Amarinder Singh says he will fight polls from Patiala, as Punjab political scene heats up

Former Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh announced that he will fight from Patiala seat in the 2022 assembly elections. "I will fight elections from Patiala only," he posted on Facebook. "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.

With Prime Minister Narendra Modi announcing the surprise repeal of the contentious farm laws that were widely opposed in Punjab, the political scene in the state is heating up ahead of the the assembly polls. While quitting the Congress after his humiliating ouster from the CM's post, Amarinder had indicated that he was hopeful of a seat-sharing arrangement with the BJP, provided the agitation over the new laws was resolved in the farmers' interest.

Amarinder had earlier met the Union Home Minister Amit Shah. He said he discussed the farmers' stir with him and urged him to resolve the crisis urgently with the repeal of the three laws. The elections for the 117-member Vidhan Sabha are expected to witness a multi-cornered contest among the ruling Congress, the SAD-BSP alliance, the Aam Aadmi Party and the BJP.

A tie-up with Amarinder could help the BJP put up a fight in the upcoming Punjab assembly polls. The party has not been able to campaign for the polls so far because of the farmers' opposition to its leaders in Punjab. The old alliance between the BJP and the Shiromani Akali Dal broke last year when the SAD quit the National Democratic Alliance over the farm laws.