Bathinda, May 2
Amidst apprehensions of rigging expressed by the opposition parties, Punjab Armed Police (PAP) personnel would be deployed at several sensitive polling booths in the high-profile Bathinda Lok Sabha constituency for the required strength of central security forces was not available.

The 12 companies of central security forces allocated for this constituency would be in a position to man the 247 hypersensitive and an equal number of sensitive booths only, whereas at more than 500 sensitive polling booths, the PAP personnel would be deployed.

The districts of Bathinda and Mansa and the Lambi Assembly segment of Muktsar, which constitute the Bathinda parliamentary seat, had witnessed rigging and booth capturing on large scale by men of the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal (B) during the last elections of panchayats and the Bathinda Municipal Corporation.

As many as seven companies of central security forces would be deployed in the Bathinda district, four in Mansa and one has exclusively been earmarked for the Lambi segment represented by Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal.

SSP Ashish Chaudhary said the seven companies would be in a position to cover the 76 hypersensitive and about 300 sensitive booths.

Another officer connected with the elections said the central forces would be in a position to perform only static duty at the booths and not to undertake patrolling.

The returning officer, Rahul Tewari, had sought 40 companies of central security forces for deployment at all hypersensitive and sensitive booths, but has got only 12. Tiwari said the central forces would be deployed at 178 booths in a cluster of 78 locations. Of the 832 polling booths in the Bathinda district, 656 were sensitive and 76 hypersensitive whereas in the Mansa district with 452 polling booths, 166 were sensitive and 111 hypersensitive.

Meanwhile, the first batch of the central forces reached here this morning and took out a flag march in the evening.

Ferozepur, May 2
Chairman Congress Campaign Committee, Captain Amarinder Singh today claimed that there was a strong wave in favour of the Congress and that the party will sweep the elections winning all the 13 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab. Amarinder was speaking to the media at the residence of Rana Gurmeet Singh Sodhi, MLA Guruharsahai, here today in the morning.

Amarinder said that the Akalis have lost of the confidence of the people of the state, adding that people have now realised that the Congress was the only party which can ensure peace and development in the state.

The former CM said that Akalis were issuing irresponsible statements in panic as they can smell defeat now which was imminent, he added. He further said that two Punjab police officials of the rank of DGP, besides one DIG who was recently posted out of Patiala on the directions of the Election Commission, were helping the ruling coalition in the election. Despite getting posted out of Patiala, this DIG is still canvassing for the Akalis, stated Amarinder. Otherwise, by and large, the entire bureaucracy and police department were discharging their duties impartially, he said.

Amarinder said that his party has sought more paramilitary forces to ensure peaceful elections in the state. Talking about the Bathinda constituency, Amarinder said the Akalis might try to sabotage the electoral process, once they realise that they were going to lose and get it countermanded, but it will not be allowed to happen, he stated.

Ferozepur, May 2
Inflated egos and oneupmanship amongst senior Congress leaders of the district today led to some embarrassing moments for the party during the election rally organised in favour of party candidate Jagmeet Brar at Jalalabad here today.

The rally was addressed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh besides AICC general secretary Mohsina Kidwai, CLP leader Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, chairman Congress campaign committee Capt Amarinder Singh and acting PPCC president Lal Singh.

The rally also brought to the fore lack of coordination amongst the various functionaries of the party as Congressmen failed to mesh together during the all important maiden visit of the PM today. Before the PM arrived on the stage, the Congress leaders could be seen exchanging unpleasant notes over the sitting arrangement on the dais. Even the issue of conducting the stage was debated upon, and finally, Rana Gurmeet Singh Sodhi, MLA Guruharsahai, conducted the stage.

One of the senior Congress leaders even refused to come onto the dais after his name was repeatedly announced to present the "siropa" to the PM. Later, he came reluctantly after being personally led on to the stage by Jagmeet Brar himself. Stringent security arrangements by the SPG officials also contributed in keeping most of the other Congress leaders away from the main dais. Ripjit Brar, MLA Kotkapura, younger brother of Jagmeet Brar, remained the on tenterhooks throughout the rally, tying up the loose ends and cajoling the party leaders. Jagmeet Brar, himself remained off the main dais due to some bindings of the Election Commission.

Nevertheless, the rally saw a huge turnout of the party workers which notwithstanding the scorching heat and dust came in large numbers to listen to the PM. Noted singer Harbhajan Mann was also engaged by the party to enthrall the audience but his performance was cut short due to security reasons.

In his address, the Prime Minister spoke on various welfare measures undertaken by the UPA government for the welfare of the farmers. However, he did not delve much on local issues.

Bathinda, May 2
Harsimrat Kaur Badal, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) candidate from Bathinda Lok Sabha constituency, today accused the UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi of backstabbing the women of India by “deliberately” not getting the 33 per cent Reservation for Women Bill passed in the Parliament.

Harsimrat said it was a matter of great surprise that Sonia Gandhi with sweeping powers in the UPA could not get the Act implemented during five-year-long tenure of the Congress and deliberately kept delaying the bill on one pretext or the other.

Accusing Sonia Gandhi of just doing lip-service for empowerment of women, she said that ‘action speaks louder than your promises’ and regretted that being a woman herself she failed to realise the aspirations and dreams of women that constitute over 50 per cent population of India.

She regretted that even in distribution of tickets, the percentage of criminals was much more than the percentage of women in the list of the Congress, speaking explicitly about the priorities of the party.

Referring to the so-called Domestic Violence Act being touted by the Congress as a major initiative of women welfare, Harsimrat said the Act, which was passed at the instance of foreign funded rootless NGOs, has created more problems for the women rather than solving it, as people behind this Act were detached from the genesis of this problem.

She said the Union Women Welfare Minister has done nothing, except raising the issues of elite in the metros, just to ensure her footage in the electronic media.

She claimed that she took the initiative of Nannhi Chhaan, a religious-cum-ecological initiative, to bring attitudinal change against the girl child, as Union government failed to tackle the menace of female foeticide. She said instead of recognising the change brought in the society by this initiative, Congress activists, including Captain Amarinder Singh, were mocking at this selfless initiative.

Bathinda, May 2
Maintaining its stand against the decision of the SGPC for declaring all Sikhs with shorn hair as ‘patits’ (non-Sikhs), the Sehajdhari Sikh Federation today appealed to its members to support the Congress unconditionally. The Federation also accused the SGPC of becoming a tool of SAD (B).

Addressing a gathering in the favour of Congress candidate Raninder Singh here today, Paramjeet Singh Ranu, national president of the Federation, said the 50-year-old voting rights of the Sehajdhari Sikhs in the SGPC had been withdrawn by the NDA government for which both BJP and SAD (B) would suffer.

Raveel Kamal Singh Takhtuwala, national general secretary of the Federation, said ‘je Shiromani Committee vich vote nahi, te Akalia nu koi support nahi’ was the Federation’s slogan.

The leaders stated that the Federation had always played a decisive role in the elections and whomsoever they supported had won. Ranu said that in 2007, the Federation had supported the SAD (B) with a committed deal for the nomination of the Sehajdhari Sikhs in the SGPC. Though Badal betrayed them later he had succeeded in forming the government, he added.

The leaders said in 2004, the Gurdwara Election Commission (GEC) had debarred nearly 12.5 lakh Sehajdhari Sikhs from voting in the SGPC elections by removing their names from the list in one stroke following the directions of the NDA Government. They said the Sehajdhari voters were fighting for their voting rights in the Punjab & Haryana High Court. The Bathinda district alone had over 90,000 Sehajdhari Sikh voters enrolled with the GEC in 2004.

Bathinda, May 2
A majority of lawyers here have decided to extend support to Raninder Singh, the Congress candidate from the Bathinda constituency, during the Lok Sabha elections.

In support of Raninder, over 150 lawyers carried out a rally which passed through Court Road, Mehna Chowk, Arya Samaj Chowk, Dhobi Bazar, Hospital Bazar and Gol Diggi here today. The rally was organised by Jatinder Roy Khattar, former president of the Bathinda Bar Association, advocates N.L. Garg, Daljit Sharma and Amit Romana.

The lawyers said they were going all-out to ensure the victory of the Congress nominee so that Manmohan Singh retains the post of the Prime Minister of the country.

Talking to TNS, Khattar said Dr Singh’s services as the Governor of the RBI, his stint as the Finance Minister and PM witnessed reforms and rise in the country’s image at the international level.

Ashok Kumar, district Congress president, has welcomed and expressed gratitude to the lawyers for their unconditional support. He assured them that the party would ensure coming up to the expectations of the people across the state.

Abohar, May 2
Poll observer Samir Singh Chandel today visited over 12 villages in Abohar, Fazilka and Balluana segments to check implementation of the model code of conduct to ensure free and fair polls, sources said.

Mansa, May 2
The SAD has intensified its poll campaign in the Mansa district. Public rallies held in the district and nearby villages, addressed by the deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal, finance minister Manpreet Singh Badal, SAD candidate Harsimrat Kaur Badal, an d others yesterday.

Mansa, May 2
If Congress is elected to power, more funds would be brought for the state and welfare schemes will be doubled and provided to the poor without any discrimination, promised Raninder Singh. while addressing a meeting at Sardoolgarh. He alleged SAD-BJP for adopting discriminated policies during the implementation of welfare schemes.

Bathinda, May 2
Mystery shrouds the death of persons, whose bodies were recovered from different canals and distributaries of the region in the past two days.

According to information available, the body of an unidentified man in semi-nude condition was found floating in canal distributary near Raman Mandi of this district this morning. Hands, feet and neck of the deceased were tied and the body was wrapped in a blanket. The Raman police has registered a case against unidentified persons and begun investigations.

Talking over the phone, volunteers of Sahara Jan Seva said, “Receiving information about the body floating in the canal, we rushed to the spot and pulled it out in the presence of the Raman police.”

The body had been sent to the Civil Hospital for post-mortem and efforts had been initiated to identify the body, informed the police.

Meanwhile, the decomposed body of a woman (in her thirties) was found floating in the Natt Bagher distributary this morning. Volunteers of the NGO took the body to the Civil Hospital and after the post-mortem examination, the Talwandi Sabo police returned it to volunteers for cremation and initiated the inquest.

In yet another incident, volunteers of the Naujwan Welfare Society recovered a decomposed body of an unidentified man from Bhakhra canal at Khanauri head in Sangrur on Friday. After getting the post-mortem examination done and completing the police formalities the volunteers cremated the body here this morning.

On Friday, a brutally wounded semi-nude body of an unidentified woman was also found floating in the Sirhind canal near village Madi of this district.

Bathinda, May 2
Virendra Kumar has taken over as the chief general manager, NFL Bathinda, on Thursday. Prior to this, Kumar was heading the operations and maintenance of the unit. Kumar is a chemical engineer from the University of Roorkee. He has been associated with the company since 1976. He has served in various capacities at Panipat and Bathinda unit of the company.

Abohar, May 2
Kanta Rani (35), wife of Jagdish, died of electric shock, as she touched a table fan, while cleaning the floor in her house at Indira Nagari today, sources said.