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Tarn Taran bypoll: Setback for Waris Punjab De amid leadership vacuum
Khalsa was fielded after the party’s strong performance in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections in Khadoor Sahib
Jailed radical leader Amritpal Singh’s Akali Dal (Waris Punjab De) suffered a setback in the Tarn Taran bypoll, with its informal candidate Mandeep Singh Khalsa finishing third. Khalsa secured 19,620 votes, far behind the winning AAP candidate Harmeet Singh Sandhu, who won by a margin of over double the votes.
Khalsa, brother of Sandeep Singh Sunny — accused in the murder of Shiv Sena (Taksali) leader Sudhir Suri — was fielded after the party’s strong performance in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections in Khadoor Sahib, where Amritpal Singh himself had secured a massive win. The Tarn Taran constituency is part of the same Khadoor Sahib region, but the bypoll result showed a significant dip in support for the Amritpal-led faction.
Despite backing from “Panthic” parties, including Giani Harpreet Singh’s breakaway SAD faction and Simranjit Singh Mann’s SAD (Amritsar), Khalsa’s performance fell short.
Political analyst Jagroop Singh Sekhon, retired professor of political science in Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, said: “The issue during the Khadoor Sahib Lok Sabha election was different. The victory in that election was like that of Simranjit Singh Mann’s victory in the 1989 elections. The voters do not always act emotionally. This is also a non-starting of the Giani Harpreet Singh-led breakaway faction of the SAD”.
“The Akali Dal (Waris Punjab De) lacks proper leadership in the absence of Amritpal Singh, who is currently incarcerated. The party expected a spontaneous response from the people of Tarn Taran, but that did not materialise,” said Jagtar Singh, a political historian based in Chandigarh.
Though the loss was significant, Tarsem Singh, Amritpal’s father and the party’s interim leader, termed it a “historic” performance for surpassing both Congress and BJP in the region.
