Pathankot, May 19
With less than nine months for the assembly elections in Punjab, Congressmen are sitting back and watching with glee the sordid drama unfolding between two BJP titans in this town.

The tussle between former Transport Minister Master Mohan Lal, who is also the local MLA, and BJP state president Ashwani Sharma spilled onto the streets of this town with supporters of the former rallying behind their leader and claiming that Sharma had played a ‘dubious’ role in the ouster of the minister from the Punjab Cabinet.

The tussle between two senior BJP leaders is reminiscent of the skirmish between Batala’s BJP MLA Jagdeesh Sahni and his senior colleague Laxmi Kanta Chawla which saw the former eating humble pie. While Chawla has retained her ministerial berth, Sahni has virtually been rendered hors-de-combat in his fight for supremacy against Chawla.

It is pertinent to mention here that the BJP has a significant presence in this district with the saffron party having its MLAs in five assembly segments in this parliamentary constituency which has a total of 11 Vidhan Sabha seats.

Hundreds of supporters of Master Mohan Lal staged noisy demonstrations near labour shed claiming that Ashwani Sharma was directly instrumental in the ouster of the Pathankot MLA from the Cabinet.

Both Master Mohan Lal and Ashwani Sharma are local residents with insiders claiming that political stakes in this assembly segment have been raised by the decision of the BJP state president to contest the next assembly elections from Pathankot.

Said a livid Master Mohan Lal, who is being supported by six out of a total of eight BJP municipal councillors,” I was the one who brought Ashwani Sharma out of political wilderness and using my contacts in the New Delhi-based BJP leadership I played a vital role in his elevation as state BJP president. Now he is out with a dagger ready to stab me in the back.”

Although Ashwani Sharma could not be reached for comments, party sources claim that is a near certainty that he will be seeking the BP ticket from Pathankot assembly segment. “Master Mohan Lal’s removal from the Cabinet is the first step in this direction,” commented a senior BJP leader preferring anonymity

BJP Kisan Morcha President Jasbir Singh also lent his support to the beleaguered former Transport Minister.

Meanwhile, Congressmen of the region are savouring every minute of the fight between the two BJP leaders.

Vikram Joshi, a ticket aspirant, disclosed with glee, “This tussle only goes on to prove that the BJP has become a fractured party. First they should stop fighting amongst themselves and only then will they be in a position to fight the Congress.” 

Amritsar, May 19
Case properties seized in various criminal cases were gutted in a fire that broke out in the malkhana of Rambagh police station this afternoon.

Though the exact reason for the start of the fire is yet to be ascertain, it took more than an hour for at least 10 fire tenders to douse the fire.

Tarlochan Singh, Fire Brigade Officer, said it could have spread to other parts of the complex had it not been controlled on time by the fire brigade officials. He said alcohol and spurious oil seized in various cases aggravated the problem as it helped the fire to spread.

Deputy Commissioner of Police Amar Singh Chahal said the malkhana building had been declared unsafe by the civic authorities and was to be demolished.

He said old case property materials were lying in the malkhana and it would take two to four days for ascertaining the exact loss.

Amritsar, May 19
The police solved a murder mystery and arrested two persons in this connection on Wednesday. It is to mention that the police had recovered the body of Chandan Singh, a vendor from a sack on January 20 from Sultanwind area. After investigation, the police zeroed in on his two relatives, identified as Jaggu and Pappu.

According to Inspector Balwant Singh, the deceased too was involved in connection with another murder case and had served his sentence in jail. “The victim, originally belonging to Rajasthan, used to sell golgappas in the Sultanwind area. It was revealed after interrogating that the trio- Jaggu, Pappu and Chandan, consumed liquor on the evening of January 21, where they were engaged in an alteration over installing the rehris in their areas. Later, Jaggu and Pappu strangulated Chandan and chopped his neck and arms with a sharp-edged weapon. They escaped after putting his body in a sack and threw it in Sultanwind area. The accused were held for interrogation on May 15,” he said.