Captain Amarinder Singh fails to cast ballot

PATIALA: Patiala residents on Wednesday missed the moment of entire Patiala royal family together casting the ballot at one polling booth, as at least three members of the royal family, including scion of Patiala royals and former Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh, could not cast their vote.

Amarinder's wife Preneet Kaur is Congress candidate from Patiala. While Captain could not vote at Patiala as he was busy in Amritsar from where he is contesting as a Congress candidate against SAD-BJP's Arun Jaitley, his brother Malwinder Singh was also with him in Amritsar and couldn't cast his vote.

Amarinder Singh's mother Mohinder Kaur, who is in her 90s, went to the polling booth but could not cast the ballot due to long queues at the booth, said Amarinder's son Raninder Singh. Mohinder Kaur had served as a Congress MP from Patiala and holds the distinction of being the first woman MP elected from Punjab after state's reorganization in 1966. "Both my father and uncle was busy in Amritsar so they could not vote. But I was the first one at the polling station to cast my vote," said Raninder Singh. He said that besides Preneet, his sister Biba Jai Inder Kaur and his wife Reshma also cast their votes.

Members of Patiala royal family are registered as voters in Patiala assembly segment and this time, they had to cast their vote at the polling station set up at Government College for Girls, which is located few hundred metres away from New Moti Mahal. Besides being head of the royal family, Amarinder is also MLA from Patiala assembly segment.