The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

THE TRIBUNE SPECIALS

50 YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE

TERCENTENARY CELEBRATIONS

Poll results will not be referendum on Sukhbir’s leadership: Badal
Punjab CM Parkash Singh Badal, along with Local Bodies Minister Manoranjan Kalia, talks to the press in Jalandhar on Tuesday. Jalandhar, April 28
The results of the parliamentary polls would not be a referendum on the leadership qualities of SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal since the elections are being held to elect a government at the Centre and not the state. Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, who was in the city to campaign for party nominee Hans Raj Hans, said this question had been posed to him even during the assembly and panchayat polls also.

Punjab CM Parkash Singh Badal, along with Local Bodies Minister Manoranjan Kalia, talks to the press in Jalandhar on Tuesday. Tribune photo: Pawan Sharma

Merc with blue light
Owner’s identity still a mystery
Nawanshahr, April 28
Though inquiry proceedings over the alleged illegal use of a blue light atop a Mercedes car began yesterday, nothing concrete came out about the owner and his identity.

Rapist jailed for seven years
Hoshiarpur, April 28
Additional Sessions Judge of Fast Track Court R.L. Ahuja convicted Inderjit Singh of Tanda under section 376 of the IPC today. He has been sentenced to seven-year imprisonment and fined Rs 5,000. In case of non-payment of the fine, he had to undergo further imprisonment for three months.

Political parties bank on ‘bibi brigades’
Nawanshahr, April 28
With a view to giving a fillip to electioneering in the constituency, the “bibi brigade” of the Congress, led by former Parliamentary Secretary Parkash Singh’s wife Gur Iqbal Kaur, affectionately known as Babli, has started a campaign in favour of the Congress nominee for the Anandpur Sahib Lok Sabha constituency.

Pay Panel Report
Health workers allege discrimination
Hoshiarpur, April 28
The state executive of the Punjab Multipurpose Health Workers Union (Male and Female) under the presidentship of Naib Singh criticised the Pay Commission’s recommendations.

Patiala resident held for killing taxi driver
Amritsar, April 28
The police has solved the blind murder of taxi driver Rajinder Kumar, alias R.K, resident of Jaswant Nagar, Ludhaina, with the arrest of Chetan Bhalla, resident of Patiala. The body of Rajinder Kumar was recovered from a room in Ahluwalia Guest House near Golden Temple on March 30.

	Bittu reminds electorate of grandfather’s sacrifice Parmod Bharti Nawanshahr, April 28 Though the rivals have been terming him a novice and a lightweight candidate, the Congress nominee for the Anandpur Sahib parliamentary constituency, Ravneet Singh Bittu, state Youth Congress president, it seems, has started giving jitters to his rivals by dexterously making a rapport with both young as well as old electorate. “Tussin mere Babaji varge ho, is layee main tuhade bhi potre varga hi han” (You are just like my grandfather late CM Beant Singh, hence I am just like your grandson), says Bittu while touching the feet of old people for seeking their blessings as well as establishing an emotional rapport with them. He does not forget to remind the electorate that his grandfather had sacrificed his life for restoring peace and normalcy in Punjab. Besides seeking blessings of the old men and women, Bittu warmly shakes hands with the youth and hugs them, who in turn enthusiastically raise slogans “Beant Singh amar rahe”, “Bittu zindabad”. Such scenes were a common sight during the election campaigning of Bittu in a number of villages, including Bhanmazara, Langroya, Jethumazara, Chuharpur, Palli Jhikki, Kahma and local municipal wards in the Nawanshahr assembly segment on Tuesday. He also addressed a meeting at the Bar Council here. The main election office was also inaugurated here at Chandigarh Chowk. Besides seeking favour of the electorate as the grandson of Beant Singh, Bittu also does not forget to remind the voters that he is the choice of the AICC general secretary, Rahul Gandhi. While promising to set up a Guru Gobind Singh university and an industrial hub in the constituency for providing better educational and job avenues to the youth, Bittu says that the youth icon, Rahul Gandhi, has already assured him to fulfil these promises after forming Congress government at the Centre. “When the youth would have ample opportunities to pursue higher education and placement in industry, then the pace of development, progress and prosperity in the constituency would automatically be accelerated”, says Bittu while making the voters aware of his agenda. Former Parliamentary Secretary Parkash Singh, former MP Charanjit Singh Channi, Kartar Singh Sekhon, Gur Iqbal Kaur Babli, Angad Singh and Avtar Singh Bhullar also addressed the rallies to seek votes for the Congress nominee.
	Khadoor Sahib seat: 15 left in fray Tarn Taran, April 28 After expiry of the date for withdrawal of nomination papers for the Lok Sabha election for the Khadoor Sahib constituency, 15 candidates have been left in the fray. According to the information collected here today, besides Dr Rattan Singh Ajnala of the SAD-BJP combine, Rana Gurjit Singh of the Congress, Dr Surinder Singh Shahi of the BSP, the main candidates of the other parties are Darshan Singh (All-India Dalit Welfare Congress), Balkar Singh (Bhatri Gaon Taj Dal), Mohinder Singh (Lok Jan Shakti Party), Sukhwant Singh, Harjit Singh, Kanwar Partap Singh, Gian Kaur, Gurmit Singh, Jaspal Singh, Pargat Singh, Rajinder Singh and Rajinder Rikhi. All the candidates have been allotted the election symbols by Deputy Commissioner-cum-Returning Officer Khushi Ram. — OC
	Poll results will not be referendum on Sukhbir’s leadership: Badal Amarjit Thind Tribune News Service Jalandhar, April 28 The results of the parliamentary polls would not be a referendum on the leadership qualities of SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal since the elections are being held to elect a government at the Centre and not the state. Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, who was in the city to campaign for party nominee Hans Raj Hans, said this question had been posed to him even during the assembly and panchayat polls also. Whatever the result, it would be a reflection on the entire party and not the party president, he added. He was replying to the queries after his attention was drawn to the statement of former Chief Minister Amarinder Singh wherein the latter had said since he would be responsible for electoral outcome for the Congress, Sukhbir should also accept the same for SAD-BJP combine. Commenting on the projection of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi as the prime ministerial candidate, Badal said he had attended a meeting of the NDA were there was unanimity on the name of L.K. Advani as Prime Minister. “I concurred with their decision”, he pointed out. He also ruled out the possibility of Sukhbir contesting from the Nurmahal assembly seat. “We will discuss the matter in the core committee of the party and would announce a candidate soon”, he added. Replying about the implementation of the pay commission report, he said the report would be implemented soon since they did want to dither in this context. In context of the fight for Bhatinda, he said for him all 13 seats in the state were like Bhatinda and the party would go all out to win all of them. Others present on the occasion included Kirpal Singh Badungar, Manoranjan Kalia and Jagbir Brar.
	Merc with blue light Owner’s identity still a mystery Parmod Bharti Nawanshahr, April 28 Though inquiry proceedings over the alleged illegal use of a blue light atop a Mercedes car began yesterday, nothing concrete came out about the owner and his identity. SSP Rakesh Aggarwal had ordered an inquiry after The Tribune published a report on the matter. So far it’s not known whether the car owner was summoned or not, the car was brought to the city police station yesterday by driver Jatinder Singh as per the orders of DSP Satpal Singh Bhangu. As per the registration certificate, the number of the car had been issued by the Transport Department of the Union Territory of Daman and Diu and the no-objection certificate for transferring the registration in Punjab had been issued in August 2006. To verify the contents of the RC, the investigating police official contacted the Transport Commissioner, Daman and Diu, after which the facts were found to be correct and it was revealed that the NOC was reportedly issued in favour of Kamalpreet Singh, son of Amarpal Singh Tiwana, the DSP said. “The RC is being sent to the District Transport Officer to review the offences and to take the necessary action accordingly,” the DSP added. Interestingly, the investigating officials were still evading queries on the verification of the identity of the owner of the car who has been changing his statements frequently.
	Rapist jailed for seven years Our Correspondent Hoshiarpur, April 28 Additional Sessions Judge of Fast Track Court R.L. Ahuja convicted Inderjit Singh of Tanda under section 376 of the IPC today. He has been sentenced to seven-year imprisonment and fined Rs 5,000. In case of non-payment of the fine, he had to undergo further imprisonment for three months. According to the prosecution report, Inderjit Singh lured eight-year-old daughter of Nam Chand of the same area and took her near Roshani Peerwala at 7.30 pm on October 20, 2007, where he raped her. When the people heard the girl crying for help, they along with her father assembled there and caught Inderjit. He was handed over to the police. The police has registered an FIR against him under section 376 of the IPC.
	Political parties bank on ‘bibi brigades’ Parmod Bharti Nawanshahr, April 28 With a view to giving a fillip to electioneering in the constituency, the “bibi brigade” of the Congress, led by former Parliamentary Secretary Parkash Singh’s wife Gur Iqbal Kaur, affectionately known as Babli, has started a campaign in favour of the Congress nominee for the Anandpur Sahib Lok Sabha constituency. Babli, along with women activists of the Congress, addressed election rallies at a number of villages falling in the Nawanshahr assembly segment on Sunday. Earlier, Jasbir Kaur, mother of the Congress candidate Ravneet Singh Bittu, had visited the assembly segment to mobilise women activists for electioneering. On the other hand, though the SAD, with a view to activating its women activists, had appointed Maninder Kaur Kariha and Satinder Kaur Beesla as district presidents of the urban and rural mahila wings, respectively, about two months ago. Both these presidents have not been of much help for the party. Though Beesla could be seen at some occasions, Maninder Kaur Kariha, daughter-in-law of the local SAD MLA, is yet to appear at any election-related meeting here. It is worthwhile to mention here that Manider was the star campaigner of the SAD during the assembly poll held in February 2007 here and she has reportedly been rewarded with the post of the district president, SAD mahila wing (urban), keeping in view her skill in activating the “bibi brigade”.
	Pay Panel Report Health workers allege discrimination Hoshiarpur, April 28 The state executive of the Punjab Multipurpose Health Workers Union (Male and Female) under the presidentship of Naib Singh criticised the Pay Commission’s recommendations. Naib Singh at a meeting said their cadre had been discriminated against for the past long time because the same cadre of other states like Himachal Pradesh and Haryana and the Central Government was getting higher pay scales. This time, the multipurpose workers were hopeful that the commission would remove this anomali. The recommendation made by the commission for the cadre would not benefit them at all. The commission was asked to compensate the cadre from January 1, 1996, and to install pay parity with Himachal Pradesh where this cadre had been enjoying the pay scale of Rs 4,550 to Rs 7,220 since 1996. This had shattered the morale of the cadre and would severely affect all the national health programmes, including the National Rural Health Mission. Singh urged Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and Health Minister Lakshmi Kanta Chawla to review the whole case of multipurpose health workers and give enhancement of scales and other incentives. Executive members of the District Multipurpose Health Workers Union Jaswinder Singh, Basant Kumar, Ranjit Singh, Rajinder Kumar, Rakesh Kumar, Baljit Singh, Harjinder Singh Oberai, Ranjit Kaur and Simran Kaur, were present. — OC