LS Elections 2024 Results: Jailed Khalistani separatist Amritpal Singh leads from Punjab's Khadoor Sahib seat

Lok Sabha Elections 2024: Amritpal Singh, a pro-Khalistan Sikh preacher currently incarcerated in an Assam jail, was leading over Congress's Kulbir Singh Zira by over 1 lakh votes in Punjab's Khadoor Sahib seat.

Amritpal Singh, a pro-Khalistan Sikh preacher currently incarcerated in an Assam jail, was leading over Congress's Kulbir Singh Zira by over 1 lakh votes in Punjab's Khadoor Sahib seat, according to the Election Commission trends in the afternoon on Tuesday. Despite being an Independent candidate, Singh is ahead by 1,06,337 votes.

Singh, the leader of Waris Punjab de, was imprisoned in Dibrugarh, Assam, last year under the National Security Act following his involvement in a violent incident where a mob attacked a police station protesting the arrest of one of his supporters. Despite his confinement, Singh's popularity seems undiminished as reflected in the current election results.

In the previous 2019 election, the Khadoor Sahib seat was won by Congress's Jasbir Singh Gill. Apart from Amritpal Singh and Kulbir Singh Zira, the contest also includes Akali Dal's Virsa Singh Valtoha and AAP's Laljit Singh Bhullar. At present, AAP holds the third position, with Congress trailing in fourth.

Initially hesitant, Amritpal Singh's decision to contest the polls was influenced by the strong urging of the 'sangat' or community, according to his father Tarsem Singh. Khadoor Sahib, being a 'Panthic' seat, holds significant religious and cultural importance. The Akali Dal, another Panthic party in the fray, has suggested that Singh's candidacy may be a bid to extricate himself from his current legal situation.

"How can a person who wears a 'chola' and partakes 'amrit' one year back represent the 'panth' and not a 103-year-old party which has a consistent track record of safeguarding 'panthic' values," said SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal in the run-up to the polls.