Punjab: Murder accused's brother to contest Tarn Taran bypoll

Chandigarh, Oct 7 (PTI) The Akali Dal (Waris Punjab De), along with various "Panthic" bodies, on Tuesday said Mandeep Singh, the brother of an accused in the killing of a Shiv Sena (Taksali) leader, will contest the upcoming Tarn Taran Assembly bypoll.

Mandeep Singh is the elder brother of Sandeep Singh alias Sunny, the accused in the 2022 murder case of Shiv Sena (Taksali) leader Sudhir Suri.

Sandeep Singh, who is currently in jail, has also been charged with attacking three former police officers, including two convicted in a fake-encounter case in Tarn Taran, inside the Patiala jail last month. One of the former police officers, Suba Singh, who was convicted in the fake-encounter case, succumbed to his injuries on September 17.

The Election Commission (EC) announced on Monday that the Tarn Taran bypoll will be held on November 11 and the counting of votes will be taken up on November 14.

The seat fell vacant following the death of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Kashmir Singh Sohal in June.

The Akali Dal (Waris Punjab De) is led by jailed Khadoor Sahib MP Amritpal Singh.

Addressing reporters in Amritsar, Amritpal Singh's father, Tarsem Singh, said it has been decided that Mandeep Singh will contest the bypoll.

"Respecting the sentiments of the 'qaum', we declare Mandeep Singh as the candidate of the entire Khalsa panth. We will support him (in the bypoll)," he said.

Mandeep Singh said several "Panthic" bodies wanted a member of his family to enter the bypoll fray. When he spoke about it with his brother, he too asked him to contest the bypoll.

Earlier, the name of Sandeep Singh was doing the rounds for the bypoll.

Radical preacher Amritpal Singh won the 2024 Lok Sabha poll contest from the Khadoor Sahib constituency. The Tarn Taran Assembly seat is part of the Khadoor Sahib parliamentary segment.

Major political parties have already announced their candidates for the bypoll.

The AAP has named former MLA Harmeet Singh Sandhu. Sandhu, who joined the Arvind Kejriwal-led party in July, is a three-time former MLA from Tarn Taran. He was elected as an independent candidate in 2002. Sandhu was again elected in 2007 and 2012 on a Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) ticket.

However, he unsuccessfully contested the Assembly polls in 2017 and 2022.

The Congress has fielded Karanbir Singh Burj, while the SAD has named Sukhwinder Kaur Randhawa as its nominee.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has chosen Harjit Singh Sandhu as its candidate.

According to the EC's schedule, the notification for the bypoll will be issued on October 13.

The last date for filing nominations is October 21 and a scrutiny of the nomination papers will take place on October 22. The last date for the withdrawal of candidature is October 24.

Nomination papers can be filed on any working day between October 13 and October 21. Nomination papers will not be received on October 19 (Sunday) and October 20 (Diwali), the chief electoral officer said. PTI CHS RC RC RC