Bathinda, May 14
The ruling Shiromani Akali Dal (B) today swept the Zila Parishad elections in Punjab’s Malwa region that had virtually broomed it out of the area during the Assembly elections about a year ago.

Thereby, the SAD has regained its lost glory at least in the grassroots level institutions in this part of the state.

Most of the SAD candidates swept the elections with a big margin in the districts of Bathinda, Mansa, Moga, Muktsar, Barnala, Ferozepur and Faridkot.

While the SAD had failed to win even a single Assembly seat out of the five in Bathinda, the party made a clean sweep by winning 15 of the 16 Zila Parishad seats today. Repoll for one seat has been ordered. The Congress party that bagged all the five Assembly seats a year ago was unable to open its account in the district in these elections.

A number of incidents of violence were reported during polling on May 12 particularly in Muktsar, Moga, Mansa and Bathinda districts of Malwa. Allegations of rigging were made not only by the Congress, but also by the BJP, which is a partner in the SAD-led coalition government.

Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and the SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal were jubilant over the election results particularly of the Malwa region that had “let them down” during the Assembly elections. They have been saying that the political scenario of the state would have been different, had the Malwa region voted for the SAD in the Assembly elections.

The BJP that contested the Zila Parishad elections for the first time here was unable to bag even a single seat. However, it managed to get a few odd seats here and there. The clear position would emerge only when the detailed results are available.

In view of these elections, the Badal family had focussed its attention on the Malwa region as staging a comeback here was a political necessity for the party. More so, because of the coming Lok Sabha elections. The silence of the Dera Sacha Sauda is also learnt to have benefited the SAD. Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, chief of the Dera, did not come out in favour of the Congress this time.

What has come as a boost for the SAD was the win of Gurpreet Singh Maluka and Dilraj Singh Bhunder in the Bathinda and Mansa districts respectively with a big margin. Gurpreet Singh is son of the Bathinda district SAD chief Sikendar Singh Maluka, who badly lost the Assembly elections from here, while Dilraj Singh is son of Balwinder Singh Bhunder, general secretary of SAD and a close lieutenant of the Badals, who had also lost the Assembly election from the Mansa district.

The performance of the Congress, which has a number of sitting MLAs in the Malwa region, was poor in these elections. The party bagged a couple of seats in Ferozpur and Mansa districts, though.

Bhagta Bhai Ka, May 14
After a clean sweep of the Zila Parishad and Block Samiti elections by the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal) in Bathinda and Mansa, Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal has said, “This clearly shows that the people of Malwa love SAD and maybe they have realised where they had gone wrong and have now voted for us,” he said talking on phone from Chandigarh, his cheerful tone quite obvious.

He also said that in the coming municipal corporation and parliamentary elections, SAD will get the same kind of love from the voters of Malwa as well as in other parts of the state. “The people of Malwa have always been very generous to us and have always voted for us whole-heartedly.”

In Bathinda, SAD (B) had a clean sweep in the Zila Parishad and Block Samiti elections, where the party won 15 out of 16 Zila Parishad constituencies in the district. After receiving the orders of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, the state election commission had postponed the election of one of the constituencies, Bangi Ruldu, till May 26.

Balwinder Singh Bhundar, general secretary, SAD (B), said, “Our party had a clean sweep in Mansa district and the winner with the maximum margin in both Bathinda and Mansa is Dilraj Singh, who won by a margin of around 13,500 votes from Raipur constituency. My own judgement is that this time people have themselves voted for us and have not repeated their previous mistake.”

Sikandar Singh Maluka, district in-charge, SAD (B) said, “The kind of support we have got is the maximum, when we compare it with other elections. I am sure that in all the coming elections, SAD will make a clean sweep.”

In Bathinda, at Bhai Rupa, SAD candidate Jagjit Singh Gora had won unopposed. At Burj Tharor, Gurpreet Singh Maluka, won by more than 9000 votes. At Nathana, Surjit Singh won, at Balahar Vinjhu, Balkar Singh won by a margin of around 9,400 votes, at Singo, Kamaldeep Kaur, at Balianwali, Rajdeep Singh, at Phus Mandi, Geja Singh, at Killi Nihal Singh Wala, Rajwinder Kaur, at Bhagta Bhai Ka, Harvinder Kaur, at Bandi, Jagroop Singh, at Kuttiwal, Jaspal Singh, at Bhagi Bandar, Amarvir Kaur, at Gill Kalan, Labh Singh Baath, at Bhucho, Davinder Pal Singh Goldy and at Pakka Kalan, Sarabjit Singh Doomwali—- all SAD candidates—- won their seats respectively.

For BJP, the lone candidate that gave some fight was the party’s district president (rural), Dyal Singh Sodhi, who was contesting from Bhucho constituency. He came third and secured 4,348 votes, as compared to the winning SAD candidate Davinder Pal Singh Goldy, who secured 10,288 votes. The Indian National Congress candidate secured just 7,862 votes.

Moga, May 14
The Shiromani Akali Dal (B) bagged the Zila Parishad and all five Block Samitis with a thumping majority in politically sensitive Moga district.

In the Zila Parishad elections, the SAD won eight out of 15 seats till the filing of the report. In the rest of the seats, the SAD candidates were leading with comfortable margins. Those who won include, Karnail Singh from Ajitwal seat, Nachattar Kaur from Ghal Kalan, Gurlabh Singh from Kot-ise-Khan, Kuljit Kaur from Fatehgarh Panchtoor, Sukhmandar Singh from Dhudhike, Manjit Kaur from Singhawala, Gurbax Singh from Ramuwala and Sanjha Singh from Nihalsinghwala.

In the Moga-I Block Samiti, out of a total of 23 seats, the SAD bagged 20 leaving only 3 seats for the Congress.

In the Moga-II Block Samiti, out of 17 seats, the SAD got 13 while the Congress managed to get only 3 seats. One independent had also won from here.

In the Nihalsinghwala Block Samiti, out of 23 seats the results of 18 seats had been declared at the time of writing the news report. The SAD won 16 seats, while the Congress got only 1 seat. One Independent candidate was also victorious from here.

In the Baghapurana Block Samiti, 15 out of 25 seats were declared at the time of writing the news item. All the declared 15 seats went into the pocket of the SAD. The ruling party was also leading in eight other seats with a comfortable margin. In the Kot-ise-Khan Block Samiti, the counting of the votes started little later. Out of 25 seats, the ruling party was leading in 20 seats with a comfortable margin and it was expected that these seats would go in its favour. The counting process was almost peaceful at the time of writing the news report, with just a couple of incidents of minor scuffle reported from the district.

The Congress leadership had levelled serious allegations of using official machinery by the SAD to ensure its victory, but it was either way as the workers of both the parties tried to create an atmosphere of ‘terror’ to sway the voters in their favour.

Ferozepur, May 14
The SAD and the BJP appear all set to sweep the Zila Parishad (ZP) elections, the counting of votes for which started here today in the morning. There are 25 zones of Zila Parishad in this district.

Results of seven zones have been declared so far, in which the SAD emerged winner in six zones whereas the BJP candidate was declared winner in one.

It is pertinent to mention that Prem Kumar of the BJP has already been declared elected unopposed from Katerah block. The other results available till now are as follows:

Zone 1: Fatehgarh Sabrah - Satnam Singh ( SAD), Zone 2: Khosa Dal Singh - Swran Singh ( SAD), Zone 3: Saner - Kulwinder Singh Sodhi (SAD), Zone 13: Jalalabad Rural - Lekh Raj (SAD), Zone 14: Chak Sotrian - Gurbair Singh (SAD), Zone 17: Sujrana - Sheetal Rani (BJP), Zone 18: Arniwala - Harjit Singh (SAD).

In the Block Samiti elections, the BJP has had a clean sweep as far as Ferozepur block is concerned. In 19 zones of the Block Samiti under the Ferozepur block, the BJP bagged 17 zones whereas the Congress has bagged one zone and at one place, an independent has been declared as the winner. In Mamdot block, out of a total of 15 zones, the result of nine have been declared till now, in which SAD has bagged five zones whereas the Congress candidates have emerged winners in four zones.

In Abohar block, out of the two results declared so far, one each has gone to SAD and the Bharatiya Janata Party. It is pertinent to mention that there are 10 blocks in this district.

Barnala, May 14
The SAD swept the Zila Parishad (ZP) elections winning 9 out of the total 10 seats. The Congress could mange to win only one seat of Mehalkalan zone, where Kulwant Singh emerged victorious securing 9,371 votes.

Meanwhile, the SAD candidates’ victory records is as follows: Mohinderpal Kaur from Ugoke zone won defeating Pal Kaur. Nasib Kaur secured 8,148 votes to defeat Jasbir Kaur (7,561) from Tallewal. Karmjeet Singh defeated Parmpreet Singh from Shaina. Mukhtiar Singh defeated Ranjeet Singh from Chananwal. Amarjeet Singh defeated Chet Ram from Kaleke, Sukhwinder Kaur defeated Manpreet Kaur from Badbar and Gurtej Dhaula defeated Parmatama Singh from Dhaula zone. Similarly, Karnail Singh defeated Gurdarshan Singh from Thullewal while Gurtej Singh Bittu won the Thikriwala seat.

Bathinda, May 14
Now that the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal) has made a clean sweep in Zila Parishad elections by winning all the seats, the race for the post of its chairman has begun to hot up. According to District Development and Panchayat Officer (DDPO), Bathinda, “The post of chairman, Zila Parishad, Bathinda, falls under the reserved 
category. It is reserved for a Scheduled Caste woman candidate.”

Interestingly there are only two women winners from Scheduled Caste in Bathinda and one of them will become the chairperson of Bathinda Zila Parishad.

Confirming this, Sikandar Singh Maluka, district in-charge, SAD (B), said, “It’s true that the post of chairperson of Bathinda Zila Parishad is reserved for a Scheduled Caste woman candidate. There are two SAD Scheduled Caste women winner candidates for the post of chairperson. First one is Kamaldeep Kaur, our winning candidate from Singo constituency and the other is Rajwinder Kaur, winner from Killi Nihal Singh Wala constituency.”

So now, the other candidates will be vying for the post of vice-chairman. According to SAD sources, SAD heavyweight Sikandar Singh Maluka’s son, Gurpreet Singh Maluka, who has won the Burj Tharor constituency by a margin of around 9,000 votes, is considered to be a hot favourite amongst the party leadership.

Another SAD leader, on the condition of anonymity, said, “Another winning candidate Balkar Singh from Balahar Vinjhu constituency can also claim his candidature for the post of vice- chairman as he has won by the biggest margin in the district. He defeated his rival candidate by a margin of more than 9,400 votes.”

When Gurpreet Singh Maluka was contacted, he said, “I am willing to work at any post. It’s all up to the party high command to decide, which candidate they find suitable for the post of vice-chairman.”

Bathinda, May 14
The Lok Janshakti Party (LJP), which made a debut by winning two Block Samiti seats in Bathinda district, has described the PRI polls as a ‘farce’ and defeat of democracy at the grassroots level.

The president of the state unit of the party, Kiran Jeet Singh Gehri said that the poll was rigged right from the beginning as nominations of several potential winners of the LJP were rejected and large-scale malpractices were witnessed on the days of polling and counting.

He said that the LJP had fielded candidates for 19 Zila Parishad and 106 Block Samiti seats including two Zila Parishad seats and 13 Block Samiti seats in Bathinda district. It fielded candidates from Bathinda, Sangat and Nathan aand it won two Samiti seats from Bathinda and Maur from where Thana Singh and Milkha Singh were elected due to the brazen use of state machinery, muscle and money power, he alleged. Had the elections been free and fair, LJP would have done much better but it was a matter of satisfaction that the party had won two seats, he added.

Gehri said it would have been better had the SAD nominated the winners and saved people from going through the agony of fighting elections, which made a mockery of democracy.

He said that the results were still pouring in and hoped that the party would win some seats in other districts also. He said the LJP would field candidates from all wards in the impending election to municipal corporation and demonstrate its strength.

Kiran Jeet Singh Gehri, who is also the president of Dalit Sena, said that the party has made a humbling beginning against all odds and will continue to make major electoral gains in the days to come.

Malout/Gidderbaha (Muktsar), May 14
Amid allegations of irregularities, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) virtually made a clean sweep in the district in the Zila Parishad and Block Samiti elections.

In Gidderbaha block, out of total 25 block samitis, the SAD bagged 23 seats and left only two for the Congress. In the 25-seat Muktsar block, two were unanimously declared winners Chak Jawaharwale went to SAD while BJP bagged Muktsar (rural). In the remaining 22 seats, SAD reigned supreme in 15 seats, Congres clinched 6 while the counting of the Thandewala seat had been postponed.

In the 20-seats Malout block, the SAD grabbed 19 seats only while Fullewala went to the Congress.

In the 21-seat Lambi block, counting for two seats, namely Fateh Pur Mania and Tarmala were postponed. One was declared the winner unanimously while SAD got the rest of 16 seats.

It may be mentioned that at Midhu Khera Block Samiti, Charanjeet Kaur of SAD won getting 3,216 votes out of the total 3,408 votes as all the remaining candidates extended their support to her. Interestingly, at some seats like Abulkhurana, SAD candidate Sukhjinder Singh got 1,389 votes and his opponent Balwinder Singh of the Congress lost the seat by a margin of only two votes. At Duhewala, Amarjeet Kaur of Congress retained her block Samiti seat defeating SAD candidate by margin of just 121 votes.

As far as Zila Parishad (ZP) seats are concerned, the Bhuttiwala seat was won by SAD candidate Surjeet Singh Mann by 4,023 votes. SAD candidate Kanwarjeet Singh Rozy Barkandi bagged the Udekaran seat with 11,807 votes. The Zila Parishad seats of Midhha, Malout, Lakhewali, Lambi, Harike Kalan, Bhagsar, Malout village, Kauni and Mallan were also won by the SAD with huge margins.

Confirming the details late on Wednesday night, deputy commissioner, Muktsar, Vikas Garg said over the phone that out of the total 12 zones of Zila Parishad, SAD had won 10 seats, while the counting for the rest of the two seats, Tarmala and Fatehpur Mania, were postponed.

Meanwhile, Congress candidate from Udekaran zone, Gurlal Singh, who lost to SAD, alleged that at the time of polling, it was informed that the total number of votes was 22,023 but today, when the administration opened the ballot boxes, 27,600 ballots were found. At Gidderbaha, Congress leader Sant Singh Brar alleged that the counting staff were helping SAD.

Interestingly, the winners were not found in a jubilant mood here with Congress activists and candidates levelling allegation of rigging. 

Mansa, May 14
The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) was heading towards making a clean sweep in the district in the Zila Parishad (ZP) and Panchayat Samiti polls. SAD candidates won 10 out of 11 ZP seats.

Sources said that from the Jhanda Kalam ZP zone, Inderjeet Singh of SAD was declared elected while from Raipur zone, Dilraj Singh Bhunder, son of Balvinder Bhunder, SAD general secretary, was declared elected.

Jhuneer, Nagal Kalam, Boruraval, Dalel Singh Wala, Bhainibagha, Jogga ZP seats gone to SAD.

MLA Ajit Inder Singh Moffer said that SAD-BJP government had captured panchayati institution by undemocratic means and he demanded a high-level inquiry in the polling. While general secretary of SAD, Balvinder Singh Bhunder thanked the people for voting in favour of SAD candidates.