Chandigarh: Jailed radical preacher Amritpal Singh, who is in the fray from the Khadoor Sahib seat in Punjab as an Independent candidate, was allotted the mike as the poll symbol.
In all, 328 nominees applied for election symbols, out of them, 169 Independent contestants have been allocated poll symbols. It may be recalled that Amritpal, the chief of the 'Waris Punjab De' outfit, is languishing in the Dibrugarh jail of Assam under the National Security Act.
Similarly, 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 Indira Gandhi's bodyguards, assassinated her on October 31, 1984, at her residence. Meanwhile, Punjab Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Sibin C disclosed on Sunday that 328 candidates locking horns for the 13 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab were allocated poll symbols by the district election officers as per the directive of the Election Commission of India.
Election 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.