Jailed Khalistani separatist and Waris Punjab De Chief Amritpal Singh is leading with over 190416 votes from Punjab’s Khadoor Sahib seat in the Lok Sabha elections 2024, according to the latest trends shown by the Election Commission of India. Meanwhile, Congress candidate Kulbir Singh Zira is in the second spot with 116317 votes.
Besides, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidate Laljit Singh Bhullar is also trailing with 99318 votes followed by BJP’s Manjit Singh Manna, Shiromani Akal Dal leader Virsa Singh Valtoha and an independent candidate.
The Khalistani separatist was arrested by Punjab police in April last year, weeks after evading police for over a month and the stringent National Security Act was invoked against him.
In February last year, Amritpal Singh made the headlines when crowds attacked a police station after the arrest of one of his followers. Amritpal Singh was arrested following a huge crackdown, prosecuted under the NSA, and shifted to Dibrugarh jail.
In the 2019 general election, Congress candidate Jasbir Singh Gill won the Khadoor Sahib seat. Amritpal Singh’s father, Tarsem Singh, had earlier said that he was reluctant to contest the elections, however, changed his mind after the Sangat (community) insisted.
Notably, Khadoor Sahib is deemed to be a ‘Panthic’ seat. The Akali Dal, the other Panthic party in the race, has stated that the Khalistani separatist is contesting the polls to “free himself”.
“How can a person who wears a ‘chola’ and partakes ‘amrit’ one year ago represent the ‘panth’ and not a 103-year-old party with a consistent track record of safeguarding ‘panthic’ values,” SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal questioned.
It is pertinent to recall that Amritpal Singh rose to popularity quickly after the death of Khalistani separatist Deep Sidhu. ‘Waris Punjab De’ was the brainchild of Deep Sidhu. Following his death, Amritpal Singh was given the charge of the organisation. At that time, he was in Dubai, running a transport company.
Singh shifted to India around August 2023. In September 2023, he was officially handed over the charge of the organisation in a Dastarbandi event organised in the parental village of Khalistani terrorist Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale.
Singh, who dressed strikingly similar to Bhindranwale, had a similar idea of forming a separate country called Khalistan. Just like Bhindranwale, he started a march across Punjab to encourage youth to join him.
The concept of a separate nation disguised as “noble” causes like de-addiction. By the time he got arrested, Khalistani elements in Punjab had started to see “Second Bhindranwale” in Amritpal Singh.
