AMARINDER SINGH

Head of the royal family of the erstwhile State of Patiala, he was Chief Minister of Punjab from 2002 to 2007. Presently, he is the sitting President of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC). He was also the Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the 16th Lok Sabha till 2016, having been chosen for the position after his election as a Member of Parliament from Amritsar, where he defeated the prominent BJP leader Arun Jaitley. He was inducted into the Congress by Rajiv Gandhi, who was his friend from school and was first elected to the Lok Sabha in 1980. In 1984, he resigned from Parliament and from Congress as a protest against the Army action during Operation Blue Star. Five-time CM Parkash Singh Badal is facing perhaps the toughest political challenge Amarinder Singh takes him on from the Lambi seat. He is Congress' chief ministerial candidate.