Jailed Khalistani leader Amripal Singh, who is contesting Lok Sabha elections from Punjab's Khadoor Sahib seat, is leading against Congress candidate Kulbir Singh Zira. According to the Election Commission of India (ECI), Amritpal Singh is leading by a margin of 1,00,056 votes.
Amripal Singh, who is fighting the electoral battle from Assam jail, has so far secured 2,41,540 votes as opposed to the Congress's Kulbir Singh Zira's 1,41,484 votes.
Waris Punja De Chief is currently lodged inside the prison at Assam's Dibrugarh. Last year, Singh was arrested after a massive crackdown and charged under the National Security Act (NSA). In February 2023, the leader made headlines after a mob attacked a police station over the arrest of one of his supporters.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, Congress leader Jasbir Singh Gill secured the victory for his party from the Khadoor Sahib seat. Besides Amritpal Singh and Kulbir Singh Zira, Akali Dal's Virsa Singh Valtoha and AAP's Laljit Singh Bhullar are also in the fray.
Earlier, the Election Commission of India had accepted the nomination papers of Singh, putting an end to the apprehensions of his supporters that the poll body might reject his papers. The Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar), which vowed to support Singh, had also fielded its candidate “as a back-up in case Amritpal’s candidature gets rejected."
Amritpal Singh's campaign was concentrated on fighting Punjab's drug menace, discharging ex-Sikh militants from jail, and protecting the Sikh identity in the nation.
