Punjab AAP MLA, known for his guns and vintage cars, dies of bullet injury to head: Who was Gurpreet Gogi?

Gurpreet Bassi Gogi, 57, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA from Ludhiana West, died late on Friday after sustaining bullet injury to his head from his licensed pistol. The Ludhiana Police said that while its probe into the incident is going on, Gogi’s death seemed to be caused prima facie by an “accidental fire” when the MLA was “cleaning his licenced weapon”.

A first-time MLA who won his election on the AAP’s ticket from the Ludhiana West constituency in 2022, Gogi was known to be “passionate” about weapons and motor vehicles. A “vintage lover” by his own admission, Gogi was said to have a “huge collection” of weapons, old and new luxury cars and two-wheelers, and various other antiques.

“I have been a vintage lover since childhood and I haven’t left my hobby even after joining politics. I own a gun house with a huge collection of both old and new weapons. I also love collecting cars – from Maruti 800 to Ambassadors and Mercedes, I have them all. I also love my collection of coins, postal stamps etc,” Gogi had told The Indian Express after being elected as an MLA in 2022.

He often made ripples in Ludhiana, both with his political actions and his fleet of colourful vehicles. However, while filing his election nomination papers in 2022, he rode his white Bajaj Priya scooter, which he called his “lucky mascot”.

Last month, Gogi rode this scooter with his wife Sukhchain Bassi, when she went to file her nomination for the Municipal Corporation elections. She, however, lost the election even as Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann had held a roadshow in her area.

Gogi’s love for luxury automobiles had also triggered rows. A month after the AAP stormed to power in Punjab in 2022, he arrived at a meeting in a yellow Porsche car, drawing attention as well as criticism. The Opposition took potshots over the AAP’s claim that its MLAs were “aam aadmi (common people)”.

Gogi acknowledged his “hobby”, saying there was “nothing hidden”. “Yes, I love collecting cars and weapons. I pay income tax. The Bajaj Priya scooter I came on for filing nomination was special because my mother had gifted it to me. As long as I am working for people, it should not matter if I travel in an Ambassador or Porsche,” he had said. In his 2022 election affidavit, Gogi declared that he owned several vehicles and weapons.

His bete noire Ravneet Singh Bittu, a former Congress MP from Ludhiana who is now a Union minister in the BJP-led central government, had targeted Gogi over one of his car’s licence plate with the number 0001, asking how an “aam aadmi” MLA had managed get it. “I did not get this number after coming to the AAP. I have owned this for decades. Bittu should keep mum on matters he doesn’t know anything about,” Gogi had then said.

Gogi was also vocal against his own AAP government, often speaking against bureaucracy over “incomplete projects” in Ludhiana. Last August, he had even demolished the foundation stone of a project meant to clean Ludhiana’s polluted Buddha Nullah stream, which he himself had laid after the AAP came to power. “Everyday when I pass from here and see this stone, I feel ashamed. People are crying because black, toxic water of Buddha Nullah still enters their homes. We have failed to clean it as promised to the people. Afsarshahi haavi hai (bureaucracy is dominant),” he had then said.

Hours before he died of a gunshot injury, Gogi had held a meeting on the Buddha Nullah with Rajya Sabha MP Balbir Singh Seechewal and Punjab Assembly Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan.

Often seen among the people while listening to their grievances, he had acted as a mediator in several agitations against the AAP government. Last January, Gogi broke the locks of 10 shops that had been sealed by the civic authorities for “violating” building bylaws. While the Opposition targeted him, saying the AAP MLA “considers himself above law”, Gogi had said the shops were sealed without prior notice and that he would not tolerate “harassment of common people”.

Gogi began his political career with the Congress as a party worker in 1996. He contested his first Ludhiana Municipal Corporation election in 2007 and went on to become a three-time councillor, and later the Congress’s Ludhiana district president (urban). In 2002, his wife Sukhchain Bassi had won the MC election.

After more than two decades in the Congress, he joined the AAP ahead of the 2022 Punjab elections, charging that the Congress “did not recognise hard work” and “dedicated workers were not promoted”. He won the Ludhiana West Assembly seat by a margin of over 7,00 votes against former Congress minister and two-time MLA Bharat Bhushan Ashu.

Gogi was also a businessman who owned a gun shop, a private hostel, and a driving school, among other businesses.

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