Amritpal Singh votes from Dibrugarh jail in 2025 Vice-Presidential election

Dibrugrah: Khadoor Sahib MP Amritpal Singh, currently detained under the National Security Act (NSA), exercised his franchise in the 2025 vice-presidential election from his cell in the high-security Dibrugarh Central Jail on Tuesday.The voting process was facilitated through a postal ballot, following specific directives from the Election Commission of India (ECI) to ensure the incarcerated MP’s constitutional right to vote was upheld. The ECI had issued orders to the Union ministry of home affairs and the Assam chief secretary, invoking Rule 26 of the Presidential and Vice-Presidential Elections Rules, 1974, which provides for electors under preventive detention to vote via postal ballot.According to jail authorities, Singh was provided with the necessary materials to cast his vote. After marking his ballot in private, the MP sealed the envelope and handed it back to the jail officials.“The sealed envelope has been dispatched by air to Delhi through a special messenger,” confirmed Dibrugarh senior superintendent of police Rakesh Reddy, ensuring the procedure adhered to the ECI’s strict guidelines.

The ECI’s instructions mandated that the sealed cover containing the marked ballot must reach the returning officer in New Delhi before the commencement of counting, scheduled for 6 pm on Sept 9. To guarantee this, authorities were directed to arrange for a special messenger to transport the ballot by air from Dibrugarh, with full details of the logistics provided to the commission.This vote carries significant political weight, as the election pits the ruling NDA’s candidate, Maharashtra governor CP Radhakrishnan, against the opposition’s nominee, former Supreme Court judge B Sudershan Reddy.Amritpal Singh, the chief of the ‘Waris Punjab De’ organisation, has been lodged in Dibrugarh Central Jail since Apr 23, 2023, after being arrested under the stringent NSA. Despite his detention, he contested the 2024 general elections as an independent candidate and secured a landslide victory from the Khadoor Sahib Lok Sabha constituency in Punjab.