Jalandhar, August 5
The Shiromani Akali Dal President, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, today said the sharing of seats with the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) would primarily depend upon a candidates’ ability to win.

Talking to mediapersons here today, Mr Badal said the final decision about BJP’s share in tickets for the forthcoming Assembly elections, would be taken by the joint coordination committee of the two parties.

He alleged that corruption had reached a new high in Punjab and several Punjab ministers and Congress leaders were deeply involved in corrupt practices.

“The SAD MLAs and MPs would sit on a dharna in front of the Prime Minister House in New Delhi on August 8. We will fight corruption tooth and nail,” said Mr. Badal.

Phagwara, August 5
Taking the high moral ground, Mr Parkash Singh Badal condemned Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee President, Shamsher Singh Dullo’s son, who was involved in an eve-teasing episode. Mr Badal said the character of Congressmen had been exposed with this unfortunate incident.

Talking to selective newspersons here this morning, he appreciated the role of the Himachal Pradesh Police, which did not bother about Mr Dullo’s influence and arrested his son. Congress leaders had forgotten their moral values and they were in no state to face the people after the involvement of its own party President’s son in eve-teasing case, he added.

He asked Mr Dullo and the Chief Minister, Captain Amarinder Singh, to quit from their posts on moral grounds.

The SAD President described their alliance with the BJP as strong.

Replying to a question about the possibility of a poll alliance with the Bharatiya Jan Shakti Party (BJSP) headed by the expelled BJP leader, Ms Uma Bharti, and the Bahujan Samaj Party, Mr Badal kept all options open and refused to commit to anything.

He said all options could be considered to give a befitting defeat to the Congress, but it was too early to comment on the issue.

Attacking the Congress, he said the party could not initiate any programme for the welfare of the people of the state.

Mother arrested for marrying girl to old man for money
Deepkamal Kaur
Tribune News Service

Musapur (Jalandhar), August 5
A shocking incident of parents getting their young daughter married to a 55-year-old man in lieu of some money has come to light with the arrest of the girl’s mother at Musapur village, near Adampur here.

While the father and the husband of the girl had been arrested two years ago when the incident occurred, mother of the girl, was arrested by the Adampur police now. She had been declared a proclaimed offender.

During a visit to the village today, the residents revealed that the father of the girl, Bhinder Singh, was hooked on drugs and was not in his senses when he had decided to get his daughter married to an old man from a neighbouring village. They alleged that the mother of the girl, Ranjit Kaur alias Rano, had turned greedy for she agreed to get her young daughter married in exchange of money.

The villagers said none of them were taken into confidence before the wedding day. They were shocked when they saw an elderly groom leading the baraat.

“We all objected to this, but the parents remained adamant. The poor girl was very upset. Even after the marriage ceremony, there was much unrest among the villagers. The next day the girl took the right step when she returned home and declined to go back again. At that time, we all supported her and decided not to send her back,” a village lady revealed saying that they could not see the innocent girl’s life being ruined like that.

“There was much uproar from the parents’ side after which the whole community took a firm stand. We got the girl mentally prepared for opposing her parents, which she did. We even got a case registered against the parents and the groom. The girl’s father and her husband were arrested. The father was in jail for two years and has been recently set free while her husband got released on bail soon,” the villagers recalled.

The community support later helped the girl restore a normal family atmosphere. The girl stayed with her uncle and aunt in the same village for quite sometime. All formalities to amicably divorce her husband were followed after she was married to a boy from a village near Hoshiarpur. “The girl is very happy with her new family and now has a little daughter too. Her husband is well-off and keeps on bringing her to the village where they stay with her chacha and chachi”, they said.

The girl’s father has now left the village and is putting up in a Hoshiarpur village. His younger daughter, too, was married by the villagers at Palahi in Phagwara. His two sons, however, are with him.