Former Transport Minister Laljit Singh Bhullar, accused in the abetment of suicide of Punjab State Warehousing Corporation’s General Manager Gagandeep Singh Randhawa in Patti, surrendered before the police on Monday, two days after the suicide came to light, an act which pushed the Opposition to come together and put the ruling government on the mat.Related news: Punjab ex-minister Laljit Bhullar arrested in connection with Amritsar warehousing official’s deathPunjab official’s death: ‘Won’t spare anyone violating law’, says CM Bhagwant MannPunjab official’s death: Amit Shah promises CBI probe after issue sparks uproar in Lok SabhaBhullar is not the first AAP MLA in the 117-member Assembly to either land on the wrong side of law or get arrested. In fact, in the House where AAP got a thumping majority in 2022 election, winning 92 seats, most of them by first time MLAs, the party top brass, since the beginning, has had a problem in ensuring that these MLAs abide by the guiding principles of the party, mainly its anti-corruption agenda.In the last four years that AAP has been in power, several other MLAs have turned out to be an embarrassment for the party.The first arrest of a party MLA came just within two months of AAP winning power, when it arrested one of its ministers, Dr Vijay Singla, on charges of corruption (he has now been given a clean chit).Within a few months, another MLA, Amit Rattan Kotfatta was arrested by the Vigilance Bureau on charges of corruption, as was MLA Raman Arora last year. In between, Jaswant Singh Gajjanmajra was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in a fraud and money-laundering case, while Fauja Singh Sarari was forced to resign as minister after an audio clip purportedly belonging to him, went viral. He was allegedly discussing plans to seek graft.Another minister, Lal Chand Kataruchak, also courted controversy when he was accused of “moral turpitude”, though later the case fell flat when the complainant withdrew the complaint, taking a U-turn.But the biggest dent to the party’s image was made by Harmeet Singh Pathanmajra, who remains absconding to this day, after a case of rape and criminal intimidation was registered against him and he was declared a proclaimed offender.To the party’s credit, it has sought to eject the bad eggs, especially when acts of commission and omission against them come to light. Laljit Bhullar is a case in point. The party realised that the death of Gagandeep Randhawa, who gave a dying declaration saying he was committing suicide because he was humiliated by the minister for not allotting a tender for construction of godown to the minister’s father, would have significantly harmed the party’s reputation, especially in an electorally charged atmosphere in Punjab.Party leaders said that “the people”, whose votes they are seeking a few months from now, would never forgive a party, which was born out of an anti-corruption agenda. They admitted that many MLAs had not been able to ward-off the “trappings of power”.“That is because they always saw how their predecessors gained wealth and eminence in the society, while they remained in office,” said a party leader, requesting not to be quoted.