Veteran Sikh faces missing from Punjab election scene

Amritsar: The Lok Sabha election in Punjab this time is unprecedented compared to the last few decades, as many prominent Sikh leaders are missing from the poll scene in multi-cornered contests and a new player -AAP - is in power in the state.

Former Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh, who was a dominating face of Punjab politics in the state for the last two decades, is missing from the poll scene this season.

Owing to his ill health, Singh has been keeping away. But family members of SAD patriarch Parkash Singh Badal, who passed away last year, and Amarinder Singh - Badal's daughter in-law Harsimrat Kaur and Amarinder Singh's wife Perneet Kaur are contesting elections.


Besides them, another prominent Sikh leader Navjot Singh Sidhu is also not visible in the poll campaigning in Punjab.

The cricketer-turned-politician is staying away from the political league of Punjab and is busy with the Indian Premier League -- T20 Cricket championship. Besides them, former Union minister and SAD patron Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa is also missing from the poll scene.

This is the first Lok Sabha election when neither Akali nor Congress is in power in the state. And this is the first election after 28 years when the BJP and SAD are contesting separately.

Polling for the 13 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab will be held in the last phase of elections on June 1.