Amritpal Singh’s aide Kulwant Singh Rauke to contest Barnala byelection
Faridkot, June 30
After radical Amritpal Singh’s landslide win from the Khadoor Sahib Lok Sabha seat, another detainee under the National Security Act (NSA) and close aide of “Waris Punjab De” chief, Kulwant Singh Rauke, is set to contest the upcoming Assembly byelection from Barnala.
Belonging to Rauke village of Moga, Kulwant was arrested in March last year and is lodged in the Dibrugarh jail of Assam with Amritpal under the NSA. In January, Kulwant was granted three-day parole by the jail authorities to attend the cremation of his uncle Bhagwant Singh, who died on December 27, 2023.
Kulwant’s cousin Maha Singh confirmed he was going to contest the Barnala byelection. “I have spoken to my brother on the phone and he has given his consent to contest from Barnala,” claims Maha Singh.
An active member of the Waris Punjab De, 39-year-old Kulwant was a clerk with Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL). His father Charat Singh was allegedly picked up by the police during militancy in March 1993 and he never returned home. Charat was the sarpanch of Nihal Singh Wala village of Moga.
Kulwant and nine others, including Amritpal, were arrested under the NSA for storming into the Ajnala police station complex on February 23. Bhagwant Singh, alias ‘Pradhan Mantri’ Bajeke, another aide of Amritpal, who is also lodged in the Dibrugarh jail, is also set to contest the byelections from the Gidderbaha Assembly seat in Muktsar district, where Amrinder Singh Raja Warring of the Congress was the MLA before being elected MP from Ludhiana.
