![]() "My mother was with the BJP and my brother is in the Congress. "What party I choose is not relevant," he declared, while announcing his move to the SAD. He blames Preneet for influencing the ticket distribution in favour of her son. An upset Malvinder has since quit the Congress and joined the SAD. Amarinder's brother Malvinder, 67, had fancied himself as the Congress candidate from Samana. Raninder is now contesting from Samana seat. He lost the 2009 Lok Sabha poll from Bathinda, which was a high profile battle of the clans, as the Badals fielded Sukhbir's feisty wife Harsimrat against him. Their son, Raninder Singh, 44, has charisma but no political success. His wife, the elegant Preneet, 66, is a third-time MP from Patiala. The Captain's success, particularly as chief minister for five years till 2007, gave a boost to other family members. He later rejoined the Congress in 1999 and led it to victory in the 2002 Punjab Assembly elections. Subsequently, he floated his own party-Akali Dal Panthic, to contest the 1992 Assembly polls. He joined the SAD and was a minister in the S.S. He resigned from Parliament in 1984 in protest against Operation Bluestar, but maintained his association with the Nehru-Gandhi family. "Today, people across Malwa, Doaba and Majha acknowledge me as a leader, not because of who I am, but because I have worked hard to win their loyalty," he says.Īmarinder's transition from royalty and army life to politics came about in 1980, after he was elected to the Lok Sabha from Patiala. Like all political scions, the Captain says families only help in giving an aspiring politician the initial leg-up. She was elected to the Lok Sabha from Patiala on a Congress(O) ticket and later switched sides, joining the Janata Party government in 1977, after the Emergency. But Amarinder's mother, Mohinder Kaur, 90, was an active politician. ![]() His father Maharaja Yadavindra Singh preferred sports and diplomacy to politics. The flamboyant Amarinder sees himself as the "first serious politician" in Patiala's erstwhile royal family. ![]() Ironically, the current line-up is reminiscent of the 19th century Anglo-Sikh Wars in which Patiala sided with the British against Maharaja Ranjit Singh's forces. ![]() The Badals head the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), the largest Sikh party and have close filial ties with the descendants of Ranjit Singh's ferocious Majithia generals. His rivals are 84-year-old Parkash Singh Badal, the current Chief Minister, and his 49-year-old son, Sukhbir. If the Congress wins, Amarinder is tipped to be chief minister yet again. His father, Yadavindra Singh, first aligned with the Congress after Patiala was incorporated into the Union in 1948. Like his ancestors, the current head of the Patiala clan and former chief minister, Captain Amarinder Singh, 69, has linked his fortunes to the Congress party. Inter-clan marriages have spawned political havens that ensure that no family is ever completely out of power. Elections are merely a process of temporarily shifting the balance of power from one clan to the other. ![]() Together, these wealthy, landed Jat families-the Patiala Royals, Badals of Muktsar, Majithias of Amritsar, Kairons of Tarn Taran, Brars of Sarai Naga and Manns of Sangrur have ruled over Punjab since Partition. In Punjab's feudal Jat culture, politics is a family affair, where six clans dominate the state's fortunes. ![]()
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