Amid speculation surrounding the entry of ‘Waris Punjab De’ Chief Amritpal Singh into politics, his mother, Balwinder Kaur, on Friday confirmed that he would be contesting this Lok Sabha election independently from Punjab’s Khadoor Sahib constituency.
Kaur, while addressing a press conference, said, “Pressure was being put on Amritpal Singh to contest the elections and now he is going to start his political innings from Khadoor Sahib Lok Sabha constituency. This election will not be fought by him on the platform of any party. This election will be fought as an independent candidate. Amritpal Singh knows the issues of Punjab very well and this election will be fought on those issues”.
Earlier this week, Amritpal’s legal counsel, Rajdev Singh Khalsa, had revealed his intention to contest the polls independently, as per a report by PTI. Khalsa said that he met with Amritpal Singh in Dibrugarh jail and urged him to participate in the elections for the betterment of the ‘Khalsa Panth’.
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“Bhai Sahab accepted my request in the Panthic interests…He will fight as an independent candidate,” Khalsa affirmed.
Amritpal Singh, a radical Sikh preacher, and leader of ‘Waris Punjab De’ has been detained under the National Security Act (NSA) in Assam since April last year.
The Punjab Police had launched a crackdown on Singh and his associates following the Ajnala incident in February last year, where they clashed with police personnel demanding the release of one of Singh’s aides. Singh and his associates face multiple criminal charges, including attempts to murder and disrupting public servants from carrying out their duties.