Former Army chief back in poll fray in Punjab

Former army chief general J J Singh is again back in the poll fray in Punjab.

This time he’s a contender from the Khadur Sahib as a nominee of a rebel Shiromani Akali Dal (Taksali) outfit.

In his debut elections in 2017, the general contested against Capt Amarinder Singh from Patiala constituency.

Amarinder won by over 52,000 votes, which was the highest victory margin in the Punjab Assembly polls.

General Singh finished a poor third and forfeited his security deposit as Amarinder bagged nearly 70% of the total votes polled.

This time though, the former Army chief says he is out with a renewed vigour to win.

The Congress is yet to name its candidate against General Singh.

The SAD (Taksali) was formed as a rebel outfit after many senior leaders, who were a part of former chief minister Badal’s cabinet walked out expressing displeasure with the leadership, especially the junior Badal, Sukhbir.

Even before this new political outfit was formed in Punjab, General Singh had quit the SAD expressing a similar grouse.

“This party has shown faith in me and my campaign in Khadur Sahib constituency. I am getting a huge response from the public,” general Singh said.

Earlier, there were reports of the party swapping his candidature, but these talks were grounded by the party president.