Red Fort violence accused Sidhana in fray from Bathinda LS seat

Gangster-turned-social activist Lakhbir Singh, alias Lakha Sidhana, who was one of the main accused in the violence in Delhi during the farmers’ rally on Republic Day in 2021, was on Sunday declared as Shiromani Akali Dal-Amritsar (SAD-A) candidate from Punjab’s Bathinda parliamentary seat.

SAD-A President Simranjit Singh Mann said Sidhana has been nominated as the party’s candidate as a testament to his relentless activism for the Punjabi language and multiple social causes in Punjab.

“I wish Lakha Singh Sidhana all the best and trust Bathinda will elect their homegrown popular young activist and further embolden Panth-Punjab’s voice Shiromani Akali Dal Amritsar,” Mann, the MP from Sangrur, said.

Sidhana, who belongs to Sidhana village in Bathinda district, had dreamed of making big in politics through the farmers’ agitation in 2021-22. In 2021-22, he was quite active in the agitation on the borders of the national capital and aggressively lobbied for the agitation to gain momentum.

At one point in time, farmer leaders had distanced themselves from Sidhana and they blamed him for inciting violence at the Red Fort.

A small-time gangster who aimed to enter politics by becoming a social activist, he was acquitted in several cases before contesting the 2012 Assembly polls as a candidate of the People’s Party of Punjab, once led by Manpreet Singh Badal, who is currently with the BJP. He used to work for the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) too. He was first jailed in 2004 and was put behind bars many times till 2017.

Of late, he hogged the limelight as a social activist by demanding that all official signboards, other than English, should be in Punjabi first.