CHANDIGARH: The children of two of Indira Gandhi’s assassins are vying for the same seat in the 2027 assembly election. While jailed hardline MP Amritpal’s Waris Punjab De has announced Satwant Singh, son of hanged convict Kehar Singh, as its candidate from Bassi Pathana seat, the daughter of Beant Singh, Amrit Kaur Maloya, has doubled down on her decision to contest from the same seat as an independent.“It is ‘Qurbani’ versus ‘Qurbani’ in Bassi Pathana,” said a common relative of both aspirants. The two carry intertwined family legacies as Kehar was married to Beant’s cousin.Beant and Satwant Singh were Indira Gandhi’s bodyguards when they shot her dead on Oct 31, 1984. Beant was gunned down by other security guards, and Satwant and Kehar were executed on Jan 6, 1989, for their roles in the assassination. The Akal Takht and highest representative body of Sikhs, Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, hail the trio as ‘martyrs’ and observe ‘shaheedi diwas’ in their memory.Satwant and Amrit are banking on this common legacy and eyeing the same votebank.Waris Punjab De on Tuesday named Satwant as its first candidate for 2027 although Amrit Kaur Maloya had announced her decision to contest from the same constituency two weeks ago.“Baapu ji (Tarsem Singh, Amritpal’s father) should have given it a thought that he is making a member of the same family contest from Bassi Pathana on their platform. He is trying to cause a division in the Panth,” Amrit Kaur told TOI on Wednesday. Tarsem is the central figure in Akali Dal Waris Punjab De as the MP continues to be in jail.“I had already announced that I would contest as an independent from Bassi Pathana. They could have fielded Satwant from any other seat. Moreover, he does not live here. He has been living and working in Delhi and is in the United Kingdom currently,” said Amrit, who lives in Maloya, Beant Singh’s native village which is an urbanized locality in Chandigarh UT now.“The constituents of Bassi Pathana urged me to contest since it was part of Ropar parliamentary constituency, which my mother represented. I was considering other constituencies also, but people of Bassi Pathana said I should contest from there,” Amrit said.Amrit’s mother Bimal Kaur Khalsa, the widow of Beant Singh, was elected from Ropar in Nov 1989 as a candidate of Simranjit Singh-led SAD. In the same election, held in the height of the Punjab insurgency, Beant’s father Sucha Singh, was elected from Bathinda (SC reserved) on a SAD (Mann) ticket.Amrit said she gave up her decision to contest the Tarn Taran assembly bypoll in 2025 as an independent because she “did not want a division in the Panth”. “But, I will not step back this time. I will contest from Bassi Pathana for sure,” she asserted.Satwant Singh said Amrit should review her decision to contest from Bassi Pathana.What makes it all the more interesting is that Amrit’s brother is Waris Punjab De MP Sarabjeet Singh Khalsa, one of the five members of the party’s executive committee.“I am not on talking terms with him (Sarabjeet). Some family problems are going on,” Amrit told TOI.Sarabjeet, on the other hand, told TOI, “Satwant Singh has been working in Bassi Pathana for two years, ever since I got elected as MP. I got his vote transferred from Delhi to Bassi Pathana, where his family’s ancestral village, Mustafabad, is.”According to Sarabjeet, Amrit had been preparing to contest from Dirba (Sangrur district) “where she was sure to win”. “I don’t know why she suddenly announced to contest from Bassi Pathana,” he said, adding that she came to the constituency “just four days ago”.Asked if Waris Punjab De will not field a candidate from Dirba if Amrit were to contest from there, Sarabjit said, “Time will tell.” Tarsem Singh was not available for comment.Satwant, who is attending a wedding in the UK, told TOI that he appeals to Amrit to reconsider her decision and that many people are trying to persuade her not to contest from Bassi Pathana. “Beant Singh and his family lived near our house in Delhi. I used to cradle Beant Singh’s children in my arms during school days. Moreover, Amrit should think about the sacrifice of Shaheed Kehar Singh. There are many other seats from where she can contest,” he said, adding that it was Kehar Singh who actually prepared Beant and Satwant to “avenge for attack on Akal Takht”.Satwant said, “We were offered tickets in 1989, but my mother Bibi Jasvir Kaur refused to contest, saying that her husband did not sacrifice his life to become an MP or MLA. Now, I was approached to contest, and my family said I should do so for the sake of Panth.”
