Paramilitary forces guard Rahul Gandhi’s rally venue in Bathinda on Sunday

Bathinda, April 27
Despite several hiccups on Saturday evening, local leaders and workers of the Congress and the PPP toiled overnight to make sure that the stage was set for the All-India Congress Committee (AICC) vice-president Rahul Gandhi’s rally, to be held at the Thermal Stadium on Monday.

Bathinda, April 27
SAD will hold its first road show in the city tomorrow, the last day of campaigning, as the campaigning process has to stop by 6 pm for the April 30 Lok Sabha elections in the state.

The SAD’s road show will coincide with AICC vice-president Rahul Gandhi’s rally scheduled to be held at Thermal Ground.

Starting from Dhobi Bazaar at 9 am, SAD’s Lok Sabha candidate Harsimrat Kaur Badal, along with party workers, will take out a road show in the areas of Sadbhavna Chowk, Hospital Bazaar, Railway Road, Post Office Bazaar, Sadar Bazaar, Bank Bazaar, Arya Samaj Chowk, Kikkar Bazaar and culminate at Sirki Bazaar.

Fourty eight hours before the commencement of the polling procedure are crucial as none of the candidates are allowed to hold any public meetings or processions during this period.

Once the campaigning period is over, political functionaries, who have come from outside and who are not voters of the constituency, can’t continue to remain present in the constituency. Such functionaries have to leave the constituency immediately after the campaigning period is over.

However, it does not apply in the case of a candidate who is fighting the election or his election agent even if they are not voters in the constituency.

Political parties and independent candidates are not allowed to ferry voters to the polling stations on the day of election and 48 hours before.

To make these orders more effective, the Election Department will revoke permissions given to all candidates for plying their vehicles.

Instead, fresh permissions will be issued along with numbers of the vehicles to be used. Each candidate will be granted permission for 11 vehicles, which will include one vehicle each for the candidate and one for his election agent and one each for the nine assembly constituencies.

Bathinda, April 27
By Monday afternoon, Bathinda’s image would have got a major boost and the city, hitherto considered backwaters of the state, would have been placed firmly on the political map of not only the state but also the nation. Within a short span of 73 hours, the city would have witnessed rallies by the BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi and All-India Congress Committee vice-president Rahul Gandhi. A prominent AAP leader Yogendra Yadav also came to the city in support of the party’s candidate.

Despite the traffic travails and security snarls causing inconvenience to the residents, the rallies would buoy the city and its importance in the corridors of politics. Residents of the city, belonging to a cross-section of the society agreed that the high-profile battle for the Bathinda constituency had made its mark on the national political scene as well.

“Bathinda is witnessing an archetypal fight between Harsimrat Kaur Badal and Manpreet Badal with the AAP candidate set to spoil the show for either of them. The constituency is witnessing a high-profile political activity due to its high-profile candidates. The defeat or victory of Harsimrat is a question of life and death for the SAD,” said the principal of DAV College, Dr JS Anand.

“If Manpreet wins, it would set the ball rolling for a different set of permutations and combinations into play. Right now, Bathinda is the political capital of the state and in Harsimrat’s defeat, the SAD will lose its centre of power. Narendra Modi’s rally in the city was an investment to which the SAD-BJP alliance is now expecting a return,” he added.

Industrial consultant RK Madaan maintained that the city was poised to gain a lot of mileage from the political bigwigs coming to address the voters here. “Winning the Bathinda constituency is a matter of prestige for the SAD-BJP alliance. Similarly, the opposition party is eyeing the constituency to give a setback to the ruling alliance. Bathinda is increasingly becoming a hub of activities since even the agitating unions chose the city to hold their state-level rallies. The city, which was little known outside the state, is now being talked about as one of the important constituencies,” he said.

A housewife Neha Goyal stated that the influx of political hotshots into the city had left the voters of the constituency thinking and planning to use their franchise judiciously.

“Modi and Rahul’s rallies have proven that the Bathinda parliamentary seat is an important one and that is making the voters think a lot before the state goes to polls on April 30. No matter who wins, the political scenario in the constituency is bound to be a high-pitched one since the winner would try to prove his/her efficiency while the opposition would keep an eagle-eye on every move of the government. Either way, Bathinda will gain,” she said.

Bathinda, April 27
As many as 377 polling stations in the district have been identified as hypersensitive and sensitive in all the six assembly constituencies.

Of the 542 total polling stations, around 180 polling stations have been earmarked as hypersensitive, while around 197 have been earmarked as sensitive. The Election Office has identified all the polling locations in sync with the police department considering the history of polling stations. Parameters of violence and exchange of cash or kind in lieu of votes in the past has been mainly considered. The lists have been finalised after the final nod of the observers.

Rampura Phul has the maximum number of hypersensitive polling stations at 39, followed by Maur at 35. Bathinda urban has 33 hypersensitive polling stations, Bhucho has 29, Bathinda rural has 28 such stations, while Talwandi Sabo has the least number of polling stations at 16.

Similarly, 197 hypersensitive polling stations have been identified, the maximum being 54 from Bhucho followed by Bathinda rural at 39. Maur has 36 such polling stations, Talwandi Sabo has 26, Rampura Phul has 25 and Bathinda urban has the least numbers of sensitive polling stations at 17.

Besides, 165 polling stations have been identified as the ordinary ones. Of the 542 total polling stations, a maximum of 103 are located on Bhucho assembly constituency, while Bathinda urban has least polling stations at 78.

As per the security arrangements, the sensitive locations will have one more constable per polling booth than those deployed at ordinary booths. Also, the hypersensitive booths will have two more constables deployed per polling booth than those deployed at sensitive booths.

Bathinda, April 27
The centre set up at the District Administrative Complex to receive complaints pertaining to the Lok Sabha elections has received 186 complaints so far. Of these, 173 have been disposed of, while the rest 13 are still pending.

Bathinda urban tops the list with 76 complaints of which five are pending. Similarly, Bhucho has reported 20 complaints, Rampura has reported 14 complaints, Talwandi Sabo has reported 13 complaints, Maur has reported eight complaints and Bathinda rural has reported six complaints. Forty-three complaints have been received from different departments. Besides, two complaints are pending from Rampura and seven are pending from the different departments.

Interestingly, people have chosen to lodge complaints directly with the Election Commission of India (ECI) rather than reporting the matter at the local Election Office. Of the 186 complaints, 56 have been directed from the ECI office. Thirty six complaints each have been received on telephone and through various news clippings alleging paid news.

Thirty-four complainants have preferred to log on to the portal of the ECI to lodge their grievances of which 33 have been disposed of. Only 18 written complaints have been received, while a meagre six were received through e-mails.

It is pertinent to mention here that the entire staff related to the elections from the district administration as well as the police department has been working regularly since the election code of conduct was imposed. The staff also work on Sundays and at nights.

Bathinda, April 27
The Election Commisison today organised a training session for the micro-observers for the Lok Sabha April 30 elections.

General observer Dilip Kumar and the District Election Officer Kamal Kishore Yadav presided over the training session that was conducted at Government Polytechnic College. ARO Damanjit Singh Mann was also present.

Dilip Kumar told the micro-observers that if they face any kind of problems at the polling station, they should immediately get in touch with him and call on his mobile number 8427531627. He directed them to ensure that from conducting mock polling to the end of voting, they should keep an eye on all happenings inside the polling stations.

Yadav said the micro-observers will reach their respective polling stations by April 29 and will stay overnight. If the election staff faces any kind of problem, the micro-observer will have to help them.

However, the micro-observer cannot pass any kind of instructions to the poll staff. The micro-observers will have to accompany the polling staff for depositing electronic voting machines and other election related material at the respective string rooms and election offices, respectively.

The master trainers trained observers on other aspects of elections.

Bathinda, April 27
The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) is hoping high on the lunch/dinner diplomacy as for the past many days, the meals have been hosted in support of the SAD-BJP joint candidate from Bathinda Harsimrat Kaur Badal at various places in the city.

Highly placed sources in the SAD confirmed that SAD president and Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal has himself called many influential businessmen even from outside the Bathinda constituency to organise lavish lunch or dinner in support of the SAD nominee Harsimrat Kaur Badal and calls as many people they can for lunch or dinner in the city.

As industrialist and CMD of the BCL Industries Ltd, Rajinder Mittal, hosted a dinner in support of Harsimrat Badal at Ganpati Township in the city on Saturday night. While Anil Bhola, a close aide of a former Finance Minister Surinder Singla who had recently switching his loyalty joined the SAD hosted a dinner in support of the SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal on Sunday night.

The SAD is expecting to gain the support of urban voters and residents of the city through these dinner diplomacy. But this buffet diplomacy is not going the SAD way as they expected.

Bathinda, April 27
Education Minister and president, SAD Bathinda, Sikander Singh Maluka, today canvassed in support of SAD-BJP nominee Harsimrat Kaur Badal and held many meetings with workers and the general public in the city.

While addressing a gathering at Ward Number 27 in Deep Nagar, Sikander Singh Maluka appealed to the people to vote for the SAD nominee and re-elect Harsimrat Kaur Badal with a bigger vote margin than that of the last time.

He said during her last tenure as an MP, Harsimrat Kaur Badal worked a lot for the development of the city. He added the last five years witnessed development on a scale that was never seen in the past.

CPS Sarup Chand Singla, former mayor Baljit Singh Birbehman and Punjab Beopar Mandal president Ashok Kumar Dhunike accompanied him durinh the meetings.

Jalandhar, April 27
As many as 392 polling booths have been declared very-sensitive, 461 sensitive and 1,108 places have been declared critical in the district, said District Election Officer (DEO) Varun Roojam here today.

Atik Ahmed, deputed for the Lok Sabha constituency Jalandhar as observer by the Election Commission of India, today took stock of the security arrangements at the critical places, very-sensitive and sensitive polling booths in the district, at a meeting held with the DC-cum-DEO Varun Roojam, Police Commissioner Ishwar Singh and DCP Tulsi Ram.

Roojam said strong security arrangements as well as the deputation of paramilitary forces, webcasting and videography had been ensured at these booths. He said micro-observers were being posted at the very sensitive and sensitive booths.

Ishwar Singh said all sensitive booths shall have seven police personnel deputed at them - one NGO, one head constable, three constables and two Home Guards would be included in them. He also said flag marches would be held to spread awareness about peaceful polls. He added that on the poll day, police flying squads would also keep things in check.

Meanwhile, on the final day of the poll rehearsals ahead of the Lok Sabha polls in Punjab on April 30, training was given to 8,736 staff members from 1,814 polling parties today. The training for the staff of nine assembly segments was organised at various institutions by the respective assistant returning officers.

The rehearsal of the polling staff for the assembly constituency 30, Phillaur, was held at Government Senior Secondary School (Boys) Phillaur, that for Shahkot-32 at Shahkot Public School Moga Road, Shahkot, for Kartarpur-33 at the Khalsa College for Women, Cantt Road, Jalandhar, for Jalandhar West-34 at Red Cross Bhawan, Lajpat Nagar, Jalandhar, for Jalandhar Central-35 at Desh Bhagat Yadgar Hall Auditorium near BMC Chowk Jalandhar, for Jalandhar North-36 at Government Model Senior Secondary School at Ladowali Road Jalandhar, for Jalandhar Cantt- 37 at Government Model Co-education Senior Secondary School, Ladowali Road, for Adampur-38 at Apeejay College near Guru Gibind Singh Stadium.

Jasbir Singh SDM Phillaur, Pritpal Singh SDM Nakodar, Dr. Sanjeev Sharma SDM Shahkot, Paramjeet Singh SDM Jalandhar-2, Harjit Singh Kandola Chief Adminstrator, JDA, Neeraj Kumar, SDM-1 Jalandhar, Manpreet Singh Chatwal Commissioner MC Jalandhar, BK Virdi AETC and Gurmeet Singh Joint Commissioner MC, deputed at these places, instructed the poll staff about the polling procedure.