New Delhi, January 24: Former Army chief Gen JJ Singh (retd) has decided to contest the upcoming Lok Sabha election from Ferozepur in Punjab.
Speaking exclusively to The Tribune on Thursday, Singh said he had conveyed his wish to contest from Ferozepur to the leaders of the Punjab Democratic Alliance and would let the alliance partners take a call.
“It’s like homecoming for me. My father was posted in Ferozepur. Later, as the Western Army Commander I held the responsibility of securing the borders from Pathankot to Ferozepur. It’s a natural choice for me,” Singh said declaring his candidature in Delhi on Thursday.
Asked why he had decided to abandon Patiala from where he had unsuccessfully contested the Assembly seat against Congress stalwart Capt Amarinder Singh, Gen Singh said, “I felt cheated in Patiala. It was not a fair contest. Ferozepur is a natural choice for me as I went to college there and have served as a former Army commander there.”
Gen Singh had recently resigned from the Shiromani Akali Dal after unsuccessfully contesting the Patiala Assembly seat.
He said, “The political landscape of Punjab needs an urgent transformation. The state has suffered too long at the hands of vested leaders, who have caused immense damage to our once-rich-and-thriving state. I thought I would contribute to this transformation with the SAD, only to realise a complete lack of ethics and competence in its top leadership. Sadly, the Congress government, too, has been a bane for the state, and the AAP seems to be self-destructing itself due to infighting.”
Ferozepur is currently represented in the Lok Sabha by SAD’s Sher Singh Ghubaya, who fell out with the Akalis after his son contested the 2017 Assembly election on a Congress ticket and won.
(Except for the headline, story has been sourced from The Tribune)
