Lok Sabha Election 2019: Sikh hardliner Bibi Jagir Kaur gets Khadoor Sahib

Embattled with internal strife, an ailing Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) has fielded staunch Badal loyalist and Sikh hardliner face Bibi Jagir Kaur for Khadoor Sahib constituency in Punjab. The controversial politician who is three-time MLA, will have her first outing as a Lok Sabha candidate, and is seen as the party's decisive blow to rebel sitting MP Ranjit Singh Brahmpura who broke away and formed his own faction SAD(Taksali) in December.

Kaur has a lot riding on her shoulders- right from debuting as a Parliamentary candidate to wooing the vote bank as she does not belong to the segment. Khadoor Sahib is an important bastion- being the largest constituency and one that spans across all the three belts of the state- Majha, Doaba and Malwa. She is SAD face also to counter the sharp criticism the provincial party has been facing among Sikh voters as well as SGPC because of alleged mishandling of desecration of Guru Granth Sahib in 2015. Kaur- a staunch Akali enjoys close ties with the Panthic clergy. She was the first woman president of Shiromani Gurudwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC).

Thrice MLA from Bholath in Kapurthala is also one of the most controversial faces in the Akali Dal. She has courted several controversies in her two decade long political career, the most prominent being alleged abduction, and murder of her daughter Harpreet. Born and brought up in Bhatnura Lubana village in Kapurthala district, she has been closely associated with Dera Sant Baba Prem Singh Murale Wale at Begowal in Kapurthala having married the son of the dera head in 1980. After the death of her husband in 1983, she formally appointed herself as the head of the dera which helped her gain considerable influence in the Sikh dominant bastion of Lubana. She joined SAD in 1995 and soon grew her stature in the party. She was allotted ministerial berth in the SAD government in 1997 after she won from Bholath.

In 1999 she became the first woman chief of the apex gurudwara body but was forced to resign in 2000 after she was accused of murdering Harpreet for marrying out of caste. In 2002 she won from Bholath again but lost in 2007 to Sukhpal Singh Khaira. She captured the seat again in 2012 and was indicted in the SAD cabinet. He stint however, was short lived as she was convicted of abducting, conspiring and forcibly terminating her daughter's pregnancy. The orders came just 17 days after her swearing in. She was recently acquitted by the Punjab and Haryana High Court.