Assam: No decision taken on Lok Sabha bid by Amritpal Singh, says his father
Dibrugarh: Amidst reports that Amritpal Singh, the chief of ‘Waris Punjab De’ currently lodged in Dibrugarh Central jail under the National Security Act will be contesting as an Independent candidate for the Lok Sabha election from Khadoor Sahib constituency in Punjab, his father, Tarsem Singh on Thursday said that no decision has been made yet in this regard.
Accompanied by Amritpal Singh’s maternal uncle Sukhchain Singh and Amarjeet Singh, uncle of Amritpal Singh’s close aide Papalpreet Singh, Tarsem Singh arrived from Punjab to meet Amritpal Singh at the Dibrugarh Jail on Thursday.
Speaking to the media outside the Dibrugarh Central Jail, Tarsem Singh said, “It’s not final that Amritpal Singh will contest the Lok Sabha election. We wanted to discuss the matter with him. The three of us wanted to sit with him and understand his viewpoint. However, we were not able to meet him properly. The jail authorities asked us to sit separately from Amritpal and as a result, we could only talk to him for a few moments.”
Tarsem Singh also addressed the statement made by Amritpal Singh’s legal counsel, Rajdev Singh Khalsa, regarding his potential candidacy, labelling it as a hasty announcement possibly based on a misconception.
Earlier, Rajdev Singh Khalsa had claimed that he convinced Amritpal Singh to contest the Lok Sabha polls during their meeting in the Dibrugarh jail on Wednesday. Khalsa stated that Amritpal Singh had agreed to run as an independent candidate.
“He (Khalsa) made the announcement hastily. There may have been some misconception. We will meet him next week to discuss the matter and understand his opinion,” Tarsem Singh said.
Tarsem Singh also expressed his dissatisfaction with the non-cooperation of the Dibrugarh Central Jail authorities, stating that he will meet the Dibrugarh District Commissioner regarding the matter.
Amritpal Singh, the leader of Waris Punjab De, has been imprisoned at Dibrugarh Central Jail since April 23, 2023, following his arrest in Punjab. Along with him are his nine top aides including Papalpreet Singh, Daljeet Singh Kalsi, Kulwant Singh Dhaliwal, Varinder Singh Johal, Gurmeet Singh Bhukhanwala, Harjit Singh, Basant Singh, Gurinder Singh Aujla and Bhagwant Singh alias Pradhan Mantri Bajeke.
All of them are facing charges under the National Security Act (NSA) and other criminal offences.