J A L A N D H A R

SAD announces candidates
Jalandhar, July 28
Putting an end to various speculations, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) declared its list of candidates for the forthcoming Jalandhar MC poll last evening.

Poll Pourri
Day 2: 36 candidates file nominations
Jalandhar, July 28
On the second day of filing nominations today, 36 candidates submitted their papers to their respective returning officers. Out of the total 22 were independent candidates.

Candidates of both Congress (left) and SAD file papers amidst loud cheering from supporters.

Cong declares final list for Amritsar MC
Amritsar, July 28
The Congress declared its list of candidates for the forthcoming elections of the municipal corporation, Amritsar. 

Toll protest: Traffic disrupted in Nawanshahr
Nawanshahr, July 28
The members of local truck, tempo union and taxi unions along with like-minded organisations blocked traffic at Chandigarh Chowk, here on Saturday. The protest was held under the banner of Toll Plaza Virodhi Sangarsh Committee,Punjab.

Assault case: Dharna staged
Nawanshahr, July 28
Angry over the assault on Gurdaspur DDPO, the association of district rural development officers and allied organisations staged a protest dharna on Friday. They accused the authorities concerned of not taking appropriate action against the assaulters.

Major plantation drive in Phagwara
Phagwara, July 28
Kapurthala deputy commissioner J.M. Balamurgan along with SDM Amarjitpal and divisional forest officer (DFO) Satnam Singh planted saplings at more than 22 places in the town on Saturday.

Visually impaired to march for demands
Jalandhar, July 28
To draw the government’s attention towards the long-pending demands of visually-impaired persons, National Federation of the Blind, Punjab branch, will organise a protest march from Jalandhar to Phagwara on Sunday.

Atholi to become a model village
Phagwara, July 28
After Palahai, Atholi would be the second village in the Phagwara district to get ultra modern facilities. Kapurthala deputy commissioner JM Balamurugan along with Phagwara SDM Amarjitpal visited the village to take stock of the ongoing work here on Saturday.

SAD announces candidates
Deepkamal Kaur
Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, July 28
Putting an end to various speculations, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) declared its list of candidates for the forthcoming Jalandhar MC poll last evening.

Twentyone of the 22 seats falling in the party’s kitty were announced by party’s acting president Sukhbir Badal at Chandigarh yesterday. Decision over ward number 6, reserved for SC, has been left pending. Jagir Singh and a few others are contenders for the seat.

Two Congress workers, who have just joined the SAD, have been adjusted well. Aruna Arora, who along with her husband Manoj Arora had yesterday joined the SAD, has been given ticket for ward number 55.

Both Paramjit Singh Sethi, circle president, and Ramsimran Singh Makkar, nephew of MLA Sarbjit Singh Makkar, who had been fighting for ticket in ward number 60, have been adjusted. Sethi has instead got ticket for ward number 57.

The list brought disappointment to Akali workers Ranjit Singh Rana and Charanjeev Singh Rana, who had been vying for ticket in ward number 8 and 56, respectively.

Ticket for ward number 1, reserved for SC women, has gone to Ravinder Kaur. Ticket for ward number 3, reserved for SC, has gone to Paramjit Singh Reru. Harsurinder Singh has been allotted ticket for ward number 8.

Ticket for ward number 10, reserved for women, has gone to Simarjeet Kaur Dhindsa, ward number 11 to Balbir Singh Dhillon, ward number 12, reserved for SC, to Kulwant Rai, ward number 13, reserved for SC women, to Vidya Devi Jassal, ward number 21 to Kamaljeet Singh Gandhi, ward number 29 to Kuldeep Singh Oberoi, ward number 37, reserved for women, Ratanjit Kaur, ward number 39 to Gurdeep Singh Nagra, ward number 40, reserved for women, to Davinder Kaur Takkar, ward number 43, reserved for women, to Surjit Kaur, ward number 45 to Kamaljit Singh Bhatia, ward number 47 to Manjit Singh Titu, ward number 50, reserved for SC, to Parvesh Tangri, ward number 54, reserved for SC, to Narinder Kaur, ward number 55, reserved for women, to Aruna Arora, ward number 56 to Jaswinder Singh Billa, ward number 57 to Paramjit Singh Sethi and ward number 60 to Ramsimran Singh Makkar.

Poll Pourri
Day 2: 36 candidates file nominations
Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, July 28
On the second day of filing nominations today, 36 candidates submitted their papers to their respective returning officers. Out of the total 22 were independent candidates.

The maximum candidates were from Congress. Prominent among them were Kamlesh Grover from Ward 49, Jagdish Raja from Ward 36 and Tarsem Lal from Ward 5. From BJP Sushma Gautam and Rimpy Prabhakar filed their papers from Ward 34 and 4 respectively. Akali candidate Kamaljit Bhatia also filed his papers from Ward 45.

Poll fever

Most candidates came in an open jeep decorated with party flags and banners. They were seen wearing huge garlands and marching along with their supporters amidst beats of dhol to file their nominations.

Voter cards a must

Additional deputy commissioner-cum-assistant RO Ashok Sikka said he had received a notice from the election commission that the voter I-cards were compulsory for those exercising their franchise. However, he said if anyone has not yet received a copy of his I-card from the administration but has got his name registered in the voter list can bring his identity proof along with voter number. PAN card, driving licence, passport copy or any other valid proof can be used as an identity proof, he added. 

Cong declares final list for Amritsar MC
Tribune News Service

Amritsar, July 28
The Congress declared its list of candidates for the forthcoming elections of the municipal corporation, Amritsar. The list is as  follows:

Nerupma (Ward 1), Sunil Datti (Ward 2), Pradeep Kumar Saini (Ward 3), Sharanjit Kaur (Ward 4), Gurjit Singh (Ward 5), Onkar Kaur (Ward 7), Ranjan Aggarwal (Ward 8), Rakesh Sharma (Ward 9), Kashmir Kaur (Ward 10), Ram Lal Sharma (Ward 11), Om Prakash Gabbar (Ward 12), Raj Sharma (Ward 13), Narinder Singh (Ward 14), Master Bachan Das (Ward 15), Dalbir Kaur (Ward 16), Sukhdev Singh Sahota (Ward 17), Balbir Singh Babbi (Ward 18), Charanjit Kaur (Ward 19), Ajit Singh Bhatia (Ward 20), Kulbhuan Duggal (Ward 21), Kiran Mahajan (Ward 22), Anil Sharma (Ward 24), Surjit Kaur (Ward 25), Raj Pal Mahajan (Ward 26), Om Prakash Bhatia (Ward 27), Navdeep Goldie (Ward 29), Swarn Singh (Ward 30), Amarjeet Kaur (Ward 31), Gyan Singh (Ward 32), Mohinder Singh (Ward 33), Sunita (Ward 34), Pratap Singh (Ward 35), Surjit Singh Sehjra (Ward 36), Anita (Ward 37), Amanjot Singh (Ward 38), Amrik Singh Joura (Ward 39), Manjit Kaur (Ward 40), Jasminder Singh Kukku (Ward 41), Ashwani Kala (Ward 42), Renu Behl (Ward 43), Parabh Dayal Mahajan (Ward 44), Deepak Thukral (Ward 45), Neelam Khanna (Ward 46), Ravi Nanda (Ward 47), A Yunus (Ward 48), Praveen Kanwar (Ward 49), Rajiv Duggal (Ward 50), Dharam Vir Sareen (Ward 51) Neelu Tangri (Ward 52), Yudh Vir Singh (Ward 54), Talwinder Kaur (Ward 55), Surinder Kumar (Ward 57), Neeru Chaudhary (Ward 58), Balbir Singh (Ward 59), Kashmir Singh (Ward 60), Charanjit Kaur (Ward 61), Rakesh Kumar (Ward 62), Suman Arora (Ward 64) and Raman Bakshi (Ward 65).

Toll protest: Traffic disrupted in Nawanshahr
Our Correspondent

Nawanshahr, July 28
The members of local truck, tempo union and taxi unions along with like-minded organisations blocked traffic at Chandigarh Chowk, here on Saturday. The protest was held under the banner of Toll Plaza Virodhi Sangarsh Committee,Punjab.

Manjit Singh, senior vice president of the panel, Raghunath Singh, state general secretary, CITU while addressing the agitators termed the toll tax levied on transporters and commuters as 'Jajia’-imposed by Mughal emperor Aurangzeb. The tax has made travelling a costly affair and there have been reports of commuters being harassed and humiliated at toll barriers. Seeking immediate closure of toll plazas, the protesters threatened to intensify stir if their demands were not met. 

Assault case: Dharna staged
Our Correspondent

Nawanshahr, July 28
Angry over the assault on Gurdaspur DDPO, the association of district rural development officers and allied organisations staged a protest dharna on Friday. They accused the authorities concerned of not taking appropriate action against the assaulters.

Demanding immediate arrest of the accused, DDPO Avtar Singh Bhullar said the state government should ensure security of the panchayati raj officials while they are on field duty. He warned that the stir would continue till the acceptance of the demands. 

Major plantation drive in Phagwara
Our Correspondent

Phagwara, July 28
Kapurthala deputy commissioner J.M. Balamurgan along with SDM Amarjitpal and divisional forest officer (DFO) Satnam Singh planted saplings at more than 22 places in the town on Saturday.

The drive started from DAV College and concluded at Kamla Nehru College for Women. Trees were also planted at Starch Mills, Lions Club Royal, Guru Nanak Bhai Lalo College for Women, Bharat Vikas Parishad Phagwara and JCT Mills. A special function —‘Teej Da Mela’— was also held at Kamla Nehru College for Women, where students presented different cultural items.

On the occasion, president of local environment association Kuldip Sardana urged the DC to declare Phagwara as an ‘environment town’ and ban sale of recycled plastic bags. The officer promised to take up the matter with the higher authorities.

Meanwhile, DFO Satnam Singh said the noose has been tightened on those felling trees illegally. “Around 56 persons have already been challaned for cutting trees. Most of the cases were found around Dhussi Bandh area,” he added.

Visually impaired to march for demands

Jalandhar, July 28
To draw the government’s attention towards the long-pending demands of visually-impaired persons, National Federation of the Blind, Punjab branch, will organise a protest march from Jalandhar to Phagwara on Sunday.

Rajesh Mohan, general secretary of the federation, said the march would start from Rashtriya Andh Vidyalaya at Basant Vihar here and conclude at residence of social security minister Swarna Ram at Phagwara. Meanwhile, Dr S.P. Aggarwal, secretary general of the Indian Red Cross Society, visited the Red Cross School for the deaf and Prayas, a school for special kids, here today. — TNS

Atholi to become a model village

Phagwara, July 28
After Palahai, Atholi would be the second village in the Phagwara district to get ultra modern facilities. Kapurthala deputy commissioner JM Balamurugan along with Phagwara SDM Amarjitpal visited the village to take stock of the ongoing work here on Saturday. The village is being provided modern sewerage system, said the SDM adding that the government has decided to make Atholi a model village. “The sewerage work would be completed before Diwali,” he said. A sum of 70 lakh would also be spent to spruce up facilities for 2,500 residents. Out of the total amount, Rs16 lakh have been already released by the government. — OC