Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) president and former IPS officer Simranjit Singh Mann wrested the Sangrur Lok Sabha seat from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in the bypoll, registering his first electoral victory in 23 years. Mann defeated his nearest rival, AAP's Gurmail Singh, by a margin of 5,822 votes. The bypoll result has left AAP with zero seat in the Lower House.
After the win, Mann said it was a victory of party workers and the teachings of Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, a religious leader who had led a violent campaign for a separate Sikh state.
"It's a win of our party workers and of the teachings that Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale has given. The Sikh community is very upset with the death of Deep Singh Sidhu and Sidhu Moose Wala and now the Indian government will not behave in the same way that it is behaving with the Muslims, like their localities are being questioned, like the Indian Army is committing atrocities in Kashmir and killing Muslims on a daily basis."
Central government is anti-minorities: Simranjit Singh Mann
Born in Shimla in 1945, Simranjit Singh Mann studied at Bishop Cotton School and completed his graduation from a government college in Chandigarh. He joined the Indian Police Service in 1967 and held various posts including superintendent of police (Vigilance), SP (Headquarters), senior superintendent of police (SSP), Ferozepur; SSP Faridkot and group commandant of Central Industrial Security Force.
Mann resigned from the IPS in 1984 following Operation Bluestar which was carried out to flush out militants hiding in the Golden Temple complex in Amritsar. Every year on June 6, he and his supporters gather inside the Golden Temple complex and raise pro-Khalistan slogans to mark the anniversary of Operation Bluestar.
Dubbed 'Budda Jarnail' by some of his critics, the 77-year-old leader has been raising issues of Sikhs and minorities at different forums.
Mann was elected to the Lok Sabha from Tarn Taran in 1989 and Sangrur in 1999. He had contested the 2022 Assembly polls from the Amargarh seat but was defeated by the AAP's Jaswant Singh Gajjanmajra by a margin of 6,043 votes.
(With inputs from agencies)