GUWAHATI: Waris Punjab de Chief, Amritpal Singh is in the lead in Punjab’s Khadoor Sabhib after contesting for the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections from a jail in Assam. Singh has been in Dibrugarh jail in Assam since 2023 under the National Security Act (NSA).
Amritpal Singh is leading Khadoor Sabhib by over 1.2 lakh votes while Sarabjeet Singh Khalsa who is the elder son of Beant Singh, one of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s assassins is leading in Faridkot by more than 58,00 votes as per the Election Commission data.
The pro-Khalistani separatist was arrested after a mob attacked a police station in February last year over the arrest of one of his supporters.
Amritpal is not fighting the elections on the Khalistan issue but on drugs. His supporters portray him as an anti-drug activist. Before his dramatic arrest, he ran a drug de-addiction centre which the authorities said was actually used to create awareness among the youth.
In the 2019 election, Congress's Jasbir Singh Gill had won the Khadoor Sahib seat.
The Lok Sabha elections in Punjab are likely to throw up two independent winners, causing much angst because of their radical ideology. However, Dr Lakhwinder, a well-known economist said the resurgence of Amritpal and Sarabjit Khalsa should be viewed as a development issue rather than a separatist problem.
Besides Amritpal Singh and Kulbir Singh Zira, Akali Dal's Virsa Singh Valtoha and AAP's Laljit Singh Bhullar are in the contest. AAP is in the third spot now, and the Congress in fourth.
