[1] He is a Punjab state cabinet minister holding the charges of the ministries of Revenue, Rehabilitation & Disaster Management and Water Resources.
[2] Sarkaria first contested the Punjab Legislative Assembly on Congress ticket from Raja Sansi in 1997 but was unsuccessful.
[5] However, he was successful during 2007 Vidhan Sabha elections, when he won from Raja Sansi with a big margin.
[1] He is elected MLA consecutively for the 3rd time in 2017 from Rajasansi constituency in the Punjab Legislative Assembly where he defeated Vir Singh Lopoke of the Shiromani Akali Dal.
Sarkaria was one of the 42 INC MLAs who submitted their resignations in protest of a decision of the Supreme Court of India ruling Punjab's termination of the Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) water canal unconstitutional.