Chandigarh: With the sudden entry of radical Sikh preacher Amritpal Singh into the ballot fray, a eager electoral battle is within the offing in Punjab’s Khadoor Sahib, a Sikh majority parliamentary constituency which is taken into account a citadel of the Shiromani Akali Dal. Amritpal Singh, the chief of the ‘Waris Punjab De’ outfit, who’s lodged in Assam’s Dibrugarh jail underneath the National Security Act, has thrown his hat into the ring as an Independent.
The electoral battle for Khadoor Sahib is a five-cornered contest. The Shiromani Akali Dal (SDA) has fielded former MLA Virsa Singh Valtoha, whereas transport minister Laljit Singh Bhullar is the candidate of the Aaam Aadmi Party (AAP). The Congress and the BJP have nominated former MLA Kulbir Singh Zira and Manjit Singh Mianwind, respectively.
The Khadoor Sahib constituency, which is called a ‘Panthic’ seat, has voters from all three areas — ?Majha, Malwa and Doaba. It has 9 meeting segments — Jandiala, Tarn Taran, Khem Karan, Patti, Khadoor Sahib, Baba Bakala, Kapurthala, Sultanpur Lodhi and Zira. Seven meeting segments are held by the AAP whereas one every by the Congress and an Independent. The Shiromani Akali Dal candidates Rattan Singh Ajnala and Ranjit Singh Brahmpura gained the Khadoor Sahib seat within the 2009 and the 2014 basic meeting elections.
However, SAD candidate and former Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) chief Bibi Jagir Kaur misplaced the seat to Congress nominee Jasbir Singh Dimpa within the 2019 Lok Saha polls. Paramjit Kaur Khalra, the spouse of human rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra, had additionally unsuccessfully contested the 2019 elections from this seat and had secured 20 per cent of the votes.
The sudden announcement of Amritpal Singh leaping into the fray got here on April 24 when his authorized counsel Rajdev Singh Khalsa claimed that the jailed preacher had agreed to combat the polls as an Independent candidate on his request. Later, Amritpal Singh’s father Tarsem Singh mentioned his son was not prepared to combat an electoral contest however he modified his thoughts on the occasion of the ‘sangat’ or group which needed him to enter the ballot fray.
Paramjit Kaur Khalra is main the ballot marketing campaign of Amritpal Singh.
Tarsem Singh has mentioned that his son was getting overwhelming assist from the individuals. He additionally mentioned that these campaigning for the jailed chief son will increase the problems of launch of ‘Bandi Singhs’ (Sikh prisoners who’ve accomplished their phrases) and the drug menace within the state. Amritpal Singh, who styled himself after slain Khalistani militant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, was arrested in Moga’s Rode village on April 23 final yr following an over a month-long manhunt.
The Khalistan sympathiser, who additionally acted as a crusader in opposition to medicine, had escaped the police internet in Jalandhar district on March 18, switching autos and altering appearances. The Punjab Police had launched the crackdown after the February 23 Ajnala incident final yr by which Amritpal Singh and his supporters, a few of them brandishing swords and weapons, broke via barricades and barged into the police station on the outskirts of Amritsar metropolis, and clashed with police for the discharge of Lovepreet Singh Toofan, one among his aides.
Tarsem Singh has even referred to as the SAD’s transfer of fielding its candidate in opposition to his son a “historical mistake.” During the ballot marketing campaign in favour of celebration candidate Valtoha at Jandiala, SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal mentioned Amritpal Singh is combating the Lok Sabha polls from the Khadoor Sahib seat to “free” himself, asking individuals whether or not the unconventional preacher was match to steer them.
Badal requested individuals to find out whether or not an individual who had acquired ‘Sikhi saroop’ one yr earlier was match to steer them or the 103-year-old celebration which was steeped within the blood of their forefathers. He even urged individuals to judge if Amritpal Singh had been “propped up by central agencies”. “What other explanation can be that a person who was first propped up, then projected, then arrested and is now being kept in safe custody only to be used as a candidate in the parliamentary elections to counter the popularity of the SAD,” mentioned Badal.
The Simranjit Singh Mann-led SAD (Amritsar) is supporting Amritpal Singh from the Khadoor Sahib seat on this election. Over 16.67 lakh voters are eligible to train their franchise within the Khadoor Sahib constituency goes to polls on June 1 within the final section of the Lok Sabha elections.
Earlier generally known as Tarn Taran, the Khadoor Sahib seat got here into being in 2008 after a delimitation train.
Tarn Taran, which is a part of the Khadoor Sahib constituency, was as soon as the hotbed of militancy. SAD nominees Major Singh Uboke, Prem Singh Lalpur, Tarlochan Singh Tur and Rattan Singh Ajnala had gained the erstwhile Tarn Taran constituency in 1996, 1998, 1999 and 2004 respectively. SAD (Amritsar) chief Simranjit Singh Mann had gained the erstwhile Tarn Taran Lok Sabha seat in 1989 by securing 88 per cent of the votes.
