Congress candidate from Fatehgarh Sahib LS seat, Dr Amar Singh claims to know people’s pulse
Among those supporting Dr Amar Singh, the Congress candidate from Fatehgarh Sahib Lok Sabha seat, Amloh MLA Randeep Singh Nabha says Amar Singh is an educated candidate, who would be an asset for the party and Fatehgarh Sahib as a MP as he has the right connections in government of India.
At the coveted post of principal secretary to CM, a bureaucrat learns a thing or two about politics. Dr Amar Singh did too. He is the Congress candidate from the Fatehgarh Sahib (Reserved) Lok Sabha constituency.
His proximity to then Madhya Pradesh CM Digvijaya Singh helped him gain a toehold in politics. When the Congress wanted to replace his brother Gurcharan Singh Boparai from Raikot seat in 2017 state polls citing age factor, Amar, who was eyeing neighbouring Gill seat and nurturing it for a year, did not let go off the opportunity. He lost. Two years down the line, he staked the claim to Fatehgarh Sahib reserved seat, where the party was hunting for winnable faces.
A recommendation to allot him the ticket is learnt to have come from the likes of Digvijaya Singh to K Raju, an IAS-turned-politician like him, who heads Congress president Rahul Gandhi’s office. Punjab CM Captain Amarinder Singh threw his weight behind him after initially backing Gurpreet Singh GP, MLA from Bassi Pathana. All remaining legislators from the parliamentary seat — seven out of nine MLAs in Fatehgarh Sahib are from Congress — batted for Amar Singh.
Among those supporting him, Amloh MLA Randeep Singh Nabha says Amar Singh is an educated candidate, who would be an asset for the party and Fatehgarh Sahib as a MP as he has the right connections in government of India. Singh has had a nine-year-long stint in food and rural development ministries of GOI besides the Planning Commission
He also knows when to change political track. Seen by local government minister Navjot Singh Sidhu’s side till February last year, Amar Singh warmed up to the “CM camp” as elections drew closer. Amar Singh says he could not afford to ignore his constituency as people had to come to Chandigarh to meet him. “If I kept sitting in Chandigarh, what would happen to my politics and my people? Sidhu understood my predicament and relieved me,” he says. Sidhu agrees. “He told me that he wanted to concentrate on his political career. I still hold him in high regards,” he adds.
Before being appointed as Digvijaya’s principal secretary, Singh was director, public relations in his government. The skills learnt there are coming handy in politics. He has the backing of those who matter at the top. But party’s ground reports did not favour his candidature. That is none of his worries. As a doctor with degree in medicine, he says he does not need others to feel the pulse of people.