M A I N   N E W S

EC restricts Majithia’s movements; Nanded Takht accepts apology
Ruchika M Khanna
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 28
The Election Commission of India has -- after the end of the campaign period that ended at 6 pm today -- restricted the movement of Punjab Revenue Minister Bikram Singh Majithia to his polling station area from where he is an elector.

But in a reprieve for Majithia, Takht Sri Hazur Sahib, Nanded, which had declared him a ‘tankhaiya’ yesterday for “blasphemous” speech, accepted Majithia’s apology earlier in the day today.

The Election Commission has not just restricted his movement in other parts of the Amritsar Lok Sabha constituency, but also ordered that he cannot move within any other part of Majithia Assembly segment (other than his polling station area).

His movements would now be under surveillance and would be videographed with immediate effect, said the communiqué received from the ECI to the state election office here today.

The orders against Majithia have come following his speech made to voters on April 24 wherein he had distorted a shabad of Guru Gobind Singh. Instead of saying “nishchay kar apni jeet karu”, Majithia, while seeking votes for Akali-BJP candidate Arun Jaitley had said “nischay kar Arun Jaitley ki jeet karu”. Welcoming the decision on restricting Majithia’s movements, former Chief Minister and Congress candidate from Amritsar, Capt Amarinder Singh, told The Tribune that the order was much needed. “Majithia is known to use arm-twisting tactics for political gains. This man has been coercing people to vote in the name of religion. If allowed to roam freely, he would not have allowed a free and fair election in Amritsar which has become a high-stakes battle,” he said.

The order follows a complaint made by Capt Amarinder Singh’s election agent who had stated that Majithia was appealing to the electorate in the name of religion. “At a heated speech made on April 24 to the Kamboj community at Shaheed Udham Singh Hall in Amritsar, Majithia asked the gathering to raise their hands and repeat the shabad by replacing “… nishchay kar apni jeet karu” with “… nischay kar Arun Jaitley ki jeet karu”.