Patiala, May 7
Former Chief Minister and chairman of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Campaign Committee Amarinder Singh today predicted a major upheaval in the SAD-BJP alliance government in the state in the aftermath of the parliamentary election results.

Sounding relaxed and confident in his New Moti Bagh Palace here while taking calls about the progress of the polling in four parliamentary constituencies of Patiala, Bathinda, Feorzepur and Sangrur, Amarinder told The Tribune that the Congress would sweep the parliamentary elections in Punjab with all 13 seats going to its kitty.

About Bathinda, Amarinder appears to be more confident claiming: “Not only will we win Bathinda, but we would lead from Lambi, the assembly segment represented by the Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, as well”.

He said, the elections were quite crucial for the state as these will set the tone for further political alignments in the state. He revealed that at least 14 Akali MLAs and an equal number of BJP MLAs were in regular touch with him for quite some time and they were just awaiting the election results. He said, they were all feeling disillusioned and humiliated by the dictatorial attitude and arrogance of Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal, whom he described as an “obnoxious little brat”.

Arguing that the Akali-BJP alliance would be routed in Punjab, he listed three main reasons. One there is lot of anger against the government as it has only resorted to vindictiveness against political opponents. He alleged “they have brutally killed 42 of our party workers and maimed so many others besides slapping thousands of false cases on them”. “Do you think the people will forgive them or do they deserve any forgiveness?” he remarked.

Secondly, the state government has not shown any performance. There has been widespread corruption, coercion and intimidation of people. “They wasted all their energies on victimising people besides grabbing transport, cable, sand mining and other business”, Amarinder said, adding that they gave no attention to governance.

And lastly, he said, people have now started drawing comparisons between the Akali-BJP government and that of the Congress. “There was no irritating interference in the functioning of the government from the top as the ministers and officers were given free hand and now everything is determined by Sukhbir and his brother-in-law Bikramjit Singh Majithia”. Naturally there has to be resentment among the people, Amarinder said.

He appeared to be satisfied with the arrangements made by the Election Commission for the conduct of the elections in the state in general and Bathinda in particular. However, he said, barring one DIG and two ADGPs (whom he refused to name) the conduct of the police and others officers was quite satisfactory against all odds and pressure.

However, he was upset and disappointed that the Chief Electoral Officer did not permit him to go to Bathinda where his son was contesting the elections. Under this rule, Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and his son Sukhbir should also have been confined to the Lambi constituency only, but they kept on moving around.

Patiala May 7
It was apparently a "day of women" in Patiala Lok Sabha constituency, which witnessed relatively peaceful polling. About 65 per cent of the 13, 42,796 voters exercised their franchise today.

Rural women exhibited a lot of enthusiasm in the poll process in Patiala, one of the most important constituencies, even though most of them were not aware about poll issues or even the parties they were going to vote for.

What came as a pleasant surprise for voters was that polling in rural areas was utterly peaceful with absence of any warring groups. Perhaps, it was due to increased voter awareness and the stern measures adopted by the Election Commission.

The EC had hired more than 250 video cameras, out of which 14 camera teams were deployed with candidates for non-stop coverage of their activities. Similarly, the Public Relations Department had arranged for more than 30 video teams for “emergency shooting” in case of any incident of poll violence. “Micro observers” were also deputed at 206 ultra-sensitive booths.

Female voters outshone their male counterparts in the first half of the polling day. More than 60 per cent of the rural women had cast their vote by 2 pm. In contrast, not more than 40 per cent of the men had cast their votes by this time.

They descended on polling booths with bubbling confidence but, sadly, without any clear idea about the issues on the basis of which they would caste their vote. Some of women were not even aware about the name of the candidates.

“ I will vote as per my wish. I recognise party symbols. Beyond that I know nothing about any issues,” said Parsinni, a middle-aged woman farm labourer who had come to cast her vote at government school in Mandaur village. On the other hand, Amarjit Singh at the same booth said he would cast his vote on the basis of the candidates’ performance or ability to perform.

Karamjit Kaur, a housewife at Ajnaundan village, said she would definitely keep in mind the performance of a candidate but added that she was not aware about the names of candidates. “I can say nothing at this moment about them but I remember two of the major party symbols and I will vote for one of them,” she said.

It was for the first time that mobilisation of voters by both the camps - the Congress and the SAD - remained a relatively low-key affair in Patiala, which has witnessed violence during earlier polls as well as the last civic body elections.

Meanwhile, former Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh, his mother Rajmata Mohinder Kaur and his wife and Congress candidate Preneet Kaur cast their votes at the local Government College for Women around 11.30 am, while SAD candidate Prem Singh Chandumajra and his wife Balwinder Kaur cast their vote at their village around 7.30 am.

Amarinder and Preneet were accompanied by their daughter Jay Inder Kaur and daughter-in-law Rishma Kaur.

Badal (Bathinda), May 7
“With an experience of around 50 years in politics, I am well aware about the pulse of the voters. It is because of this that I fielded my daughter-in-law Harsimrat Kaur Badal, who will score a thumping win,” said Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal after casting his own vote here this morning.

When questioned about the elections being made an issue of family prestige for the Badals and Capt Amarinder Singh, he said: “For me, there is no personal rivalry. It is a contest between the two parties in the state.”

“I am now fed up with repeated comparisons to Capt Amarinder Singh. He stands no where in my comparison and I dislike when you people ask such questions,” said an irritated Badal.

Earlier, while casting his vote, he showed his sense of humour by telling the polling agents, “Do verify whether I am Parkash Singh Badal or not.” After casting his vote, Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal said: “It is a pro-Badal wave due to which voters have been coming in large numbers to cast their votes.”

“As I was assigned only the Bathinda and Faridkot parliamentary constituencies, I can say that the SAD is quite comfortable,” Manpreet added.

Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal and his wife, SAD candidate from Bathinda, Harsimrat Kaur Badal, both arrived at the polling station in a huge caravan of vehicles carrying security personnel, along with their three kids. While replying to the queries, Sukhbir said: “There is no anti-incumbency factor, the results will be totally in favour of the SAD. The NDA is united and we are a strong part of the alliance.”

Speaking about the achievements of the SAD, Sukhbir said: “For the past 20 days, we have been revealing the details of development through the media but the Congress had not counter our claims on development. Amarinder and Raninder have nothing else to do except to rant and rave against the Badals day and night.”

Harsirmat said it was a new experience for her to see her name on the ballot unit.

A confident Harsimrat said: “I have not contested against Raninder but his father Amarinder Singh for his anti-people policies. If I win, I will do my best to bring social issues into politics. On my agenda, eradication of social menaces like female foeticide, dowry, uplift of the youth, job opportunities will rank high. We are sure that after observing the development, people will openly cast their votes in my favour.”

On the other hand, Mahesh Inder Singh Badal, arch-rival of his cousin Parkash Singh Badal said: “SAD activists have been moving here and there in convoys just to threaten the Congress voters but we shall counter them. No doubt the family prestige of Amarinder Singh and Parkash Singh Badal was at stake, but the Congress has contested on its own agendas not for personal rivalry.”

Bathinda, May 7
Army personnel participated actively in the polling in Bathinda today. Though only 2,189 forms got registered against total 10,000 forms sent by the Army authorities to the administration, this did not dampen the spirit of the Army men who travelled to booths set up outside the cantonment to cast their votes.

According to the sources in the Army, the civil administration had done a survey in the cantonment for setting up a booth but for reasons unknown three booths were set up for the Army personnel at Bucho Khurd village, Bhaggu village and near the PSEB grid.

Maximum turnout of Army voters was recorded at Bhaggu village, which was almost 12 km away from the cantonment. According to Vijay Kumar, supervisor of all these booths, two booths at Bhaggu village recorded 74 per cent and 73 per cent voting, respectively while the booth at the PSEB grid witnessed 42 per cent voting.

Men of all ranks were seen voting. A senior Army officer, who wished not to be named, told The Tribune that if all their forms had been accepted, then they would have got their families registered as voters from Bathinda.

“Despite the fact that we were not many in number, we made a sincere effort to make it sure that all those who got registered as voters go and cast their votes,” an Army officer added. 

Sangrur, May 7
People of Malwa came out in large numbers to cast their vote but did not reveal their minds, thereby prolonging the anxiety of candidates till the results. Even as polling started early and remained brisk at most of the polling booths across Patiala, Sangrur, Bathinda and Ferozepur constituencies that went to poll today, voters did not reveal any signs to indicate leads for the ruling SAD-BJP candidates or the Congress. At all four places, the BSP, Left and others are bound to 
affect results.

Political parties are interpreting the high turnout as “an anti-incumbency wave” or “vote in favour of the ruling SAD-BJP alliance”, based on what suits them.

Polling in Punjab appears to have improved upon the 2004 figure of 61.49. Discrete interaction with the voters indicated that that the Congress had done exceedingly well. Besides, the Congress also polled majority of the votes of the supporters of the Dera Sucha Sauda that has a considerable influence in the Malwa region.

Booths of the SAD outside polling stations had far more number of supporters, mostly men, but by mid-day the number of women who caste their vote were more than the men at many booths. These women ranged from first-time voters to housewives from Jat Sikh families and supporters of the Dera (also known as Premis).

At Government Elementary School, Mirzapur, in the Patiala parliamentary segment, many SAD supporters said they would vote for “Maharani” (Preneet Kaur), because in the light of the SAD-BJP Government’s failure to have someone take over as sarpanch for the past many months, they did not expect much from the government. “We hope Maharani will do something about the depleting water table in the area that has forced half the Jat-Sikh families in the village to sell their land.”

The situation was no different at polling booth 131 in Public Senior Secondary School, Samana, which also falls under the Patiala constituency. Here too queues of women outnumbered those of men. In Government High School, Mavikalan, on the Punjab-Haryana border, by 12 noon 266 women had cast their vote as compared to 240 men. This booth had been classified as “sensitive”, but it did not see any untoward incident.

All along the Nial, Pattran, Dirba, Khanouri belt that that has a large following of Dera Sacha Sauda, Sirsa, both men and women were seen casting their vote - mainly in “favour of the Congress”. Balbir Kaur, Kuldip Kaur and many other women who had lined up at Government Higher Secondary School, Channo (Sangrur parliamentary segment), did not wish to reveal their choice of candidate, but indicated the same by saying, “the young and the new should get a chance to do something. Especially, when others have got a chance, but have failed to deliver”.

Sangrur, May 7
Except for a minor incident of violence at Barnala, polling in the Sangrur parliamentary constituency, comprising Sangrur and Barnala districts, today was peaceful.

As per the preliminary reports, about 66 per cent polling has been recorded in the Sangrur constituency. The maximum percentage of polling (71 per cent) has been recorded in the Mehal Kalan assembly segment, followed by 68 per cent in Sangrur and Sunam segments, 67 per cent in Dirba, 65 per cent in Lehra, Dhuri, Malerkotla and Barnala and 60 per cent in the Bhadaur assembly segment.

Harkewal Singh Sajuma, Sarpanch of Sajuma village, said the village recorded 87.53 per cent polling. Out of total 353 voters, 309 exercised their franchise.