Tough fight for Harsimrat Badal in Bathinda as kin Manpreet, Fateh pitch for rivals

Tribune News Service

Archit Watts

Badal (Muktsar), April 22

The Badals are again set to present a divided house in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. Three-time MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal is the SAD candidate from Bathinda, but her estranged brothers-in-law Manpreet Singh Badal and Fateh Singh Badal are ready to prove their loyalties to the BJP and Congress.

Once lived in adjoining houses

• The families of Parkash Singh Badal, Gurdas Singh Badal and Maheshinder Singh Badal had once lived in adjoining houses at Badal village
• Maheshinder still lives in the same house, while Sukhbir and Manpreet had shifted to their new residences a few years ago
• Badal village falls in the Lambi Assembly segment, which is part of the Bathinda Lok Sabha constituency

How they are related

• Harsimrat is the daughter-in-law of Parkash Singh Badal
• Former Finance Minister Manpreet Badal is the son of Gurdas Badal, younger brother of Parkash Singh Badal.
• Gurdas had unsuccessfully contested the Assembly election from Lambi against his brother in 2012 as a People’s Party of Punjab candidate.
• Fateh Badal is the son of Maheshinder Singh Badal, an estranged cousin of Parkash Singh Badal.
• Maheshinder has contested three Assembly elections against the former CM from Lambi, in 2002 as an Independent and 2007 and 2012 as a Congress candidate.

Harsimrat is the daughter-in-law of Parkash Singh Badal, while former Finance Minister Manpreet Badal is the son of Gurdas Singh Badal, younger brother of Parkash Singh Badal. Gurdas had unsuccessfully contested the Assembly election from Lambi against his brother in 2012 as a People’s Party of Punjab (PPP) candidate.

Fateh Badal is the son of Maheshinder Singh Badal, an estranged cousin of Parkash Singh Badal. Maheshinder has contested three Assembly elections against the former CM from Lambi, in 2002 as an Independent and 2007 and 2012 as a Congress candidate.

Ahead of the Lok Sabha elections in 2014, Maheshinder had said he would not contest any election. Later, his son Fateh became politically active. He was a contender for the Congress ticket from Bathinda this time, but the party named ex-MLA, Talwandi Sabo, Jeet Mohinder Singh Sidhu as its candidate from this politically hot constituency.

Jeet Mohinder today held a workers’ meeting at Fateh’s residence, where he addressed Maheshinder as his ‘mama’ (maternal uncle) and appealed to the gathering to work hard to ensure his victory in this ‘big battle’. Fateh has already started canvassing in favour of Jeet Mohinder and touring villages in Lambi.

On the other hand, BJP leader Manpreet Badal, talking to The Tribune, said, “I will campaign for the party’s Bathinda candidate and others as well. I have already conveyed it to the party leadership. However, I have to undergo a small medical procedure before I resume my work.”

Manpreet had suffered a heart attack on March 10 this year and two stents were placed in his arteries at a hospital in Bathinda. Since then, he is politically inactive, but now he has started attending some social functions.

For the past few days, there had been talks in the political circles that Manpreet might support Harsimrat as his personal relations with SAD chief Sukhbir Badal had improved. In 2014, he had unsuccessfully contested the Lok Sabha election against Harsimrat as a Congress candidate.

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