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Dhindsa, wife own assets worth over Rs 1.4 cr Sangrur, April 22 Mr Dhindsa filed papers in the presence of several SAD MLAs, namely Mr Gobind Singh Kanjhla, Mr Gobind Singh Longowal, Mr Balbir Singh Ghunas, Mr Ranjit Singh Talwandi and Malkeet Singh Keetu, a former Chairman of the Punjab Land Development and Reclamation Corporation, Mr Parkash Chand Garg, a former Punjab minister, Chaudhary Abdul Gaffar, and a general secretary of the SAD, Mr Baldev Singh Mann. In his affidavit, Dhindsa has mentioned that he and his wife have assets worth over Rs 1.40 core. Mr Dhindsa has disclosed that he has Rs 20,000 in cash, Rs 14,57,791 in bank deposits, Rs 2.70 lakh invested in bonds, debentures and shares, jewellery worth Rs 43,000, other assets like claims and interest Rs 4.50 lakh, agricultural land of 41 kanals, 13 marlas in Ubhawal village worth Rs 9.20 lakh, 41 kanals, 10 marlas in Chhajli village worth Rs 10 lakh, 16 kanals, 10 marlas in Badrukhan village worth Rs 4 lakh, 12 bighas, 15 biswas in Deh Kalan village worth Rs 4.50 lakh, commercial land of 137 yards in Sector 14, Chandigarh, worth Rs 2 lakh, 807 yards in Sunam worth Rs 3 lakh, house/apartment — 2,400 yards in Sangrur worth Rs 10 lakh and 500 yards in Chandigarh worth Rs 23 lakh. He also has a jeep, a .12-bore gun, a .32-bore revolver and a carbine. Mr Dhindsa has mentioned in the affidavit that his wife has Rs 25,000 in cash, Rs 5,68,550 in bank deposits, jewellery worth Rs 7.80 lakh, agricultural land of 20 kanal, 18 marlas in Chhajli village worth Rs 5 lakh, 12 bighas, 15 biswas in Deh Kalan village worth Rs 4.50 lakh, commercial land — 120 yards in Sector 16, Chandigarh, worth Rs 4 lakh, 840 yards in Sangrur worth Rs 2 lakh and a godown in Sunam worth Rs 22.50 lakh. However, Prof Prem Singh Chandumajra, general secretary of the SAD, who was present at the rally, did not address the rally due to shortage of time as Mr Dhindsa had to go for filling nomination papers after the rally. However, no member of the family of Mr Surjit Singh Barnala, Governor of Andhra Pradesh, attended the rally. When his
attention was drawn to the fact that no family member of Mr Surjit Singh
Barnala today attended his election rally here, Mr Dhindsa said he had
full support of Mr Barnala and his family. He said Mr Barnala as
Governor and Mrs Surjit Kaur Barnala as the First Lady of Andhra Pradesh
could not attend political rallies, while their son, Mr Gaganjit Singh
Barnala, Dhuri MLA, was busy in the election campaign of Mr Sukhdev
Singh Libra, the SAD candidate for the Ropar Lok Sabha seat. |
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Vinod Khanna, Navjot file papers Chandigarh, April 22 According to sources in the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Indian National Congress (INC) candidates Sukhbans Kaur Binder and Pritam Singh filed their papers from Gurdaspur along with BJP candidates Vinod Khanna and Site Ram. Two Independent candidates, Niraj Joshi and Romesh Kumar, also filed their nominations. From Amritsar, Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) candidate Navjot Singh Sidhu, along with Shiromani Akali Dal (R) candidate Mohan Singh filed their papers. The other contestants included Surinder Kumar Kosla of the BDSM, Harbans Lal of the Samajwadi Party (SP) and Ramsaran Pal of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). SAD candidates Rattan Singh and Avtar Kaur filed their papers from Tarn Taran along with Independent candidate Sukhjinder Singh. PCMP candidate Hamid Massih, along with Monohar Lal of the BLLP, filed their papers from Jallandhar. From Phillaur, INC candidates Santosh Choudhary and Namita filed their papers along with SAD candidate Charanjit Singh Atwal and Independent Harbans Singh. CPI (M) candidate Raghunath Singh filed his papers from Hoshiarpur along with SJP (R) candidate Ajit Singh Parmar. SAD candidates Sukhdev Singh and Mann Singh filed their papers from Ropar along with BSP candidate Rajinder Singh. Five candidates filed their papers from Patiala. They were Preneet Kaur and Raninder Singh of the INC along with Independent candidates Krishana Dahri, Jaipal and Binder Kaur. From Ludhiana, INC candidate Amrit Tiwari filed his papers along with Ravinder Singh Sehal of the BSP, Varinder Kumar of the LPPB, Ravinder Kumar of the JKNPP and independent candidate Janardhan Prasad Singh. SAD candidates Sukhdev Singh and Harjit Kaur filed their papers from Sangrur. From Bathinda, SAD candidate Paramjit Kaur and DBSP candidate Parminder Singh filed their papers. SAD (A) candidate Gurlal Singh filed his papers from Faridkot, along with Kulwant Singh and Nirmal Singh of the LJNSP. From
Ferozepore, Independent candidates Ravinder Singh, Mohinderjit Singh,
Inderjit Singh, Ashok Kumar, Gursewak Singh and Nardev Singh filed their
papers along with SAD (A) candidates Dhian Singh and Dawinder Kaur. BGTD
candidate Sohan Parkash also filed his papers. |
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Sidhu occupies ‘poll crease’ Amritsar, April 22 Navjot Sidhu seemed to have become a unanimous choice of all factions and many BJP leaders, who aspired for the ticket for this Lok Sabha seat, also accompanied him to the office of the returning officer. Addressing a gathering from a vehicle, Navjot Sidhu promised to bring development and progress to his constituency and take up all major issues for the revival and advancement of the industry and trade in the border area. In his declaration Navjot Sidhu (41) has mentioned about a case under Sections 304, 302, 323 and 34 of the IPC in the Patiala Sessions Court in which he was tried and acquitted in September, 1999. However, an appeal against the acquittal was pending in the Punjab and Haryana High Court. He has declared that he and his wife have cash amounts of Rs 17.4 lakh and Rs 15,000, respectively. He has also mentioned about bank deposits of Rs 3.25 lakh, Rs 1.24 lakh, Rs 31,061 and Rs 49,742 in his own, wife’s, his son’s and daughter’s names, respectively. They also have bonds and debentures worth Rs 1.63 crore, Rs 1.12 lakh, Rs 3.3 lakh and Rs 2 lakh, respectively. Their financial policies are worth Rs 6.78 lakh, Rs 8.65 lakh, Rs 3 lakh and Rs 3 lakh, respectively. He has also disclosed that he owners a Land Cruiser worth Rs 13 lakh, a Pajero worth Rs 24 lakh, a Toyota Corolla worth Rs 11.5 lakh, jewellery worth Rs 5.88 lakh, other assets worth Rs 13.89 lakh and Rs 2.58 lakh. He also owns nine showrooms/booths worth crores, three houses/apartments worth Rs 40 lakh, Rs 25 lakh and Rs 40 lakh, respectively. Mr Rattan Singh Ajnala also filed his nomination papers from the Tarn Taran Lok Sabha constituency today. His assets include Rs 5.25 lakh and Rs 1.25 lakh in cash. A Jeep, a tractor, gold and interest in “Bonny General Hospital” worth Rs 11.35 lakh. He also ownes-land in Jagdev Khurd, Ajnala Tehra Rajputa, Baladwal villages and non-agricultural land in Kansel Khara village, besides houses in Ranjit Avenue in Amritsar and godowns in Gujapir village in Ajnala. Five candidates from Amritsar and three from Tarn Taran constituencies filed their nomination papers today. With this, a total of 11 candidates from Amritsar and 11 candidates from Tarn Taran had filed their nomination papers so far. Others who filed their nominations included Mr Mohan Singh of the SAD (Ravi Inder), Mr Surinder Kumar Khosla of the Bharatiya Dalit Samaj Morcha, Mr Harbans Lal of the Samajwadi Party and Mr Ram Sharan Pal of the BSP. From the Tarn Taran constituency, Dr Ratan Singh
Ajnala, (SAD) and Mr Sukhjinder Singh (Independent) filed their
nominations. Ms Avtar Kaur (SAD) also filed her nomination as a covering
candidate. |
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Sodhi retires ‘hurt’ Amritsar, April 22 Mr Sodhi, who was also an aspirant for the BJP ticket, has sent his resignation to the BJP president Venkaiah Naidu. In his resignation letter, he has said that he is resigning from the party under ‘prevailing circumstances’. Talking to TNS, he said he was disillusioned with the party high command for allotting the ticket to a person whose name was not on the panel of candidates, recommended by the state committee. He said he would call
a meeting of his supporters to decide the future course of action
shortly. He, however, said he won’t contest the election as an
Independent candidate as he did not have enough funds for the
purpose. Meanwhile, vice-president of the state BJP Laxmi Kanta Chawla
has welcomed the resignation tendered by Mr Daya Singh Sodhi. |
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Bhinder files papers even as CM fails to turn up Gurdaspur, April 22 This led to a little disappointment in the Bhinder camp, who had otherwise organised a good show. The party had organised a public rally following which the CM was supposed to lead the caravan of workers to the returning officer’s office. Since the CM did not come, Ms Bhinder accompanied by a few supporters made a quiet entry and filed her nomination papers. Even the waiting journalists were taken by surprise when they were told that she had already filed the papers. Ms Bhinder told the Tribune that there was no reason for disappointment as she had been told that the helicopter of the Chief Minister could not land because of bad weather. It remained cloudy during the day leading to a good downpour later. Ms Bhinder pointed out that the CM had deputed Mr Hanspal, who reached here by road. Mr Hanspal could barely make it to the rally as it was stretched to 4 p.m. to ensure that he could address it. The moment he made his entry and spoke a few words people started walking out. The rally was addressed among others by Mr Partap Singh Bajwa, Mr Raghnath Sahaipuri, Mr Khushal Behl, Mr Ashwani Sekhri, all ministers, Speaker Kewal Kishen, legislators Ashok Sharma, Sukhjinder Randhawa and Aruna Chaudhary. The BJP and the Shiromani Akali Dal also organised a similar show before the alliance candidate, Mr Vinod Khanna, filed his nomination papers. He was accompanied by former ministers, Sewa Singh Sekhwan, Sucha Singh Langah, Master Mohan Lal, Mr Satpal Saini and Gujjar leader Maliyan Faqira. Vinod Khanna known assets are to the tune of over Rs 8 crore. This includes cash, debentures, bank deposits, moveable and immovable assets. This also includes the assets of his wife Kavita Khanna which have been put at around Rs 60 lakh. Ms
Bhinder and her husband’s total assets are over Rs one and a half
crores. Ms Bhinder owns assets over Rs 40 lakh which include cash,
jewellery and some real estate property. Her husband’s individual assets
amount to Rs 1.15 crore. |
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Bhattal, Mohindra add weight to Preneet campaign Patiala, April 22 The rally, which was organised at the Vir Haqiqat Rai School ground, seemed to be beyond the expectation of the organisers and the huge attendance from both urban and rural areas is likely to boost the Congress candidate. Ms Bhattal, while addressing the rally, said differences might occur but all Congress leaders were together at the party level. Terming the present poll clash as a fight between secularism and communalism, she claimed that Mr Walia`s switchover to the Congress was a statement upon the state of affairs within SAD. Talking about Ms Preneet Kaur, she said the candidate would emerge victorious. However, Ms Bhattal could not resist a display of her characteristic plain speaking when she advised both Ms Preneet and Mr Amarinder Singh to look after the other segments in the constituency, besides Patiala. Referring to her Lehra Gagga segment, she said, “Lehra Gagga da vi khyaal karo, kalla Patiala na vekho”. The CM and Ms Preneet Kaur assured full help for Ms Bhattal`s constituency of Lehra Gagga. The CM also announced that, apart from the Rs 148 crore Ghaggar project, another 400 crore would be spent for development projects in all constituencies. The result of Captain Amarinder Singh`s visit last week to Mr Brahm Mohindra`s house was also seen today with the latter attending the rally in Ms Preneet`s favour. The MLA from Patiala had been ambivalent towards the party poll campaign because he had been sidelined earlier after being refused the Patiala Assembly seat. Mr Charanjit Walia, conveying his sentiments, said he decided to
leave SAD because he had `realised` that SAD was the party for ‘sons and
sons-in-law’. He claimed that the Congress had carried out a massive
drive against corruption, besides other developmental works, while SAD
had ‘sidelined’ all local issues, including river water sharing and
transfer of Punjabi-speaking areas to the state. |
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Patiala, April 22 According to the 9-page affidavit,
Ms Preneet Kaur has listed Rs 20,000 as cash in her name while Rs 15,000
has been shown in the name of her spouse, Capt Amarinder Singh. She has
declared that she has deposits of Rs 26.98 lakh in various banks,
financial institutions and non-banking financial companies, while her
husband has deposits worth Rs 2.77 lakh. Ms Preneet Kaur has Rs 2.08
lakh worth of debentures, bonds and shares in various companies. A
Qualis, worth Rs 7.82 lakh, and jewellery worth 10.48 lakh have also
been mentioned. According to the affidavit, the CM does own any vehicle
but he does have gold jewellery worth Rs 10.53 lakh. Other assets of Ms
Preneet Kaur, including values of interests, have been pegged at Rs
18.40 lakh while assets worth Rs 2.91 lakh have been shown in the CM’s
name. — OC |
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Zaffarwal may upset Cong applecart Chandigarh, April 22 Though Mr Hanspal was present both in Gurdaspur and Jalandhar when Mrs Bhinder and Mrs Chaudhary filed their nominations, the Chief Minister stayed back in Patiala where his wife, Mrs Preneet Kaur, also filed her papers. The Congress, which had raised a hue and cry after KCF chief Wassan Singh Zaffarwal sneaked into the country in 2001 during the Shiromani Akali Dal-Bharatiya Janta Party (SAD-BJP) rule, may find itself at the receiving end because of the support the Khalistani protagonist may directly or indirectly get from Mr Sucha Singh Chhotepur, an Independent MLA from Dhariwal. The Chief Ministers’ loyalists had paraded Mr Sucha Singh Chhotepur in their camp when dissidence in the Punjab Congress Legislature Party (CLP) was at its peak. If Mr Sucha Singh Chhotepur supports Zaffarwal, who is known to wield tremendous influence in Dhariwal area, it can upset the Congress applecart. Another important factor that has emerged in the border parliamentary constituency of Gurdaspur is Mr Sucha Singh Langah, who is related to Zaffarwal. Mr Langah, who was a minister in the last SAD-BJP government in Punjab, faces a number of corruption cases. He had remained a target of Congress criticism over Zaffarwal. Meanwhile, a meeting of the 11-member coordination committee to oversee the affairs of Punjab Youth Congress was organised here this afternoon under Mr K. Hariprasad, Secretary, All-India Congress Committee. Two members could not attend it. Members
were asked not to make any press statement about the internal affairs of
the party. It was clarified that only the 11-member committee would
oversee Youth Congress affairs till further arrangement. |
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Gujral blames Cong for anti-Sikh violence Jalandhar, April 22 “How can a person, who left the Congress after army entered the Golden Temple during operation Bluestar to later join the Akali Dal, is now justifying party decision on ticket to those, who allegedly played a role in anti-Sikh violence after the assassination of Indira Gandhi”, Mr Gujral asked while addressing intellectuals at Lyallpur Khalsa College here late in the evening yesterday. The Chief Minister should clarify whether he gave a clean chit to the Congress for the same, Mr Gujral questioned. Mr Gujral, who was here to campaign for his son and SAD-BJP nominee, Naresh Gujral, reiterated that during his tenure as Prime Minister, he had waived central loan of the state of Rs 8500 crore, which was spent by the state to fight militancy. “It is not me, but the Chief Minister, is trying to mislead the people by saying that the loan was not waived,” he added. On the criticism of Pushpa Gujral Science City at Kapurthala, Mr Gujral said after the completion of the project, those who were opposing it, would praise it. Criticising rival
candidate Rana Gurjit Singh, who stated that the science city project
was a “white elephant”, Mr Naresh Gujral said that since Mr Rana had not
entered a college, he did not know the importance of Science City. |
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PPCC for campaign by top leaders Jalandhar, April 22 Addressing a press conference here today, the PPCC chief, Mr H.S. Hanspal, said the request to the AICC had been made to give a boost to the Congress campaign. “Ms Sonia Gandhi is likely to come to the state on May 3 and we are planning to hold joint rallies after clubbing two constituencies in all three regions of the state,” said Mr Hanspal. He asserted that there was “a wave in favour of the Congress.” Referring to the promise of free water
and power to farmers in the SAD manifesto, Mr Haspal said though the
Congress intended to extend such facilities to farmers, its top priority
was to first restore the shattered economy of the state. |
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Badal seeks CBI probe into ‘hawala’ scam Bathinda, April 22 Mr Badal accompanied SAD-BJP candidate from the Bathinda (reserve) parliamentary constituency Paramjit Kaur during the filing of her nomination. He said Capt Amarinder Singh had earlier given clean chits to his favourites, who were involved in various acts of omission and commission, and hence a CBI probe was necessary into the alleged involvement of Mr Raninder Singh into the ‘hawala’ scam. “Only a CBI probe can bring the truth before the people. Moves are afoot to hush up the scam involving the CM’s son” said Mr Badal. He said Capt Amarinder Singh scuttled the Rs 16,000-crore Punjab Oil Refinery project, brought to the state by the previous SAD-BJP government, for ‘personal gains’. Mr Badal, accompanied by SAD, BJP leaders, addressed a number of functions organised by trade organisation and employees’ bodies in the city. While addressing a function organised by the Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) Employees Federation, he said his party had never backtracked from support extended to the federation in its fight against the move of the state government to privatise the PSEB. Later, addressing a press conference, he said Capt Amarinder Singh had been claiming that his government was working for the economic uplift of the farmers, but he had not declared when his government would pay them bonus announced on the paddy procured during 2001. He expressed apprehension that elections in Punjab would not be violence-free as Capt Amarinder Singh had deployed some officials on the same posts from which they were removed a few months ago. He added the SAD had lodged a complaint with the Election Commission in this connection. Mr Badal
also spoke at a function organised by traders. He said his party was
committed to its promise of abolishing octroi whenever it came to power.
Mr Balwinder Singh Bhunder, MLA, Sardulgarh, also attended the function. |
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Hawala scam probe poll stunt, says Badal Chandigarh, April 22 The Chief Minister is now preparing a clean chit for his son when his party was facing a certain rout in the coming elections. But this stunt will not work". Mr Badal referred to the earlier statements of the Chief Minister in which he had refused to refer to cases of corruption against Akali leaders, including those belonging to the Badal family, to an independent commission headed by a sitting or retired judge of the Supreme Court. The Chief Minister had also refused to set up such a commission, saying that he had no faith in the efficiency of commissions to arrive at the truth. In a
statement released here, Mr Badal said his party had already outrightly
rejected formation of the commission and would treat its report as no
more than mere black sheet fit to be thrown in the dust bin of history. |
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Badal for probe into custodial death Chandigarh, April 22 In a
statement, he described the incident as shocking and said that it was
symptomatic of the brutalisation of the police under the Amarinder Singh
regime. |
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BJP trying to distort Constitution: BSP Phagwara, April 22 He said the Congress govt of Capt Amarinder Singh was anti-Dalit as it had discontinued Dalit welfare schemes and not implemented the 85th constitutional amendment. He promises to help
youths shun drugs and provide them employment. He also announced his
slogan, “Vidya, vikas, insaaf” (education, development, justice). |
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Paramjit Kaur most educated candidate Bathinda, April 22 Ms Gulshan, who filed her nomination papers today, claimed in the affidavits submitted to the Returning Officer that she owned a car, 350 grams of gold, 1/6 share in a house at Rampura Mandi worth Rs 6 lakh and cash, debenture, bonds, fixed deposits and GPF to the tune of about Rs 8 lakh. Her husband, Mr Nirmal Singh, Judge in the Punjab and Haryana High Court, owned a house in Chandigarh, measuring 250 square yards worth Rs 40 lakh, cash, bank deposits, debentures, bonds, life insurance policy and GPF to the tune of more than Rs 8 lakh. Mr Justice Nirmal Singh also owned 50 grams of gold worth Rs 30,000. The movable and immovable assets owned jointly by the couple would come nearly to Rs 1 crore. Ms Gulshan has done her MA in economics and sociology. She had also done B.Ed. Mr Sarbjit Singh, SAD (A) candidate from Bathinda who
is the son of Beant Singh, one of assassins of the late Prime Minister
Indira Gandhi, who owned properties in Mohali and Noida came on second
position after Ms Gulshan as far as the values of total assets were
concerned. |
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Parmar files papers Hoshiarpur, April 22 Comrade Raghunath Singh also filed his nomination papers as a CPM candidate. Eight candidates have filed nomination papers from this
constituency so far. |
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Three more file nominations Faridkot, April 22 Claiming to win at least four seats — Faridkot, Bathinda, Ropar and Sangrur — Mr Danewalia said his party would emerge as the third front after the elections. Affirming
confidence in the nominee of Mool Bharti Socialist, he promised the
enactment of stern laws to check various social evils. |
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Santosh files papers Jalandhar, April 22 Ms Chaudhary filed her papers
before the district returning officer, Mr Ashok Gupta today. She was
accompanied by PPCC chief H.S. Hanspal, Punjab ministers Santokh Singh
and Jagjit Singh, various DCC chiefs and her MLA husband Ram Lubhaya. Ms
Sohini Chaudhary, daughter of Ms Chaudhary, filed papers as the covering
candidate for her mother. |
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Mayawati’s rally on April 24 Jalalabad, April 22 Dr Phalianwala a leader of the BSP has been elected twice from this constituency which has Rai Sikhs living along the Indo-Pakistan border. Dr Phalianwala said that he did not have black money so could not spend much on publicity. His supporters are visiting villages on bicyles and tractors for campaigning. Dr Phalianwala said
that his fight was against those encouraged casteism. He said he would
redress problems of the downtrodden and socially deprived people. He
said even after 57 years of independence, nothing had been done for the
labour class and small farmers. |
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CEO asks for panel of police
officers Chandigarh, April 22 In a letter, the CEO's office asked the Home Department to sent the panel within two days, according to sources. It may be recalled that the
Election Commission had earlier asked the Punjab Government to shift the
officers, including MLA Jasbir Singh Dimpa's brother Harmanbir Singh. He
was posted as SP in Amritsar. |
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CEC asked to take action against SAD Faridkot, April 22 Mr Gupta alleged that many of the senior SAD
leaders, including party supremo Parkash Singh Badal, addressed the
gathering. He charged SAD workers with breaking the windscreen of an
Ambas-sador car of the trust. The car was assigned to one of the three
polling observers of this constituency. |
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Rajdev Singh to canvass for Mann Barnala, April 22 Mr Rajdev Singh Khalsa made public this yesterday at a press conference. He said he had not decided to join the Akali Dal (Amritsar). Mr Khalsa said that he parted company with Mr Mann in 1990 but now with the visit of Mr Mann revival of ties could be possible. Mr Rajdev Singh won from Sangrur defeating Mr Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, Union Minister and now SAD nominee from Sangrur. Mr Khalsa went to Sangrur from Barnala yesterday
and was with Mr Mann at the time of filing of his nomination papers in
the office of the Deputy Commissioner Sangrur-cum-Returning Officer. Mr
Khalsa also attended Mr Mann’s poll conference in Sangrur. |
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News Analysis Chandigarh, April 22 To Mr Badal the manifesto is only a ‘’ritual’’. Though robbed of choice, political parties expect voters to make up their mind on the choice of candidate, based on the contents of their manifestoes which usually list their past achievements, justify why old promises could not be kept and yet make new promises. The new-look SAD manifesto is no different in content from the ones issued at the time of the Lok Sabha elections, 1999, or the assembly elections, 1997 and 2002. Offering ‘’free’’ power and water to the agriculture sector has again been stressed despite the fact that the state can ill-afford such a luxury. Given the precarious economic and financial condition of the state, it is unfortunate that political populism is all that matters to a mature political party like SAD rather than expressing its concern over the steep decline of the state in every sphere — infrastructure, industry, agriculture, social sector, etc. It is a different matter that whenever the Akalis were in power, most of these election-centric promises remained confined to the glossy pages of their manifestoes. The Chief Minster, Capt Amarinder Singh, on the other hand, has often said that the Congress manifesto would be the same as the one issued at the time of the assembly elections in 2002. Since he had another three years to go, his government would focus on the implementation of the promises made therein. And, if need be, some programmes and talking point could be added to that document. However, sources say that a ‘vision statement’’ is on the cards, recapitulating the ‘’new goals and bold initiatives’’ of the Amarinder government prepared with inputs from a Chandigarh-based private institute, much to the chagrin of some senior bureaucrats who had worked on compiling it and were ignored, later. Browsing through some of the past election manifestoes or policy statements of the previous Akali or Congress governments, right from 1980 onwards, it emerges that all these years the two contenders for political power have at least one common denominator: ensuring development and eradicating corruption. Late Darbara Singh’s government in June, 1980, had promised economic, social and political infrastructure and vowed not to allow mutual political recrimination and vindictiveness. Mr Surjit Singh Barnala in September, 1985, had talked of communal amity and sought constructive cooperation, rather than confrontation, to provide a ‘’healing touch’’ as Punjab was still emerging from the shadows of Operation Bluestar at the Golden Temple. Late Beant Singh’s government in February, 1992, had engaged itself in restoring peace as well as democracy at the grass-roots. That period saw his assassination, power struggle in the Congress between Mr Harcharan Singh Brar and Ms Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, while the state’s economy wilted and development was stalled. The coalition government of the SAD-BJP, headed by Mr Parkash Singh Badal in February, 1997, despite in majority, was embroiled in internecine war and in the religio-political sea-saw battles failed to consolidate the gains of peace and put Punjab on the road to development but added to its debt and institutionalise corruption. The Amarinder Singh government since February, 2002, is
facing the first a litmus test in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. So
much for political policy statements, populism and poll manifestoes. |
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Liquor vend auction controversy refuses to die Chandigarh, April 22 The advocate, along with other petitioners, had filed a public interest litigation before the High Court here. In an application filed before the Supreme Court, advocate Harish Rai Dhanda alleged that the state, in its transfer petition, wrongly claimed that “public auctions worth Rs 1240 crore had been put in jeoparady only a day prior to the beginning of the financial year starting from April 1”. The fact, he asserted, was factually wrong. Giving details, he asserted that there was no question of causing loss of Rs 1240 crore as the offer by other contractors was much more than that. Quoting an example, he asserted that in the case of Ludhiana, a wine contractor was willing to pay Rs 20 crore for a group which was 200 times, more. He added that “if people were willing to pay more than (liquor baron) Ponty Chadha or Inderpreet Chadha — to whom the liquor vends were illegally given — then their bids should be accepted and the illegal auction should be set aside”. The advocate asserted that he and other petitioners had earlier questioned the Punjab state’s decision to allot liquor vends on “lesser price when other contractors were ready to pay more”. It may be recalled that a Division Bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court on March 31 had directed the setting aside of liquor vends auction in the three districts on a petition filed by Mr Sanjeev Bhandari. The Bench had also allowed the existing licencees to continue till April 10 or till the date of reauction, whichever was earlier, on payment of existing fee. In his petition before the High Court, Mr Bhandari had alleged that liquor vends in Nawanshahr were allotted to Mr Chadha’s firm for Rs 37 crore against an available bid of Rs 40 crore. Appearing before the court, counsel had submitted on the petitioner’s behalf that the auction for vends in Hoshiarpur was closed at Rs 70 crore despite the fact that the petitioner and his associates had offered Rs 72 crore. Taking up a special leave to appeal filed by the
state of Punjab, the Supreme Court on April 2 had directed that the
“interim arrangement made by the High Court on March 31 shall continue
until further orders”. In a subsequent move, the state had filed a
petition for transfer of all related cases to the apex court. |
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Punjab Govt asked to decide on police representations Chandigarh, April 22 The direction was given during the hearing in the case - Resurgence India versus State of Punjab and others, which relates to the reforms in the police force. The contentious issue of posting of non-cadre officers on cadre posts and vice versa by the government is also part of the case. During earlier hearings, the court was informed that many IPS officers have been posted against non-cadre posts by the government, a step that is in violation of the Indian Police Service (Cadre) Rules, 1954. Sometime ago, Superintendent of Police Nilabh Kishore, who is presently posted as SP (CM Security), had also moved an application in the High Court requesting that he be impleaded as party in this case. He had stated that the post of SP (CM Security) is a non-cadre post and he shouldn’t have been posted on it. The issue of posting of non-cadre (Punjab Police Service) officers to cadre posts such as SSPs of districts has snowballed into a major controversy, with the IPS Association, Punjab, at its general body meeting on March 27, debating the issue and also demanding that such postings should be immediately taken back. It has demanded that the no cadre post be given to non-cadre officers. The minutes of the meeting were also sent to the Principal Secretary, Home Affairs, Punjab, for appropriate action. The court has been informed that over 50 IPS officers (cadre) are currently holding posts meant for non-cadre officers. Among the officers mentioned in this regard are DGPs JS Chahal (Lok Pal), AP Bhatnagar (Prisons) and S.K. Verma (Punjab State Human Rights Commission) as also ADGPs A.P. Pandey, Shashikant and Lalit Bhatia. Today, counsel for the Punjab Government acknowledged that many representations in this regard are pending with the state government. He requested the court to grant some time to the government to settle the representations. The case will now come up on
July 9. |
NRI Sikhs to set up Bodh
Gaya-type centres Khadoor Sahib, April 22 Dr Raghbir Singh Bains, multi-media in charge told The
Tribune here yesterday that celebrations of 500th birth anniversary of
Guru Angad Dev would continue throughout the year . The Management
Committee of Darbar Sahib, Khadoor Sahib, headed by Baba Sewa Singh has
been trying to teach ‘Gurmukhi’ script to children of NRI Sikhs through
special classes here. Efforts would also be made to bridge the gap
between ‘Shahmukhi’ (Persian script) and ‘Gurkmukhi’ script so that
Punjabis of both Punjabs (Indian and Pakistani Punjab) could be brought
closer. Second Sikh Guru had introduced the ‘Gurmukhi’ from here.
Special classes would be arranged at Nishan-e-Sikhi being installed at
Khadoor Sahib. |
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Pak Sikh pilgrims visit Fatehgarh Sahib Fatehgarh Sahib, April 22 Members of both the delegations said that the frequent visits of Pak delegations to India was a clear indication that the relations had improved and the need was to further strengthen the ties. Interestingly Sikh pilgrims from Pak had come to India after 50 years and most of them for the first time. Mr Mahesh Singh Khalsa, chairman, All Pakistan Shri Guru Nanak Sahib Singh Sabha and leader of the jatha said that they had come to pay obeisance at the historical Gurdwaras in India after 50 years and it had been only possible due to the improved relations between both countries. He said that minorities in Pakistan were happy since Gen Pervez Mushrraf had become the President of Pakistan. He said that earlier the miniorities had no voting rights in Pakistan but now their names had been included in the voters list. He said that minorities were now enjoying all rights being enjoyed by Pakistani Muslims. He said the minorities had always been demanding there should be free trade and no visa restrictions for the people of both the countries. He said that they had participated in the 500th celebrations of Guru Angad Dev at Khadoor Sahib and paid obeisance at the Golden Temple. Mr S.K. Ahluwalia, Deputy Commissioner, along with her wife Dr Daisy Walia, honoured all 534 members of jatha, which include 369 men, 167 women, 43 young boys and 15 girls from Pakistan Punjab, Frontier, Sindh and Balochistan. Meanwhile, Dr Gurmohan Singh Walia, Principal Mata Gujri College, Fatehgarh Sahib, accorded a warm welcome at a function organised in the college to a delegation of Muslims from Pakistan who had come to pay obeisance on the occasion of annual Urs at Roja Sharif, Sirhind. Dr Walia said that it was matter of satisfaction that both the governments had realised the value of peace. Mr Meer Hazi Tareen, leader of the delegation and former minister of Pakistan said that he was impressed by the hospitality given to the delegation in Sirhind. He also said with the death of Jathedar Gurcharan Singh Tohra the country has lost a big leader who had always been among the front runners for Indo-Pak unity. Iftkhar Husain Shah, former member National Assembly of Pakistan addressed the gathering in Punjabi. Mr S.K. Ahluwlia, Deputy Commissioner, Fatehgarh Sahib, organised a ghazal programme of Shamim Iqbal, a renowned ghazal Singer on this occasion through the District Cultural Society, Fatehgarh Sahib. Mr Ranjit Singh Libra, secretary of the college thanked the guests. Mr
Kirpal Singh Libra, Mr Karnail Singh Panjoli, Dr D.S.Hira, Prof
R.S.Bajwa, Prof Manjinder Kaur were also present on the occasion. Dr
Dharminder Singh Ubha, conducted the stage. |
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Baptised Sikhs insulted in embassies: Nandgarh Talwandi Sabo, April 22 He said he would not attend functions being organised
in connection with the 400th anniversary of compilation of Guru Granth
Sahib and 300th anniversary of martyrdom of four “sahibzadas” of Guru
Gobind Singh in Chicago by Bhai Daljit Singh, as he would not seek visa
by entering the embassy premises after removing his “kirpan”. |
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Parshuram Jayanti celebrated Fatehgarh Sahib, April 22 Addressing the gathering Mr. R.N.Sharma, president of the sabha, called upon the community to follow the path shown by our great gurus and work for the uplift of every section of society. He talked about various social evils and urged the Brahmin samaj to wage a war against these evils. Vaid Hari Krishan, president, District Congress Committee and the oldest member of sabha performed the havan ceremony and also addressed the gathering. Mr Sanjiv Sharma, Mr Varinder Rattan, president, District Beopar Mandal, Mr Ramneel Sharma, Mr Vaneet Sharma also addressed. At Mandi Gobindgarh
Bhagwan Parshuram Jyanti was celebrated with enthusiasm. A shobha yatra
was carried out and a blood donation and check up was also organised by
the Rashtriya Brahmin Sabha. Punjab Brahmin Sabha also organised a
function at Bhagwan Parshuram temple at Gobindgarh. Bhagwan Parshuram
Jyanti was also celebrated at Bassi Pathana, Amloh and Khamano towns of
the district. |
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Dalits begin protest against police inaction Sangrur, April 22 Mr Randhir Singh, panch of Hasanpur Gram Panchayat, told TNS this evening that five dalits — Mr Gurjant Singh, Mr Baldev Singh, Mr Puran Singh, Mr Prem Singh and Mr Rachhpal Singh — began the indefinite fast today. He said a five-member group would daily observe fast till April 30. Mr Randhir Singh said they had also decided to boycott the Lok Sabha elections, if the challan against the accused was not presented in the court before the polling day. A clash had taken
place between Dalits and zimidaars of Hasanpur village on November 11,
2003 over a disputed place of ‘shamlat’ (common land) in the village and
20 persons of both the groups were injured in it. The Dhuri police had
registered a criminal case against 18 members of zimidaar group,
including Mr Kesar Singh, Sarpanch of the village. |
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Rs 50 cut in pension alleged Phillaur, April 22 |
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Mushaira held Patiala, April 22 The Director Health, PSEB Dr Naresh Raj, was the chief guest. The mushaira took off with Prof S.C. Sharma reciting couplets. Mr Saleem Juberi’s verses drew a good applause. This was followed by Dr Amarjit Sagar’s “Mainey to mangi thi
us say ek shab ki chandni”. After this came Naveen Kamal’s Dekhna yeh
hai ki kyon kar sach ki nasbandi hui’. Dr Yogendra Bakhshi, recited
couplets from his sixth anthology “Aansu Naama Satsai”. |
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Lord Parshuram Jayanti celebrated Barnala, April 22 A yagna was performed by devotees on the occasion. Pandit Ramji Dass Shastri, a scholar of Sanskrit and Hindi, delivered the lecture on Lord Parshuram and his preachings. He also told the devotees how did he fight against the cruelty of King Sahasraryun. Mr Surinder Kaushal, president of the Brahmin Sabha, said here today that Mr Tarun Singla and Ms Mamta Goyal, two students who topped their colleges in Hindi, were honoured with the late Prof N.D. Sharma Memorial Awards. Prof N.D. Sharma, former president of the Brahmin Sabha, had started these awards for those students of Barnala who would excel in Hindi. These two students were presented mementos and cash prizes worth Rs 250 each. Those who were present on this occasion included Mr Surinderpal
Singh Sibia, former chairman, Punjab Warehousing Corporation, Mr Makhan
Sharma, President, Municipal Council, Mr Prem Chand Aggarwal, Chairman,
Improvement Trust, Mr Nasib Chand Sharma, Squadron Leader (retired) Mr
Jai Parkash Sharma, Headmaster of Govt High School. |
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Havildar cremated Amritsar, April
22 The havildar died on duty in Imphal on April 17. The 72
Armour Regiment reversed arms and observed two minutes’ silence as a
mark of respect to the departed soul. Villagers along with leaders and
bureaucrats paid tributes. |
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Naik cremated with honours Hoshiarpur, April 22 Naik Kuldeep Singh was on patrol duty in Nagaland when an encounter with insurgents took place. He fought bravely and was killed in the shootout. Col Partap Inder Singh Phoolka (retd.), general secretary, Bahujan Samaj Party, Punjab, on behalf of Mr Charanjit Singh Channi, former MP, placed wreath on the body and paid tributes. Hundreds of ex-servicemen and residents attended the funeral. |
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High Court Chandigarh, April 22 The application was disposed of after the Punjab Government and the Vigilance Bureau informed the court that they were ready to provide copies of the challans and other prosecution material to the accused. In his plea, Mr Harbans Lal had sought that the decision of the Special Judge, Ropar, whereby his prayer for directing prosecution to supply copies of the challan and the other material was turned down, be turned down. Mr Lal is among those in the dragnet of the Punjab Vigilance Bureau in the case relating to the alleged illegal assets case against Mr Badal and his family members. He was among those arrested for some time by the VB. In his petition, Mr Lal has alleged that as per Section 207 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, the accused have the right to receive the copy of the challan and other related documents. But, there are contradictions galore in the order of the Special Judge, Ropar, the petitioner said. Today, after
being informed that the accused are being supplied copies of the
material requested by them, the Judge disposed of the
application. |
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1 gets 10-yr jail under NDPS Act Moga, April 22 |
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Criminal complaint against lecturers Pathankot, April 22 In his complaint filed before Mr R.K. Garg, Sub-Divisional Judicial Magistrate, Mr Rajeshwar Singh alleged that Mr Joginder Singh Dhadwal and Mr Sanjiv Kumar Verma, who are working as lecturers, had used derogatory remarks for implicating him by filing a false application before the Superintendent of Police (headquarters), Gurdaspur, on September 30, 2003. The complaint was filed under Sections 500, 501, 182 and 120-B of the IPC. When
contacted, members of the teacher union refuted the allegations. |
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3 held with fake visas, passports Amritsar, April 22 |
Varsity students get
reprieve Patiala, April 22 The entry of the students was banned due to their
involvement in an incident of indiscipline. The duo made a written
request to the university authorities to allow them to enter the campus
to appear in LL.B 2nd semester reappear examination as private
candidates. |
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The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)
today suffered a setback when Mr Daya Singh Sodhi, a former state BJP
chief and former MP resigned from the membership of the national council
and party’s primary membership in protest against nominating ‘an
outsider’, Navjot Singh Sidhu, from here.