Hoshiarpur, May 12
Elaborate arrangements have been made to conduct a fair and peaceful polling for the Lok Sabha elections here tomorrow.

District Election Officer-cum-Deputy Commissioner N.K. Wadhawan said around
1,300 polling parties with similar number of electronic voting machines along with
required election material had been dispatched to the seven assembly segments
in the district.

Each party consisting of five government employees would reach their respective polling stations by this evening. The polling would be held from 7 am to 5 pm.

SSP Parmod Ban said about 11 companies of paramilitary forces, 2,400 police employees, including Home Guard Jawans and SPOs, 2,000 constables of the PAP and the commando force had been deployed in the district for the smooth polling.

As many as 124 patrol parties had been constituted to aviod any mishap. Besides, special police forces had been deployed at 451 sensitive and most sensitive polling stations. Two SPs and seven DSPs would monitor the entire force. As many as 12,87,079 electorate, including 6,39,468 females, would cast their votes.

Amritsar: The district administration, police, paramilitary forces and the election observers today reviewed the poll arrangements for parliamentary elections to be held here tomorrow.

More than 15 lakh voters will decide the fate of the seven contestants, including the bigwigs, Navjot Singh Sidhu from BJP, who is trying his luck for the third time, Om Parkash Soni from the Congress, sitting MLA from the West, former Governor and retired senior Army officer Lt-Gen B.K.N. Chhibber from the BSP. Besides four Independents are trying their luck.

The District Returning Officer and the Deputy Commissioner, Bhagwant Singh, said the polling would start at 7 am and would conclude by 5 pm in 1,499 polling booths across the parliamentary constituency stretching from the international border till Verka, comprising nine assembly constituencies, including Ajanala, Rajasansi, Majitha, Attari, Amritsar West, North, South, Centre and East.

He said paramilitary forces, backed by personnel of the PAP and district police, had been deployed throughout the district for holding peaceful poll.

He, however, added that no one would be allowed to disrupt peace and strict action would be taken against any unruly element. He appealed to the voters to exercise their franchise without any pressure and fear.

Bhagwant Singh said the poll would be held under the strict vigil of three election observers, besides 943 micro observers and added that 51 digital cameras and video teams had been deployed for complete filming of the entire poll process to detect any kind of violation.

Amritsar, May 12
As the electoral battle reaches the final stage, with voting scheduled for tomorrow, liquor is flowing in full swing in Punjab and this border region is no exception.

The news pouring in from all segments, including rural and urban areas, revealed that people in slums and city’s periphery are major beneficiaries of liquor and drugs, which are being distributed by the political bigwigs in support of their candidates.

During the casual visits to the command offices of the candidates in different localities, the ward pradhans and area chiefs of different localities were being seen fighting tooth and nail to grab a carton or two to entice their voters.

A close aide of a candidate preferring anonymity said they had been continuously receiving big demands for supply of liquor from all areas of the constituency and major expense during electioneering was being diverted towards purchase of liquor.

Several NGOs, including Citizen Forum, Mission Aagaaz and Amritsar Vikas Manch, had been crying hoarse that the use of money, drugs and liquor should be stopped with a heavy hand as the Election Commission must strictly enforce model code of conduct and impose a total clampdown on the supply of liquor during the last week of the campaigning.

The police and security forces have been deployed only two days in advance but were unable to check the flow of liquor into the city as the parties were employing different strategies to hoodwink the administration.

A senior strategist of a candidate told The Tribune that to provide large scale supply of liquor to different areas without landing in any EC or police trouble, the party had provided list of names of beneficiaries to liquor vendors in the specified areas, including Maqboolpura, Anngarh and Hindustan Basti, where they were allowed to pick up their quota of bottles.

Meanwhile, the liquor cartel has also hiked the rates of common brands of whiskey during the last two days.

A senior member of the campaign committee of a political party said the vendors had hiked the rates by at least Rs 500 per box.

The scene in the rural areas was that the hooch and tipplers were having a field day where every second house was distilling its own brew with the authorities looking the other way.

A villager said country-made liquor was their top choice as it gives an instant kick while foreign brands take a long time to have an impact.

Dhun Dhai Wala (Tarn Taran), May 12
Do waqt ki roti aur raat ko chain ki neend. This is all that life is about, for some people. Rulers change, governments come and go but they hardly care.

The city-bred call them dazed and stupid, while saints think they are blessed.

With the election fever riding high on people’s minds, this pocket in Amritsar’s neighbourhood, lives oblivious of the happenings of the world, because their own little world is enough for them.

Thirty Muslim families belonging to the Mahigir community believe that the Dhun Dhai Wala village in the Mand area, once known as mini Khalistan, is their “homeland”.

The village, marked by kutcha roads and small huts (located at a fair distance from each other), is almost cut off from the rest of the world since there is hardly any transport facility.

Kallu (32), a part of this village and a permanent resident of Pilibhit in Uttar Pradesh, says he is only concerned with earning livelihood for his family by working in the farms in this border village and is not aware about leaders contesting back home.

Pilibhit (from where Varun Gandhi is contesting elections on the BJP ticket) like the Khadoor Sahib Lok Sabha constituency, would go to the polls on May 13.

It is pertinent to mention here that the Mand area had hostile terrain which was used by militants during the two-decade-long turmoil in Punjab.

Talking to The Tribune team, Kallu says he, along with his wife Afsana and children, besides other relatives, comes to the village every year around Divali and works here till may end.

He says they take land on lease, grow vegetables on farms and sell their produce in various grain markets, including Tarn Taran, Harike, Fatehbad and Amritsar.

Kallu, however, adds that this season they have suffered huge losses as the river Beas, passing through the area, had changed its course causing severe damage to the vegetable crops.

These families, which had been coming to the area for the last one and a half decades, have turned the hostile terrain into fertile land with their hard work.

They have brought with them Moulvis who provide education to their children.

Jalandhar, May 12
Resham Gupta of class VIII of Mahavir Jain School stood first in the examination conducted by the Punjab School Education Board in the district.

The second position was secured by Mohit Maini of the same school. Talking to The Tribune, Resham said she had always aspired to become a doctor and her excellence in the examination had virtually boosted her spirits.

Mohit said following the path of hard work, he was sure of becoming a successful chemical engineer one day.

Jubilant over academic excellence of their students, school Principal Rajni Sharma said both the students had been equally brilliant in the co-curricular activities.

“We were sure that our children will excel in the examination but this is more than we expected,” she said.

The third position in the district was achieved by Priyanka of Shiv Devi High Girls
School, while the fourth rank was secured by Ravish Malhotra of New St Soldier
School, Jalandhar.