M A I N   N E W S

Byelections to 11 Assembly seats on Feb 19
Tribune News Service

NEW DELHI, Jan 19 — The Election Commission today announced holding of byelections to fill 11 vacant seats in eight state Assemblies, including three in Uttar Pradesh and two in Andhra Pradesh, on February 19.

The Model Code of Conduct comes into effect from today itself in the districts in which these constituencies are located, the commission said.

The constituencies going to the polls are Siwalkhas (SC), Sarsawa and Bhartana in Uttar Pradesh, Giddalu and Badvel in Andhra Pradesh, Asthawan in Bihar, Marwahi (ST) in Chhattisgarh, Sabarmati in Gujarat, Ramgarh in Jharkhand, Hindoli in Rajasthan and Kadantala in Tripura.

Electronic voting machines (EVMs) will be used in seven of the eight constituencies going for polls, except at Marwahi in Chhattisgarh.

The notifications for the elections will be issued on January 24 and the last date for filing nominations will be January 31. Scrutiny of nominations will be done on February 1 while the last date for withdrawal of candidature will be February 3.

Majitha dead
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Jan 19 — Mr Parkash Singh Majitha, a member of the Punjab Council of Ministers, died at the PGI this evening. He was 80. Mr Majitha, who was a Cabinet Minister without portfolio, had been ailing for a long time and was reportedly suffering from Parkinson’s disease.

On January 10 he was admitted to the PGI with bilateral pneumonia and was admitted to the respiratory intensive care unit where his end came at 8.05 p.m. due to cardiorespiratory failure.

The cremation would probably take place at Majitha tomorrow.

A graduate in education from Khalsa College, Amritsar, Mr Parkash Singh Majitha was first elected to the Punjab Vidhan Sabha in 1967 and became Transport Minister in 1968. He was elected again in 1977, 1980 and in February, 1997 and was made Minister for Revenue and Rehabilitation. Since he was suffering from Parkinson’s disease, Mr Parkash Singh Badal retained him in the Cabinet as minister without portfolio.

A keen hockey player, Mr Majitha remained President of the Majitha Municipal Committee in 1959-60 and again in 1966-67. Between 1956 and 1960, he also remained President of the Guru Nanak Public School, Majitha.

He was also a member of the Chief Khalsa Dewan and a member of the Governing Council of Khalsa College, Amritsar, besides holding several other positions in various educational and religious organisations. He was a patron of the Shiromani Akali Dal and had taken part in various morchas and agitations.

The Punjab Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, who rushed to the PGI and then to the house of Mr Majitha after hearing the sad news, condoled his death and described him as a staunch Akali, an able statesman, a prominent social worker and an educationist and said that in his death Punjab had suffered an irreparable loss.

The Punjab Finance Minister, Capt Kanwaljit Singh, also expressed his shock at the death of Mr Majitha and paid him glowing tributes.