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Friday,
January 4, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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Badal calls for decisive vote Kurali (Ropar), January 3 The main contenders for power, he said, were the SAD-BJP combine and the Congress. It was for the people to decide in whose hands they wanted to entrust the future of the state. Mr Badal was addressing a gathering of supporters here while on his way to Jalandhar. He had left Chandigarh, aboard a specially designed vehicle, this morning setting out for the first phase of poll campaign in favour of the SAD-BJP, scheduled from January 5. He will first go to the Golden Temple in Amritsar tomorrow to offer prayers there and seek blessings for success in the elections. This will be followed by a visit to the border towns of Attari and Khemkaran. Confined to bed since his fall on November 18, Mr Badal had recently received clearance from doctors for travel. He left his residence this morning amidst the showering of marigold petals. His motorcade was followed by hundreds of vehicles carrying excited workers. Along the way here, Mr Badal was greeted by groups of supporters whom he addressed sitting in a special fork-lift chair that was raised to enable people see him. Right from the Chandigarh-Mohali barrier, people queued up on both sides of the road carrying garlands to greet Mr Badal. He stopped at Kharar, Balongi and later here. The Chief Minister’s security personnel and the Ropar police, led by SSP, G.P.S. Bhullar had a tough time controlling the crowds and managing the chaotic vehicular traffic on a busy highway. Mr Bhullar said traffic diversion was done on the Ropar-Chandigarh stretch via Morinda. Mr Badal told the people en route that they should weigh the “performance’’ of the SAD-BJP Government in the past five years’ against the “step-motherly’’ treatment given to Punjab by the Congress in its 50-year rule. “We are like an open book. Please read carefully and not allow the Congress to even cast its shadow over the state. Uproot it’’. Earlier, shortly before leaving Chandigarh, he chided the Panthic Morcha, charging that it was helping the Congress. Ridiculing the morcha demand that he should appear at Akal Takht to seek forgiveness, Mr Badal asked, “Forgiveness for what? Have I committed any sin’’? On unity talks, he reiterated the party line adding that “those people (morcha leaders) have a wavering mind. Their very thought of putting pre-conditions showed their lack of decision-making capacity.” Varinder Singh adds from Nawanshahr: Amid speculation about Akali unity, Mr Parkash Singh Badal on Thursday preferred to choose harsh words against the Panthic Morcha and dubbed it as nothing but a “tool in the hands” of the Congress during his rallies at various places in the Doaba region. Mr Badal also clarified that the SAD had no differences with its alliance partner, the BJP, on the issue of seat-sharing and everything would be settled in a cordial manner. Mr Badal, said the Panthic Morcha was an axe in the hands of the Congress to harm the SAD. “They had also put up their candidates during the Sunam and Nawanshahr byelections but their position was so poor that the Panthic Morcha’s Nawanshahr candidate, Mr Sukhdev Singh Bhaur the right hand man of Gurcharan Singh Tohra — could only manage 484 votes,” Mr Badal. Pointing towards Panthic Morcha leaders, Mr Badal questioned: “Are you in the habit of playing negative roles only. Sometimes, they say that Mr Badal had forgotten the Panthic agenda. If Panthic agenda is to indulge in mudslinging, I cannot go to that level,” said Mr Badal, enlisting his achievements in the tercentenary celebration of the birth of Khalsa, to mark the coronation of Maharaja Ranjit Singh and a few other projects. Meanwhile, sources said despite intial failure, efforts were being made to strike rapprochement between Mr Badal and Mr Tohra by envisaging some middle path — just short of Mr Tohra’s condition of Mr Badal’s appearance at Akal Takht. Sources close to Mr Badal maintained that second thoughts were being given in the shape of formation of a three-member committee comprising close aides of Mr Badal and Mr Tohra. |
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Badal lists achievements Kharar, January 3 Mr Badal said that the achievements of the present SAD-BJP government in the present term were better than the governments headed by the Congress in its tenure of about 50 years. He claimed that the state had progressed a lot in the five years. He said that earlier Congress leaders used to make false propaganda that if the SAD came to power, first of all it would not complete the five-year term and secondly the days of extremism would return. He claimed that all this proved wrong as Punjab today was the most peaceful state. |
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CM’s white rath The white special vehicle is fabricated on a Swaraj Mazda. Inside there is a bed and a small toilet. To enable the Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, board the vehicle, there is a hydraulically operated small lift at the rear, wherein, the wheelchair fits in. It is lifted to the floor level to shift to the bed or to the second chair, again operated hydraulically, which is mechanically raised or lowered. It pops out from the slit in the roof upto a height of 7 ft. It has a canopy on the top. There is limited seating capacity inside with only three seats behind the driver and one by his side. On the side are two doors that get pressed against the body of the vehicle when fully opened to enable Mr Badal address small gatherings. A public address system and strong lights are fitted on
top. The vehicle itself will be an added attraction during the campaign. The bullet-proof, air-conditioned vehicle’s estimated cost is Rs 15 lakh. But what worries the security personnel is the total “exposure” atop the roof. As a precaution, two guards flank Mr Badal when he addresses. |
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EC admonishes CM over convoy New Delhi, January 3 The commission in a stern fax to the Punjab Chief Secretary asked him to convey the Election Commission’s direction and send the compliance report by return fax by 10 tonight. “It has come to the notice of the commission that the Chief
Minister of Punjab is proceeding from the state Capital to Amritsar in a big convoy of vehicles, numbering over one hundred. As you are well aware, elections in the state of Punjab have already been announced and the Model Code of Conduct is in place. The relevant instructions regarding use of vehicles in a convoy when the model code of conduct is in operation is quoted below,” the commission fax said. “The Commission further directs that cars/vehicles shall under no circumstances be allowed to move in convoys of more than three vehicles. All bigger convoys shall be broken even if they are carrying any Minister of Central or State Government or any other person. This shall, however, be subject to any security instructions issued in respect of any such individual,” it said. “You are requested to immediately advise the Chief Minister that his action so far has been violative of the Model Code of Conduct and for his journey from Jalandhar where he is halting at night to Amritsar on the morrow fourth January the vehicular arrangements should be such that they are allowable as per the instructions that are in force,” it said. “The Commission while taking a serious view of this violation of model code of conduct is constrained to state that it expects the Chief Minister, who is the head of the administration in the state to abide strictly by the letter and spirit of the Model Code of Conduct. This would set an example to all functionaries in the state so that the purity of the election process is not vitiated and the ground for free and fair elections is not muddled,” the commission added. |
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