Bathinda, April 25
The stormy visit of Shiromani Akali Dal (B) chief Sukhbir Singh Badal here today, apparently with the hope of luring voters, disappointed people who were made to wait for him in scorching heat today.

In his rhetoric, Sukhbir had only one line to say at the end: “I have a very busy schedule, so I am leaving.”

People waiting for him desperately to put forth their grievances before him, were left in a lurch as he was in a hurry to move on.

The visit to Model Town Phase I, where a SAD leader had arranged a public meeting with Sukhbir, also annoyed residents of the locality.

The SAD chief just claimed that the skyline of Bathinda would be changed within a year. Pleading shortage of time, he left without even seeing the people holding their complaints in hands.

An ex-serviceman attempted his best to draw Sukhbir’s attention to put forth his grievance, but paying no heed, to Sukhbir left in his “Pajero” car.

It has also been reported that Sukhbir Singh Badal, sitting on the stage, complained to a senior SAD leader that he could not find the local crowd of the Model Town area in the gathering.

Some senior mediapersons complained to Sukhbir about the mismanaged event, who then expressed his displeasure to the SSP Bathinda for the lapse.

It may be mentioned that the over-reaction of the public relations department authorities and the district police, who claimed to have prepared a file with photographs of all mediapersons for security purposes and to make foolproof arrangements for undisturbed coverage of events, today resulted in a futile exercise as there was no proper arrangement for the press conference that became a free for all affair.

Bathinda, April 25
The Bhoomi Pujan ceremony of a mall by Sukhbir Singh Badal, president, Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal), here today was a mismanaged affair.

It was virtually a stampede at the end of the function as the ruling SAD activists advanced towards the venue of the press conference pushing media persons aside.

Sukhbir Badal addressed three other functions during his whirlwind tour in which he repeated his promise of making Bathinda a dream city.

Earlier, during the function of Punjab Pradesh Beopar Mandal, he termed former Chief Minister Capt Amrinder Singh ‘Hankaari Raja’, ‘Gappi’ and ‘Jhootha Banda’ and alleged that Amarinder Singh just “befooled” people by making false promises.

However, his tone was comparatively mild while talking about PPCC chief Rajinder Kaur Bhattal.

He spent about an hour with the traders, whereas his other functions were truncated. Members of the 22 youth clubs of the town returned disappointed as he hardly spared a few minutes at their meeting.

Youth club activists remarked that Sukhbir, who is commonly addressed as a leader of the youth, had no time for them.

One such member, on the condition of anonymity, said, “We were told that Sukhbir would listen to the problems of the youth and take remedial steps. But he has disappointed us as most youth leaders could not even have his glimpse”. “Maybe he considers traders more valuable than the youth,” he remarked.

Sanjeev Garg, president of the Samarpan Welfare Society, lamented that the clubs were earlier asked to write down their demands and grievances on their respective letterheads. However, Sukhbir Badal had no time to even take these papers.

The youth representatives reached the venue at 10 am and had to keep waiting for Sukhbir till 1.30 pm as he arrived there late.

Moga, April 25
The Arya Pratinidhi Sabha has taken back the possession of a piece of ‘disputed’ land belonging to the DM College, which was encroached upon by the local land mafia a couple of years ago.

The Sabha runs the college and many other educational institutes in the town.

The custodian of the Sabha’s property and advisor of the managing committee of the college, ex-MLA Vijay Sathi, informed the TNS on the spot that the land measuring two kanals and eight marlas with a market value of Rs 1 crore was allegedly encroached by the local land mafia for developing an illegal colony.

He added that the mafia had forcibly made the main street of the colony on the land without taking into confidence the managing committee of the college.

“The disputed land is actually a part of the playing ground of the college, the demarcation of which has recently been done by the local revenue authorities in our favour,” he claimed.

After taking back the possession, Sathi along with his local supporters, pitched flag poles on the land and began the exercise to construct a boundary wall.

The matter was also raised before the local municipal council authorities and local administration but no one interfered into the dispute fearing the ‘terror’ of the mafia, as it had the previous government’s backing, he further alleged.

Principal of the college, S.K. Uppal, was present when the Sabha took possession.

Meanwhile, district magistrate of Moga, Satwant Singh Johal, when contacted, said he was not aware of the matter and that no party had so far approached him for help.

“It is not a government land and the process of transfer of the possession of the disputed land has taken place peacefully. So there is no point in interfering in the matters of private parties,” he added.

Fazilka, April 25
President of the Truck Union, Fazilka, Sandeep Kalra alias Kali and senior BJP leader Ashok Jairath were assaulted by four unidentified persons yesterday at night, while they were at the local Recreation Club.

The assailants were masked. Both the injured leaders are close associates of local BJP MLA Surjit Kumar Jyani.

According to available details, Kalra and Jairath were sitting along with their friends in the lawn of the club. At around 10:30 pm, four unidentified youths attacked them with swords.

The miscreants continued their attack for about three to four minutes, injuring them severely and scaring others present at the club lawn.

The assailants did not harm the friends of the two BJP leaders. While leaving, they reportedly fired in the air.

It is believed that the assailants sped away in their white car, with tinted glasses, parked outside the club gate.

Both the injured BJP leaders were immediately rushed to the local civil hospital from where Kalra was referred for a CT scan of the skull.

Attending doctors have described their condition as stable. The cause for the assault has not been ascertained yet. MLA Jyani visited Kalra and Jairath in hospital and severely condemned the incident.

It is pertinent to mention here that the Recreation Club is a stone’s throw away from the office of the deputy superintendent of police (DSP).

The office of SDM, Fazilka, and the residences of magistrates is also about 200 metres away from the club and is considered to be a high security zone. The SDM is the ex-officio president of the club.

Barnala, April 25
Once again, factionalism among the ruling Akalis has come to the forefront as two parallel truck unions in the district have come up with today’s election.

While one union is headed by former president and senior SAD(B) leader Charnjeet Singh Khatra, the other is being led by former MLA Malkeet Singh Keetu’s son, Kulwant Singh Kanta.

The rivalry between the two leaders is well-known in the area as Charanjeet Khatra’s wife, Rajinder Kaur, who was once popularly known as sister of the present CM, contested the Assembly elections on a SAD (B) ticket against Malkeet Keetu, who then fought as an independent. Rajinder Kaur lost the elections, but Keetu was later taken into the SAD fold.

Today, the elections for the Truck Union were held at two separate places. Charanjeet Singh Khatra was elected as president of the Truck Union unanimously at the Manti Complex, Nanaksar road, Barnala.

Senior Akali leader Bhola Singh Virk and former municipal committee vice-president Mandeep Singh Dhillon were also present. After the elections, he thanked the truck operators for showing confidence in his leadership.

Meanwhile, the other group headed by Malkeet Singh Keetu got the elections conducted at the local Truck Union’s office, Barnala. SDM, Tapa, Jaipal Singh supervised the election process. Tehsildar Daljeet Singh Cheema was also present.

To check any untoward incident, heavy police force, lead by DSP Pargat Singh Khaira, was deployed at the venue.

In these elections, Kulwant Singh Kanta’s name was proposed for the coveted post as no other name came up, and he got elected as the president of the union and Darshan Singh Jagal as cashier.

After the elections, Keetu expressed gratitude towards the truck operators who supported his son in the elections. He reiterated that out of a total of 1,150 operators, he enjoyed the support of more than 1,000 operators.

Who enjoyed the support of maximum operators, only time will tell, but presently, these elections has brought to the fore the split in Akali circles, which can prove dear to them in the ensuing Zila Parishad elections, critics said.

Bathinda, April 25
Robbers had a field day today in Bathinda. An unidentified woman robbed a 70-year-old man, when he was alone with his four-year-old granddaughter at his residence in Seediyan Wala Mohalla.

The complainant, Ram Adhar, said that a woman asked him for a glass of water in the afternoon. “When I went inside, she followed and hit me on the head,” he added.

Finding him unconscious after the assault, she allegedly locked him up in the washroom and broke open the lock of a cupboard, where the complainant claimed gold and other valuables were kept. The victim was unsure about the actual loss.

In another incident, an unidentified youth threw chilli powder in the eyes of an employee of a building material firm, situated on Barnala bypass, and snatched his bag carrying Rs 4 lakh. The volunteers of the Naujwan Welfare Society took the victim to the civil hospital.

Giving details, they said that Satinder Kumar Sharma reported that two youths on a motorcycle pushed him down and snatched his bag. However, the victim could not identify the accused.

It may be mentioned here that the whole district police was busy in hosting the SAD chief, Sukhbir Badal, today, who visited various places in the city.

Bathinda, April 25
The Additional Sessions Judge J.S. Kalar, on Thursday, sentenced two persons to rigorous imprisonment for 10 years each and imposed a fine of Rs one lakh each, in a case of poppy husk smuggling.

According to reports, Ranjit Singh, sub-inspector at Rama Mandi, had recovered three sacks of poppy husk, weighing around 90 kg, from a car on September 13, 2004.

The police had stopped car (DL1 CB 0444) near Jajjal village during the routine checking of vehicles.

During the search operation, the police recovered 90 kg of poppy husk from the rear seat of the car.

The police arrested Gurmit Singh, a resident of Bhodipura village and Kuldip Singh of Hakamsinghwala village.

The court found the two guilty of the crime and sentenced Gurmit Singh and Kuldip Singh to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs one lakh each.

In case of non-payment of fine, their imprisonment would be extended by another six months.

Abohar, April 25
The Congress today organised a soul-searching meeting of senior party workers and members of panchayats in Maujgarh village in the first phase of preparations for the upcoming panchayat samiti and Zila Parishad elections.

Legislator Sunil Jakhar held a detailed discussion with those present, separately as well as collectively, before announcing Suman Devi Bishnoi as party candidate from the Panjkosi zone.

She is a close relative of a former sarpanch Surinder Bishnoi of border village Gumjal. Her husband Jitender Kumar Bishnoi was also present at the meeting.

While speaking on the occasion, Jakhar lambasted the SAD (B)–BJP government for depriving the farmers of canal water for irrigation at the time when it was needed most.

Workers, from different villages, told him that water reservoirs maintained by the public health department in most of the villages had dried up.

The consumers in the urban areas were facing intermittent power cuts but those in the rural areas had no power supply from dawn to dusk, they rued.

Jakhar claimed that the previous Congress-led government had ensured water supply even in tail-end villages.

He added that women were now forced by the government to carry pitchers on their heads and traverse in search of water, as the groundwater was not worth drinking in most of the areas.

Buoyed over substantial presence of party workers, the Congress MLA said many workers had conveyed their willingness to contest the upcoming elections.

People from all walks of life were expressing resentment over the poor performance of the present government.

This situation would lead to the Congress victory again, he hoped. He said the party candidate from Kandhwala Amarkot zone would also be announced soon.

Mansa, April 25
The CPI (ML), Mansa, has decided to fight seven Zila Parishad (ZP) and 30 Panchayat Samiti seats in the local bodies elections.

The decision was taken at the party meeting, held at the Baba Bujha Singh Bhawan, under the presidentship of Kirpal Singh Beer.

District secretary of the CPI (ML) said anti-people policies of the Punjab government would be the issue in these elections.

He alleged that the Punjab government had not implemented the promises made at the time of the last assembly elections.

Mansa, April 25
A migrant labourer was allegedly strangulated to death by his companion in the course of an argument on Thursday night here.

According to the police report, Raju, son of Sarbjeet and resident of Moove village in district Bara Kandi of Uttar Pradesh, was allegedly killed on Thursday night by his companion Ram Millan, who basically belonged to Uttar Pradesh. Both the labourers were living in a single room at Ram Rakhi Gali here.

Sub-inspector Dhian Singh of city police station here informed that Raju was to attend his sister’s marriage in Uttar Pradesh and for this purpose, he had arranged for some money.

Meanwhile, Millan demanded from Raju the sum of money that he gave him some time back. On this, they had an argument and Millan allegedly strangulated Raju to death, the official added.

The police has registered a case against Ram Millan, who has been arrested. He had admitted to the crime, the police added.

Mansa, April 25
Although the electricity department of the Punjab government has issued a circular for using compact fluorescent lamps (CFL) for saving energy, but this scheme still hasn’t been implemented.

According to information available, the Punjab government had issued a circular in this connection in August 2007 and this scheme was to be implemented on a compulsory basis in government buildings, offices, guesthouses and offices of corporations, boards and municipalities.

But still, the government offices and buildings are using mostly incandescent bulbs and tubes.

Leader of the Democratic Employees Front, Sukhdarshan Natt, and leader of the Radical People Forum, Jaspal Singh, and farmers’ union leader leader, Balkaran Balli, said that the government officials should take appropriate steps to save energy and implement the CFL scheme.

They said that the air and solar energy might be produced for saving energy and the government should provide subsidy on these power units.

ADC (Development) Baljeet Singh Sandhu said that the CFL scheme was being implemented in the government offices and buildings through a process, as defected bulbs and tubes are being replaced by CFLs, but full implementation required some more time. He added that the CFL scheme would end up benefitting people across the globe.

Abohar, April 25
The Lok Sangram Manch and Bharatiya Kisan Union (Krantikari) urged the state government to withdraw the work of giving electricity connections for tubewells to private contractors.

In a press release issued here today, Manch convener Baldev Singh and BKU secretaries-- Jagjit Singh Gill and Bal Krishan- said the private contractors were overcharging for conductors, disc insulators, dead end clamp and pin insulator.

The consumers were being asked to pay Rs 44,000 for 10 KVA transformers, which was otherwise available in the open market for Rs 34,000, they alleged.

The Manch and BKU leaders further alleged that consumers now had to pay more than one Rs 1 lakh for each connection, whereas the PSEB had been charging about Rs 30,000 earlier.

The activists regretted that the PSEB and the present state government were leading the farmers to a difficult situation by privatising the tubewell connections. They demanded that it should be stopped.

Moga, April 25
The last rituals of woman sarpanch, Swaran Kaur Aulakh of Takhtuwala village, have been scheduled for Saturday.

She died in a road accident near her village last week.

She got constructed lavatories under the UN mission programme funded by the union government in every house of the village, well before the stipulated time period, setting an example for the rest of her colleagues in the area.

Besides, she had got constructed inner streets of the village, a cremation shed and had planned to launch a massive plantation drive before her death, revealed Jaswinder Singh, her elder son.

She was attached with the Congress party.

Many senior leaders of the Congress, including Raninder Singh, son of Captain Amarinder Singh, are likely to participate in the ceremony.