Punjab assembly elections: Sitting Payal MLA Lakhvir Singh Lakha’s kin pulling all stops to ensure his defeat

At a time when relatives and family members of election-bound candidates are pushing for their electoral success, three paternal uncles of sitting Payal MLA and Congress candidate Lakhvir Singh Lakha are openly opposing his bid to retain the seat, due to his (Lakha’s) alleged involvement in spreading drugs menace and corruption.

The three uncles, Bagga Singh, Mohan Singh and Hari Singh, who have been crediting themselves for introducing Lakha to politics have offered support to Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD)-Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) candidate Jaspreet Singh Bija and are conducting meetings to gather support for him in the constituencies’ villages.

Mohan and Hari Singh were also seen campaigning with Bija in Ghudani Kalan and adjoining villages of Payal segment on Monday.

The trio said they supported Lakha at the time of his father’s death and introduced him to former chief minister Beant Singh’s family. Notably, Lakha began his political career by working as the personal assistant to former cabinet minister Tej Parkash, Beant Singh’ son .

A former councillor in Payal municipal council, Mohan Singh recalled Lakha’s entry into politics, saying, “The constituency was once represented by Beant Singh and then his son Tej Parkash. We were close to Beant Singh’s family, so we introduced Lakha to Tej Parkash’s son, former minister and congress candidate from Khanna, Gurkirat Kotli when they needed a PA for Tej Parkash after congress came to power in 2002.”

“As Tej Prakash was given a cabinet berth, Lakha’s profile grew and he was given the party ticket from Payal constituency in 2012. We were elated and campaigned for him rigorously. Unfortunately, he lost in the 2012 assembly elections by around 600 votes, but we did not lose hope and Lakha won in 2017 elections with a big margin,” he added.

Ruing all the sacrifices made by him and his family including Hari Singh taking voluntary retirement from the health department to actively campaign for Lakha, Mohan Singh said his nephew has embarrassed them and his voters by allegedly supporting the mafia and indulging in corruption after he was voted to power in 2017.

Singh said, “People now question us as they voted for Lakha on our request. Also, we have to answer for his wrong deeds like spreading the menace of drugs, illicit alcohol, corruption etc. Lakha does not even pay heed to the grievances of the public and has been supporting the mafia, which is spreading the menace of drugs in the segment.”

“We had asked Lakha to work for poor people in the society and stop supporting the mafia, but to no avail. So we three snapped out ties with Lakha around two years back. We are now supporting SAD and want Lakha to lose for saving the segment from the menace of drugs,” he added.

SAD-BSP candidate Bija also accused Lakha of spreading the drug menace in the region. Further taking a dig at the sitting MLA, he said how could Lakha serve the public when he could not even work with his uncles and family who supported him.

Lakha rebuffs all allegations

Lakha, meanwhile, has refuted the allegations being levelled by his uncles, saying, “I do not want to comment much on my uncles, but all these allegations are baseless and they have been playing into the hands of opposition parties. They did not introduce me to politics and I remained available for the public at all times. I have no connection with the mafia and we are confident of victory this time too.”