In Faridkot, Indira Gandhi assassin’s son raises 2015 sacrilege case to draw votes

“I decided to contest from Faridkot as I want to raise the issue of the 2015 sacrilege… Initially, I had no plans to contest but the Sikh Sangat (community) came to me,” Sarabjeet says.

In the fray against him are the AAP’s Karamjit Anmol, an actor and singer, and the BJP’s Hans Raj Hans, a singer. While the Congress has fielded former government school teacher Amarjeet Kaur Sahoke, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) has fielded Rajwinder Singh, a businessman and son of three-time MLA Sheetal Singh. The seat is currently held by the Congress’s Mohammad Sadique, also an actor and singer.

Of the more than 650 villages in the Faridkot constituency, Sarabjeet says, he has visited nearly 350, and claimed that villagers have themselves been organising public meetings for him. “The Sangat is inviting me and extending support on their own. They are fed up with the traditional parties,” he says.

On May 23, Sarabjeet’s roadshows in the Faridkot and Kotkapura areas had drawn much attention. YouTuber Bhana Sidhu, who was released on bail in February in an extortion case, and Mansa-based activist Parvinder Singh Jhota are among the prominent local figures backing Sarabjeet’s campaign.

Farmer union leaders say that given the support he has garnered in Faridkot and Moga, Sarabjeet cannot be ruled out of the race despite being an Independent.

“I know that popular singers and actors are contesting against me. However, people have known my family and me since 1984, and in the Sikh community, a shaheed’s place is much higher than a celebrity’s. Farmer unions are also extending support to me,” Sarabjeet says.

Faridkot Lok Sabha seat

He adds that the family of Satwant Singh, the other assassin of Indira Gandhi, is also campaigning for him.

Sarabjeet’s rivals contest his claims of his pull on the ground. Manjit Singh Sidhu, a close aide of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidate Karamjit Anmol, says a “false narrative” of support is being proliferated on social media. “One can visit the villages to see the cadre of our party and the support we are getting,” the AAP aide says.

Parambans Bunty Romana, SAD general secretary who is managing the campaign of the party’s Faridkot candidate Rajwinder Singh, says the party’s “Panthic credentials” will see it through. “People are giving support to us as they know that the Panth can be strengthened if the Akali Dal is strengthened. Anyone can contest, it doesn’t make any difference to us,” Romana says.

However, given that the SAD was in power when the sacrilege row happened, the party has been on the defensive on the issue. Its president Sukhbir Singh Badal publicly apologised last December for failing to arrest the culprits during his tenure.

Sarabjeet says there are other issues in Faridkot on which the government has been found wanting, including drug abuse, unemployment and poor education facilities. “The easy availability of drugs is ruining the life of youngsters in Punjab. Also the level of education has gone down, due to which Punjabi youth are not finding employment opportunities,” he says.

In 1989, Sarabjeet’s mother Bimal Kaur Khalsa and grandfather Sucha Singh Khalsa had won Lok Sabha elections from the Ropar and Bathinda constituencies, respectively, as candidates of SAD (Amritsar). However, his own poll ventures have been unsuccessful.

In 2004, Sarabjeet contested unsuccessfully from the Bathinda Lok Sabha seat as a candidate of SAD(A). In 2007, he contested and lost from Barnala’s Bhadaur Assembly seat, again on the SAD(A) ticket.

In the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, he tried his luck from Fatehgarh Sahib as a BSP candidate, but again lost. This is his first electoral contest since. “I never approached any political party even in the past, rather they approached me. But this time, I decided to go it alone,” Sarabjeet says.