Jailed separatist Amritpal Singh, who is contesting from the Khadoor Sahib seat in Punjab as an Independent candidate, has been allotted the poll symbol of “‘mike’.
He was among the 169 Independent contestants, out of a total of 328 candidates who have been allotted election symbols.
Amritpal, the chief of the ‘Waris Punjab De’ outfit, is lodged in Assam’s Dibrugarh jail under the National Security Act.
Sarabjeet Singh Khalsa, who is contesting from the Faridkot (reserve) constituency as an Independent, has been allotted the poll symbol of ‘Ganna Kisan’ (sugarcane farmer). Khalsa is the son of Beant Singh, who was one of the assassins of late prime minister Indira Gandhi.
Beant Singh and Satwant Singh, who were Mrs Gandhi’s bodyguards, killed her on October 31, 1984, at her residence.
Meanwhile, Punjab Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Sibin C on Sunday said 328 candidates contesting for the 13 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab have been allotted election symbols by the district election officers as per the instructions of the Election Commission of India.
Elections symbols allotted to Independent candidates included harmonium, dumbbells, apple, tongs, hockey and ball, stool, ship, gas cylinder, battery torch, almirah, computer, batsman, bat, truck, cot, cauliflower, petrol pump, television, laptop, auto rickshaw, pressure cooker, plastering trowel, flute, diamond, road roller, letterbox, chimney and sewing machine.
The Punjab CEO said 26 candidates, including 14 Independents are contesting from Gurdaspur, 18 Independents out of 30 contestants in Amritsar and there are 18 Independents out of 27 candidates in the Khadoor Sahib seat.
Out of 20 candidates in Jalandhar, eight are Independents while there are four Independents out of 16 candidates in Hoshiarpur.
In Anandpur Sahib, there are 13 Independents out of total 28 candidates, and there are 26 Independents out of 43 candidates in Ludhiana.
In Fatehgarh Sahib, out of total 14 candidates, seven are Independents and of total 28 candidates in Faridkot, 12 are Independents.
A total of 29 candidates, including 17 independents, are contesting from Ferozepur.
Of 18 candidates in Bathinda, eight are Independents and of 23 candidates in Sangrur, nine are Independents.
There are 15 Independents out of 26 candidates contesting in Patiala.
Polling for the 13 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab will be held on June 1.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)