The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Tiwari hits road to seek votes
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, April 3
The city today saw huge gatherings in various parts of the city to welcome Mr Manish Tiwari, the Congress candidate for the Ludhiana Parliamentary constituency.

Mr Tiwari launched his campaign to coincide with the twentieth death anniversary of his father, Prof Vishwanath Tiwari, who was shot dead by militants in Chandigarh on April 3, 1984. The Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) president, Mr H.S. Hanspal, was with Mr Tiwari throughout the day.

Almost everyone who mattered in the Congress in Ludhiana, including the Transport Minister, Mr Tej Parkash, the Minister of State for Printing and Stationery, Mr Rakesh Pandey, the Minister of State for Jails, Mr Milkiat Singh Birmi, the Mayor, Mr Nahar Singh Gill, the rural and urban unit presidents of the District Congress Committee, Mr Jagmohan Sharma and Mr Harmohinder Singh, senior vice-president of the Pradesh Youth Congress, Mr Pawan Dewan, Mr Gurinder Singh Grewal, Mr Jagpal Singh Khangura, Mr K.K. Bawa, and Mr Bahadur Singh Namdhari, also accompanied him.

There was a massive rush of supporters who had come in their vehicles. Mr Tiwari travelled in an open vehicle. He was received at Kohara by local leaders from where the convoy of the vehicles started towards Ludhiana. At Kohara, due to the intensive rush, the traffic was held up for several hours. It took several hours for the convoy to reach the venue of the rally at Aggarwal Palace, in front of Punjab Agricultural University.

A visibly upbeat Mr Tiwari remarked that the response of the leaders, workers and general public had made him confident. He said he would ensure to come up to their expectations.

The former president of the Indian Youth Congress appealed to the people to vote for the Congress in the national interest. He said, the party had laid down many lives for safeguarding the unity and integrity of the country. Be it Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi or Beant Singh,
all belonged to the Congress. He said he had lost his father in the battle against militancy.

Organisers of today’s rally seemed to have done their homework well. While the number of young workers was phenomenal, due to Mr Tiwari’s long association with the NSUI and the Youth Congress, the presence of people from rural areas was also substantial. Mr Tiwari maintained he would ensure that he reaches each and every corner of the constituency, rural and urban areas alike.

	Congressmen back Dullo Our Correspondent Amloh, April 3 “The Congress has worked for the freedom and development of the country,” asserted Vaid Hari Krishan, chief of the District Congress Committee, Fatehgarh Sahib. He was addressing a party meeting at Canal Rest House here today in support of Mr Shamsher Singh Dullo, the Congress candidate for Ropar (reserved constituency). Mr Sadhu Singh Dharamsot, MLA, hailed the Punjab Government for its “pro-farmer” policies. He said the government had procured power worth Rs 700 crore from other states and ensured 10 to 12 hours power supply to the agriculture sector. He claimed that the government had also released old-age pensions through village panchayats. He asked the party workers to cover 90 villages of the block on April 7 and April 8 along with Mr Dullo during his election campaign. The Punjab Congress Seva Dal also organised a separate meeting at Balmiki Dharamshala here and extended support to Mr Dullo.
	BJP rakes up oil refinery issue again Our Correspondent Ludhiana, April 3 Mr Sukhminder Pal Singh Grewal, a member of the State Executive, BJP, today raked up the controversy surrounding Guru Gobind Singh Oil Refinery at Phulokhari village in Bathinda district, blaming the Congress for opposing the Rs 16,000-crore project. Mr Grewal was addressing a meeting at Siahar village, near here, held to demonstrate solidarity with the BJP-SAD candidate for the Lok Sabha, Mr Sharanjit Singh Dhillon. Speaking on the occasion, Mr Grewal said the people would never forgive the Congress and Capt Amarinder Singh if they succeeded in scuttling the refinery project. The Chief Minister’s projections that the state would lose Rs 1,000 crore annually because of the refinery were baseless and illogical, he asserted. Sales tax concession to the refinery was no loss to the state and the project was an investment that would benefit Punjab ultimately, he added. Claiming that the Centre’s decision to set up the refinery in Punjab was one of the biggest achievements of the BJP-SAD regime, Mr Grewal alleged that the project was being scuttled to benefit a big business house of the country. Hailing peace initiatives of the Vajpayee government with Pakistan, the BJP leader said Punjab would benefit the most with the opening of its borders for trade with the neighbouring country. Other speakers on the occasion included Mr Sukhminder Pal Singh Garcha, vice-president, SAD Youth Wing, Mr Pardeep Kumar Jain, Mr Hukum Chand Verma, Mr Vipon Chander Pal Sharma and Mr H.R. Sood.
	MCPI extends support to 2 candidates Tribune News Service Ludhiana, April 3 The state committee of MCPI has extended support of Sukhdev Singh Bari of the CPM (Pasla group) from Sangrur and the CPI (MC-Liberation) candidate from Bathinda parliamentary constituencies. Mr Kuldip Singh, state secretary, urged the union government to recognise Gaddar and Kuka martyrs as freedom fighters. The meeting further condemned the unprovoked firing at Manawala in which one kisan lost his life. State committee demanded full compensation for the family of the deceased and high court inquiry into the incident. The unit also mourned the death of G.S. Tohra and Comrade Dalip Singh Mast.
	DNA preserved to give father’s name to child Kanchan Vasdev and Mahesh Sharma Tribune News Service Doraha (Ludhiana), April 3 A pregnant woman in Doraha has got the DNA sample of her deceased husband preserved in order to prove that he was the father of her child. The woman, Ms Amandeep Kaur had an inter-caste marriage with Gurpreet Singh, in a gurdwara last year. The marriage was not accepted by Gurpreet’s relatives. He allegedly committed suicide 15 days ago. Ms Amandeep Kaur got his DNA sample preserved before the cremation, pre-empting a potential problem in case Gurpreet’s relatives claim that he was not the father of the child. The DNA sampling would enable the child’s right over the property. The father of the deceased had two wives, due to which there are several claimants of the property. ‘‘It is more for my honour and the sanctity of our relationship than the property,’’ said Ms Amandeep Kaur. The young widow was sent back to her parents house in Doraha after her husband committed suicide. Talking to a Ludhiana Tribune team today, Ms Amandeep Kaur said she had to take this step as her husband’s relatives did not recognise their marriage and were not willing to accept her as Gurpreet Singh’s wife. ‘‘I was unable to understand what to do. They were already saying nasty things about me and they would not have accepted the child as Gurpreet’s. So, I decided to get the tissues of my husband preserved so that I can get DNA matching done, ’’ she said. A matriculate and a diploma holder, Amandeep did not know anything about the test. She was guided by an NGO about DNA fingerprinting. Ms Amandeep Kaur alleged that Ms Jeet Kaur, her husband’s step mother, along with her son, abetted him to commit suicide. “When Gurpreet threatened to commit suicide, she gave him the cartridge after which he went on to shoot himself,” she alleged, adding that Jeet Kaur wanted the entire property for her son. Gurpreet’s father Gurjant Singh had left around 20 acres of land for his two wives, Kuldip Kaur and Jeet Kaur. Both had one son each. Since Gurpreet Singh, the son of Kuldip Kaur, had committed suicide, Amarjit, the son of Jeet Kaur, would be the heir of the property if Amandeep did not lodge her claim.

Parking blues at Bhadaur House
D.B.Chopra

Ludhiana, April 3
A jeweler’s shop has a gunman with a bus conductor’s whistle. Whenever someone tries to park a vehicle in front of the shop, he blows the whistle, gesturing to the person to look for an alternative site.

The photographer’ shop next door has a ‘No Parking’ board. Space in front of other shops in the row is already jam packed. Even the verandah for pedestrians has been turned into a parking lot. Shopkeepers in the Bhadaur House market have tried to ensure parking of vehicles.

A uniformed attendant , regulating the entry of cars to the last block of the same market, which faces the AC market ( Calibre Plaza), has to request car drivers to park in the parking lot. Not wanting to enter the parking lots, most drivers move ahead and park the vehicle somewhere along the boundary wall of the General Post Office or further on the road towards the Mata Rani chowk.

The Bhadaur House market, which was conceived and developed in the early seventies, was the first upbeat market of the town. It was considered as futuristic market then with vast parking spaces and all that. But in the recent times, particularly after the opening of an AC market across the road, its car parks are bursting at the seams.

Similar chaos prevails in the next block of the market, close to the City Heart hotel on the GT Road side of the market. Here, finding a parking space is like finding an oasis in the desert. Several people then just do not bother and park anywhere at times blocking the exit of a car already parked.

But since the bulk of cycles and scooters parked outside the AC market belongs to the hundreds of salesmen and delivery boys working in the market, it was decided to start a cycle and scooter parking in the basement. But this parking lot works on basis of a permanent token only and as such its services cannot be availed by casual visitors or shoppers. They have to either park their vehicles somewhere on the road or take the vehicles up in an elevator to the top floor of the market which is done by very few .

The ‘tehbazari’ wing of the local civic body had daily started impounding haphazardly parked two-wheelers some time ago. The impounded vehicles were released after the payment of a hefty fine up to Rs 500. This had made a visible impact then. But the department seemed to have suspended the practice now. As a result the parking scene on this busiest stretch of road, has regained all its former ugliness with utter disregard for all parking norms and guidelines.

Mr N.S.Nanda, president , Bhadaur House Market Association, who runs a hotel in the first block, says that he does not find a space to park his car outside his own hotel. Though he has employed a man to check ‘outside’ parking, but to no avail. The congestion is caused mainly by shoppers visiting the nearby Chaura Bazar and the AC market. Pressure can be eased by constructing a multi-floor parking in the Chaura Bazar, suggested Mr Nanda.

He said that he had submitted a memorandum to the municipal corporation authorities and also talked to the traffic authorities but nothing concrete has come out of these representations so far.

Mr Nanda further said that because of this problem, the business of hotels in the block was also suffering a lot as prospective customers were discouraged due to the absence of sufficient parking space.

Several other shopkeepers in the market also said that their business ha been affected due to the parking problems.

Police inaction in fraud case alleged
Our Correspondent

Mandi Gobindgarh, April 3
Mr Shakti Prasad Singhi, proprietor of Singhi Steel and Agro Industries, has urged the Director-General of Police, Punjab, to take action against persons booked by the local police for allegedly defrauding him of Rs 21,70,684. It was alleged that false accounts were prepared and bogus sale bills issued by the accused.

Giving details of the case to mediapersons here today, Mr Singhi said after failing to get a case registered against accused, Gopal Krishan, Vipan Kumar Singhi and Davender Kumar Singhi, Director, MMR Alloys Limited, Mandi Gobindgarh, and Rakesh Kumar, he had filed a petition in the Punjab and Haryana High Court on June 18, 2003, under Section 156 of the Criminal Penal Code.

The High Court disposed off the complaint with a direction to file the case in a court of competent jurisdiction. Thereafter, he filed the case through an advocate in the Amloh court. The court directed the Mandi Gobindgarh police to register an FIR and investigate the matter. The complainant alleged that the police has taken no action even after the directions of the court.

D.S. Jaspal bereaved
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, April 3
Mr D.S. Jaspal, Principal Secretary, Information and Public Relations and Information System and Administrative Reforms, Punjab, lost his nephew Mani Pal Singh (16). The boy died in the DMC Hospital here on Thursday after a brief illness.

The deceased was a son of Mr Mohinder Pal Singh, Managing Director, Guru Nank Dev Homoeopathic College, and nephew of Dr Tejinder Pal Singh, a former Chairman of the Punjab Homoeopathic Council.

Mani Pal Singh was cremated in the Model Town Extension cremation ground on Thursday evening. The funeral was attended by a large number of people from all walks of life. Mr Sardul Singh, Excise and Taxation Minister, Punjab, Mr Charanjit Singh Atwal, a former Speaker of the Punjab Assembly, Mr Sat Pal Gosain, a former Deputy Speaker, Mr B.S. Sooden, Director, Information and Public Relations, Punjab, Dr K.S. Aulakh, Vice-Chancellor, PAU, and Mr Jarnail Singh, Joint Director, Department of Information and Public Relations, among others, laid wreaths on the body and expressed sympathy with the bereaved family.

The ashes were immersed in Sutlej at Kiratpur Sahib on Friday and antim ardas would be held on April 7 at Gurdwara Singh Sabha, Bhai Randhir Singh Nagar, here.