Parents of ‘Waris Punjab De’ chief Amritpal Singh, Tarsem Singh and Balwinder Kaur, on Tuesday lifted their over two-month-long sit-in protest at Heritage Street near the Golden Temple to start the poll campaign at the Khadoor Sahib LS segment. The family was sitting on a protest, demanding the shifting of NSA detainees from Assam to Punjab, since February 22.
Amritpal is currently lodged in Central Jail at Dibrugarh (Assam) under the National Security Act (NSA) along with nine aides and his family has announced that the radical Sikh preacher will be contesting the polls as an Independent.
Accompanied by various Sikh activists and kin of other NSA detainees, Amritpal’s parents visited the Golden Temple and performed ardas in front of the highest Sikh temporal seat Akal Takht, where they announced the end of the stir and sought blessings for running the poll campaign.
“The present morcha has ended and we are going to start a new stir to win the election. The morcha has been lifted because we would not be able to pay attention to both the issues—the poll campaign and the protest to shift NSA detainees to Punjab. We are thankful to the sangat (community) and the Sikh organisations, including the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), for cooperating with us. In ardas, we prayed for the victory of Amritpal,” Tarsem Singh said.
Read more: Khadoor Sahib LS seat: Amritpal’s parents refuse to support Akali Dal candidate Valtoha
On Monday, the family refused to extend support to the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) candidate from Khadoor Sahib Virsa Singh Valtoha. Valtoha had met Amritpal’s father and mother and requested them to urge their son not to contest from the rural Sikh constituency, fearing division of Panthic votes.
Paramjit Khalra to support Amritpal
Paramjit Kaur Khalra, wife of slain human rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra, who was killed in police custody, has also extended support to Amritpal’s candidature and was also present at the Akal Takht.
“This is not just an election but a ‘dharam yudh morcha’. We are going to contest the battle for religion. This is a battle for human rights. So, burying all the hatchets, we all should join this battle, which is backing the cause of Bandi Singhs (Sikh prisoners) who should be released,” Paramjit said.
Read more: Amritpal to contest Lok Sabha polls from Khadoor Sahib as Independent, says mother
Khalra contested the 2019 Lok Sabha elections from Khadoor Sahib, a predominantly Panthic bastion, unsuccessfully on the ticket of Sukhpal Singh Khaira-led Punjab Ekta Party (PEP). She secured 2,14,489 votes and finished third. Jasbir Singh Dimpa of the Congress is the outgoing MP. Besides Valtoha and Amritpal, Aam Aadmi Party’s Laljit Singh Bhullar, BJP’s Manjit Singh Manna Mianwind and Kulbir Singh Zira of the Congress are in the fray from Khadoor Sahib.
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