J A L A N D H A R    E D I T I O N

Congress ticket aspirants flex their muscles in Doaba
Jalandhar, November 19
With their eyes fixed on their respective assembly seats, ticket aspiring Congress leaders from Doaba region of Punjab have formally started laying their claims before the Congress high command in a big way.

Congress councillors accuse MC president of bias
Gurdaspur, November 19
The Congress Municipal Councillors have criticised the Gurdaspur Municipal Council (MC) President, Santosh Riar, for not initiating developmental works in the wards represented by them. They claim that Riar, who is from the BJP, is giving large sum of money to those wards that are represented by the SAD and BJP councillors.

Dullo: Give chance to other communities to become CM
Jalandhar, November 19
Former Punjab Congress president Shamsher Singh Dullo has urged his party high command that there was a need to ‘change’ the ongoing trend of making a Jat Sikh as chief minister in Punjab. He said it is time to give an ‘opportunity’ to every community, even to the minorities, on a ‘rotation’ basis.

Devotees during Lord Jagannath Rath Yatra in Amritsar on Saturday. Photo: Sameer Sehgal

PPCC permanent invitee meets Sonia
Batala, November 19
Batala-based senior trade union leader and permanent invitee to the PPCC, MM Singh Cheema, and vice chairman of the Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan, Amardeep Singh Cheema, met the UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi at New Delhi on Thursday and apprised her about the political situation in Punjab just ahead of the Assembly elections.

Five killed in road accidents
Nawanshahr, November 19
In two road accidents as many as three persons, including a seven-year-old boy, were killed and five were injured here on Saturday. As per the available information, Sandeep Kumar (35) and Sonu (7), son of Balu Ram, Dasuya, were killed and Prince, Guddu, Santosh and Happy received injuries when their car rammed into a truck on the Nawanshahr-Garhshankar road.

Phagwara resident killed in Jordan accident
Phagwara, November 19
A Phagwara resident, Bhupinder Singh, lost his live in an attempt to save from a devastating fire, which broke in a building in Jordan a few days ago. Three other Indians also expired in the same incident. They were from Andhara Pardesh.

Residents help nab miscreants
Nawanshahr, November 19
The Sadar police with the help of the residents of Kahma village arrested three miscreants identified as Anil, Pankaj and Tilak Raj. They are residents of Mujjafarpur in UP. They were arrested when they tried to loot Mohinder Singh’s house. They attacked two women present in the house, Parkash Kaur and Amarjit Kaur, with sharp-edged weapons.

Trains delayed due to fog
Phagwara, November 19
Dense fog enveloped the entire area for the first time during this winter season. Most of the mail and express trains were delayed by two hours due to poor visibility caused by thick fog on Saturday.

Congress ticket aspirants flex their muscles in Doaba
Varinder Singh/TNS

Jalandhar, November 19
With their eyes fixed on their respective assembly seats, ticket aspiring Congress leaders from Doaba region of Punjab have formally started laying their claims before the Congress high command in a big way.

Former Punjab minister Avtaar Henry, local Congress councillor Dinesh Dhall Kali and former councillor Chaman Dada put their claims over the Congress ticket for Jalandhar (North) constituency in front of the visiting AICC observer for Jalandhar Lok Sabha constituency and Congress MP Chandresh Kumari.

Fifteen candidates, including former Punjab minister Gurkanwal Kaur, supporters of Jalandhar Improvement Trust chairman Tejinder Bittu, Shiv Kanwar Singh Sandhu, Sukhwinder Sukha Pholriwal, Sonu Dhesi and Rana Randhawa were vying for tickets from Jalandhar (cantonment) constituency.

Giving a patient hearing to all aspirants, Chandresh Kumari however, kept saying that she was not here to distribute party tickets as she had come to observe the working of the party set-up in the Jalandhar Lok Sabha constituency. “I will be here for three months to prepare the party cadre for the forthcoming polls and to know about issues before the Congress in the polls,” said Chandresh Kumari who was accompanied by senior Congress leader Varinder Sharma.

Similarly, a large number of aspirants were seeking tickets from seven Assembly segments falling in adjoining Hoshiarpur district. Over 30 Congress aspirants, including, two former ministers, two former MPs, two former legislators have laid their claim over these seven seats of Hoshiarpur district.

Hoshiarpur district Congress Committee Sunder Sham Arora said about eight persons, including himself, former MPs Kamal Chaudhary and Charanjit Singh Channi and former Punjab minister Naresh Thakur had laid their claims for party ticket from this segment.

Over a dozen ticket seekers, including Rajnish Babbi, son of late Speaker of Punajb Vidhan Sabha Dr Kewal Krishan, Ajit Narang, Manglesh Judge, Master Romesh have applied from Mukerian segment.

From Dasuya segment four persons, including former Punjab minister Romesh Chander Dogra and Devinder Kaur Randhawa, late HS Randhawa have applied for ticket. Similarly, MLA Sangat Singh Gilzian, Supinder Kaur Cheema and Dr Sukhdev Sharma have applied from Tanda Urmur constituency.

More than six aspirants have applied for the Congress ticket from Chabbewal (Reserve) segment.

Former MLA and husband of sitting MP Santosh Chaudhary Ram Lubhaya, former MLA Sohan Singh Bodal and Jasbir Singh Pal have laid their stakes from Sham Chaurasi segment.

Six persons including MLA Lov Kumar Goldy, Pankaj Kirpal, RS Pathania, Bhagat Ram Chohan and Kishan Dev Guddi have applied from Garhshankar segment.

(With inputs from Ravinder Sud, Hoshiarpur)

Congress councillors accuse MC president of bias
Ravi Dhaliwal
Tribune News Service

Gurdaspur, November 19
The Congress Municipal Councillors have criticised the Gurdaspur Municipal Council (MC) President, Santosh Riar, for not initiating developmental works in the wards represented by them.

They claim that Riar, who is from the BJP, is giving large sum of money to those wards that are represented by the SAD and BJP councillors.

The rankled councillors have also claimed that garbage heaps are not being cleared from their wards. This could lead to spread of the dreaded diseases like dengue, they said. Last month three confirmed and 51 suspected dengue fever cases were reported from this town alone.

Gurdaspur Civil Surgeon Dr Chandanjit Singh said, “Our department has already written letters to the MC Executive Officer (EO) asking him to get garbage piles cleared, particularly from the narrow lanes of the town.”

The MC office has a total strength of 21 councillors out of which 16 are from the SAD-BJP alliance while five are from the Congress.

The irked councillors claimed that since they were in the opposition, the MC president and her brother-in-law, Hardeep Riar, were harassing them. “He overtly interferes in the day-to-day activity of the council. He is not even a councillor.”

Sanjeev Battu, a Congress councillor from ward number 17, said ever since Santosh Riar came to power in 2008, not even a single developmental work had taken place in ward numbers 4, 5, 17, 18 and 19, all of which are represented by City Fathers, owing loyalty to the Congress. “There are no streetlights in some of these wards and garbage is seldom collected,” said Battu.

However, Santosh Riar denied this. She said the job of setting up of new streetlights and maintaining the existing ones has been entrusted to the Improvement Trust authorities. She added that the councillors were unnecessarily making an issue ahead of the elections.

Riar claimed that the state government had sanctioned an amount of Rs 4.95 crore out of which the MC had already received Rs 2 crore. “I am distributing the money evenly for developmental works irrespective of party affiliations of the councillors.

Dullo: Give chance to other communities to become CM
Tribune News Service

Shamsher Singh Dullo, former president of the PPCC, addresses media in Jalandhar on Saturday. Tribune photo: Sarabjit Singh

Jalandhar, November 19
Former Punjab Congress president Shamsher Singh Dullo has urged his party high command that there was a need to ‘change’ the ongoing trend of making a Jat Sikh as chief minister in Punjab. He said it is time to give an ‘opportunity’ to every community, even to the minorities, on a ‘rotation’ basis.

Talking to media persons here today, Dullo further stated that he had raised this issue before the party high command in the previous Assembly elections held in 2007.

Regretting that his suggestions were not taken seriously in the previous elections, he said the party has lost many Hindu dominated seats in the state. He would again raise this issue with the Congress president Sonia Gandhi, so that this ‘mistake’ is not repeated in coming Assembly elections scheduled to be held in February next year.

Dullo demanded even the party tickets should be allotted on proportionate basis so that each community gets adequate representation. When asked about a few PPCC leaders who were already projecting the current Punjab Congress chief Capt Amarinder Singh as the ‘next chief minister’, he said this might be ‘personal’ opinion of those leaders.

PPCC permanent invitee meets Sonia
Tribune News Service

Batala, November 19
Batala-based senior trade union leader and permanent invitee to the PPCC, MM Singh Cheema, and vice chairman of the Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan, Amardeep Singh Cheema, met the UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi at New Delhi on Thursday and apprised her about the political situation in Punjab just ahead of the Assembly elections.

She was also told about poor response the BJP leader LK Advani’s Jan Cetna Yatra received in Punjab. Amardeep Cheema invited Sonia to Punjab for an election tour ahead of the elections so that party workers could be encouraged.

“She was also told about the women empowerment and self-employment initiatives undertaken in the Batala assembly segment where 120 Rajiv Gandhi Mahila Mandals and 60 Skill Development Centres have been set up,” said Amardeep Cheema.

Five killed in road accidents
Our Correspondent

Nawanshahr, November 19
In two road accidents as many as three persons, including a seven-year-old boy, were killed and five were injured here on Saturday. As per the available information, Sandeep Kumar (35) and Sonu (7), son of Balu Ram, Dasuya, were killed and Prince, Guddu, Santosh and Happy received injuries when their car rammed into a truck on the Nawanshahr-Garhshankar road.

In another accident, Raj Kumar was killed whereas Tara Chand received injuries when a truck hit their motorcycle. The truck was allegedly trying to take a reckless turn toward Rahon Road near Beerowal village situated on Nawanshahr-Chandigarh main road.

The police on the basis of the statement of Chaman Lal, uncle of the deceased, has registered a case under Sections 427, 337, 338, 279 and 304 of the IPC against the errant truck driver, identified as Jaffer Khan from Amhora village, Gurgaon (Haryana).

Phagwara resident killed in Jordan accident
Our Correspondent

Phagwara, November 19
A Phagwara resident, Bhupinder Singh, lost his live in an attempt to save from a devastating fire, which broke in a building in Jordan a few days ago. Three other Indians also expired in the same incident. They were from Andhara Pardesh.

Though the exact cause of the fire could not be ascertained, but it was said that the building caught fire from a burning cigarette.

At least 15 workers were on their job, when the incident took place. Eleven of them jumped from the third floor to escape from fire and succeeded in saving their lives. The four deceased, however, failed to save themselves. They sustained severe head injuries after jumping from the burning building.

Reports received here states that the Bhupinder, a father of two children, was working as a painter in the building, when the building suddenly caught fire. Though all the four deceased were sent to a Jordan hospital, but they could not be survived and succumbed to their injuries. Bhupinder who came to India two months back, returned to his job in Jordan on October 22. Former Minister Joginder Singh Maan who visited the village Bhularai to condole the family said the bodies would be brought back to India soon.

Residents help nab miscreants
Our Correspondent

Nawanshahr, November 19
The Sadar police with the help of the residents of Kahma village arrested three miscreants identified as Anil, Pankaj and Tilak Raj. They are residents of Mujjafarpur in UP. They were arrested when they tried to loot Mohinder Singh’s house. They attacked two women present in the house, Parkash Kaur and Amarjit Kaur, with sharp-edged weapons.

The injured women have been admitted to the local Civil Hospital. However, the leader and another accomplice, Paramjit Gorkha and Sunny respectively, managed to escape.

Mohinder Singh went to Dhahan Kaleran hospital to purchase medicines and his wife and daughter were alone in the house. The miscreants entered their house and cut the telephone wires. When Parkash Kaur started shouting the miscreants injured them and locked them in a room. Villagers heard the cries of the victims and informed local Gurdwara and police.

A case has been registered.

Trains delayed due to fog
Our Correspondent

Phagwara, November 19
Dense fog enveloped the entire area for the first time during this winter season. Most of the mail and express trains were delayed by two hours due to poor visibility caused by thick fog on Saturday.

Railway employees were seen bursting crackers on railway lines near the fog signal posts set up near the railway stations to give clearance signals to approaching trains during foggy weather.