Eye on General Election, Manpreet Badal gets active in Gidderbaha segment

Archit Watts

Gidderbaha/Muktsar, Jan 5

After a hiatus of almost 10 years, former Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal, who is now in the BJP, has become politically active again in the Gidderbaha Assembly segment of Muktsar district.

In the past few days, he has met his old associates and held several public meetings. Some of his aides said Manpreet had renovated his office in Gidderbaha, which would be opened next week.

Manpreet remained MLA from Gidderbaha for four times in a row before losing to then first-timer Congress candidate Amarinder Singh Raja Warring in 2012. Manpreet then contested on the ticket of People’s Party of Punjab (PPP).

Later, he merged his PPP with the Congress and won the Assembly election from Bathinda (Urban) Assembly segment as a Congress candidate in 2017. However, in 2022, he lost the poll from the same seat.

Harjit Singh Neela Mann, an aide of Manpreet, who is a former sarpanch and served as chairman of the Gidderbaha Market Committee during the SAD-BJP government, said, “Manpreet has become active in Gidderbaha and is meeting with his associates. His old office has been renovated and it will open next week. He also held a public meeting at Bhallaiana village. He himself is saying that he will work in Gidderbaha again.”

SGPC member Navtej Singh Kaoni, who is also associated with the former Finance Minister, said, “Manpreet is now focusing on Gidderbaha and will remain active here.”

Manpreet said, “My primary focus is to strengthen the BJP in rural areas. I have been MLA from Gidderbaha for four terms. So, it’s a fertile ground for me to start from here. As the Lok Sabha elections are a couple of months away, I will try to strengthen the BJP in Bathinda, Muktsar, Fazilka and Ferozepur districts.”