Political dynamics, panthic considerations to come in play as Amritpal seeks release

Amritpal won the Khadoor Sahib seat by 1,97,120 votes as an independent candidate, defeating Congress’s Kulbir Singh Zira and AAP’s Laljit Singh Bhullar. Lodged in the jail since April last year after he was arrested under the National Security Act, Amritpal polled 4,04,430 votes while Zira got 2,07,310 and Bhullar 1,94,836 votes in what is being seen as an upset and a return to radical politics in Punjab. Sarabjeet Singh Khalsa, another radical leader and son of Beant Singh, one of the two assassins of former prime minister Indira Gandhi, also won the polls — Faridkot.

The election of Amritpal — and that of another terror accused Sheikh Abdul Rashid, alias Engineer Rashid — to the 18th Lok Sabha has given rise to an unusual situation. While the cases against Amritpal are likely to keep them from attending the proceedings of the Lok Sabha, he does have the constitutional right to take oath as a Member of Parliament.

In his election affidavit, Amritpal listed 12 cases against him, including on charges of attempt to murder, kidnapping and sedition. The Punjab government, in March this year, extended the NSA invoked against him and nine of his aides by one more year. He is yet to be tried in any of the cases.

Amritpal’s legal advisor Imaan Singh Khara Sunday said the MP-elect will write to the Punjab government “in a day or so, to seek temporary release under Section 15 of the NSA.”

Former Punjab MP Rajdeo Singh Khalsa, who is also a lawyer for Amritpal, said all necessary legal steps are being taken to ensure his release.

“The Sikh community saw leadership quality in Amritpal. They want him to voice their concerns in the Parliament. He should be released,” said Khalsa, claiming that that the AAP government in Punjab and the NDA government at the Centre “have no other alternative”.

Rajwinder Singh Bains, another advocate handling the NSA case against Amritpal, however, said that Waris Punjab De chief’s victory in Lok Sabha polls has “no direct impact on the case, but there is a big impact indirectly.”

“If someone is kept in jail for being a threat to the country and the people of the country have elected him with a huge mandate, then what is the base of such an NSA order? How wise would it be to keep an MP under detention? We have the example of Simranjit Singh Mann, who was elected in absentia from the same constituency in 1989. He was later released unconditionally ‘in the interests of the State’ and all charges were dropped,” said Bains.

Mann, the chief of Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar), was released in November 1989, five years after he was arrested and jailed on charges of conspiring to assassinate Indira Gandhi.

Amritpal had made the drug-free Punjab his poll plank. Political experts, however, say that he wouldn’t have secured this kind of support had he not been detained under the NSA. During the election campaign, the Aam Aadmi Party candidates faced questions from the public on the Amritpal’s detention under the stringent law. The AAP leaders sought to deflect the heat blaming the BJP-led Centre, despite the fact that it was the party government in Punjab which invoked the NSA.

Shiromani Akali Dal, sensing that Amritpal was making inroads into its vote bank, pitted year-long detention of Amritpal under NSA against Sikh prisoners who are in jails for decades. The strategy, however, backfired with Amritpal cornering 38.62 per cent vote share even as SAD could get only 8.25 per cent.

Meanwhile, Congress MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira, who unsuccessfully contested the Lok Sabha polls from Sangrur, has demanded revoking of NSA against Amritpal and his aides.

Khara said imposing or revoking NSA is “purely a political decision”. He said Amritpal won with a margin of almost two lakh votes. “It proves that he is no threat to law and order in the state. People love him and expect him to save the youth from drugs. The verdict of the people is clear. It would be now up to Bhagwant Mann-led government if they want to respect the verdict or not. Naturally, Amritpal will gain more support if kept in jail and stopped from performing his duty as an elected representative,” said Khara.

Former Lok Sabha secretary general PDT Achari had earlier said that being sworn in as an MP is Amritpal’s constitutional right, for which he can seek permission. But after taking oath, he will have to return to prison and then write to the Lok Sabha Speaker, informing about his inability to attend the House. The Speaker will refer his request to the House Committee on Absence of Members, which recommends whether the member should be allowed to remain absent from House proceedings or not. The recommendation is then put to vote in the House by the Speaker.

In case, Amritpal is convicted and jailed for a minimum of two years, he would automatically lose Lok Sabha’s membership.

Akali Dal performed poorly in the Lok Sabha elections, with its vote share plummeting to 13.42% from 2019’s 27.45%.

The panthic party could retain only Bathinda seat. However, the victory of Amritpal and Khalsa underlines Punjab voters’ panthic aspirations. Leader of Opposition and Congress MLA Partap Singh Bajwa had termed two-time Ludhiana MP Ravneet Singh Bittu “anti-Sikh” after he switched to BJP ahead of the polls.

Congress won in Ludhiana. In fact, all the five Congress candidates who won this time, emerged victors riding on the votes they garnered in the rural segments where panthic politics matters. Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s visit to Golden Temple last year and his move to perform seva (volunteer service) there also indicated a shift towards panthic politics by the Congress — something that can also be gauged from the fact that state party chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring has now started putting on turban.

Under these circumstances, AAP and Congress would analyse if Amritpal’s presence in Punjab would keep only Akali Dal away from its core panthic vote bank or if the radical preacher would eat into their vote share too in the longer run.