On June 26, the Election Commission of India (ECI) announced by-poll results for multiple Lok Sabha and Assembly seats across states, including the Lok Sabha seat of Sangrur, Punjab, that fell vacant after Bhagwant Mann, MP from Sangrur became Chief Minister of Punjab. Aam Aadmi Party had given the ticket to Gurmail Singh, who lost the seat to Simranjit Singh Mann of Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar).
Out of a total turnout of 7,10,825 voters, Mann got 2,52,898 votes while AAP’s Gurmail Singh got 2,46,828 votes. Shiromani Akali Dal’s attempt to win the votes of Khalistani sympathisers by fielding the sister of Balwant Singh Rajoana failed as Simranjit Singh Mann has been a long-time supporter of Khalistan moment himself. Rajoana could not even cross 50,000 votes. There were 1,203 postal votes as well out of which Mann got 256 votes and Singh got 504 votes.
Bharatiya Janata Party’s Kewal Singh Dhillon got 66,171 votes, and Congress’s Dalvir Singh Goldy got 78,844 votes. Several factors played a vital role in Simranjit Singh Mann’s victory in Sangrur, including his connection to the late Punjabi actor and Khalistani sympathiser Deep Sidhu. The recent murder of a famous Punjabi singer Sidhu Moosewala also factored in his victory as the incident raised serious questions on AAP leadership.
Mann understood how important deceased actor Deep Sidhu and singer Sidhu Moosewala were to the voters. He extensively used their names in his posts on Instagram in the lead-up to the elections. Almost all of his Instagram posts had these two names as hashtags. In fact, Deep Sidhu was believed to be travelling to campaign for Simranjit Singh for the Punjab Assembly elections when he met with an accident and died.
Who is Simranjit Singh Mann?
Born on May 20, 1945 in Shimla, Simranjit Singh Mann is the president of Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar), which is a Pro-Khalistan political party in Punjab. He has previously been elected to Lok Sabha twice, once from Tarn Taran in 1989 and once from Sangrur in 1999.
Mann comes from a military-political background. Mann’s father, Lt. Col. Joginder Singh Mann, was a speaker in Punjab Assembly. His wife, Geetinder Kaur Mann, and former Punjab CM Amarinder Singh’s wife, Preneet Kaur, are sisters.
Mann was a Police Officer and served in several important posts since 1967, including ASP Ludhiana, SSP Ferozepur, SSP Faridkot, AIG GRP Punjab-Patiala division, Deputy Director of Vigilance Bureau Chandigarh, Commandant of Punjab Armed Police and Group Commandant of CISF, Bombay. After Operation Blue Star in 1984, he resigned from Police Services.
Simranjit Singh Mann’s political career
In 1989, he contested Lok Sabha elections from Tarn Taran for the first time and won with a comfortable margin. Notably, before the formation of SAD (Amritsar), he was associated with Shiromani Akali Dal till 1991. He had won the Tarn Taran seat in 1989 under the banner of SAD. In 1994, he and other prominent Sikh leaders of Punjab, including CM Amarinder Singh, formed SAD (Amritsar). Mann won his Lok Sabha seat under the banner of SAD (Amritsar) from Sangrur in 1999.
In the 2022 Punjab Assembly Elections, Mann was defeated by AAP’s Jaswant Singh Gajjanmajra from the Amargarh seat by a margin of around 7,000 votes.
Simranjit Singh Mann, a Pro-Khalistan leader
Simranjit Singh Mann has a long history of openly supporting the Khalistan movement. He had left Police Services because of Operation Blue Star, which was initiated by the Government of India to eliminate Khalistani terrorists lodged in Harmandir Sahib in Amritsar. Reports suggest his party workers raised pro-Khalistan slogans at Golden Temple on Operation Blue Star anniversary this year.
In 2021, while wishing for the new year, he said on Twitter, “May 2021 bring freedom for the Sikh community in form of ‘Khalistan’ that will eradicate social evils such as coercion, discrimination, greed, ego, etc. and restore human values, mutual love, respect, and cooperation.”
On June 6, 2019, he paid tribute to Khalistani terrorist Bhindranwale and wrote, “Paying tributes to Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and other martyrs fought with THIS’s army at Sri Akal Takht Sahib on this day. Long live the struggle for Khalistan.”
In 2018, while sharing photographs of security forces deployed on the anniversary of Operation Blue Star, he wrote, “This naked show of force by the Indian state is to show the world how this Hindu state treats the stateless Sikhs. The Hindu state still thinks that machine guns will frighten the Sikhs and keep them away from their peaceful means to carve out the Sikh state of Khalistan.”
On Operation Blue Star anniversary this year, he published a post in which he said, “The Indian Armed Forces surrounded Golden Temple. Without provocation they opened fire at peaceful devotees and killed eight people.”
Simranjit Singh Mann has openly demanded Khalistan and often spoke about a separate state for Sikhs. Reports suggest he has been arrested over 30 times including over charges of sedition but never got convicted.
