MLA Ayali offers Dakha seat to Paramjit Kaur Khalra

MLA offers to step aside from the constituency in the upcoming Punjab assembly polls to facilitate the candidature of Paramjit Kaur Khalra, wife of human rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra

Akali Dal Waris Punjab De leader and Mullanpur Dakha MLA Manpreet Singh Ayali on Monday offered to step aside from the constituency in the upcoming Punjab assembly polls to facilitate the candidature of Paramjit Kaur Khalra, wife of human rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra.

MLA Manpreet Singh Ayali clarified that he had joined Akali Dal Waris Punjab De without seeking any personal political gains. (HT File)

“I sincerely wish that Bibi Paramjit Kaur Khalra contests the assembly election from Dakha in my place. She only needs to file her nomination papers. The responsibility of ensuring her victory will be taken up by the Sangat of Dakha and party workers,” Ayali said in a statement, adding that it would be a matter of “pride and honour” for the people of the area.

Expressing confidence in the electorate, he said the people of Dakha had never let the Panth down and would once again fulfil their responsibility by extending wholehearted support to her candidature.

Paramjit, a prominent voice on human rights issues since her husband’s disappearance in 1995, returned to the spotlight recently following the release and subsequent withdrawal of the Diljit Dosanjh-starrer “Satluj” from the streaming platform ZEE5. The film is based on the life and struggle of Jaswant Singh Khalra during the insurgency period in Punjab.

Reiterating his commitment to Panthic unity, Ayali urged all Panthic organisations and leaders to rise above personal ambitions and political considerations in the larger interest of the Panth and Punjab.