villagers.
Ahead of the last elections, Kotfatta again surprised all when the AAP inducted him into the party in January last year, and within hours of his joining, his candidature was announced from Bathinda Rural.
He was pitted against SAD’s veteran leader Darshan Singh Bhattti and won the last election by over 35,000 votes. Kotfatta is known for relying on his team from outside the Bathinda Rural constituency to manage his political turf.
As per his election paper filed in January last year, Kotfatta mentioned ‘business’ as his profession and source of income. There was no clear reference to his exact avocation.
He is married to Sanmeet Kaur, a 2007 batch IPS officer of the Nagaland cadre, who is currently on a central deputation and posted as DIG with the National Commission for Scheduled Castes. Kotfatta’s father retired as a Class 1 officer from a Central government department and several of his close and extended family members are holding senior positions in government jobs in Punjab and Haryana.
