Bathinda, December 8
The Congress leaders who spoke during the mass contact programme of Capt.Amrinder Singh here today showered Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal on his 82nd birthday with criticism for his government’s “failures” and challenged him to make his son Sukhbir Singh contest the coming Lok Sabha election against Raninder Singh for the Bathinda seat.

Speaker after speaker counted failures of the Badal government and alleged that he had let loose a reign of terror against the Congress activists who were loyal to Amrinder Singh.

Jeet Mohinder Sidhu, MLA from Talwandi Sabo, challenged SAD chief Sukhbir Singh to contest against Raninder Singh if he had some courage. Parkash Singh Badal and Sukhbir Singh were afraid of only Amrinder Singh and Raninder Singh.

He said that eight MLAs of the Congress had won the assembly seats in Bathinda and neighbouring districts last year only due to the hard work put in by Raninder Singh

Ajeetinder Singh, Ajaib Singh Bhatti, Mangat Ram Bansal, Makhan Singh and Gurpreet Singh Kangar (all MLAs) and other who spoke, endorsed the demand for candidature of Raninder Singh. The local MLA Harmandir Singh Jassi was conspicuous by his absence.

Makhan Singh said that the Congress could win all the 13 seats only if Amrinder Singh was assigned the task of leading the election campaign.

Mahesh Inder Singh Badal, a close relative of Parkash Singh Badal, who was also present, ridiculed the Bhattal group of having tried to “sabotage” the mass contact programme of Amrinder Singh that aimed at feeling the pulse of the grass root partymen.

The Congress activists claimed that the SAD-BJP government has failed to add any new infrastructure in the state and was not properly maintaining what was built during the Congress regime of Amrinder Singh.

Teachers were not being paid salaries regularly and assets of the state were being sold to raise funds.

Malout, December 8
The 82nd birthday of Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal remained a low-key affair as he preferred to celebrate the day while redressing the public grievances during the Sangat Darshan in some villages falling in the Lambi sub-division.

After he had cut a cake at the residence of Dyal Singh, executive member, SGPC, in Kolianwali village, Badal said, "Words are not enough to express my pleasure as I celebrate my birthday among the people of my area."

The Akali leaders present on the occasion, including Dyal Singh, Manjit Singh Barkandhi, district president, SAD, Tajinder Singh, Manjinder Singh Bittoo and Iqbal Singh Tarmala besides Manjit Singh Sidhu, chairman, Zila Parishad, Muktsar, congratulated the chief minister and wished him a long life.

During the Sangat Darshan at Pakki Tibbi, Gursar Jodha, Sham Khoda, Kolianwali, Burj Sidhwan and Dabwali Dab, he distributed cheques worth Rs 9 crore to the Panchayats for strengthening the sub-canals in their respective villages. He also gave away cheques worth Rs one crore for various development works.

Badal appealed them to use the funds honestly. He also advised the Panchayat members against fighting on trivial issues and for using their energy on furthering development works instead.

While addressing the media, the CM said that in order to meet the shortage of police personnel, nearly 2,000 constables would be recruited soon.

Raj Sadosh
Hanumangarh/Sriganganagar/Abohar, December 8
Two Congress rebels succeeded in winning election as independents while BJP rebels pushed the official candidates to third position in some of the segments in twin districts, Hanumangarh-Sriganganagar, dominated by the Punjabi population.

While Vinod Kumar Leelawali has retained Hanumangarh seat by a narrow margin, most of the BJP legislators besides Lok Sabha member Nihal Chand have lost the battle of ballots. Vinod was the only winner among 11 Congress candidates in the region during last elections.

In Sriganganagar, former Congress legislator Radhey Shyam who had joined the BJP on denial of ticket this time defeated Congress candidate Raj Kumar Gaur by 12,044 votes. Radhey Shyam polled 48,453 votes. Both are former chairmen of the Urban Improvement Trust.

Former MLA Congress rebel Gurmeet Singh Kunnar defeated agriculture minister and district BJP president Surinderpal Singh alias TT in Srikaranpur constituency while of Congress nominee Jagtar Singh Kang trailed behind at third position. Kunnar polled 46,032 while TT polled 39,937 votes creating difference of 6,095 votes.

Member of Parliament Nihal Chand lost to Daulat Raj of Congress in Raisinghnagar by 5,042 votes. The winner polled 66,261 while BJP nominee secured 61,219 votes.

CPI (M) recorded victory in border segment Anoopgarh. Its candidate Pawan Kumar Duggal defeated Pradesh Youth Congress president Kuldeep Indora by polling 48,467 against 26,897 polled by the immediate rival. The whopping difference of 21,570 pushed the BJP to third position here.

In Suratgarh, Congress candidate Ganga Jal Meel won by 9,809 votes. He polled 43,590 while his party rebel Rajinder Bhadoo polled 33,781 votes. The BJP MLA Ram Partap Kasnia got 29,900 votes.

In a nail-biting finish in Hanumangarh, Congress legislator Vinod Kumar Leelawali, retained his seat by a narrow margin of 386 votes. During last election, he had polled 52,081 votes and got 61,079 this time. His arch rival who faced the Congress candidate for third term polled 60,693 whereas he had in 2003 polled 43,746 votes.

Abhishek Matoria who contested on BJP symbol from Nohar segment defeated Suchitra Arya (Congress) by 10,277 votes. Matoria polled 57,023 while Arya polled 46,746 votes. Interestingly, Matoria, president of the municipal council in Rawatsar, had quit Congress reportedly under advice from his brother-in-law Ajay Chautala just a day before the BJP Maha Sankalp Rally held at Jaipur and joined the saffron party. He was allotted BJP ticket within 72 hours of the defection. Later, the Indian National Lok Dal had owned him as a candidate under the five-seat alliance with the BJP but allowed him to use the lotus symbol.

Congress rebel Jaideep Doodi emerged winner as independent by a record margin of 35,275 votes in Bhadra constituency neighbouring Nohar segment. He polled 76,071 against 40,796 polled by Congress candidate Sanjiv Beniwal forcing the BJP to trail at third position.

BJP legislator Dharminder Kumar lost to Aad Ram (Congress) by 6,474 votes in Peelibanga. Aad Ram polled 52,745 while Dharminder polled 46271.

Param Navdeep who contested from Sangria as Congress nominee defeated Damyanti Beniwal of the BJP by 8,117 votes. This was a fight between the "beti and bahu".

Param was born in Sangria while Damyanti was married there. Even when the deputy district Chief Gurdeep Singh Shahpeeni had posed serious challenge to official Congress nominee as party rebel, Param polled 36,802 against 28,665 polled by Damyanti. 

Hanumangarh/Sriganganagar/Abohar, December 8
The BSP failed in opening its account in Sriganganagar-Hanumangarh region even when the mammoth rallies addressed by its supremo Mayawati Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh had pinned high hopes during the electioneering.

Political analysts are not reluctant in pointing out that none of the BJP candidates for whom the SAD (B) leadership campaigned extensively has been able to win the respective seat. Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, finance minister Manpreet Singh Badal, chief parliamentary secretary Sher Singh Ghubaya had addressed election rallies in favour of former minister and BJP candidate Gurjant Singh Brar who discarded Sangria constituency and contested from Sadulshehar this time but he has lost. Cricketer-turned-parliamentarian Navjot Singh Sidhu too could not create magic for any of the party candidates. Ferozepur BJP MLA Sukhpal Singh Nanhu had joined the SAD to brass in luring the electorate by promising more canal water but this too failed to ensure victory for the candidates.

Interestingly, the BJP nominee for the office of Prime Minister L.K. Advani had addressed a mammoth gathering in Hanumangarh but this helped only in reducing the margin of the Congress victory. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's rally in Hanumangarh certainly helped the legislator Vinod Kumar here.

Rajasthan CM Vasundhara Raje had addressed rallies in Suratgarh, Peelibanga and Anoopgarh. Her party's candidates lost in all these segments rather the performer in Anoopgarh was at the poor end.

A perusal of the details provided by the district administration reveals that BSP candidate Krishan Karwa polled 21,466 votes in Sangria, Jaspal Singh polled 31697 in Hanumangarh, Sanjay polled 14,154 in Peelibanga, Rajinder Chachan polled 43,288 in Nohar while Malu Ram polled 13,851 votes in Bhadra segment of the Hanumangarh district.

Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav might feel disturbed to know that his party's candidate Ravinder Nath polled 433 in Bhadra, Dana Ram Meharda polled 325 in Peelibanga and Tara Chand polled 424 in Sangria segments. Though Yadav and Jayaprada could not keep the date for campaigning, however, Akhilesh Singh yadav, MP and SP secretary, had air dashed to some segments to address the rallies. CPI nominees too met a poor fate in both the districts. 

Hanumangarh/Sriganganagar/Abohar, December 8
The punters who had to leave Sriganganagar and Hanumangarh district towns in 2003 due to wrong estimation this time are in high spirits.

As per information, most of their predictions proved to be true. They were last night quoted claiming that Congress would win about 90 seats. They had also predicted victory of BJP candidates Radhey Shyam in Sriganganagar and Abhishek Matoria in Nohar. They too claimed that Congress nominees Santosh Saharan (Sadulshehar), Vinod Kumar (Hanumangarh) and Aad Ram (Peelibanga) were heading towards a win. — OC

Hanumangarh/Abohar: The Election Commission has been equally tough on the media. Sources said that 99 media persons had sought passes for the day of polling but only 19 were obliged. Only six could get passes from the state EC for the day of counting, however. As many as 37 newspapers are published from Sriganganagar, some of these had resumed publication after the beginning of the election process, sources said. — OC

Bathinda, December 8
The Public Library management and members brought out a procession today to pay tributes to those who lost their lives in the Mumbai mayhem. Many people lost their lives while many others were seriously injured in the terror attacks on India’s financial capital.

Around 150 people, mostly old, gathered to pray for people who died. They also passed a message to the politicians, who according to them were responsible for this episode, that it’s time they woke up and did the needful to wipe out terror before it is too late.

K.K. Sharma, president of the library, said, “Our hearts bleed for victims of this brutal happening. They were innocent. Hundreds are being killed almost everyday in different parts of the country by militants. Politicians hide themselves when they are needed. We lack men of substance who can give support to the nation. The government is busy abusing the opposing and pointing out what they did not do during its term in office. No one seems to be doing what is needed except for the people, who are mere tools in the hands of politicians.”

People came and lighted torches to express concern over terrorism.

“Laws to tackle terrorism should be made more stern. But the problem is that laws are made but they are not implemented when needed. We have become self-centred and are worried only about ourselves. It was never like this before. When the British ruled us, Indians stood up to fight for freedom, great and fearless men achieved independence, only to become slaves of worthless people again. We don’t realise this but we have been made slaves today,” Shanti Jindal chipped in.

People belonging to various organisations were present. It was a peaceful affair yet they tried to convey a message which related to the growing violence in the country. “We are a democracy but the way communal harmony is being disturbed by some elements, it seems that democracy is losing its essence. It exists only in name. Some people are concerned about having a vote bank and poor people are being targeted for petty gains,” Jagdish Ghai said.

Others present on the occasion were deputy senior mayor Tarsem Goyal and Gurvinder Mangat, deputy mayor.

Giddarbaha, December 8
Education Minister Upinderjit Kaur announced Rs 5 lakh as grant to a private school here. The school, renowned as the area's top school, celebrated its founder's day today and the minister was the chief guest on the occasion. Significantly, the chairperson of the school is Surinder Kaur Badal, wife of the CM.

When asked about the logic behind giving grants to a private school when government schools were clamouring about lack of infrastructure, the minister said since the students belonged to the state only, the funds would be used to provide state-of-the-art teaching equipment at the school. It would help them survive in the highly-competitive world, she added.

It is pertinent to note that a large number of government schools in Punjab are deprived of basic infrastructure and are awaiting the government's fiscal initiative to improve their condition.

The number of drop-outs in the government and government-aided schools is already a serious issue the state is dealing with.

The Punjab literacy rate according to the 2001 census, stands at 69.59 per cent placing the state at 12th position in the country. And to improve the same, funds were required.

Asked for her take on the complaints about the inferior quality of mid-day meals, in state schools, Upinderjit Kaur tried to parry the query saying she did not receive any complaint in that regard.

The minister also rubbished all the reports of worms and fried lizard being found in the mid-day meal served at two elementary schools in Fazilka and Abohar on September 17 and November 22, respectively. She said it was the figment of media's imagination.

About teachers doing a non-professional job of cooking under the scheme, she said the department did not have any option. "Where would the funds come from? However, they were provided with a cooking assistant."

Bareta, December 8
Just four months after Gurdev Singh assumed the presidentship of local Municipal Council, 12 of the 14 members ousted him from the said post by passing a no-confidence resolution against him during a meeting held here today. The SAD-supported candidate was chosen to head the MC on August 7 this year. The 12 members included MLA Mangat Rai Bansal. All the councillors were present at the meeting that was presided over by Gurdev himself.

Following the decision, the deputy president of the MC, Santosh Rani, would head the Council as acting-president.

Earlier, as many as 11 members had submitted their requisition notice to the deputy commissioner for a meeting in this regard.

Bathinda, December 8
On the call of BSNL/MTNL Executive Association, hundreds of members of Sanchar Nigam Executives’ Association, Bathinda and Mansa districts, held a day-long dharna in front of the office of GM, Telecom district, Bharat Nagar, here today to protest the indifferent attitude of the central government.

They were protesting against the “dual” policy of the government on the issue of absorption and demand of immediate repatriation of BSNL and MTNL executives to the Department of Telecom. In a press release issued here, executive members threatened that they would intensify the stir if their demands were not met soon and gave a call for an indefinite strike from December 23. — TNS