"Contesting elections is not final yet": Pro-Khalistani separatist's father dismisses reports of Amritpal Singh contesting Lok Sabha polls
Apr 26, 2024
Dibrugarh (Assam) [India], April 26 : Pro-Khalistani separatist and Waris Punjab De Chief Amritpal Singh's father Tarsem Singh on Thursday dismissed the reports of him fighting the Lok Sabha elections saying nothing is confirmed as of now.
"We could not have a proper discussion on it...Contesting the elections is not final yet. We need to know what the ground reality is... We are thinking about it... Nothing is confirmed regarding the elections...," said Tarsem Singh while speaking to reporters after a brief meeting with his son at Dibrugarh jail on Thursday.
The visit came a day after reports that Amritpal Singh's legal counsel Rajdev Singh Khalsa claimed that he would contest the Lok Sabha polls from the Khadoor Sahib constituency in Punjab.
Tarsem Singh underlined that the decision to contest the polls should be that of the locals and Amritpal Singh would contest if people want him to.
"This cannot be our decision. It should be the decision of the locals. He said that he does not have any will to contest but he will if the people want him to...," Singh said adding, "We don't want anything, whatever the people want is fine with us..."
Elaborating further on Singh's prospect of contesting the polls, Singh said, "He (Amritpal) said that those are his people and he is fighting for them. He said that he would fight elections if the people want, he will not, if the people don't want..."
Amritpal Singh was arrested in April last year and the stringent National Security Act was invoked against him. He and nine of his associates are currently lodged in Dibrugarh jail in Assam. Last month, the government extended the NSA against Amritpal and his nine associates.
Singh has been on the run since March 18 last year, the day Punjab Police launched a massive manhunt for him.
The crackdown came three weeks after Amritpal's supporters stormed Ajnala police station in Amritsar on February 23, demanding the release of one of his aides, Lovepreet Toofan.
