Capt Amarinder Singh to contest from Patiala Assembly seat

Chandigarh, November 22

Former Punjab chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh announced that he would contest from Patiala seat in the 2022 Assembly elections.

“I will fight elections from Patiala only,” he posted on his 'Punjab Da Captain' Facebook page on Saturday.

“Patiala has been with us for the last 400 years and I will not leave it for the sake of (Navjot) Sidhu,” he added.

The Patiala Assembly seat has been the family bastion of the former chief minister. He had represented the seat four times - 2002, 2007, 2012 and 2017.

Amarinder had resigned as MLA in 2014 after being elected from the Amritsar Lok Sabha seat. His wife Preneet Kaur then contested from Patiala and represented the seat for three years.

He had also in April dared Punjab Congress chief Navjot Sidhu to contest from Patiala, saying the latter would lose his security deposit.

Amarinder resigned as the Punjab chief minister in September amid a bitter power tussle with Sidhu.

Charanjit Singh Channi had replaced Amarinder.

After his unceremonious exit from the state government, Amarinder had said that he would pit a strong candidate against Sidhu in the 2022 assembly polls to ensure his defeat.

Amarinder, who named his political party as the Punjab Lok Congress, is hoping for a seat arrangement with the BJP for the upcoming elections. PTI