Bathinda, June 2
Even as municipal elections are round the corner, some local Congress leaders are busy lobbying for the ticket from Bathinda parliamentary constituency with the party high command in New Delhi.

As per highly placed sources in the Congress, there are three main contenders for the parliamentary ticket which include Capt Amrinder Singh’s son Raninder Singh, local MLA Harminder Singh Jassi and CM Parkash Singh Badal’s cousin Mahesh Inder Singh Badal.

Sources informed that Raninder has a brighter chance of being fielded from the Bathinda parliamentary constituency as five out of the seven Congress MLAs in the constituency are of Capt Amrinder Singh group. These include MLAs from Nathana, Ajaib Singh Bhatti, Pakka Kalan, Makhan Singh, Talwandi Sabo, Jeet Mohinder Singh Sidhu, Sardoolgarh, Ajit Inder Singh Mofer and Budhlada, Mangat Ram Bansal.

Only two MLAs from the Bhattal group are believed to support Jassi’s candidature, which include MLA Mansa, Sher Singh Gagowal beside Jassi himself.

With the Badal family laying its claims over the Bathinda seat, people of this area as well as the Congress leadership feels that only Raninder can emerge as a strong contender against them.

During the last assembly elections, Raninder was in-charge of the Bathinda parliamentary constituency and the party did well under him. At that time, he is believed to have struck a chord with the elderly as well as the youth of this area.

Also, the stand taken by Capt Amrinder Singh for the sharing of waters agreement and introduction of Bt cotton here made him a ‘messiah’ amongst the people of this cotton belt, where potable drinking water is a rarity.

Moreover, the dominant Sidhus of Malwa have a special place for Raninder in their hearts because his ancestors belonged to this area.

However, MLA Jassi is a close relative of Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh and is expected to get the unconditional support of the Dera premis, whose number is believed to be in lakhs.

But the top Congress leadership with a Sikh psyche feels that fielding Jassi would send a ‘wrong signal’ and would lead to resentment amongst the Sikhs in the area, which would ultimately benefit the Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal) and go against the Congress in the whole of Malwa region.

There is one more section amongst the top leadership that wants to field Mahesh Inder Singh Badal. One of the main reasons for this is his clean image and his being a father figure. Even during the last assembly elections, he contested against Parkash Singh Badal from Lambi and lost by just 10,000 votes. What makes him a strong contender is that he does not belong to any of the Congress groups.

But if Balram Jakhar becomes successful in securing the ticket from Ferozepur Lok Sabha constituency, then CWC member Jagmeet Brar can also be adjusted in Bathinda, because the party is in no position to ignore either of them as they both can do a lot of damage to the party.

Bathinda, June 2
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) today got a shot in the arm when around 50 Congress workers joined the party at Kot Fatta village, some 15 km from the city.

Giving details, Dyal Sodhi, district president (rural), BJP, said, “The Congress workers who have joined our party include Nagar councillors, Charanjit Singh Aulakh, Gurdeep Singh Kler and Ashok Kumar, besides many others.”

“Not only local politicians, but even the village sports club members have joined our Yuva Morcha. They include Tejinder Singh Anand, cashier, Manjit Singh Meeta, general secretary, Karnail Singh Dhillon and others. Most of the Congressmen who have joined the BJP are fed up with the atrocities in their party and felt that the BJP is the right place to be in,” Sodhi informed.

On the occasion, Sodhi also announced that in the coming Nagar Council elections, the BJP would field its candidates from Kot Fatta, who would contest the elections on the party symbol.

Charanjit Singh Aulakh has been nominated as block general secretary, Manjit Singh Meeta as vice-president, District Yuva Morcha, Tejinder Singh Anand, president, Kot Fatta Yuva Morcha, Balwinder Singh Chauhan, president, Kot Fatta unit of the BJP, Bikramjeet Sharma, vice-president, Sunil Kumar Bunty, vice-president, Yuva Morcha, Kot Fatta and Lakhwinder Chhabra as joint secretary.

The BJP is spreading its wings in rural masses and the party scored well during the panchayat elections with three of its candidates winning at village Bibiwala, two at village Gehri Bara Singh and one each at village Dyalpura Bhaika, Sema and Tungwali.

Interestingly, the BJP is also all set to form at least five panchayats in the district. At places where the SAD and BJP have secured an equal number of seats and the BJP has one or two winning candidates, BJP candidates have a brighter chance of becoming village sarpanches as their votes can form a majority.

Bathinda, June 2
To give shape to the dream of SAD (B) chief Sukhbir Singh Badal who wishes to develop Bathinda on the lines of a metropolis, the authorities here have started the job of revamping the Bathinda-Goniana road, the city’s artery of the city.

But the frenetic pace at which the development work is going on has left the city gasping for breath.

The Improvement Trust has initiated work on the 4.8 km stretch of Bathinda-Goniana road at an estimated cost of Rs 11 crore. The plan, which is supposed to be implemented by August, includes the construction of pavements, parking slots, new light poles, bus bylanes, concrete and iron grill on road dividers, drain channels, benches and traffic posts.

However, because the scheme is not being impelmented in a phase-wise manner, there is hardly a few metre stretch between Rose Garden and ITI Chowk that has not been dug up.

The crowded Hanuman Chowk, blocked by a huge pile of dug up earth, has become an accident prone area. The traffic on the road is moving in just one lane.

The people in the city have also started speculating over the usefulness of the project as far as the municipal elections are concerned. It is quite obvious that by the time the municipal elections are over, the civic projects would be far from being complete.

And considering the dug up state of the streets, it is a scenario that the residents of the city are wary of.

To make the situation worse, power supply in localities adjacent to this road would also be affected from June 1 to June 30, due to the laying of underground electricity wire.

Accepting the inconvenience being caused to the people, Improvement Trust Administrator K.K. Yadav, who earlier assured of implementing the work in a systematic way, said, “The plan has been changed a bit. Now, we have been clearing some stretch of the road as the job is almost complete in these areas. But people too are to be blamed for not following traffic diversions to enable the smooth plying of vehicles.”

Survey said this set of high spenders who evade taxes would not be more than 20 per cent of around one lakh assessees in the city.

There are some government servants whose income do not justify their expenditure, they added.

Bathinda, June 2
Car-borne criminals snatched Rs 50,000, kept in an envelope, from a youth who was standing in front of a medical shop situated on Goniana road, on Monday evening.

According to sources, the incident occurred near a private clinic beside Nirankari Bhawan. Sources said that medical shop owner, Raavi, was standing in front of the shop when on all of a sudden, miscreants came and snatched the envelope from him and decamped with the booty in no time.

According to the information, the car used by the criminals for perpetrating the crime was bearing the registration number PB 03 M- 6040.

After getting the information, police reached the spot and sealed all the exit points of the city and launched an intensive vehicle-checking drive.

Bathinda, June 2
The BSNL employees today staged a day-long dharna in front of the BSNL office at Civil Lines to protest against the reported move of the government to sell ten per cent stake and offer VRS to employees.

The National Federation of Telecommunication Employees Unions gave the call for dharna. The leaders warned of dire consequences if the BSNL chose to go ahead with its plans to weaken the public sector utility and harmed the interests of the employees.

The secretary of district unit of the federation, Surjit Singh Sodhi exhorted the employees to prepare for a long-drawn battle and said the ‘sinister designs’ of the BSNL to go in for privatisation and compel the employees to quit the job under the ‘garb’ of VRS would not be allowed.

The federation leaders alleged that the BSNL management was trying to weaken the organisation to enable private companies to thrive at its cost.

The BSNL was the largest service provider with presence in every nook and corner of the country and was providing cheaper and better services but it was an irony that vested interests were out to harm the organisation, which would not be tolerated at any cost, warned the federation’s secretary.

Moga, June 2
Extension of limits of the local Municipal Council (MC) by the state government on the recommendations of the local administration rejecting the proposals of the democratically elected civic body has raised questions on its legitimacy.

The draft proposals sent by the elected body of the MC were rejected by the local bodies department twice and then after the expiry of term of the MC the local administration allegedly sent the proposal 'arbitrarily' that was considered by the department.

Consequently, a notification was issued without taking into consideration the objections raised by the former elected members and the common public. And, on this ground, the state government also postponed the elections even as in rest of all the 95 MC's elections are being held in June, this year.

The process of extension of the MC limits started in the year 2004 when a resolution regarding this was passed by the then President Joginder Pal Jain with the consent of the elected members, on the basis of which, a survey was conducted early in the year 2006 and later objections were filed in November 2006.

After completing all the formalities, a draft resolution was sent to the local bodies department for approval.

However, it was rejected by the department on the grounds that the new area (3,375 acres) had more than 50 per cent agricultural area that is not permissible as per the MC Act of the year 1911, there was no proposal of revenue generation, employment opportunities and it by-and-large had no economic importance.

In the meantime, state assembly elections were announced and this process came to a halt for some time. Jain got Congress ticket from Moga constituency and he was elected as member of the legislative assembly.

Consequently, he resigned from the post of President of the MC. But, his wife Swaran Lata Jain who was then the Vice-President of the civic body started officiating as the President after the resignation of her husband.

She also sent a fresh proposal of the draft resolution removing all the objections of the department on February 2, 2008.

The elected body reduced the area from 3,375 acres to about 1,650 acres including the residential areas of the villages of Duneke, Landeke, parts of Bughipura, some parts of Talwandi Bagherian, Mehmewala and some areas of Mehla Singh.

In the meantime, the term of the MC expired on March 21, 2008. The district administration again sent a fresh proposal of the draft resolution including the areas of Duneke, Sant Nagar, parts of Bughipura, parts of Talwandi Bagherian and parts of Mehla Singh, which was considered by the local bodies department and subsequently a notification was issued by the government.

When contacted, Jain alleged that the elected body reduced the area from 3,375 acres to 1,650 acres as per the directions of the local bodies department but the administration in its proposal added more than 10,000 acres of land that was against the very spirit of the MC Act. "Now, more than 80 per cent of the area is agricultural land", he alleged.

Dr. Pawan Thapar, a Congressman, running a nursing school and constructing a 350-bedded multi-speciality hospital who also raised objections with regard to the extension of limits of the MC but his objections were not considered by the elected body as well as the local administration. Terming the extension of MC limits as unjustified, he alleged that it was done purely on local political considerations.

Bathinda, June 2
The Divisional Railway Manager (DRM) of Ambala division, H.K. Jaggi today said that efforts were on to upgrade passengers’ amenities and services and also to maintain punctuality of trains in the division.

He was here in connection with the day-long inspection of the Bathinda-Sriganganagar section, excluding Sriganganagar and Bathinda. He was accompanied by all branch officers of the division.

Earlier, the inspection, which began at 7 am, was carried out at several stations, including Hindu Malkot, Pakki, Malout, Gidderbaha and Balluana. During the inspection, Jaggi instructed the authorities concerned to maximise efforts to upgrade passengers’ amenities.

He also talked to the railway staff and listened to their problems. During his brief stay at the Bathinda station, the DRM inspected the newly-installed Crew Management System (CMS) display screen at the loco lobby.

Talking to media persons, he said it was a routine inspection, a part of the annual one. He said the computerised reservation system at Malout would be operational in one-and-half months. He also said canal water would be supplied to the Railway Colony in Bathinda in one-and-half years as work in this regard was in full swing.

Meanwhile, guards of Bathinda headquarters under the banner of the All India Guards Council, Bathinda branch, submitted a memorandum to the senior divisional operating manager (Sr. DOM) demanding allotment of guard’s waiting room at Bathinda station. In the memorandum, they said they were not allotted any waiting room here.

Therefore, they had to wait for trains, especially goods trains, for about 2-3 hours, on the platform. They demanded that they should be provided a waiting room near the deputy SS office.

Railway employees, including drivers, guards, under the banner of Northern Railway Men’s Union (NRMU) staged a demonstration on platform no. 6 of the station when the DRM Special arrived there in the evening. They were protesting against what they termed as “improper utilisation of manpower and excessive stay of guards out of headquarters.”

They were raising slogans against the Sr. DOM. The divisional vice-president of NRMU, R.P. Singh alleged that guards generally stay several nights out of headquarters and this was happening only at Bathinda headquarters. “It could be avoided,” he added.

Later, they also submitted a memorandum to the DRM demanding an “impartial” selection panel for the post of driver (Pass) grade Rs 5,500-9,000 (RPS). They also demanded the scrapping of the present selection panel. The DRM assured them of looking into the matter.

Sangat Kalan (Bathinda), June 2
Sangat Kalan, a village with 1500 voters in Bathinda sub-division, finds itself in a predicament. The village neither has a Gram Panchayat (GP) nor does it come under a municipal council.

After receiving a letter from the local bodies department, the District Electoral Office (DEO) put the de-limitation of the Sangat Mandi municipal council (MC) into effect. Following this, the number of wards here decreased from 11 to 9.

As per the new limitation of wards, the DEO has initiated the amendment job of list of voters on a war footing from May 30. The process will continue till June 10.

But the whole exercise has put at stake the right of around 1500 voters to exercise their franchise as they are neither under a GP nor in the MC.

Voters of village Sangat Kalan have been strongly demanding the constitution of a new Gram Panchayat quoting the provisions of the Panchayati Raj Act 1994 section 10 (1), which states that wherever the population is more than 200, a GP can be formed.

Earlier, the ADEO, Bathinda, had recommended to the State Election Commission that the whole of Sangat Kalan be included in the Sangat Mandi municipal council which was rejected.

It is worth mentioning that the voters left out of the newly formed wards were earlier of the view that they should not be included in the MC as they felt that in the council, various taxes were being levelled.

According to information, considering the seriousness of the issue, the ADEO has recommended to the director, local bodies, and others authorities concerned to constitute a GP in village Sangat Kalan. Permission has also been sought for holding the elections along with the other GP where elections had been postponed.

Confirming the facts, ADC (D)-cum-ADEO, Bathinda, Vijay Zade said, “We have passed on the case to the higher authorities and further decision is in their hands.”

Bathinda, June 2
The SAD (B) has been caught in a Catch -22 situation with the 30,000 strong vote bank of Dera premis holding the key to the municipal elections and the Akal Takht hukumnama forbidding them from having any social relationship with Dera premis.

Neither the Akalis can afford to lose the substantial chunk of votes nor approach the Dera premis for their vote and support.

The SAD activists who were vocal and aggressive against the Dera premis were tight-lipped and cautious as any irresponsible utterance might seal the fate of SAD-BJP candidates on the eve of municipal elections.

It may be mentioned here that the SAD and BJP are contesting from 28 and 22 wards respectively in the 50-member corporation.

The Congress, which received a severe drubbing in the recent elections to Block Samitis and Zila Parishads, would bank on its MLA from Bathinda, Harminder Singh Jassi, a close relative of the Dera chief. It was a major factor in the Congress victory in the last assembly elections in the Malwa region.

On the other hand, the Dera premis are angry with the Congress for not raising their voice against the atrocities perpetrated on them during the past one year, when they were exposed to physical violence and manhandling on several occasions.

Interestingly, Rajinder Singh who filed a complaint against the Dera chief and is contesting elections from ward no. 3 on a SAD ticket has categorically stated that he would not go against the hukumnama of the Akal Takht, implying that he would not seek vote from the Dera premis. SGPC member Sukhdev Singh Bahiya was also of the same view.

With the situation being in a state of flux, the BJP is all set play a crucial role in the MC elections as BJP leaders had been raising their voice in support of Dera premis from time to time and the electoral prospects of SAD-BJP combine would depend largely on the 
support of Dera premis garnered by it in support of both SAD and BJP candidates.

As expected, BJP state committee member Mohit Gupta has said the party would go to every door to seek votes. He expressed confidence that the SAD-BJP combine would receive support from all sections and sweep the polls

Moreover, with factionalism in Congress surfacing time and again and former chief minister Capt Amrinder Singh virtually sidelined by his party, the going will not be easy for the Congress.

Abohar, June 2
The Bharatiya Janata Party today launched its campaign here for municipal council elections by organising a meeting in an area that has dominance of scheduled and backward castes.

Mandal president Ravi Setia, Mahila Morcha president Mona Jaiswal, Yuva Morcha president Sonu Phutela and many other senior office-bearers thronged the ward number 12 on getting the information that scores of members of the Salhotras were willing to join the BJP.

The Salhotras were staunch supporters of the Congress in the past. Setia appointed Suresh Kumar Tandolia as president of the BJP ward committee, while Mona Jaiswal nominated Sanju Devi as president and Pinky as vice-president of the women’s wing in the ward.

Meanwhile, the Yuva Morcha also geared up for the elections. President Sonu Phutela today announced appointment of Ankur Garg, Aman Chhabra and Pankaj Piwal as vice-presidents, Jaspal Singh Soni as general secretary and Dharamvir, Deepak Grover and Devinder Jain as secretaries. Jagjit Singh has been appointed as cashier.

Ferozepur, June 2
With an aim to foster the spirit of adventure in all ranks and expose the troops to healthy outdoor activities, a team from the "Brigade of Guards" today embarked on an adventurous mission to trek the Milam Glacier in the Uttaranchal hills.

The team, comprising an officer, a JCO and 14 other ranks, was flagged off from the headquarters of the Golden Arrow Division by the GOC, Major General Munish Sibal.

The GOC was apprised of the objective, route and preparation undertaken by the team leader, lieutenant Javed Akhtar.

While addressing the team members, the GOC commended their pioneering effort and gave them some valuable tips.

He said that the expedition would go a long way in providing adventure skills to the trekkers. At the same time, it would also educate them on diverse cultures and traditions.

It is pertinent to mention that the Milam Glacier, located northeast of Nainital at approximately 13,500 feet above sea level, is an offshoot trail of the renowned Kailash Mansarovar route.

The trekking team would make its way by train and road till the final road head at Munsiyari. The first four days would be dedicated to establishing a base camp at Seila Pani.

From there, on June 9, the troops would trek 53 km to a halt at Milam village with three night stops at Lilam, Reilkot and Bugdiyar.

After a night's rest, the team will traverse 7 km on the glacier as a culmination of the trek and return to Milam village.

The de-induction is planned to be completed in three days till Munsiyari, with halts at Bugdiyar, Reilkot and Seila Pani.

The move to Kathgodam is planned for June 19. The troops would finally reach Ferozepur on June 21.

Barnala, June 2
The local police booked three persons for allegedly raping a maid working at the residence of the women police employees.

The three accused include, Beant Singh, Janta Singh and one other person. In her complaint, the woman told the police that she worked as a maid at the residence of two women police employees at the police quarters, Barnala.

She alleged that Beant Singh, one of the accused who is said to be the brother of one of the woman employee, took her along for some domestic work at his own residence. He, along with two other accomplices, took her to the fields in Pharwahi village.

She further alleged that Beant Singh, Janta Singh and one other person repeatedly raped her in the fields at night. The woman also alleged that she was given some liquor which made her unconscious.

Following her complaint, Dr Jasbir Aulakh and Dr Harjinder Kaur of the civil hospital, Barnala, conducted a medical examination of the victim. A case under various sections of the IPC has been registered against the three accused.

Abohar, June 2
The body of a teenaged youth could be shifted only after two hours of its recovery from the Panjawa sub-canal on Sunday.

The reason was that the cops at the Sadar police station here and Khuikhera police station on the Abohar – Fazilka road could not resolve the dispute that under whose jurisdiction the area fell, sources said.

According to the information available, one Ishwer Ram of Balluana village located on the Abohar – Malout road had informed the Sadar police station that his son Deepak (17) had gone missing under mysterious circumstances on the night of May 30. His footwear and keys of the shop, which the family owned, were found near the Chanankhera sub-canal.

Some sources pointed out that Deepak was not responding to the frequent calls made on his mobile phone on the evening of May 30. Later, some persons, who came on jeep, were noticed moving in the locality suspiciously.

The sources said the Sadar police reached the spot located in between village Burjmuhar and Ruhrianwali on getting the information about the recovery of body on Sunday but returned without completing the process of recording statement of his parents lamenting that the spot where the body was found did not fall under their jurisdiction. Deepak’s parents were asked to contact the Khuikhera police station. But the cops at Khuikhera also denied that the spot fell under their jurisdiction.

Worried parents then contacted the SAD (B) MLA from Balluana, Gurtej Singh, who persuaded the Khuikhera police to shift the body to the Civil Hospital at Fazilka and get the post-mortem done.   

Meanwhile, in another incident, the railway police got the post-mortem done of a youth here, who had been run over by a passenger train near village Bahawalbassi, sources added. The deceased was identified as Sukhdeep Singh and was aged about 24.

Abohar, June 2
The Bharatiya Kisan Union Krantikari has decided to launch an agitation in a phased manner against the alleged “false” implication of its three activists in a murder case by the Khuikhera police, said secretary of the organisation Bal Krishan while briefing media persons after a meeting of the BKU on Monday. The meeting demanded that the names of the activists be deleted from the FIR.

He said a flag march would be taken out through different villages on June 7 to muster support for the proposed gherao of the Khuikhera police station slated for June 9.

The secretary informed that a farmer, Madan Lal, and his sons were injured seriously in a clash over sharing of canal water for irrigation in village Jhumianwali near here last month. Later, Madan succumbed to his injuries. The police allegedly implicated three BKU activists, namely Om Parkash, Gopal Ram and Pohla Ram in the case.

The alleged killers, including Lachhi Ram, had already surrendered before the police in the case but the cops were adamant on arresting the BKU activists allegedly under the political pressure as they spearheaded a campaign against the Khuikhera police and a legislator during the Choohriwala Dhanna incident.

The BKU claimed that the family of the victims had on a common platform said they had no grudge against the BKU activists but the police still insisted on nabbing them.