Radical Sikh preacher Amritpal Singh, who is currently locked up at Dibrugarh jail in Assam, is all set to contest elections from Punjab’s Khadoor Sahib Lok Sabha seat.
Amritpal's counsel and former MP Rajdev Singh Khalsa made the announcement on April 24 after meeting him at the jail, saying that he will contest the parliamentary elections as an Independent candidate.
"I met bhai sahab (Amritpal Singh) in Dibrugarh central jail today and during the meeting, I requested bhai sahab that in the interests of 'Khalsa Panth', he should fight elections this time from Khadoor Sahib to become a member of parliament," Khalsa said according to PTI news agency.
"Bhai sahab accepted my request in the Panthic interests... He will fight as an Independent candidate," claimed Khalsa.
Amritpal, who is the chief of the 'Waris Punjab De' outfit and a Khalistani sympathiser, was arrested in April last year and the stringent National Security Act was invoked against him.
The Punjab Police had launched the crackdown after the February 23 Ajnala incident last year in which Amritpal Singh and his supporters, some of them brandishing swords and guns, broke through barricades and barged into the police station on the outskirts of Amritsar city, and clashed with police for the release of Lovepreet Singh Toofan, one of his aides.
He and his associates had been booked under several criminal cases related to spreading disharmony among classes, attempts to murder, attacks on police personnel and creating obstructions in the lawful discharge of duty by public servants.
(With PTI inputs)
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