Lakha Sidhana

Lakha Sidhana (Lakhbir Singh, also written Lakhvir Singh) is an activist from Sidhana village in Bathinda district who became prominent during the 2020 to 2021 farmers' protest. The Tribune has called him a "gangster-turned-social activist", and SabrangIndia reported in 2021 that he faced at least ten criminal cases, including land-grabbing and murder. He is a living person, and what follows is limited to what courts and outlets have reported.

Key moments

• 26 January 2021: the tractor-parade day on which crowds reached the Red Fort and a Nishan Sahib was hoisted there. Delhi Police alleged Sidhana had a role in the violence and in February 2021 announced a reward of Rs 1 lakh for information on him.
• 23 February 2021: he appeared on stage at a farmers' rally at Mehraj village, Bathinda, for about an hour, and left on a motorcycle. The Bathinda SSP said Delhi Police had issued no arrest warrant. The Samyukt Kisan Morcha had distanced itself from him and Deep Sidhu.
• 3 July 2021: a Delhi court extended his interim protection from arrest to 20 July in FIR 96 of 2021 and told him to join the investigation. The prosecutor said he was not seen among those who committed violence at the Red Fort but was behind it, citing a video; his lawyer said he was not named in the FIR and that police had admitted he never entered the Red Fort.
• January 2022: the Sanyukt Samaj Morcha fielded him at Maur, the Tribune reporting that he had clashed with farmer leaders and been kept off the SKM stage. In the vote he came second with 28,091 votes (20.85 per cent), behind AAP's Sukhveer Singh Maiserkhana, who polled 63,099. IndiaVotes lists him as an Independent.
• 14 April 2024: Simranjit Singh Mann's SAD (Amritsar) named him its candidate for Bathinda. He finished fifth with 84,684 votes (7.39 per cent); Harsimrat Kaur Badal won.

Known for: his part in the Red Fort case and the farmers' movement's divisions over it, and a move from a long record of criminal cases into electoral politics.