Sushil Kumar Rinku is an Indian politician from Jalandhar, Punjab, and a former Member of Parliament from the Jalandhar (SC) Lok Sabha constituency. Known for one of the most dramatic party-switching journeys in recent Punjab politics, he moved from the Indian National Congress to the Aam Aadmi Party and then to the Bharatiya Janata Party across a span of about a year. He won the Jalandhar Lok Sabha by-election in 2023 as an AAP candidate, was the only AAP member to hold a Lok Sabha seat at the time, and later lost the 2024 general election as a BJP candidate to former Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi. He had earlier served as the Congress MLA from Jalandhar West from 2017 to 2022.
Sushil Kumar Rinku Biography, Wiki
| Field | Details |
| Full Name | Sushil Kumar Rinku |
| Date of Birth | 5 June 1975 |
| Age (2026) | 50 years |
| Birthplace | Jalandhar, Punjab, India |
| Hometown | Jalandhar, Punjab |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Religion | Hinduism |
| Caste or Community | Scheduled Caste (Ravidassia / Dalit community) |
| Zodiac Sign | Gemini |
| Height | Not publicly confirmed |
| Weight | Not publicly confirmed |
| Eye Colour | Not publicly confirmed |
| Hair Colour | Not publicly confirmed |
| Profession | Politician |
| Known For | Former MP Jalandhar (2023 to 2024), former MLA Jalandhar West (2017 to 2022), three-party political journey (INC to AAP to BJP) |
| Father’s Name | Ram Lal (long-time Congress councillor, Jalandhar Municipal Corporation) |
| Mother’s Name | Pushpa Rani |
| Siblings | One brother (name not publicly confirmed) |
| Marital Status | Married |
| Wife | Sunita Rinku (former Jalandhar Municipal Corporation councillor) |
| Children | One son (name not publicly confirmed) |
| School | Not publicly confirmed |
| College or University | DAV College, Jalandhar |
| Degree or Qualification | Senior Secondary / graduation from DAV College, Jalandhar (categorised as 12th Pass / Inter in EC records) |
| Political Party | Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) since March 2024; formerly Indian National Congress and Aam Aadmi Party |
| Current Position or Role | BJP leader, Jalandhar; former MP Jalandhar; former MLA Jalandhar West |
| Net Worth (estimated) | Rs 1.5 crore (declared assets, 2024 Lok Sabha EC affidavit) |
| Monthly Income (estimated) | Not publicly confirmed |
| Twitter/X | Not publicly confirmed |
| Not publicly confirmed | |
| Not publicly confirmed | |
| YouTube | Not publicly confirmed |
| Official Website | Not publicly confirmed |
Sushil Kumar Rinku Election History
| Year | Constituency | Party | Result | Notes |
| 2006 | Jalandhar Municipal Corporation | INC | Won | Elected Municipal Councillor by a margin of around 2,500 votes |
| 2017 | Jalandhar West (SC), Punjab Assembly | INC | Won | Defeated BJP’s Mohinder Pal Bhagat by 17,334 votes |
| 2022 | Jalandhar West (SC), Punjab Assembly | INC | Lost | Lost amid the statewide AAP wave |
| 2023 (by-election) | Jalandhar, Lok Sabha | AAP | Won | Defeated INC’s Karamjit Kaur Chaudhary by 58,691 votes |
| 2024 | Jalandhar, Lok Sabha | BJP | Lost | Lost to INC’s Charanjit Singh Channi by 1,75,993 votes |
Sushil Kumar Rinku Events
| Year | Event |
| 5 June 1975 | Born in Jalandhar, Punjab |
| 1992 | Completed Senior Secondary from DAV College, Jalandhar; joined Congress, doing booth work in the 1992 Punjab Assembly elections |
| 1994 | Elected President, Shri Guru Ravidass Cultural Society, DAV College, Jalandhar |
| 2002 | Began political career as a ground-level Congress worker during the Lok Sabha elections |
| 2006 | Elected Municipal Councillor, Jalandhar Municipal Corporation |
| 2017 | Elected MLA from Jalandhar West (SC) on a Congress ticket; defeated BJP’s Mohinder Pal Bhagat by 17,334 votes |
| 2022 | Lost the Jalandhar West seat in the Punjab Assembly election |
| 5 April 2023 | Joined the Aam Aadmi Party ahead of the Jalandhar Lok Sabha by-election |
| 13 May 2023 | Won the Jalandhar Lok Sabha by-election as an AAP candidate, defeating INC’s Karamjit Kaur Chaudhary by 58,691 votes |
| 20 July 2023 | Term as MP began |
| August 2023 | Suspended from the Lok Sabha during the Monsoon session; protested by arriving at Parliament in chains |
| 27 March 2024 | Resigned from AAP and joined the BJP in the presence of Vinod Tawde and Sunil Jakhar |
| 1 June 2024 | Contested the Jalandhar Lok Sabha seat as a BJP candidate |
| 4 June 2024 | Lost the 2024 general election to INC’s Charanjit Singh Channi by 1,75,993 votes |
Sushil Kumar Rinku Early Life and Family
Sushil Kumar Rinku was born on 5 June 1975 in Jalandhar, Punjab, into a family deeply rooted in Congress politics for more than four decades. His father, Ram Lal, was a long-time Congress councillor of the Jalandhar Municipal Corporation, and his mother is Pushpa Rani. He grew up in a political household and entered student politics during his school and college days.
Sushil Kumar Rinku Father
His father was Ram Lal, a long-time Congress councillor who was elected to the Jalandhar Municipal Corporation twice, first in 1997 and then in 2002. The family had been associated with the Indian National Congress for more than 45 years.
Sushil Kumar Rinku Mother
His mother’s name is Pushpa Rani.
Sushil Kumar Rinku Siblings and Family Background
He has a brother, whom he reportedly sought a ticket for in the 2023 Jalandhar by-election before the ticket was offered to Rinku himself. He is married to Sunita Rinku, who was herself elected as a councillor of the Jalandhar Municipal Corporation in 2007. The couple married in 2006 and have one son.
Sushil Kumar Rinku Education
Sushil Kumar Rinku completed his Senior Secondary education from DAV College, Jalandhar, in 1992. His education is categorised variously as 12th Pass or Inter / Higher Secondary in Election Commission records. During his college years, he was active in student politics, serving as President of the Shri Guru Ravidass Cultural Society at DAV College in 1994 and being a prominent member of the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI).
Sushil Kumar Rinku Career
Sushil Kumar Rinku is a professional politician whose entire career has been built around electoral and party politics in Jalandhar. He lists his profession as politician in his Election Commission affidavit. Beginning as a student activist and a ground-level Congress worker, he rose through municipal politics to the Punjab Vidhan Sabha and then to the Lok Sabha.
Sushil Kumar Rinku Political Journey and Elections
Sushil Kumar Rinku began his political career in the Congress, doing booth-level work during the 1992 Punjab Assembly elections and becoming a ground-level worker during the 2002 Lok Sabha elections. He won his first electoral office in 2006, being elected a Municipal Councillor in the Jalandhar Municipal Corporation by a margin of around 2,500 votes.
In the 2017 Punjab Assembly election, he won the Jalandhar West (SC) seat for the Congress, defeating BJP’s Mohinder Pal Bhagat, the son of three-time MLA and former minister Bhagat Chuni Lal, by a margin of 17,334 votes. He lost the seat in the 2022 election amid the statewide AAP wave.
His political trajectory then took a dramatic turn. On 5 April 2023, he joined the Aam Aadmi Party ahead of the Jalandhar Lok Sabha by-election, which had been triggered by the death of sitting Congress MP Santokh Singh Chaudhary during the Bharat Jodo Yatra. On 13 May 2023, he won the by-election as the AAP candidate, defeating Congress’s Karamjit Kaur Chaudhary (the late MP’s widow) by a margin of 58,691 votes. The victory was a major setback for the Congress, which had held the seat since 1999, and made Rinku the only AAP member to hold a Lok Sabha seat at the time. In August 2023, he was suspended from the Lok Sabha during the Monsoon session for his conduct, and famously protested his suspension by arriving at the Parliament complex in chains.
On 27 March 2024, ahead of the 2024 general election, he resigned from the AAP and joined the BJP in the presence of BJP leaders Vinod Tawde and Sunil Jakhar, citing unfulfilled promises to the people of Jalandhar that he blamed on a lack of support from AAP, and expressing admiration for the working style of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah. The BJP fielded him from the Jalandhar Lok Sabha seat in 2024, but he lost to Congress’s Charanjit Singh Channi, the former Chief Minister, by a large margin of 1,75,993 votes, finishing second ahead of AAP’s Pawan Kumar Tinu.
Sushil Kumar Rinku Religion and Community
What is Sushil Kumar Rinku Religion
Sushil Kumar Rinku follows the Hindu faith.
What is Sushil Kumar Rinku Caste or Community
He belongs to a Scheduled Caste community and has been associated with the Ravidassia community, having served as President of the Shri Guru Ravidass Cultural Society during his college days. The Jalandhar Lok Sabha seat he represented is reserved for Scheduled Caste candidates.
Sushil Kumar Rinku Personal Life and Relationships
Is Sushil Kumar Rinku Married
Yes, Sushil Kumar Rinku is married.
Sushil Kumar Rinku Wife
His wife is Sunita Rinku, whom he married in 2006. She was elected as a councillor of the Jalandhar Municipal Corporation in 2007, continuing the family’s tradition of municipal politics.
Sushil Kumar Rinku Children
He and Sunita Rinku have one son. His name is not publicly confirmed.
Sushil Kumar Rinku Height, Weight and Physical Appearance
His height, weight, eye colour, and hair colour are not publicly disclosed in any official list or verified media source.
Sushil Kumar Rinku Net Worth and Earnings
Sushil Kumar Rinku declared total assets of approximately Rs 1.5 crore in his 2024 Lok Sabha Election Commission affidavit, comprising approximately Rs 88.6 lakh in movable assets and Rs 65 lakh in immovable assets, against declared liabilities of approximately Rs 57.4 lakh. His 2023 by-election nomination had listed assets of around Rs 1.62 crore. He declared no criminal cases in his 2024 affidavit.
| Source | Estimated Amount |
| Total declared assets (2023 by-election nomination) | Rs 1,62,00,000 |
| Total declared assets (2024 Lok Sabha EC affidavit) | Rs 1,50,00,000 |
| Movable assets (2024) | Rs 88,60,000 |
| Immovable assets (2024) | Rs 65,00,000 |
| Declared liabilities (2024) | Rs 57,40,000 |
| Declared criminal cases (2024) | Nil |
Sushil Kumar Rinku Social Media
| Platform | Handle | Followers | Notes |
| Twitter/X | Not publicly confirmed | Not publicly confirmed | No verified account independently confirmed |
| Not publicly confirmed | Not publicly confirmed | No verified account identified | |
| Not publicly confirmed | Not publicly confirmed | No verified page independently confirmed | |
| YouTube | Not publicly confirmed | Not publicly confirmed | No verified account identified |
Detailed, verified social media presence for Sushil Kumar Rinku is not publicly confirmed across major platforms in available records.
Sushil Kumar Rinku Controversies
Sushil Kumar Rinku Lok Sabha Suspension and Protest in Chains (August 2023)
In August 2023, during the Monsoon session of Parliament, Sushil Kumar Rinku was suspended from the Lok Sabha for his conduct in the House. In a dramatic act of protest against his suspension, he reached the Parliament complex in chains, an episode that drew significant national media attention. The matter was a parliamentary disciplinary action and involved no criminal proceedings.
Sushil Kumar Rinku Party Switches (2023 to 2024)
Sushil Kumar Rinku’s rapid movement across three parties drew considerable political commentary. He left the Congress for the AAP in April 2023, won the Jalandhar by-election on an AAP ticket in May 2023, and then resigned from the AAP to join the BJP in March 2024, all within about a year. When he joined the BJP, he stated that the promises he had made to the people of Jalandhar could not be fulfilled because his party, the AAP, did not support him. The Jalandhar West Assembly seat he had earlier vacated, and the by-election that followed his various moves, became part of a broader churn in Jalandhar politics. These were matters of political realignment and involved no legal proceedings.
According to his 2024 Election Commission affidavit, Sushil Kumar Rinku declared no pending or convicted criminal cases.
Lesser Known Facts About Sushil Kumar Rinku
- He moved across three major parties, Congress, AAP, and BJP, within roughly one year, one of the most rapid party-switching sequences in recent Indian electoral politics.
- He was the only Aam Aadmi Party member to hold a Lok Sabha seat at the time of his 2023 by-election victory, giving the party its sole presence in the lower house of Parliament.
- He protested his August 2023 suspension from the Lok Sabha by arriving at the Parliament complex in chains, a striking visual act of protest that drew national attention.
- His family has been associated with the Congress party for more than 45 years, with his father Ram Lal serving as a Congress municipal councillor twice and his wife Sunita also serving as a councillor.
- His 2023 by-election win was a major setback for the Congress, which had held the Jalandhar Lok Sabha seat continuously since 1999.
- He defeated Mohinder Pal Bhagat, the son of former minister Bhagat Chuni Lal, in the 2017 Jalandhar West Assembly election; Bhagat later won the 2024 Jalandhar West by-election as an AAP candidate.
- He was elected President of the Shri Guru Ravidass Cultural Society at DAV College, Jalandhar, in 1994, an early reflection of his roots in the Ravidassia community and student politics.
Sushil Kumar Rinku FAQ
Who is Sushil Kumar Rinku?
Sushil Kumar Rinku is an Indian politician from Jalandhar, Punjab, and a former Member of Parliament from the Jalandhar Lok Sabha constituency. He has been associated with the Congress, the Aam Aadmi Party, and the BJP, and previously served as the Congress MLA from Jalandhar West from 2017 to 2022.
How old is Sushil Kumar Rinku?
He was born on 5 June 1975, making him 50 years old as of 2026.
What is Sushil Kumar Rinku’s net worth?
His declared total assets per the 2024 Lok Sabha Election Commission affidavit are approximately Rs 1.5 crore, with declared liabilities of approximately Rs 57.4 lakh.
Is Sushil Kumar Rinku married?
Yes. His wife is Sunita Rinku, a former Jalandhar Municipal Corporation councillor, and they have one son.
Who are Sushil Kumar Rinku’s parents?
His father was Ram Lal, a long-time Congress municipal councillor, and his mother is Pushpa Rani.
What is Sushil Kumar Rinku known for?
He is known for winning the 2023 Jalandhar Lok Sabha by-election as an AAP candidate, for being the only AAP MP in the Lok Sabha at the time, for protesting his 2023 suspension in chains, and for his rapid journey across the Congress, AAP, and BJP.
Which parties has Sushil Kumar Rinku belonged to?
He began in the Indian National Congress, joined the Aam Aadmi Party in April 2023, and then joined the Bharatiya Janata Party in March 2024.
What was the 2023 Jalandhar by-election result?
Sushil Kumar Rinku of the AAP won the by-election, defeating Congress’s Karamjit Kaur Chaudhary by a margin of 58,691 votes.
What was the 2024 Jalandhar Lok Sabha result?
Congress’s Charanjit Singh Channi won the seat with 3,90,053 votes, defeating BJP’s Sushil Kumar Rinku, who polled 2,14,060 votes, by a margin of 1,75,993 votes. AAP’s Pawan Kumar Tinu finished third.
What happened during Sushil Kumar Rinku’s Lok Sabha suspension?
In August 2023, he was suspended from the Lok Sabha during the Monsoon session for his conduct, and protested by arriving at the Parliament complex in chains.
Sources
PRS India, Sushil Kumar Rinku, 17th Lok Sabha,
https://prsindia.org/mptrack/17-lok-sabha/sushil-kumar-rinku
PTC News, From Congress to AAP to BJP: Who is Sushil Kumar Rinku?,
https://www.ptcnews.tv/politics/who-is-sushil-kumar-rinku-4423036
India TV News, Political Profile of Sushil Kumar Rinku,
https://www.indiatvnews.com/elections/lok-sabha-elections-2024/punjab/jalandhar-constituency/candidate-list/sushil-kumar-rinku-lok-sabha-candidate
The Daily Jagran, Jalandhar Lok Sabha Election Results 2024,
https://www.thedailyjagran.com/elections/jalandhar-lok-sabha-election-results-2024-live-vote-counting-sushil-kumar-rinku-charanjit-singh-channi-pawan-kumar-tinu-bjp-congress-aap-winning-candidate-list-vote-margin-punjab-election-winner-list-2024-10164739