June 4 (Punjab Khabarnama) : Independent candidate Sarabjeet Singh, who is the son of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s assassin Beant Singh, is leading by 19,512 votes after nine rounds of counting in the Faridkot Lok Sabha constituency on Tuesday.
Sarabjeet polled 49,439 votes, while Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidate Karamjit Singh Anmol got 29,927 votes, Shiromani Akali Dal’s Rajwinder Singh Dharamkot 20,824votes, Amarjit Kaur Sahoke of the Congress got 20,441 votes and the BJP’s Hans Raj Hans trailed with 11,182 votes.
During the campaign, Sarabjeet Singh’s Panthic pitch struck a chord in the rural-dominated border constituency of Punjab and gained momentum with roadshows and poll meetings in the last leg.
Sikh leaders, who were part of the Bargari protest, including parallel jathedar Dhian Singh Mand and former Akal Takht jathedar Jasbir Singh Rode, had extended support to Sarabjeet. The kin of the 2015 post-sacrilege police firing victims also campaigned for him.
Former AAP leader justice Jora Singh, who headed the first inquiry commission in 2015 sacrilege and firing cases, also announced support for Sarabjeet. Jora Singh had unsuccessfully contested from Jalandhar on the AAP ticket in 2019.
Sarabjeet’s mother Bimal Kaur Khalsa had won the Lok Sabha elections from Ropar and his grandfather Sucha Singh had won the election from Bathinda parliamentary constituency in 1989 as candidates of the Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar). However, this time the SAD (A) fielded its own candidate against Sarabjeet. In the 2004 Lok Sabha elections, Sarabjeet had contested from Bathinda and got 1,13,490 votes.
Of the nine assembly segments in the Faridkot parliamentary constituency, Sarabjeet has significant support in Dharamkot, Baghapurana, Gidderbaha, Jaitu and Faridkot. The AAP has eight MLAs from the constituency and Congress president Raja Warring is the Gidderbaha MLA.
While campaigning, Sarabjeet would rake up Sikh sentiments by reminding the audience how his father Beant Singh had assassinated Indira Gandhi to avenge the attack on Golden Temple in 1984.
