For nearly two decades, Talbir Gill was one of Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Bikram Singh Majithia’s most trusted men. He managed the Majitha constituency, facilitated calls to senior officials, ran errands, and ensured Majithia’s hold over his seat remained firm. Today, Gill is the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidate from Majitha for the 2027 Punjab Assembly elections, and arguably, Majithia’s most formidable challenger. Meanwhile, Majithia has allegedly gone underground after being booked for trying to forcibly release a man from police custody.The ties between the two men soured after the 2022 Assembly elections, and Gill joined AAP in 2024.Gill told The Indian Express that his association with Majithia dates to 2004-05, when the latter had not yet formally entered Amritsar politics. Gill first met Majithia during the Ajnala bypoll, where Majithia reportedly told him that he intended to contest from Majitha and asked Gill to join his team.For the next few years, Gill, Majithia’s personal assistant (PA), served as his eyes and ears in the Majitha constituency. When Majithia became a Cabinet minister in the SAD-BJP government, Gill managed the ground—attending to voter grievances, facilitating official work, and ensuring the constituency machinery ran smoothly.“I managed the halqa (seat) for him. Every voter knew me. I got their work done,” Gill said. He acknowledged that this deep familiarity with every village and household in the constituency is now his biggest political asset. “The fruit of that hard work has come to me now,” he said with a quiet smile.Gill also candidly admitted that working under a minister with enormous clout sometimes meant doing things he was not proud of. “We may have made a mistake or two following him for votes,” he said. “Four of us worked very hard for him. After he won, he gradually showed the door to the others. I survived because he saw I was a hard worker.”Also Read | What is in the FIR against Bikram Singh Majithia?Gill was given ‘excessive power’During the SAD-BJP government’s decade in power, Majithia wielded enormous influence—and a significant share of it flowed through loyalists like Gill on the ground.Story continues below this adVirsa Singh Valtoha, a former SAD(B) MLA who observed the dynamics closely, said the scale of power given to such individuals was excessive. “His grandfather, his father, his uncles—hardcore Akalis. They went to jail during the Akali Morchas. Gill was just a boy when he was brought in,” Valtoha said. “Power was handed out. There were no expenses, but full authority—even some MLAs would go to Gill to make calls to officers through him, because Majithia was not always available,” Valtoha said.Another SAD(B) leader, who did not want to be named, added that this unchecked access inevitably bred misuse. Complaints began surfacing about interference in real estate dealings in Amritsar, with Majithia’s name allegedly invoked without his knowledge to pressure property owners. “They had made Bikram Singh Majithia famous in Amritsar as a real estate businessman. Someone would go and use his name, and who would go and verify?” the leader claimed.Such complaints eventually reached Majithia. “When a leader finds out his name is being misused, he will naturally confront it. Majithia objected to this misuse, and Gill turned traitor,” alleged Valtoha.Divide between Badal and MajithiaFor Gill, issues began cropping up when he was appointed in charge of the Amritsar South constituency and began engaging directly with SAD(B) president Sukhbir Singh Badal— bypassing Majithia, Badal’s brother-in-law. “From the moment we began meeting Sukhbir Singh Badal directly, Majithia started undermining us at every step,” Gill alleged.Story continues below this adIt was a time when the divide between Badal and Majithia became public after the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) removed Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Raghbir Singh and Takht Kesgarh Sahib Jathedar Giani Sultan Singh, and Majithia expressed resentment over the decision.“He was actually perturbed because Sukhbir Singh Badal had invited me to the wedding of his daughter,” Gill claimed, accusing Majithia of publicly abusing him and his family.Also Read | Punjab civic polls: Akali Dal’s electoral slide continues, but Sukhbir Badal sees a silver liningAAP wins local body electionThe Majitha seat is known to be a Majithia stronghold. His wife, Ganieve Kaur Majithia, is the sitting MLA. Yet the recent Majitha local body election saw SAD (B) lose to AAP, 6-7.With Majithia allegedly in hiding—he has not appeared in public, his phones remain switched off, and his whereabouts are unknown—his legal troubles mounting, and his former ground commander standing against him on an AAP ticket, the Majitha fortress that once seemed unshakeable is looking increasingly fragile ahead of 2027.