B A T H I N D A    E D I T I O N

Maghi Mela
Political parties to flex muscles
Bathinda, January 5
With the polling for the assembly elections a couple of days ahead, the three main political parties, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), Congress and the People’s Party of Punjab (PPP) are preparing to take the benefit of the traditional Maghi Mela at Muktsar to show their strength by organising rallies. The annual mela would be held on January 14 a day after Lohri.

Judicial court to come up at Nihalsinghwala 
Moga, January 5
The High Court of Punjab and Haryana has ordered to set up a judicial court in the sub-divisional headquarter of Nihalsinghwala in the Moga district, a fax message of which was received in the district magistrate’s office here, today. Three weeks back, the full court of the HC had given its consent to set up a sessions division at the district headquarters 16 years after the formation of the district.

Director (IT) is expenditure observer for Fazilka district 
Fazilka, January 5
Manoj Gupta, Director, Income Tax, Lucknow, has been appointed observer (Expenditure) for Fazilka district by the Chief Election Commissioner of India. He has assumed charge today.

Protesting BKU workers block rail traffic 
Abohar, January 5
The rail traffic in the Abohar-Sriganganagar section and between Abohar and Malout in Bathinda section remained suspended today as scores of the Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU) workers staged dharna at the track of the local railway station.

 Maghi Mela
Political parties to flex muscles
SP Sharma
Tribune News Service

Bathinda, January 5
With the polling for the assembly elections a couple of days ahead, the three main political parties, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), Congress and the People’s Party of Punjab (PPP) are preparing to take the benefit of the traditional Maghi Mela at Muktsar to show their strength by organising rallies. The annual mela would be held on January 14 a day after Lohri.

The political parties were busy identifying sprawling pieces of land to hold their respective rallies that they expect would help set the tone for the polling, 16 days later on January 30.

These parties have already launched their respective campaigns by organizing rallies throughout the state and particularly in the politically volatile Malwa region but the Maghi Mela would provide them an opportunity to flex their muscles at each other a few days before the polling is held.

However, they are concentrating particularly on the Malwa region where they were planning maximum mobilization of their activists as stretching to other areas would affect the ongoing election campaign.

As such people would be mobilized from the districts of Muktsar, Bathinda, Faridkot, Mansa, Barnala, Moga, Fazilka and Ferozepur.

It would be an acid test for the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal Government that has started making preparations to beat its rivals in the show of strength.

Shiromani Akali Dal leader Tejinder Singh Midukhera was confident that it would be a grand show.

Gurdass Girdhar, Muktsar district chief of the Congress, said that the party has identified a piece of 24 acres on the Muktsar-Bathinda road for the rally.

A makeshift helipad would also be set up to enable the PPCC chief Captain Amrinder Singh directly fly to the venue of the rally. Girdhar said that some Central leader might also address the rally. “However, no one has so far been identified for this purpose,” he added.

It is worth mentioning that the Congress was putting in extra efforts this time to make up its failure to organise an impressive show at the Maghi Mela last year when the main tie emerged between the SAD and the PPP.

While repeated attempts to contact Manpreet Badal on his mobile phone remained futile, his lieutenant Sukhdeep Singh Bhinder, a former senior additional advocate general, said that the party would hold its political conference during the mela.

Meanwhile, certain leaders, who did not want to be identified, said that the stringent curbs on expenditure enforced by the Election Commission might come in the way of organizing the rallies as the entire expenditure might be treated as election expenditure.

 Judicial court to come up at Nihalsinghwala 
Kulwinder Sandhu/TNS

Moga, January 5
The High Court of Punjab and Haryana has ordered to set up a judicial court in the sub-divisional headquarter of Nihalsinghwala in the Moga district, a fax message of which was received in the district magistrate’s office here, today. Three weeks back, the full court of the HC had given its consent to set up a sessions division at the district headquarters 16 years after the formation of the district.

As per the orders, the Registrar General of the HC has asked the district magistrate B Purushartha to provide infrastructure in the SDM office complex at Nihalsinghwala so that the court could be made functional. The Registrar General has also asked the district and sessions judge of Faridkot to identify the cases of Nihalsinghwala sub-division pending at Moga so that adequate measures could be taken to transfer them in the new court at Nihalsinghwala.

President, District Bar Association, Nasib Singh Bawa, while welcoming the decision of the HC to set up a judicial court at Nihalsinghwala, said, “The state government should create new infrastructure including the residences of the judges before the functioning of the courts.”

A delegation of the Bar Association met Justice Nawab Singh, inspecting judge of Moga, on Thursday afternoon and informed him that there was no proper infrastructure available at Nihalsinghwala.

Meanwhile, the Chief Judicial Magistrate Rakesh Gupta, while talking to The Tribune, said there were approximately 1,500 cases of the Nihalsinghwala sub-division pending at various courts in the district headquarters here.

 Director (IT) is expenditure observer for Fazilka district 
Our Correspondent

Fazilka, January 5
Manoj Gupta, Director, Income Tax, Lucknow, has been appointed observer (Expenditure) for Fazilka district by the Chief Election Commissioner of India. He has assumed charge today.

Fazilka DC Dr Basant Garg said, “Gupta would keep a vigil on the expenses of the candidates in the elections in four assembly constituencies of the district. An assistant observer (expenditure) has also been appointed to assist Gupta.”

The Deputy Commissioner further added, “The candidates will have to enter the expenses daily in the register, which would be provided by the observer.”

On the other hand, with the beginning of the process of filing nomination papers from today for the Punjab assembly polls, none has filed the nomination papers in any assembly constituencies in Fazilka district.

Tehsildar (Election) Prem Kumar revealed that no one came to file the papers in the four constituencies of Fazilka, Abohar, Balluana and Jalalabad in the district.

 Protesting BKU workers block rail traffic 
Raj Sadosh

Abohar, January 5
The rail traffic in the Abohar-Sriganganagar section and between Abohar and Malout in Bathinda section remained suspended today as scores of the Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU) workers staged dharna at the track of the local railway station.

The BKU said the National Commission on Farmers, headed by MS Swaminathan, in its report on April 13, 2006, had called for completing the ‘unfinished agenda’ in the land reforms besides initiating comprehensive asset and Aquarian reforms in rural India.

It laid stress on increasing farmers’ income, livelihood, nutrition and health security of farm, fisher, tribal, pastoral and agricultural labour families. However, the Central Government had not implemented the recommendations.

While taking the Punjab Government to task, the protesters regretted that the farming community in Abohar sub-division had suffered heavy losses twice during the last year.

The state government had sanctioned Rs 32 crore as compensation against the losses incurred due to heavy rain and hailstorm that lashed the sub-division in February last year.

In September again, crops in over two dozen villages of Balluana segments were ravaged due to flood fury, triggered by diverting surplus water from Lambi segment to the Abulkhurana drain in this area.

The state government sanctioned Rs 15 crore only even when hundreds of farmers were virtually ruined but the amount of compensation was also not distributed. The protesters also resented that the Punjab Government had not assigned the purchase of cotton to the Markfed resulting in exploitation of growers by traders.