Sukbir Singh Badal’s Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) named former minister Bikram Singh Majithia as the party’s candidate for the Amritsar East constituency on Wednesday, setting up a showdown between Majithia and Punjab Congress president Navjot Singh Sidhu, who has been one of Majithia’s harshest critics.
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“With the SAD fielding Bikram against Sidhu, this will be Sidhu’s final election and the end of his political career,” SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal said on Wednesday as he announced Majithia’s nomination from the Amritsar East assembly district, which is considered a Sidhu duo stronghold.
The former minister is already an Akali contender in Majithia, a rural constituency in Amritsar district where he has won three elections in a succession.
When the Akali Dal was in power and Sidhu’s wife, Navjot Kaur Sidhu, was an MLA from Amritsar East, Sidhu and Majithia were previously seen as close, but they had a falling out. Since then, the two have not only exchanged venomous words but have also frequently battled in the Punjab parliament. Sidhu has been advocating for Majithia to be prosecuted for narcotics trafficking.
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Parkash Singh Badal, the party’s patriarch and five-time chief minister, will also run from the Lambi assembly segment, according to Sukhbir Badal.
