Bathinda, April 22
Rishma Kaur, daughter-in-law of Capt Amarinder Singh, perhaps for the first time, walked lanes and by-lanes of this town to campaign for her husband Raninder Singh, Congress candidate from the Bathinda Lok Sabha constituency.

Apart from all 50 wards of the municipal corporation, she also visited several institutions and NGOs to meet common people in her week-long election campaign.

She has been camping here since April 17 when Raninder filed nomination papers. She has also filed her papers as a covering candidate.

She returned to Patiala this afternoon to campaign for her mother-in-law Preneet Kaur, after addressing four rallies at Kamla Nehru Colony and Bhulera Mohalla.

Rishma asked people not to be scared of the SAD as its days were numbered. The SAD leadership was frustrated and had resorted to bullying, she said.

Delhi CM Sheila Dikshit is scheduled to address an election rally at Gandhi Market on Friday.

The SAD and the Congress, after extensive campaigning in rural areas of the constituency, will now concentrate on Bathinda town. Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, who camped here for three days before proceeding to some other constituencies, will be back here on Saturday to campaign for daughter-in-law Harsimrat. Her husband and Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh will also be here.

Amarinder, Congress campaign manager and father of Raninder, will address an election rally at Lambi, home constituency of Badal, next week. He will address a series of rallies here on April 26 and 29 and again on May 3.

Mandi Ahmedgarh, April 22
A deputation of teachers on election duties has hit Education Department’s move to attract more admissions in state-run schools of this part of Malwa.

What to talk of fresh admissions, the authorities seem to have failed in retaining old students, despite alluring them with sweet dishes, cooked rice and dal-roti under the mid-day meal scheme.

Though the authorities have directed heads of these schools to stop marking the presence of absentee students, many teachers still do it.

Sikander Singh Jartoli, president, Punjab School Teachers Union, Nirmal Singh and Ram Singh Dehliz (SCBC Teachers Union), terming the absenteeism of students uncontrollable, have urged the authorities to rationalise extra duties of teachers at least during admission and examination days. They have also urged the authorities to delink serving meals to students from the duty of the teaching staff. The problem has become complex with the extension of the scheme to students up to class VIII, say the union leaders.

Inquiries revealed that a large number of students of state-run elementary schools had been absenting themselves from school for varied reasons.

Chetna marches organised in villages to persuade villagers to admit their wards in government schools have not produced desired results proved as teachers were occupied with non-teaching duties.

Absenteeism was more among rural area students than their urban counterparts. While wards of farmers missed classes for helping parents harvest wheat, those of labourers remained absent to earn money. A large number of students were seen gathering grain in mandis. There were still others who gathered ears (balis) of wheat from fields where harvesting was done manually.

“In other words, students do not come to school and they are being marked present to show consumption of more eatables under the mid-day meal scheme,” reads a letter written by the Director-General, School Education, and state project director, SSAA, Punjab, last year.

The state had launched the scheme in compliance with the orders of the Supreme Court a few years ago.

Jalandhar, April 22
Reacting strongly to the manifesto released by the ruling SAD, the All-India Motor Transport Congress, a body that represents 50 lakh truckers across the country, said yesterday that Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal had not honoured his commitment of addressing issues related to truckers in it.

President of the transport congress Charan Singh Lohara said Badal had promised that chairman of the SAD manifesto committee Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa would hold a meeting with representatives of the congress to deal with the issues related to them figuring in the manifesto. “But, no such meeting was convened by Dhindsa though already the manifesto has been released,” said Lohara.

Claiming that there was a big scandal in determining the tax structure in the Transport Department, Lohara said super deluxe air-conditioned buses, which were also known as integral coaches, had been given heavy concessions in the motor vehicle tax and additional burden had been put on the truck operators to make up for the revenue loss. Air-conditioned buses were owned by big transporters having political clout in the state, he added.

Lohara said tax on trucks had been jacked up to Rs 15,000 per truck from Rs 4,750 whereas integral coach air-conditioned buses, which ply on regular routes, got about 80 per cent concession in tax compared to ordinary buses.

Lohara said while ordinary buses have to pay Rs 2.25 per km per day as tax, integral coaches, which charge 75 per cent more fare than ordinary buses, pay only 0.50 paise per km per day as tax. Besides, ordinary buses have to give tax for 315 days in a year and integral coaches pay tax only for 185 days per year.

The fare of ordinary buses could come down significantly if tax was charged on them on the pattern of concessional rates applicable for integral coaches.

Lohara said this tax issue, which had been discussed by the truckers with Badal, had been ignored in the manifesto. Besides, there was the issue of toll tax, quota fixed for district transport officers to collect fine from truckers, harassment at the hands of traffic police, etc.

No assurance had been given to them on these issues, he added.

Ludhiana, April 22
The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) will complain to the Election Commission (EC) against Capt Amarinder Singh for using derogatory words against Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and his daughter-in-law Harsimrat Badal and seek registration of a case.

Badal stated this today while accompanying party candidate Gurcharan Singh Galib for filing nomination here today .

Badal said Amarinder had referred him as ‘‘bull’’, ‘‘liar’’ and his daughter-in-law as “Nanhi Chhaan”. ‘‘We will definitely take it up,” he said, adding if Varun Gandhi and Sanjay Dutt could be booked, why not Amarinder.

Taking a dig at Amarinder, Badal said the former had no designation and was getting personal against them. ‘‘I am not answerable to him. He is not relevant in today's politics,’’ he said commenting on the words used against him.

On DSGMC chief Paramjit Singh Sarna's support to the Congress, Badal said he was a turncoat. He chooses the side which benefits him. He did not have welfare of Sikhs in mind.

“All these years he was against the Congress for its role in 1984 riots. Now things have changed. His words would have no impact on the electorate here,’’ said Badal. 

Hoshiarpur, April 22
SGPC president Avtar Singh has criticised chairman of the Congress election campaign committee Amarinder Singh for allegedly circulating handbills with a picture of Guru Gobind Singh in Bathinda for votes in the name of religion for his son, a Congress candidate. He said today that the handbills had been circulated in newspapers. This is a violation of the poll code. He would take up this issue with Jathedar of Akal Takht for action against Amarinder, he said.

On Amarinder's allegation regarding misuse of SGPC funds for election campaign of the SAD, Avtar Singh said if spending of SGPC funds for SAD campaigning was proved, he would resign the post. He said the SGPC had not set any condition for the appearance of Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh before Akal Takht.

Jalandhar, April 22
Even as the whole country cast votes pressing the buttons on EVMs, there is a possibility that the electorate of two state constituencies, which go to the polls in the last phase on May 13, may have to cast vote through ballot.

Though the final picture will be clear after April 26 when the number of candidates contesting in the first phase of polls in various constituencies of Punjab gets finalised, the Election Commission has asked district election officers of the Anandpur Sahib and Hoshiarpur constituencies to keep ballot boxes on a standby.

Briyank Bharti, Deputy Commissioner, Ropar-cum-returning officer, for Anandpur Sahib, said: “We were earlier sent EVMs on a presumption that the number of candidates in the fray per constituency will not be more than 16. But, there are places like Bathinda where the number is expected to go beyond it. Ludhiana, which will go to the polls in the last phase, is also expected to have more than 16 contenders. In such cases, an additional ballot unit of EVM per polling station will be required. If that will be the case, we may have to send our EVMs there”.

Under such circumstances, the EVMs will be sent across from Anandpur Sahib and Hoshiarpur. “We may run short of EVMs, but we have ballot boxes in plenty as a contingency measure. In such a situation, voters in the entire constituency will exercise franchise using ballot papers,” the DC added.

The situation has added to worries of candidates and their supporters who believe that their results might get delayed. The returning officer justifies their worries. “Manual counting usually takes eight or 12 hours compared to electronic counting in which the result is out in just a matter of few hours. If ballot papers are used here, we will begin the counting process at the same time as for other constituencies, 8 am on May 16. The results, however, in our area will tentatively be out late in the evening if that is the case”.

Chandigarh, April 22
At the close of nominations for the first of two phases of Lok Sabha (LS)elections in Punjab, of 79 candidates who filed their nominations, Sangrur tops the list of ex or sitting MPs among the contestants.

Of seven ex or sitting MPs who are in the run for membership of the 15th LS, Sangrur has three followed by Patiala and Ferozepur with two each while Bathinda has none.

Besides the sitting MP, Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), two of former Members of Parliament in the contest are Simranjit Singh Mann (Shiromani Akali Dal-Amritsar) and Balwant Singh Ramoowalia (Lok Bhalai Party). While Dhindsa is a general secretary of the SAD, his two major opponents are chiefs of their respective parties.

Bathinda that will witness a direct contest between daughter-in-law of the Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and son of his predecessor Capt Amarinder Singh, has attracted 22 nominations, the second highest after Sangrur -27. Raninder Singh is contesting on Congress ticket while Harsimrat Kaur Badal is the candidate of the ruling SAD-BJP alliance.

Interestingly, none of the contestants in Bathinda had been a member of any House of Parliament before. Till the 2004 elections, Bathinda was a reserve seat. Last sitting member, Paramjit Kaur Gulshan (SAD) has moved to Faridkot after it was declared a reserve seat following delimitation.

Ferozepur will also have two of former MPs facing each other in the May 7 polls. They are Jagmeet Singh Brar, who last represented Faridkot in LS, and Dhian Singh Mand of SAD (A). Dhian Singh was elected in the then SAD (Mann) wave in 1989 from the same constituency. Opposing them will be Sher Singh Ghubaiya, sitting SAD legislator from Jalalabad.

In Patiala, Preneet Kaur, wife of Capt Amarinder Singh, will be defending her seat for the third time. Among her opponents will be another former MP, Prem Singh Chandumajra of the SAD. There are 14 candidates in the fray from Patiala.

While the Congress and the SAD are contesting all four seats, the Communists claiming to have successfully forged third front in the state, are contesting from Bathinda. They have put up Hardev Arshi. The CPI ML Liberation, the other group of the Communists, has put up two candidates — Bhagwant Singh from Bathinda and Tarsem Jodhan from Sangrur.

The Bahujan Samaj Party, which is out to wrest back its stake after a virtual decade-long dormancy, is also contesting all the four seats that go to polls on May 7. They have fielded Nem Chand (Bathinda), Gurdev Singh (Ferozepore), Mohammad Jamil-ur-Rehman (Sangrur) and Deepak Joshi (Patiala).

Interestingly, different wings of Shiv Sena - Akhil Bhartiya Shiv Sena, Shiv Sena (Hindustan) and Shiv Sena (Bal Thakre) - have also entered the fray. In Bathinda, for example, the Akhil Bhartiya Shiv Sena has fielded Geeta Rani, while Shiv Sena (Hindustan) has put up Dayal Chand. In Ferozepur, the nominee of the Akahil Bhartiya Shiv Sena is Manoj Kumar and Rajinder of Shiv Sena (Hindustan).

In Patiala, which was once headquarters of the Hindu Suraksha Samiti, Surinder Kumar (Shiv Sena - Hindustan) and Sanjiv Kumar Kaushal (Shiv Sena - Bal Thakre) are in the run.

There are nine Independents in Bathinda, 14 in Ferozepur, seven each in Sangrur and Patiala.

Chandigarh, April 22
There was a time when predicting an election was a lot easier. All you had to do was enter a village and take count of the flags of rival parties. The same was the case in mohallas in towns. People wore their heart and political loyalties on their sleeves and it was easier to see which way the wind was blowing.

Thing have, however, changed dramatically. The voters have become increasingly secretive and also savvy enough to understand they are better off playing both ways. So one sees the same people welcoming and attending programmes of both principal candidates in the fray and on occasion even weighing both candidates in coins or laddoos.

Voters are wary of talking about their preferences. “This is because on occasions we fear those asking questions are from state intelligence agencies or even private persons hired by political parties to conduct surveys of the area. Naturally we fear being pressurised if we disclose our choice,” says Sukhwinder Singh, sarpanch, Ghora Chak village, Ferozepur constituency.

Voters, particularly those in villages, also like to develop a sense of competition for their votes among major candidates. “This is the best time to get money for repair of community dharamshalas or for other such joint projects,” says former sarpanch of Akalgarh village, Patiala constituency.

In urban areas, many voters want to remain silent in the backdrop of the “dhakkashahi” (high-handedness), which occurred during the elections to municipal corporations and committees. “Though violence during such elections is on the rise and was also witnessed during the Congress rule, there has been a severe degeneration during elections held after the SAD-BJP government came to power,” says Manoj Goel of Patiala.

In poorer areas and slums, it is the last-minute “wave” which usually tilts the balance in favour of a particular candidate. This “wave” is usually orchestrated through the use of money power or distribution of liquor. “It is in the interest of grass-roots leaders in these areas to ensure the voter remains silent so that he can be tilted one way or the other depending upon who pays the highest price,” says a political observer.

Lastly, there is the question of ego. “People don’t want to be seen to be backing the wrong horse,” says Sadhu Ram of Seona village near Patiala. “No one wants to listen to barbs that his candidate lost and get it rubbed in when there is a question of seeking out men from the victorious party for local favours,” he adds.

Amritsar, April 22
A royal and colourful procession of the ruling coalition, comprising elephants, horses, chariot followed by music bands, presented a unique scene when SAD-BJP candidate Navjot Singh Sidhu, accompanied by senior leaders of both parties, proceeded towards the District Courts to file his nomination papers.

While young Akali and BJP MLAs were on horses, senior leaders like Laxmi Kanta Chawla, Health Minister, and Baldev Raj Chawla, Chairman, Sewerage Board, were on chariot. Sidhu, Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal, BJP’s Punjab affairs in charge Balbir Punj and former Information Minister Bikram Singh Majithia were mounted on elephants.

Meanwhile, Congress candidate OP Soni filed his nomination papers accompanied by Capt Amarinder Singh, former Chief Minister, and Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee’s president Paramjit Singh Sarna even as a large number of his supporters from urban and rural areas thronged his residence.

Standing on a flower-bedecked canter, Congress leaders led a procession which began from the house-cum-office of Soni. Former and current Congress legislators along with supporters arrived at the residence of Soni with band parties and dholis.

Chandigarh, April 22
Punjab Congress spokesman Sukhpal Singh Khaira today urged the Election Commission (EC) to transfer and suspend state Vigilance chief Sumedh Singh Saini for threatening Congress MLAs and their families if they did not stop supporting candidature of Congress nominee Raninder Singh.

In a letter to the commission, Khaira claimed that Saini’s intentions could be seen from the fact he was threatening Congress Talwandi Sabo MLA Jeet Mohinder Singh Sidhu with registration of false cases and even had a case registered against him by the Vigilance.

Khaira claimed Sidhu had stated in his bail application that the Vigilance Director was trying to compel people to give affidavits against him.

The Congress leader claimed that Saini had also threatened MLAs Makhan Singh from Pukka Kalan, Ajaib Singh Bhatti from Nathana and Gurpreet Kangar from Rampura Phul, whose Assembly constituencies fall in the Bathinda Lok Sabha constituency to stop them from campaigning for Raninder. Meanwhile, the Vigilance Director claimed that though an inquiry was pending against Jeet Mohinder Sidhu, the latter had not been called to join probe and there was no question of threatening him. 

Jalandhar, April 22
The official report on suicide by farmers may put the SAD-BJP government in an awkward situation at the political level in the state. The report, which has enlisted 2,990 cases of suicide by farmers and farm labour starting from 2000 to 2008 in Bathinda and Sangrur districts, was recently submitted to the state government by Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), Ludhiana. The government had asked the university to do such a study.

The report has pointed out that almost freezing of the minimum support price (MSP) of wheat and paddy from 2000-01 to 2004-05 was one of the reasons of an increase in economic distress among farmers.

Already, the level of debt is highest in Punjab. Further, the share of the non-institutional debt, on which the rate of interest is very high, is around 57 per cent.

Various studies conducted by the PAU have estimated the level of debt around Rs 24,000 crore in 2006. Of it, Rs 12,000 crore was from non-institutional sources. The recovery methods of non-institutional sources of credit are considered coercive in nature causing psychological and social distress, says the report, for which a study was conducted on 875 villages in both districts.

“Punjab agriculture is passing through a difficult phase since 1997. First, failed cotton crop put the entire cotton belt under stress. Then during 2000-01 to 2004-05, the MSP of wheat and paddy were almost frozen due to falling international prices. The MSP of wheat was increased by about 1.5 per cent per annum and that of paddy about 2.5 per cent during this period (2000-01 to 2004-05), whereas the cost of production of wheat and paddy went up by about 8 to 9 per cent per annum. Further the productivity of wheat declined during 2001-05”.

The BJP-led NDA government was in power at the Centre during the period of 2001 to May, 2004, when the MSP remained almost frozen. As now freezing of the MSP has been pointed as one of the main reasons for suicide by farmers, the Congress will most likely grab the issue to strike at the SAD-BJP government during this crucial period of elections.

Interestingly, the number of cases of suicide came down following a good increase in the MSP in 2005. However, it increased in 2008. In Bathinda district, 85 farmers committed suicides in 2000, 84 in 2001, 92 in ’02, 78 in ’05, 63 in 2006, 76 in ’07 and 109 in ’08.

In Sangrur district, 134 farmers committed suicide in 2000, 123 in ’01, 81 in ’05, 82 in ’06, 105 in ’07 and 118 in ’08.

Of the 2,990 cases of suicide, 1,757 were farmers and 1,133 farm labourers. And reason for suicide in case of 1,288 farmers and 671 labourers was indebtedness and in the rest of the cases other reasons such as family conflict, marital discord, drug addiction and long illness, etc. 

Chandigarh, April 22
For the Punjab government employees though the recent pay commission recommendations have not lived up to their expectations, a 27 per cent increase in salary is a reason to cheer for.

The one category of employees who benefits the most is government doctors. Since they get an additional 25 per cent of their basic salary as non-practising allowance an increase in the basis salary benefits them the most. “I am getting around Rs 55,000 a month now and after the revision I will be getting around Rs 85,000,” said Dr IS Bhatia, a doctor serving in Civil Hospital Mohali said.

“Considering the fact that a large percentage of government doctors in Punjab do private practise NPA is a waste of government money. After doctors the second category of employees who remain absent the most are teachers and they too have been given a special grade,” pointed out another employee.

PCS officers in the state have been given a major hike in the salary. A senior PCS officer gets about Rs 50,000 a month. This has now been hiked to Rs 70,000. A new comer into the service used to get about Rs 22,000 and would now get Rs 30,000.

“We have formed a committee to study the implications of the recommendations. Once we have a report of this committee we will give our reaction on the recommendations,” said PS Shergill, president of the PCS Executive Branch Officers Association.

Punjab police constables too are happy with the pay commission. Tejinder Singh a constable posted at IRB, Chandigarh, said a constable got Rs 8,000 when he starts his joband now the starting salary has gone up to Rs 15,000.

Similarly a DSP’s starting salary was Rs 26,000 a month it is 41,000. “It is a very good jump and now one feels that the government realises the worth of cops,” said RS Sohal DSP posted in Punjab intelligence said.

The stenographers are however not happy with the amount of raise they have got. “Its peanuts. Our counterparts atthe Centre get much more. First I used to get Rs 15,000 and now 20,800,” said Deepak working in the secretariat.

Gurnam Singh, a senior assistant posted in the secretariat said he used to get Rs 16,000 and would now get Rs 21,000. RS Verma a senior superintendent in the secretariat said his salary has gone up from Rs 20,000 to Rs 26,500. “But this is not enough. The PCS officers, doctors and teachers are getting much more,” he said. “The salary of a patwari has gone up from Rs 23,000 to Rs 29,000,” said Indiver working as a Patwari.

Sirhind/ Bassi Pathana, April 22
After the inclement weather, fire has destroyed wheat crop and stubble on hundreds of acres of land this season in Fatehgarh Sahib and adjoining areas.

A visit to Bassi Pathana, Sirhind, Khamano, Amloh and Mandi Gobindgarh blocks of the district revealed that crop worth lakhs has already been gutted. Even today, The Tribune team witnessed three fire incidents in Loharmajra, Hargana and Uchha Pind villages of Bassi Pathana and Khamano blocks within a short distance of 15 kilometres.

The hapless villagers were seen using water, green leaves, twigs and branches to douse the flames in Bhari village. “One of the farmers had burnt wheat stubble in his fields, which is against norms. Our fields, too, caught fire and it is moving towards the standing crops,” said Bishan Singh, running towards the fire with a bucket full of water.

None of the villagers were aware of the farmer whose fields caught fire. “We have to stop this so that it does not spread to our fields,” said Harnek Singh of Bhari village.

In Hargana village, a couple and their seven-year-old son were trying hard to douse the flames in their field. Some passers-by informed the fire station and also helped the couple to control the inferno.

Surprisingly, in all the three incidents, no fire tender reached the spot despite repeated calls by area residents. 

Walipur Kalan (Ludhiana), April 22
Farmer Sukhdev Singh has spent at least Rs 4 lakh on his treatment after he was tested positive for hepatitis-C. His father, Major Singh, died of liver failure. There are at least 15 more families from villages who are visiting doctors in Ludhiana with similar problems.

A government doctor said: “Expensive injections are used on chronic cases of hepatitis-C. There are cases, which have continued from years of exposure. There are two kinds of injections being used. Injection of one company, administered twice a week, costs Rs 10,000 each, while the injection of another company costing Rs 15,000 is administered once in a month. The process continues for 24-28 weeks”.

Doctors blame water for liver-related diseases and repeated spurts of gastroenteritis cases in the area. Importantly, a majority of the families in approximately 15 villages, along Buddha Nullah, including Bar Nahadda, Mallikpur, Man Kaur, New Rajapur, Khaira Bet and Garha, till it drains into the Sutlej, cannot afford these expensive injections.

Mahinder Singh, a farm labourer, said: “Many persons have already died of such water-related diseases. Elections have not changed anything for us for the past several decades and we don’t expect any magic this time as well”.

Medical camps indicate a widespread prevalence of liver-related diseases and gastroenteritis in the area. Darshan Singh Shivalik, sitting MLA from Dakha, has organised four medical camps in the area, the recently being at Salempur held last month. “A majority of people do not come forward for their tests. Among those who attend the camps, there are at least 10 per cent cases testing positive”.

The village does not have a dispensary and the story is no different in adjoining villages of Gaunsgarh and Buraj Lambda. The government dispensary at Khaira Bet village is flooded with gastroenteritis patients.

Dr Harbhajan Singh Naghi said: “There are numerous complaints of gastroenteritis problems because of poor quality of water. There are chemicals in water contents, which are very harmful in the long run. One immediate reaction is allergy”.

Factories and industries continue to grapple with the administrative system and despite strict directions by the Punjab and Haryana HC, industrial waste continues to be discharged into Buddha Nullah.

Dasondha Singh, a truck driver from Buraj Lambda village, said: “Only rich farmers can afford deep tubewells, which cost more than Rs 1 lakh. The water which majority population drinks is dug at a depth of 50-60 ft. Keep the water in the open for 15 min and it turns yellow”.

Karnail Singh, a retired soldier, said: “Our village has just one government deep water pump. But it has dried up now. Stomach ailments are common in villagers and there is no doctor in the area. Our farm produce has decreased and vegetables don’t taste good”.

Ludhiana, April 22
Despite the fact that thousands of seats lie vacant every year, Punjab Technical University (PTU), Jalandhar, has increased its seats for various courses to 26,000 this year from previous 18,000. Not only the seats have been increased, but more than a dozen new colleges, affiliated with the university, have mushroomed in the past few months, thus giving a jolt to people demanding the scrapping of Common Entrance Test (CET) by PTU for long.

The exam of CET this year will be conducted on May 3. Some people feel there is no fun taking CET when colleges affiliated to PTU give advertisements like “Students who have recently passed 10 plus II, reappear examination can apply immediately” or “Direct admission. Eligibility 10 plus II” or “Golden opportunity for 10 plus II, non-medical, pass candidates to obtain admission in B-Tech courses” to lure students.

AK Bhandari, general secretary, Public Cause, a forum for voicing common problems of people, asks when advertisements have to be given by private managements, where is the necessity to hold a CET exam? He says the number of applicants has been below the number of seats available in different institutions/colleges of PTU.

Registrar, PTU, Sarojini Gautam Sharda said the number of seats had been increased so that more students were absorbed. Students would have a wide choice to choose the best college. Secondly, CET covered a more friendly syllabus as compared to AIEEE as it was conducted by the state. 

Amritsar, April 22
Even though the main function of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) and the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) is dharm parchar (propagation of Sikhism), presidents of both committees have been active in the elections.

While the SGPC president has started campaigning in favour of the SAD-BJP candidates, the DSGMC president has sided with the Congress.

Today, DSGMC president Paramjit Singh Sarna honoured OP Soni, Congress candidate from Amritsar, with a siropa before he filed his nomination papers. He also honoured Manish Tewari, Congress candidate from Ludhiana and Sucha Singh Chhotepur, former Punjab minister who joined the Congress, in same manner.

Sarna said he would present siropas to other Congress candidates as the DSGMC wanted to see Dr Manmohan Singh, a Sikh PM, to serve the country for yet another term of five years. However, SGPC president Avtar Singh accused Sarna of supporting the Congress, which allegedly engineered anti-Sikh riots in 1984.