Tribune News ServiceAjnala, February 22
Ten companies of para-military forces, including the BSF and the Rajasthan Home Guards have been deployed to man booths and strong rooms in this border constituency to ensure free and fair bypoll to be held here tomorrow.
The Punjab police won’t be allowed to man the booths.
Most of the booths in this constituency have been either declared sensitive or ‘most sensitive’ even as an Akali MLA, Mr Vir Singh Lopoke, has been booked on charges of opening fire and injuring a person in Tanana village . Capt Kanwaljit Singh and Mr Chiranji Lal , both former Akali Ministers, alleged that a “farbricated” case had been registered in this regard. They alleged that another case had been registered against Mr Baljit Singh, a former sarpanch of Chamiary village, on flimsy grounds.
Meanwhile, election Observers, Mr Jyoti Kalas and Mr Ram Bilas Meena, today undertook a hurricane tour of the constituency following the publication of reports in The Tribune that liquor was being distilled openly, apart from the distribution of cash to woo voters. The Chief Electoral Officer of the state, Mr G.S. Cheema has asked the poll Observers to initiate action against those violating the code of conduct, as published in The Tribune. On the direction of Observers, the Ajnala police raided a farmhouse in border
village Nepal and found liquor distilled there.
The Shiromani Akali Dal President, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, came down heavily on the latest order of the local administration aimed at restricting the movement of Akali voters on the pretext of barring the entry of outsiders into Ajnala. He said, “ The office of the District Magistrate has been reduced to an extension counter of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee. This order is a clinching proof of the extent to which the local administration and the police are taking orders from the Congress workers to reduce a free and fair poll to a joke”.
However, the poll observers asked the district administration to ensure the enforcement of the orders of District Magistrate, barring the entry of outsiders in the constituency to prevent any untoward incident.
Following a report regarding the on-going construction work on the Bagga Khurd road, the election Observer immediately rushed to the site to seek an on-the-spot report .So far 18 cases have been registered on the direction of poll observers for the violation of the code of conduct. It is learnt that 5.13 lac ml liquor, 1750 kg lahan, 15 cartons of whisky and 122 cricket kits have been seized by the enforcement agencies.
The Congress party has also faxed complaints to the Election Commission against the Shiromani Akali Dal for allegedly indulging in code violation. Mr Jasbir Singh Dimpla, media In charge of the Congress, alleged that an Akali Dal supporter and a government employee were caught distributing cash to voters. However, when he was stopped from doing so, Mr Sucha Singh Langah, a former Akali minister, and his supporters descended on the scene and indulged in a clash.
Later in the afternoon, Sukhbir Singh Badal said the peaceful defiance of the controversial orders, issued by the District Magistrate, to restrict the entry of outsiders had delivered the right message both to the administration and the people. “We will not be cowed down by their threats or the misuse of official machinery.”
