Bathinda, January 30
All the six assembly seats in Bathinda district registered peaceful polling today barring few incidents of allegations of votes being bought in parts of Raman Mandi. Opposite DAV College here, a faction of young Congress workers clashed and jammed the road traffic.

Overall, the district registered 79.33 per cent voting. It was 82.44 per cent in 2007.

Rampura, the hot bed where sitting Congress candidate Gurpreet Singh Kangar faced SAD candidate Sikandar Singh Maluka, registered the highest voting of 86 per cent.

The voting picked up as the day progressed. In the chilly morning hours, voters stayed away from polling stations. It was after 11 am that a sharp rise in number of voters queuing up outside the polling booths was witnessed. Till 11 am, only 20 per cent of votes had been cast and the Rampura and Maur segments took the lead. The polling was registered at 41 per cent at 1 pm and it was 59 per cent at 3 pm.

The first voter at booth number 69 in the PWD office on the Bhagu Road here, JS Rangi said in the last 71 years, this was the second time that he had cast his vote. "I was amazed to see the kind of management at the polling booth. It has reposed my belief into the system. It is not the system but people who are corrupt," he said.

Similarly, voters at the Civil Lines, including Col JS Mann (retd) and Vishwasdeep, said the entire exercise was efficiently managed.

The electorate was full of appreciation for polling staff and system.

However, at the polling booth situated in Dasmesh School, the symbols of candidates have not been put on display until a voter brought the glitch into the notice of the presiding officer on duty.

Employees at the election complaint office said three complaints were received today. All the three complaints were forwarded to the respective returning officers (ROs).

At booth number 140 in Mehraj village, a marriage party had come to seek customary blessings from a Jand tree at the booth. The bride and groom had to perform a custom under the tree. Accompanied by the entire marriage band, the party remained the centre of attraction for voters there.

The Deputy Commissioner-cum-District Election Officer KK Yadav was informed about it. Later, Yadav and his team asked people to complete the ceremony quickly and leave the place.

Bathinda, January 30
Village Golewala in Talwandi Sabo assembly constituency, situated on the Punjab-Haryana border, registered 96.64 per cent polling. Known for high voting percentage, the villagers today kept their promise with the day.

Of the 626 voters registered in the village, 605 cast their votes. Six voters have been dead and there are four service voters including two policemen and two Army persons. Not only Golewala, but other villages like Kangar (the ancestral village of Rampura Congress candidate Gurpreet Singh Kangar), Mehraj (ancestral village of Captain Amarinder Singh) and villages with a large voter base like Bhai Rupa and Dhipali too registered a high voter turn out.

At booth number 140 of Mehraj, 94.79 per cent voting was registered, while at Kangar 92.02 per cent voting was registered. Similarly, at Bhai Rupa, 83.50 per cent voters cast their vote and at Dhipali, 87 per cent villagers exercised their right to vote.

Interestingly, a brief analysis of Bathinda rural and Bathinda urban assembly segments show that voters in both the areas created history. While Bathinda urban registered 75 per cent voting, the rural segment had 82 per cent voters turning up to cast their votes. In the 2007 elections, Bathinda urban had register 72 per cent voting and Bathinda rural had 81 per cent voting (see the table).

Meanwhile, the polling staff remained on tenterhooks today with 100 mock polls cast before the actually voting began at 8 am. Most of the polling parties had charted out strategy using simple arithmetic. Hundred mock polls were divided with the total number of party candidates and the remaining votes were cast for the independent candidates.

"We started at 6 am today. Right from starting the EVM for mock poll to re-sealing it for the counting procedure, it took us around one- and-a-half -hours to complete the procedure," added one of the employees.

The EVMs would be sealed and deposited at the respective offices late at night.

Bathinda, January 30
The supporters of Congress and SAD clashed opposite the DAV College today in the evening at around 5:20 pm. The incident took place when a gunman of the Congress candidate Harminder Singh Jassi had a clash with SAD supporter Rajinder Singh Parinda alias Raju.

Jassi’s gunman allegedly beat up Parinda. Jassi too sustained minor injuries in the incident. Till the filing of this report late in the evening, the Civil Lines area police was recording statements of Jassi who was admitted to the Civil Hospital.

SSP Sukhchain Singh Gill said both the factions have complained. “We are conducting investigations in the case,” he said.

Meanwhile, at the rear of the Hindu School in Raman Mandi, one Darshan Kumar was arrested and `17,000 was recovered from him. He was distributing the money in lieu of votes.

A resident of Ward number 2 of Raman Mandi, Darshan was arrested by the flying squad in-charge Santosh Kumar. A case was registered against him under Sections 171 E and 188 of the Indian Penal Code. He was later released on bail.

Chathewala (Bathinda), January 30
Party workers of various political parties were seen using dummy Electronic Voting Machines (EVM's) to attract voters outside many polling stations in adjoining villages during the Vidhan Sabha elections today.

A visit to nearby villages including Kotshamir, Jiwan Singh Wala, Chatthewala and Jodhpur Pakhar revealed that many supporters and villagers were carrying dummy voting machines in villages.

The dummy machines had only one button in front of the poll symbol of a particular candidate which also beeps after it is pressed.

Many first time voters were asked to press the particular button-just like the button of the dummy machine-by the supporters of candidates.

"As many as 25 dummy machines are provided by our candidate to create awareness among voters how to cast vote. These machines were distributed in our village and surrounding villages bearing only one poll symbol and photograph of the candidate," said a worker of a political party in Jiwan Singh Wala village.

The supporters were seen asking the voters to press a particular button to cast their votes.

Interestingly, the staff on election duty in a nearby village too had kept the dummy machine at the entrance of the polling station.

A presiding officer while talking to TNS said he allowed to keep the dummy machine to make the voters aware of its use. When asked that the only button of dummy machines may confuse the voters to cast vote in favour of a particular candidate he immediately removed the dummy machine from his polling station. He later said though they are not allowed to keep the machine in polling station for voter's awareness.

The official rued that a number of voters had continuously been enquiring about how to cast their vote and to get rid of wastage of time he had kept the dummy machine.

Many supporters had pasted photographs of candidates on the dummy machines and were asking voters to press the button in front of their candidate's poll symbol.

Deputy Commissioner Kamal Kishore Yadav said the dummy machines may be used by the candidates during the election process. 

Bathinda, January 30
If waiting, even for a minute, could be an ordeal what, if the wait is for more than a month!

Too long, tortuous…painful, test of patience!

Every second would seem like an hour!

Yes! Exactly, that was the way Sarup Chand Singla, the SAD (B) candidate from Bathinda (Urban) had reacted today in the evening when asked — what next?

“Oh, spending every second would be difficult,” said the SAD candidate who, though, appeared to be content with the state of affair.

“This month is going to be like a year for me,” said Sarup, adding, “You must be knowing what happens during the Intejar ki ghadiyan (moments in waiting).”

“I will be counting every day rather every second in the next 35 days,” said Singla who threw his hat in the poll ring the second time in a row.

No only for Sarup, the next 35 days is going to be like ages for the other candidates also, who would not only have their fingers crossed during the entire February but would also be anxiously waiting for March 6 when the people’s choice would be announced.

But in admitting so, the sitting MLA from Bathinda, Harminder Singh Jassi appeared to be more candid. “Blood pressure daily up aur down hoga (Blood pressure would be fluctuating every day),” said Jassi, adding that he was confident of doing an encore.

“Now, everything would revolve around March 6,” said Jassi.

But Sukhdeep Singh Bhinder, the PPP candidate, was not in a waiting mode as he said, “Why to wait when I know the result.”  “I am confident of winning and even started thanking the people,” said Bhinder.

Bhinder may not like to wait but like most of the candidates, at 5 pm today when voting came to an end, began the 35-day long test of patience also began for the voters in Bathinda.

Surinder Singh Ahuluwalia, a restaurant owner, after exercising his franchise at the Veer Colony booth here, told Bathinda Tribune, “The wait would be too long. Not only the fate of candidates are decided by the elections but that of the voters or people also,” Ahluwalia said while explaining why he would be waiting for the D-Day on March 6.

Kishan, a resident of Ganesha Basti, said today it seemed to him as if “March 6 would come after a year.”

Jagdeep Singh, who claimed to be the first one to cast vote at a booth in Model Town here, was visibly upbeat as he voted after the gap of over 20-odd years. Jagdeep though believe that the date for announcing the result is practically correct in the backdrop of elections in other states in the country, at emotional level the wait for March 6 seemed a bit long to him too.

Bathinda, January 30
On the day of polling for the elections to the Punjab Assembly, the district health authorities today deployed several specialists and emergency medical officers (EMOs) at the Civil Hospital here to meet emergency cases, related to poll violence, if any. However, only one poll-related case of violence reportedly reached the hospital for treatment.

According to official information, as many as 22 patients were admitted at the Civil Hospital today for treatment. Of these cases, some related to domestic disputes while others related to road accidents.

Senior Medical Officer (SMO) of the Civil Hospital, Dr Satish Goyal, said since morning, two EMOs had been performing duties in shifts in the emergency wing of the hospital and they would perform duties at night also.

To meet any emergency on the day of polling, they had also deployed orthopaedic surgeons, general surgeons, physicians, an eye specialist and a dental surgeon at the hospital. The blood bank, X-ray department and the laboratories also remained open.

The SMO said in a poll-related case of violence, one Rajinder Singh was admitted. He was also examined medically as it was a medico-legal case.

Meanwhile, the Civil Surgeon Dr Iqbal Singh today also took a round of the Civil Hospital during the day to inspect the functioning of the hospital and ensure proper treatment and care of the patients.

Bathinda, January 30
A team of students from Punjab Technical University Giani Zail Singh (PTUGZS) campus conducted the webcasting of 31 critical booths falling in the six assembly segments of Bathinda district.

A close monitoring of the polling process was done at these polling stations. Webcasting provided live transmission of data through webcam, laptop and internet, to the office of the Election Commission and the Deputy Commissioner’s office.

All these polling booths were situated at various government schools. Computer teachers of these schools were deputed and the existing infrastructure at computer labs at these schools was used for webcasting purposes.

For the Assembly elections 2012, the Election Commission of India (ECI) had planned webcasting of the voting process at these booths. To implement the same, the Department of Technical Education and Industrial Training, Punjab, Chandigarh was consulted. Thereafter, the department selected some engineering colleges in the state to execute this plan using services of students of computer science and ECE engineering branch.

A team of 38 students, including girl students of BTech (CSE) and BTech (ECE) departments of PTUGZS, were deputed to conduct webcasting. Dr Paramjeet Singh from the department of CSE trained these students. The online training to the students was provided by Vmukti, under the supervision of Colonel Darshan Singh Randhawa of the Punjab Infotech, Chandigarh.

All the 31 critical booths were divided into six sections, which were based on the roads they are located on. Among these booths were those situated on the Badal road, including Bathinda ward numbers 26 and 27, Naruana, Jai Singh Wala, Ghudda and Nandgarh. Those situated on the Dabwali road included Gehri Buttar, Pakka Kalan, Sekhu and Pathrala. The booths situated on the Talwandi Sabo road included office of the chief agriculture officer, ITI Bathinda, Kotshamir and Bhagi Bander.

The booths situated on the Mansa road included Bhai Bakhtaur, Maiser Khana and Maur Kalan while those on the Rampura Phul road included Bhucho Khurd, Bhucho Kalan, Mandi Phul, Rampura village, Gill Kalan and Kararwala.

The Bhucho-Nathana road had the maximum number of critical booths, including Poohla, Poohli, Nathana, Dayal Pura Mirza, Kotha Guru, Maluka, Bhagta, DAV School and DAV College.

Principal Dr Jasbir Singh Hundal said the webcasting team, comprising lecturer Vikas, Jagdeep Singh and students from the CSE and ECE branches, worked day and night to ensure the plan was a success.

Bathinda, January 30
After nearly two months, normalcy would be restored on railway tracks in Bathinda on February 1 as the trains that had been taken off their normal routes on December 1 due to the early arrival of fog will be back on tracks.

Many trains, including passenger trains, passing through Bathinda and nearby stations, had been stopped before the scheduled date following the early arrival of fog in the region.

The communiqué concerning restoration of the train service has reached the authorities concerned at Bathinda.

It may be mentioned that the early foggy weather conditions in December had made the railways to prepone the cancellation and the partial cancellation schedule of the trains, including those that pass through Malwa in general and Bathinda in particular.

The decision to cancel the trains considering the safety of the rail passengers remained effective between December 1, 2011 and January 31, 2012.

As per railway sources, trains likely to start their run afresh included train no. 19771-19781 between Jaipur and Amritsar and train no. 19772 and 19782 that run between Amritsar and Jaipur.

The train No. 14711 that runs between Haridwar and Sriganganagar and train no. 147112 that runs between Sriganganagar and Haridwar would also be restarted.

The Udyan Abha train No. 13007/08 partially suspended between Mughalsarai and Sriganganagar would also be back from February 1.

Many passenger trains of Bathinda and adjoining sections also remained affected during this period but would be available for commuters from February 1. 

Bathinda, January 30
Four members of a family, including two females, have been booked for getting their votes registered at two places.

The complainant in the case, Returning Officer of Bathinda (Urban) constituency, said Sukhdevinder Singh, his wife Surinder Kaur, their daughter Manpreet Kaur and son Karanvir Singh, had registered votes in Vidhan Sabha constituency number 93 and also in Vidhan Sabha constituency number 92.

Investigating officer in the case, SI Balkar Singh, said the accused are residents of Gurusar Sehna in Bathinda (Rural) constituency. Today, they cast their vote in the Bathinda (Urban) polling station.

A case has been registered under section 31 of the Representation of Peoples Act, 1950, at the Kotwali police station. — TNS

Bathinda, January 30
Ahsaas Welfare Organisation, a wing of the Senior Citizens Council, Bathinda, distributed blankets to the homeless and the needy persons in the city on the occasion of Basant Panchami.

The members of the organisation went around the railway station, Mall Road and Municipal Corporation areas of the city in the night and gave the blankets to the persons who were sleeping out in the open.

The members of the organisations who took part in the drive included the president of the organisation, Prof DS Mastana, chairman HS Khurmi, general secretary RD Gupta, joint secretary LD Bansal and vice-chairman Sat Narain.