A foundation stone in which the date was allegedly changed from December 25 to December 24. A Tribune photograph

The supporters of the MLA claim that Avinash had got the stones erected on December 23 and that he was planning to formally open the projects on December 25, but he could not do so owing to code.

Jalandhar, December 28
Controversy surrounds the erection of four foundation stones at Kartarpur bearing the name of SAD sitting legislator Avinash Chander with the date mentioned as December 25, a day after the implementation of the code of conduct.

The supporters of the MLA claim that Avinash had got the stones erected on December 23 and that he was planning to formally open the projects on December 25, but he could not do so owing to code. The stones, however, stand as it is with the MLA’s supporters having tried to fiddle with the date following complaints from the Congress leaders.

The Returning Officer of the constituency-cum-SDM-II Rajiv Prashar has taken a note of the complaint and has asked Secretary Market Committee Gurbaksh Singh to report the same to him by tomorrow. A preliminary report in this context, however, has gone to the Chief Election Officer Punjab today.

As per the reports, Avinash Chander was to lay a foundation stone for the new office building of Kartarpur Improvement Trust at Guru Arjan Dev Nagar on December 25. After a complaint in this regard was made by the Congress leaders, the Akali supporters allegedly changed the digit 5 (five) with 4 (four) to make the date 24 which perhaps could not be done and further led to the furore.

EO Improvement Trust RL Bhagat tried to clarify, “There has been no violation of code. We were told by the MLA that he would visit the site on December 25, so we had to construct the stone part at least two days before hand so that it could be firm on the visit of the dignitary. We had no inkling that there could be code on that day and the MLA did not visit the site as was planned. So, no formal inauguration was done after the code.”

There are reports of stones also having erected at Pritam Nagar towards Sarai Khas, at Dharmshala at Chandan Nagar and Boli Wala Mohalla. MLA and Chief Parliamentary Secretary Avinash Chander did not respond to calls despite several attempts.