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A lacklustre campaign
Ex-servicemen for Congress
Protest against misuse of money power
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936 boxes of liquor seized
Samriti woos voters
Honour for school
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A lacklustre campaign
Jalandhar, February 8 Barring a single, hurriedly made visit of the SAD chief, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, this Sunday at Dosanjh Kalan village of the Banga constituency and at Dana Mandi of Nawanshahr and a joint address by BSM president Satnam Kainth with SAD candidate Mohan Lal, there have been no other rallies here. The Congress candidates here have rather seen no big rally in any of the three constituencies of Nawanshahr, Banga and Balachaur. Nukad meetings
Campaigning here has been limited to dozen-odd nukad meetings by the candidates at the houses of their supporters in different villages, langars outside their election offices and one or two vehicles spreading the word in different colonies of the city through public address system that too at a controlled volume. ‘No need of rallies’
The candidates here believe that there is rather no need of making a hullabaloo over the issue. Says Mr Parkash Singh, the sitting Congress candidate from Nawanshahr, “My family has been fighting elections on a Congress ticket from 1962 onwards, winning the seat most of the times. My uncle, Dilbagh Singh, had won the poll six times. I won the elections last year and people know me well. So, where lies the need to hold any rally?” he wonders. When asked whether he was not doing so due to strict implementation of the Election Commission guidelines by the DC, Mr Krishan Kumar, he replied: “The residents here should rather feel much grateful for what he has done.” In fact, Mr Parkash Singh is at an advantage due to development works and social issues being taken up by the administration and he is reaping the benefit of its efforts. This leaves the SAD candidate and two-time winner, Mr Jatinder Singh Kariha, with no point for blaming his opponent on any grounds. Fight between 2 families
The Nawanshahr constituency has always been witnessing a direct fight between these two families. While Mr Kariha hails from the farming community, Mr Parkash Singh’s family has been into transport business. Interestingly, whenever either of the two parties has tried to do away a candidate from these families, they have lost the seat. In 1980, when Congress denied ticket to Mr Dilbagh Singh, the party had to face failure. Mr Dilbagh Singh stood as Independent candidate and won it. After his death in 1996, the ticket was allotted to Ms Amar Kaur, his wife, putting down the plea of his son, Mr Charanjit Channi. The defiant Channi stood as Independent candidate and was a winner. In 2002, Mr Parkash Singh of the same family fought poll and got the representation. Likewise, the Akalis, too, have faced misfortune whenever it tried to do away with Mr Kariha as had happened last year when he was denied ticket. Mr Resham Singh was put up as the candidate and he lagged behind on the fourth position. The seat has 1.41 lakh voters, of whom 50,000 are SCs, 32,000 Jats and 18,000 Sainis, a community represented by Mr Parkash Singh. Gujjars’ contest
Balachaur, too, is witnessing a keen contest between the two Gujjar candidates - sitting Akali MLA, Mr Nand Lal, and Ms Santosh Kataria, daughter-in-law of the last time Congress candidate, Mr Ram Kishan Kataria. A Congress-dominated constituency, Mr Nand Lal had managed to shift loyalty to the Akalis in the last two terms. The plus points of Ms Kataria have been that she is the first woman to contest from the seat and has won a lot of fan following among the womenfolk. She has good oratory skills, beams with confidence and has won the Zila Parishad chairperson post two years back. The constituency has overall 1.28 lakh voters, largely comprising Gujjars. BSM advantage for Soondh
A reserved seat, Banga too is being watched with interest. Earlier, anti-incumbency wave seemed to be dominating against sitting Congress candidate, Mr Tarlochan Singh Soondh. The situation here has reversed in his favour after BSM’s Satnam Kainth. Earlier, posted with the Indian Foreign Services, Mr Soondh also has hierarchy advantage as his father, Mr Jagat Ram Soondh, had won here thrice in 1969, 1972 and 1980. He was killed by the terrorists in 1988. Mr Soondh had confronted the SAD nominee, Mr Mohan Lal, last time too while he was a BSP nominee. The seat has nearly 1.11 lakh voters. |
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Ex-servicemen for Congress
Nawanshahr, February 8 |
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Protest against misuse of money power
Jalandhar, February 8 Sardara Singh Mahl, a senior leader of the party, said black money and drugs were being used by some of the politicians to get votes of the poor. Participants in the march were also addressed by Kashmir Singh, Kala Dugri, Jaswinder Singh Sidhu, Surinder Singh, Manga Singh Sidhu and Satwant Panch. |
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936 boxes of liquor seized
Hoshiarpur, February 8 Mr R.N. Dhoke, SSP, said the police arrested Sandeep Kumar, Ravinder Singh, Rajesh Kumar, Sarwan Singh and Naresh Kumar in this regard. |
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Samriti woos voters
Batala, February 8 Addressing a gathering, she raised the issue of price rise and the suicides committed by the farmers, especially in Punjab. She alleged that agriculture in Punjab was now in dire straits and as a result farmers were being forced to commit suicide. The gathering mainly comprised women, who turned up in large numbers. She also raised the issue of corruption. She criticised the government for lathicharging jobless women in Ludhiana where they were staging a protest against the government. Mr Jagdish Sawhney, the BJP candidate, and Ms Kamlesh Seth, the district president of the BJP women wing, welcomed her. |
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Nawanshahr, February 8
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