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Harsimrat Badal hits campaign trail, scotches speculations of shifting from Bathinda
Harsimrat Badal said the SAD may not have announced its official candidature from Bathinda in the first list of candidates, but she will not contest from any other seat
Former Union minister and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Harsimrat Kaur Badal on Monday said she will only contest the Lok Sabha polls from Bathinda. The assertion came amid speculations that she was considering shifting to a different seat.
While campaigning in Bathinda’s Veer Colony, Harsimrat said the party may not have announced its official candidature from Bathinda in the first list of candidates, but she will not contest from any other seat.
“My opponents are indulging in spreading rumours. There is no question to leave Bathinda and contest parliamentary elections from any other seat and I am firm on it,” Harsimrat, who has been representing Bathinda for the last three terms, said.
Speculations were rife that Harsimrat may look for Khadoor Sahib or Ferozepur seats after the daughter-in-law and son of the veteran Akali leader Sikander Singh Maluka joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) last week.
On Maluka’s family members joining the BJP amid speculations that daughter-in-law Parampal Kaur may contest from Bathinda on the saffron party’s ticket, Harsimrat said it was unfortunate that the generation next chose to ditch the SAD.
“Maluka sa’ab is a much-respected leader who has been working since the SAD patriarch late Parkash Singh Badal. He continues to be our important leader. He had right advised his son and daughter-in-law to desist from joining the BJP but they acted against the wishes of the family elder,” the incumbent from Bathinda LS seat said.
Besides, four-time MLA and former SAD leader from Talwandi Sabo, Jeet Mohinder Sidhu, was on Sunday fielded as the Congress candidate from Bathinda.
Amid the developing political landscape, ex-minister Harsimrat intensified her political outreach programme in the constituency and on Monday scheduled 10 events to meet the general public in Bathinda.
The leader on Monday took a dig at the BJP and the Congress for their inability to find a suitable candidate from its cadre to contest the Bathinda seat.
“The Congress has picked a candidate who was expelled from the party while the BJP has no leaders of its own who can be fielded for the elections. Like the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), the BJP is also indulged in giving pre-poll guarantees rather than understanding from the grou\nd about the needs of the society,” she added.
So far, only the AAP and Congress have announced candidates, Gurmeet Khudian and Jeet Mohinder Sidhu respectively, from the seat while gangster-turned-politician Lakwinder Singh alias Lakha Sidhana, who will contest as an independent, found the backing from the SAD (Amritsar), which identifies with radical Sikh ideology.
Khudian, also the state agriculture minister, is holding meetings in the rural and urban areas of all nine assembly segments of the constituency.
Close aides of the Congress nominee said Sidhu would arrive from Delhi in the next couple of days to start campaigning.
