Amritsar, March 23
Public, in general, and commuters and drivers, in particular, complained of frequent road blocks affected by the police here today.

About 15 km stretch of road from the Rajasansi international airport to Circuit House was turned into a garrison as it was manned by policemen drawn not only from the district, but also from neighbouring ones.

A resident of A-blockof Ranjit Avenue, Surinder Singh, said as per daily routine he went to bring his daughter home from a private school located on the Ajnala road in the noon. “However, it took me more than double the time to bring my daughter home,” he added.

He claimed that policemen blocked normal flow of traffic by tying a rope across the road the moment they heard hooters of vehicles of officials approaching and added that they opened it only after the vehicles passed by.

The stretch of road has a number of intersections experiencing normal to heavy rush of commuters. They include Ajnala bypass, bifurcation of road near Hartej Hospital, Kachahari Chowk, Rialto Chowk, near Circuit House, where Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and his family were expected to stay at night.

A considerable number of heavy vehicles ferrying goods also ply on the road daily. Hospitals, schools, Central Jail, besides court are located on it.

When contacted, district police chief Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh said the police took utmost care in managing traffic with the stress being minimum inconvenience to public.

He said rehearsal for controlling traffic during the stay of Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh in the city was conducted only yesterday.

He added that only minor diversions of traffic would be made to smoothly operate the flow of traffic.

Jalandhar, March 23
Despite directions by the Election Commission of India that the candidates and leaders should not move in a convoy of more than three cars, Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal and Akali candidate from Anandpur Sahib Daljeet Singh Cheema were today seen zipping off in a cavalcade of more than 15 cars.

The duo, along with several Akali leaders, after attending the martyrdom day function of Shaheed Bhagat Singh at Khatkar Kalan this evening, snaked through Banga and Phagwara bypass to halt at McDonald’s perhaps to take a dig at the burgers there.

Till the time some party representatives fetched the take-away packs, the cars remained parked right in the middle of the GT Road blocking all traffic behind. Some of the cars even carried stickers of the SAD candidate on the rear window.

The convoy was on the way to Jalandhar to enquire about the health of Gurcharan Singh 
Channi, district SAD president, after he had undergone a knee replacement surgery.

Amritsar, March 23
Differences in the Congress have come to fore as a section of the party, including former MLAs, today opposed the allotment of ticket to sitting MLA Om Parkash Soni and announced to hold a meeting of party workers in the five assembly constituency of the city to chalk out further course of action.

However, Soni, the Congress candidate for the Amritsar Lok Sabha seat, and Prof Darbari Lal, former deputy speaker, said they would bring it to the notice of party president Sonia Gandhi if anyone opposed the official candidate of the party.

Opposing the ticket allotted to Soni, former parliamentary secretary in the state assembly Raj Kumar Verka said he was totally against the allotment of ticket to a non-Congressman. He alleged that Soni had always opposed the candidates of the party whether it was assembly or municipal elections.

Refuting the allegations of Verka, Prof Lal said that Soni became mayor after he joined the Congress and added that it was only after witnessing the works of Soni that the party high command gave him the ticket to fight the assembly seat from Amritsar (West) assembly constituency in 2007. 

He said now after watching the performance and popularity of Soni among the general public, the party had decided to field him for the Lok Sabha seat here.

Meanwhile, a large number of supporters of Soni today gathered at Rajasansi International Airport to receive him as he was arriving in the city after being allotted Congress ticket for the Amritsar parliamentary constituency. However, some senior leaders of the party having allegiance to Rajinder Kaur Bhattal were conspicuous 
with their absence.

Later, addressing mediapersons Soni said in a democratic party everyone had the right to stake his claim for the ticket. He said now as he had been allotted the ticket everyone would work his victory and success of the party. He said it was not he but the party which was contesting the elections and it was the duty of every worker to ensure its victory.

Lashing out at Sidhu for non-performance, he said Sidhu had failed to bring any major project for the city and and whatever funds were being spent on the development of the holy city had been allocated by the Congress-led UPA government under various central schemes. 

Hoshiarpur, March 23
Fake travel agents have duped some persons of Rs 32 lakh on the pretext of sending them abroad.

According to police sources, Kamal Verma of Sahri alleged that Frasis Narn of Nangal Jamal (Tanda) took Rs 8 lakh from him for sending him to Australia. But neither he sent him abroad nor returned the money.

In another complaint, Gurdip Singh of Jia Sahota alleged that Rattan Chand of Mohalla Krishan Nagar, Sanjay Kumar and his wife Divya Kumari of Lajwanti Garden, New Delhi, took Rs 24 lakh for sending his nephew and other relatives abroad. But neither they sent him abroad nor returned the money.