June 6 (Punjab Khabarnama) : Simranjit Mann, known for his radical ideology in Punjab, may have lost the Lok Sabha elections from Sangrur. But the shadow of the campaign started by him and other radical ideology supporters 35 years ago is once again visible in Punjab. The proof of which is seen in the form of the victory of Sarabjit Singh from Faridkot seat and Amritpal Singh from Khadoor Sahib. Both of them are considered to be Khalistan supporters, out of which Sarabjit Singh’s father had assassinated Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in the name of taking revenge for the attack on Darbar Sahib.
Similarly, Amritpal Singh has been jailed under the sections of NSA. The atmosphere of the huge victory of both of them was seen earlier in the 1989 Lok Sabha elections. When 9 candidates of radical ideology including Simranjit Mann had won. Among them was Sarabjit Singh’s mother Bimal Kaur, who had won from Ropar. However, during the 1992 assembly elections and then the Lok Sabha elections, due to the continuous fielding of candidates by the Akali Dal and the BJP apart from the Congress, the candidates of radical ideology did not get the support of the people for a long time again.
This atmosphere of radical ideology was seen once again during the Sangrur Lok Sabha by-election in 2022. When the Akali Dal gave a ticket to the sister of Balwant Singh Rajoana, who is in jail in the case of the murder of former Chief Minister Beant Singh, and Simranjit Mann won. After this, the propagation of radical ideology increased, which was seen in the form of the activities of Amritpal Singh. Even though Amritpal Singh is now in jail, he has won the Lok Sabha elections from Khadoor Sahib while being in jail. The old Tarn Taran seat from which Simranjit Mann had won during 1989. Similarly, it has come to light that candidates of radical ideology have got support in some other seats of Punjab. Now it remains to be seen what impact this development will have on the environment of Punjab in the future and what steps will the central and state governments take to deal with this situation.