Lok Sabha polls: In Punjab, jailed Amritpal and other radicals add a new twist
Punjab goes to polls on June 1, in the last phase of the Lok Sabha elections, wrapped in an air of unpredictability. With the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) breaking the alliance with the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), now there are four big parties in fray. For a long time, Punjab had been a two-party state with the Congress and the SAD. The AAP's victory in the 2017 assembly polls changed that. In several seats, it's a five-cornered fight as Sikh radical candidates who support Khalistan, are also contesting.
The chief among them is Amritpal Singh, the Sikh separatist who headed the 'Waris Punjab De' outfit, and is lodged in Assam's Dibrugarh jail under the National Security Act. However, the most influential among the separatists fighting elections is Simranjit SIngh Mann, the president of the Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar), who had won in the 2019 elections from Sangrur, the home district of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann of the AAP.
Amritpal, the candidate in jail
The entry of jailed radical Sikh preacher Amritpal Singh into the poll fray as an Independent candidate from the Khadoor Sahib Lok Sabha seat has stirred the politics in this region, which borders Pakistan.
Khadoor Sahib seat comprises Amritsar-Tarn Taran-Patti areas from where Khalistani leader Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale got the bulk of his recruits. SAD (Amritsar), led by pro-Khalistan Simranjit Singh Mann, withdrew its candidature in Amritpal's support. SAD has fielded Virsa Singh Valtoha, a former associate of Bhindranwale who later transitioned into
