In Faridkot, Indira Gandhi assassin’s son raises 2015 sacrilege case to draw votes

Sarabjeet Singh Khalsa, the 45-year-old son of Beant Singh, one of the two assassins of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, is a regular contender in Punjab elections. This time, he has entered the fray as an Independent from the Scheduled Caste-reserved Faridkot Lok Sabha seat with the 2015 Guru Granth Sahib desecration case as his primary campaign plank.

Faridkot, which votes in the last phase on June 1, was the epicentre of the “sacrilege” case – in 2015, a case of the Sikh holy scripture being desecrated in the streets of Bargari village in the district sparked protests and led to the deaths of two protesters. The culprits, however, were never caught.

“I decided to contest from Faridkot as I want to raise the issue of the 2015 sacrilege… Initially, I had no plans to contest but the Sikh Sangat (community) came to me,” Sarabjeet says.

In the fray against him are the AAP’s Karamjit Anmol, an actor and singer, and the BJP’s Hans Raj Hans, a singer. While the Congress has fielded former government school teacher Amarjeet Kaur Sahoke, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) has fielded Rajwinder Singh, a businessman and son of three-time MLA Sheetal Singh. The seat is currently held by the Congress’s Mohammad Sadique, also an actor and singer.

Of the more than 650 villages in the Faridkot constituency, Sarabjeet says, he has visited nearly 350, and claimed that villagers have themselves been organising public meetings for him. “The Sangat is inviting me and extending support on their own. They are fed up with the traditional parties,” he says.

On May 23, Sarabjeet’s roadshows in the Faridkot and Kotkapura areas had drawn much attention. YouTuber Bhana Sidhu, who was released on bail in February in an extortion case, and Mansa-based