The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Himachal Pradesh Edition

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50 YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE

TERCENTENARY CELEBRATIONS

BMC polls Day 1 of campaigning Rain plays spoilsport Bathinda, June 15 Heavy rain that lashed here this afternoon played spoilsport on the opening day of the campaign for the 50-seat Bathinda Municipal Corporation (BMC) as the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) chief, Sukhbir Singh Badal, had no option but to abandon his public meetings in many wards.
SHOW WASHED OUT: Heavy rains cancelled a public meeting of SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal in Bathinda on Sunday. — Tribune photo by Kulbir Beera

Mulling over slot for migrants, says SAD chief
Bathinda, June 15
“Receiving positive response from a large segment of Bihar and UP migrants in the state, we are chalking out plans to make their wings in Shiromani Akali Dal (B), said Sukhbir Badal who was here canvassing for BMC elections.

BMC Polls
‘We are here to serve people’

Bathinda, June 15
“I am into the politics now and I will achieve this aim of becoming a politician in my life one day. That is why I am here in the fray for the Municipal Corporation elections to serve the people of my ward,” announced first timer Rita Devi, who is contesting from Ward 49 comprising Vishal Nagar, New Shakti Nagar, Tagore Nagar and Green Avenue. Mohan Lal Garg Bathinda, June 15
Mohan Lal Garg, a BJP stalwart from ward 47 and former chairman, Bathinda Improvement Trust, who hopes for a hat-trick as an MC, said he is here for the masses. “Promises are to be made and that is why residents of my ward preferred my candidature for the third consecutive term,” he said with confidence.

Candidates go all out to woo voters
Bathinda, June 15
With just a week left for the BMC polls, rival candidates from various wards have begun campaigning aggressively. From door-to-door canvassing at 7 am, to using various publicity materials and holding nukkad meetings in the evening.

Fazilka MC elections
BJP names 17 contenders
Fazilka, June 15
Finally, the list of BJP candidates for the upcoming 21-member Municipal Council (MC) has been released. Rajinder Bhandari, state president of the BJP released the list of its 17 candidates in Chandigarh on Saturday.

Ferozepur MC polls
Cong announces its contestants
Ferozepur, June 15
The Congress today announced its list of candidates for the forthcoming municipal elections to be held on June 30. While declaring party nominees for Ferozepur city's municipal committee, Gurnaib Brar, president of the DCC, said all party nominees had been allocated tickets on merit in consultations with senior party functionaries.

BJP to contest 25 wards in Abohar
Abohar, June 15
Leaving six seats for the SAD (B), the BJP today announced the list of its candidates from 25 wards for the upcoming MC elections here. The SAD (B) had demanded 15 seats.

Guru Hargobind Thermal Plant
Commissioning of unit-IV likely next month
Bathinda, June 15
Commissioning of the fourth unit of the 920 MWs Guru Hargobind Thermal Plant at Lehra Mohabbat near here is expected next month with commencement of steam blow out of the unit today. The three units of the plant are already functional but with teething troubles.

Sodomy slur on minor
Barnala, June 15
The local police detained one minor boy, Jagga Singh, resident of Bhotna village, on the charge of molestation. Father of the victim complained to the Bhotna police that his eight-year-old son was playing in the street today when Jagga Singh took him to a secluded place and there he “molested” him.

Gang of cycle thieves busted
Barnala, June 15
With the arrest of three persons, the local police claimed to bust a gang involved in stealing cycles. The arrested one included, Resham Singh, Bhupinder Singh and Kuldeep Singh.

Onset of monsoon or misery?
First shower turns city into lake
Bhanu P. Lohumi
Tribune News Service

Bathinda, June 15
Normal life was thrown completely out of gear here today as the first heavy downpour, signalling onset of monsoons, exposed the preparedness of the local administration to grapple with perpetual problem of water clogged drains, inundated roads and lanes.

Several areas of the town were submerged under 1 to 4 feet of water and dug up roads with potholes made the life miserable for pedestrians, while vehicular traffic came to a grinding halt. Driving past flooded roads was worse than a nightmare as gushing rainwater seeped into the vehicles.

The situation was horrible on Mall Road, Hanuman Chowk, Civil Lines, Power House road, Sirki Bazaar, Paras Ram Nagar, Multania over bridge, Canal Colony, bus stand and in some other areas, which looked like a swimming pool. “I was forced to abandon my vehicle and cross the road barefooted with my pants folded,” said Kirpal Singh.

Resident of Paras Ram Nagar, Bhuman Thakur said the failure of the administration and Municipal Corporation to cope with the situation was all the more reprehensible as heavy downpour lasted hardly one hour and made people pass through the worst suffering. A number of residents said rainwater entered into the houses and shops.

It suddenly became dark and motorists had to put on headlights of vehicles.

The rains also hit the campaigning for the ongoing Municipal Corporation elections as the wall posters, banners and other publicity material was washed away or spoiled. The monsoon rains are most welcome in this region known for scorching heat during the summers but it was a different story this time with miseries harbingering the monsoons.

The Commissioner of Bathinda Municipal Corporation K.K.Yadav said that the downpour was unprecedented and hit normal life. “But we are on job and all efforts are being made to bring the life back to normal. Water pumps have been made operational and water is being flushed out” he said adding that special attention is being paid for providing proper drainage facility in construction of new roads and hoped that the sufferings of the people would be mitigated to a great extent.

BMC polls
Day 1 of campaigning
Rain plays spoilsport
S.P.Sharma
Tribune News Service

Bathinda, June 15
Heavy rain that lashed here this afternoon played spoilsport on the opening day of the campaign for the 50-seat Bathinda Municipal Corporation (BMC) as the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) chief, Sukhbir Singh Badal, had no option but to abandon his public meetings in many wards.

While the SAD-BJP campaign was high pitched with Sukhbir Singh scheduled to cover 30 wards during his daylong visit, the Congress camp appeared a demoralised lot with not even a single top leader coming here in support of the party candidates on the first day. While the PCC chief, Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, is expected to campaign for a day later, but the former chief minister, Captain. Amrinder Singh, was unlikely to come here.

Being the first election for the BMC, which was created recently, there is much enthusiasm among the residents of the town.

Sukhbir Singh managed to cover as many as 10 wards before lunch, but had to abandon his public meetings in the remaining 20 wards as the roads were waterlogged due to the downpour that continued till evening.

Sukhbir Singh was campaigning also for the BJP candidates in various areas. BJP minister Manoranjan Kalia and the party general secretary Kamal Sharma accompanied Sukhbir Singh giving the impression of unity among the coalition partners following the bad blood that was created following manhandling of BJP activists by the SAD supporters during the recent elections for zila parishads and block samitis.

On the other hand, the Congress was a divided house as the four of the five sitting MLAs of the Bathinda district belonging to the Amrinder Singh camp have reportedly not been involved in the election campaign. Harminder Singh Jassi, the lone MLA belonging to the camp of Bhattal, was not accessible, many candidates of the party lamented.

When contacted on telephone, a dissident MLA of the Congress claimed that none of the four MLAs of the group, Ajaib Singh Bhatti, Jeet Mohinder Singh, Gurpreet Singh Kangar and Makhan Singh, have been asked by the PCC chief to campaign here. Makhan Singh was twice member of the Bathinda Municipal Council. However, some legislators of outside constituencies belonging to the Bhattal faction would campaign during the coming days.

Mulling over slot for migrants, says SAD chief
Rajay Deep
Tribune News Service

Bathinda, June 15
“Receiving positive response from a large segment of Bihar and UP migrants in the state, we are chalking out plans to make their wings in Shiromani Akali Dal (B), said Sukhbir Badal who was here canvassing for BMC elections.

When asked about the allegation leveled by Bhattal over the Students Organization of India (SOI) who stated that SOI is performing the role of Sukhbir’s Green Brigade. Sukhbir said Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, chief of the PPCC is frustrated as she was unable to settle the infighting with the former CM Captain Amrinder Singh, who has been playing role of her rebel.

Expressing his surety to win the BMC elections, he said, “I have a target to win cent percent seats of the Corporation and out of total 28 wards of the SAD, I feel we would bag at least 25-26 seats, meanwhile the BJP would also perform its best to win at least 18 seats out of the total allocated 22 wards.”

“Development of the city is my first priority and I am personally monitoring all ongoing projects, he said while talking to TNS. When asked about the credibility of his words to develop the city as Paris, he said, “A number of international architects have bid for the developmental projects, who will give a total facelift to the city by 2009.”

When asked about the speculations of launching his wife as member parliament from Bathinda, he said, “It is too early to say, let the time come, but I can make sure that this time there will be an historical change.”

BMC Polls
‘We are here to serve people’
Anil Jerath
Tribune News Service

Bathinda, June 15
“I am into the politics now and I will achieve this aim of becoming a politician in my life one day. That is why I am here in the fray for the Municipal Corporation elections to serve the people of my ward,” announced first timer Rita Devi, who is contesting from Ward 49 comprising Vishal Nagar, New Shakti Nagar, Tagore Nagar and Green Avenue.

Rita, who is contesting as a nominee of the Congress, said she would work whole-heartedly for the ward to honour the wishes of her electorate. She announced that she would provide shelter for the slums of her ward and ensure uninterrupted water and electricity to the residents. She also promised to get a new transformer installed for her ward.

Rita said she would find out a solution to problems faced by senior citizens and women, prevent haphazard demolitions and consequent inconvenience and fight the menace of stray cattle and other animals. “I would ensure regular maintenance of green areas and work on the development of untouched green areas,” she added.

Congress candidate said she feared that bogus votes would be cast in the forthcoming elections. She urged the Election Commission to ask voters to carry their identity documents like driving licence, electricity bill, telephone bill or ration card before being allowed to exercise the right to vote.

Bathinda, June 15
Mohan Lal Garg, a BJP stalwart from ward 47 and former chairman, Bathinda Improvement Trust, who hopes for a hat-trick as an MC, said he is here for the masses. “Promises are to be made and that is why residents of my ward preferred my candidature for the third consecutive term,” he said with confidence.

Garg said that every locality in his ward that comprises of Veer Colony, Shakti Nagar and Madhok Pura, would be linked through sewerage. To make up for shortage of drinking water, new tubewells would be dug up. All roads in his ward would be recarpeted and an effective drainage system would be laid.

To keep his ward beautiful, he is for revival of the evening cleaning system. Streetlights in all streets of his ward will be made functional and new parks will be developed.

“My priority list would be to complete those works which have already started in his ward, improvement in the power and water supply, to undertake repair of roads and to beautify parks,” former chairman said.

Garg further said that sanitation, to make his ward most attractive in the city, improving drainage system, improvement in the condition of link roads to other wards, to green the ward and protect environment, were his main concerns.

Candidates go all out to woo voters
Anil Jerath
Tribune News Service

Contenders defy code of conduct

Bathinda: Candidates have begun violating poll code rampantly. Stickers of candidates could be seen pasted on houses falling in their respective areas. Posters, flags and buntings of candidates could also be seen on bus shelter, electricity and telephone poles on the Mall Road. — TNS

Bathinda, June 15
With just a week left for the BMC polls, rival candidates from various wards have begun campaigning aggressively. From door-to-door canvassing at 7 am, to using various publicity materials and holding nukkad meetings in the evening, the contestants are trying various means to mingle with the voters and strike cordial relations with them. Candidates are engaged in even running down their rivals for vote bank.

One of the most keenly contested seats is from Ward 21 where sitting Congress councillor Ashok Kumar is fighting against Krishan Kumar Garg of the BJP. While Garg is leaving no stone unturned to win the seat to keep up his image in the party, Ashok Kumar of Congress is in no mood to leave his citadel.

Rajan Garg, SAD candidate from Ward 12 found himself more secure ever since former Congress candidate Parveen Gupta was denied ticket this time. Instead ticket has been allotted to Girish Jindal of Congress. Parveen Gupta is expected to work against the former councillor chosen by Kewal Singh Dhillon, a Congress leader. SAD has also managed to adjust rebel Congress workers from this ward.

Ward 40 promises a tough fight as the sitting Independent councillor, Vijay Kumar, is pitted against SAD’s Kulwinder Singh Sandhu.

Jagroop Singh of Congress from ward 44 and had thrice been elected an MC from this ward, has an upper hand this time also. He is trying a comeback from this ward for the fourth time.

Fazilka MC elections
BJP names 17 contenders
Our Correspondent

Fazilka, June 15
Finally, the list of BJP candidates for the upcoming 21-member Municipal Council (MC) has been released. Rajinder Bhandari, state president of the BJP released the list of its 17 candidates in Chandigarh on Saturday. For the remaining four wards, it is believed that one or two seats are likely to be offered to the alliance partner, the SAD. Due to high stakes over the distribution of tickets in the ruling BJP-SAD combine, the stalemate had persisted for a long time.

The details of candidates for different wards are: ward number 1 (General) Ashok Sharma; ward No. 2 (female) Kamlesh Chugh; ward No. 4 (SC) Neena Kumar; ward No. 5 (Vidya Devi); ward No. 6 Ramesh Verma; ward No. 7 Rakesh Dhuria; ward No. 8 Arun Wadhwa; ward No. 9 Subhash Baghla; ward No. 10 Ravinder Bhateja; ward No. 12 Dev Raj Monga; ward No. 13 Anil Sethi Neelu; ward No. 16 Bajrang Lal Gupta; ward No. 18 Ashok Jairath; ward No. 21 Jagdish Verma; ward No. 15 (female) Manju Dhingra; ward No. 17 (female) Sunita; and ward No. 20 (SC) Raghunath Arya.

The candidates for wards numbers 3, 11, 14 and 19 are yet to be finalised. Of these wards 3 and 19 are reserved for female candidates while ward number 11 is reserved for an SC candidate.

BJP’s state vice-president and MLA, Fazilka, Surjit Kumar Jyani in a statement here said that the names of remaining four candidates shall be declared very shortly.

From ward number 16, former MC president Bajrang Lal Gupta is seeking re-election. Manju Dhingra from ward No. 15 is a new face and wife of former civic body chief and present BJP district president Mohinder Pratap Dhingra. Ramesh Verma from ward No. 6 and Dev Raj Monga from ward No. 12 are seeking re-election from their respective wards.

The Congress has, however, not released a formal list of its candidates. As many as 16 candidates have filed their nomination papers for the same. From ward No. 1 Krishan Lal Sharma, ward No. 2 Kanchan Devi, ward No. 3 Rani Devi, ward No. 4 Raj Kumar, ward No. 9 Radhe Shayam, ward No. 11 Harnek Singh, ward No. 12 Davinder Sachdeva, ward No. 13 Subhash Chander, ward No. 15 Anju Watts, ward No. 16 Sarita Sharma, ward No. 17 Veena Rani Kalra, ward No. 18 Amar Lal Baghla, ward No. 19 Surinder Kaur, ward No. 20 Mehar Chand and ward No. 21 Gulshan Kalra.

Of these, 13 are new faces and three are outgoing municipal councillors.

The Congress is keeping its cards close to its chest and is probably waiting for the BJP-SAD to declare its candidates first. In the dissolved house, the Congress had a majority of 19 while the BJP was represented by two members.

Ferozepur MC polls
Cong announces its contestants
Our Correspondent

Ferozepur, June 15
The Congress today announced its list of candidates for the forthcoming municipal elections to be held on June 30.

While declaring party nominees for Ferozepur city's municipal committee, Gurnaib Brar, president of the DCC, said all party nominees had been allocated tickets on merit in consultations with senior party functionaries.

The list of candidates included, Simerjeet Singh (ward no. 1), Kamal Kumar (ward no. 2), Bano (ward no. 3), Kuldip Manak (ward no. 4), Boar Singh (ward no. 5), Kashmir Singh (ward no. 6), Jagtar Singh (ward no. 7), Gulshan Uppal (ward no. 8), Sham Lal Kala (ward no. 9), Ranjit Kaur (ward no. 10), KC Arora (ward no. 11), Surinder Kumar Sharma (ward no. 12), Ranjana Dhillon (ward no. 13), Amarjeet Singh (ward no. 14), Uma Johri (ward no. 15), Meena Beri (ward no. 16), Vijay Gill (ward no. 17), Prem Sethi (ward no. 18), Rajinder Sethi (ward no. 19), Sudesh Rani (ward no. 20), Ekta Rani (ward no. 21), Navedita Handa (ward no. 22), Prem Rani (ward no. 23), Kirpal Singh Bawa (ward no. 24) and Gurbhag Singh (ward no. 25).