Punjab Election 2022: SAD Fields Bikram Singh Majithia Against Navjot Singh Sidhu From Amritsar East

Sukbir Singh Badal’s Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) named former minister Bikram Singh Majithia as the party candidate from Amritsar East segment, setting up a face-off between Majithia and his sharpest critic, Punjab Congress president Navjot Singh Sidhu.

Chandigarh: SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal on Wednesday announced that senior party leader and his brother-in-law Bikram Singh Majithia will also fight the state assembly elections from Amritsar East against Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu. “With the party fielding Bikram against Sidhu, it will be the last election to be contested by Sidhu and end of his political career”, the SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal said as he announced Majithia’s name which is considered a bastion of the Sidhu couple.

Sukhbir Badal also announced the candidature of his 94-year-old father and five-time state Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal from the Lambi assembly seat. The SAD chief made the twin announcements while talking to reporters in Amritsar. Majithia will ensure that Sidhu would forfeit his security deposit, said Badal. He had already been announced as the SAD candidate from the Majitha seat earlier.

Soon after the announcement Majithia tweeted: “I express my gratitude to Akali Dal chief S.Sukhbir S.Badal Ji for giving me the opportunity to contest from Amritsar East constituency. Akalis have a brave history of fighting to safeguard the rights of Punjabis & protecting them from the anti-Punjab elements like @sherryontopp.”

I express my gratitude to Akali Dal chief S.Sukhbir S.Badal Ji for giving me the opportunity to contest from Amritsar East constituency. Akalis have a brave history of fighting to safeguard the rights of Punjabis & protecting them from the anti-Punjab elements like @sherryontopp.

— Bikram Singh Majithia (@bsmajithia) January 26, 2022

Sidhu and Majithia were once seen to be close to each other but had a falling out when the Akali Dal was in power, and Sidhu’s wife Navjot Kaur Sidhu was MLA from Amritsar East. Since then, the two have not only issued stinging statements at each other but often clashed in the Punjab assembly too. Sidhu has been campaigning for action against Majithia for drug trafficking.

Booked under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act last month, Majithia has been trying to secure an anticipatory bail from courts.

Majithia was denied relief by the Punjab and Haryana High court early this week but was given three-day protection from arrest to move the Supreme Court to challenge the high court order and seek the reprieve.

With the announcement of candidates for two more seats, the SAD has declared candidates on all 97 seats on which it is going to contest the February 20 assembly polls. The SAD has tied up with the BSP for the coming elections.

According to the seat-sharing arrangement between the two parties, the BSP will field candidates on 20 of the 117 assembly seats in Punjab while the rest will be contested by the Shiromani Akali Dal.