April 4, 2014 | By Sikh Siyasat Bureau
Fatehgarh Sahib/ Bathinda (April 04, 2014): Singer-actor Jasraj Singh Longia, better known as Jassi Jasraj, has surprised many by securing the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) ticket from Bathinda constituency. Former director general of police Shashi Kant and AAP’s state convener Sumail Singh were also in the race for the Bathinda ticket. Jassi was also a contender for the AAP ticket from Anandpur Sahib, where lawyer Himmat Singh Shergill was eventually fielded.
Former Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer Harinder Singh Khalsa, who once remained MP from Bathinda on the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) ticket, has been declared as the AAP candidate from Fatehgarh Sahib (reserved for SC).
On both seats, the SAD-BJP and Congress have declared candidates. In Bathinda, SAD’s sitting MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal is up against Congress-PPP joint candidate Manpreet Singh Badal. In Fatehgarh Sahib, Congress has fielded Sadhu Singh Dharamsot while the SAD nominee is real estate dealer Kulwant Singh. Both these AAP candidates are known to take up human rights issues, particularly those related to the Sikh community.
S. Harinder Singh Khalsa was posted in Norway in June 1984 when the Indian army attacked the Darbar Sahib Amritsar. He had resigned in protest against the army action.
After remaining in exile for six years, in 1990, during the regime of VP Singh, Harinder Singh Khalsa returned to India and settled in Ludhiana. He headed the NGO Punjab Human Rights Organisation (PHRO) for a year during which he highlighted excesses committed by the state machinery.
In 1996, he was roped in by the SAD when Bathinda was an SC-reserved seat, and won handsomely. But after his stint in the 11th Lok Sabha, he went into oblivion, leaving the SAD. It is understood that AAP’s Ludhiana candidate HS Phoolka is behind Harinder’s candidature.
As for Jassi Jasraj, he faces two Badals in a high-pitch battle. Apart from being a singer, Jassi recently worked in a Punjabi movie ‘Bikkar Bai Senti Mental’ in which his character carries a ‘pava’ (wooden leg of bed) as a weapon to teach a lesson to corrupt people.
Jassi tries to project his movie character in real world, too, and carries the ‘pava’ with him at AAP events. He had visited Bathinda three days ago, with the ‘pava’ in hand. His music and videos are known to be based on Sikh issues and lately on wider social causes, and have got good response.
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Related Topics: Aam Aadmi Party, Fatehgarh Sahib, Harinder Singh Khalsa (Norway), Jassi Jasraj, Lok Sabha Elections 2014, Punjab Politics