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Kalia in crorepati club
Manoranjan Kalia on his way to file nomination on Friday. Tribune photo: Malkiat Singh
Manpreet vows to end VIP culture
Portal war turns ugly
SAD drops Maheshinder
In Adampur, BSP connections count
Seechewal sets green agenda
BJP expels 3 Hoshiarpur councillors
Traders upset with political parties Chandigarh, January 6 Traders and industrialists in Punjab are upset with the political parties for failing to give them due representation while allotting tickets for the assembly elections. Though, many industrialists were aspiring to contest the elections, but none of the major political parties had allotted ticket to them.
Constituency Watch:
Fazilka
Constituency Watch:
Ghanaur
Parents urge education dept to declare holidays
Ludhiana DC told to decide encroachment issue in 2 months
Apex court slaps Rs 50,000 cost on Punjab govt
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Rahul’s brigade high on confidence
Chandigarh, January 6
This, sources said, has been done deliberately to send a message that Youth Congress nominations are not the prerogative of the wealthy and well- connected alone. None of the six candidates allotted seats have a political background. Most of them are the product of the pilot project initiated by Rahul Gandhi in 2008 when elections to the Youth Congress were held for the first time. The candidates claim they will provide the much-needed zing to the elections. Kuljit Nagra, who headed the student body at Panjab University for several years and also organised NSUI elections across the country, likens his fight in Fatehgarh Sahib to one between Om Parkash Chautala and Randeep Singh Surjewala in Haryana. Nagra faces Prem Singh Chandumajra of the SAD. “I have been a better and more popular student leader than him (Chandumajra)” says Nagra, adding that youth support would be the key element in the contest with Chandumajra. Amarinder Singh ‘Raja Warring’, a general secretary, All-India Youth Congress is not afraid of contesting against Manpreet Singh Badal of the People’s Party of Punjab (PPP) from Gidderbaha. “It is a challenging task”, he says, adding “Manpreet has failed to deliver on his promises”. Dr Shailender Singh Shelly, who is contesting from Majitha, says he will give the needed “fight” to Bikram Majithia of the SAD. “I have been fighting against imposition of fake cases against Congress workers. Cases have also been registered against me”, he says adding “I will use the elections as an opportunity to throw out Majitha from the area”. Shelly, who is also a member of the block samiti, has been with the Youth Congress since 2000 and was Amritsar Rural district president earlier. For some of the candidates, life has taken a complete turn-around. Lakhvir Singh Lakha, who will contest from Payal (reserved) seat, says he still finds it hard to believe that he has been allotted the ticket. Lakha’s father, a Class IV employee in the FCI, died when he was four. Lakha has earlier served as the Ludhiana Rural district chief. Rajvinder Singh Lucky, a law graduate from Panjab University, where he also headed the student body, says he has been working in Nawanshahr district since 2007 before being elected district president of the Youth Congress in 2008. “I am sure I will be lucky against three-time legislator Choudhary Nand Lal”, he adds.
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Illegal eatery opens next to Kalia’s house
Jalandhar, January 6 From showing ‘not too known’ candidates as star campaigners to opening eateries, they have been indulging in all sorts of ploys to duck poll expenses. In one such development, BJP candidate from Jalandhar (Central) Manoranjan Kalia has allegedly got opened a makeshift ‘dhaba’ near his house here for serving meals to his supporters. Named ‘Ved da dhaba’, the eatery has come up illegally in a residential building and that too two days ago. It has no seating arrangements and while Kalia went to file his nomination papers today, a majority of the few hundred supporters who had gathered at his house in the morning munched their brunch there for free. Four to five cooks were busy preparing and serving food in the verandah of the house. The supporters were served a sumptuous meal, including ‘rumali roti’, ‘tandoori roti’, ‘daal’ and white ‘chana’ with tea as they stood on the gate of the ‘dhaba’. Confirming that no permission had been taken from the civic authorities concerned in this regard, MC superintendent (licence branch) Dinesh Joti said: “There is no dhaba registered with us by this name.” Ved, who owns the ‘dhaba’, said, “I have opened this outlet only till the elections. In 2009, I opened short-term catering business for Hans Raj Hans, this time I am doing the service for Kaliaji. I took this place on rent from one of my friends.” Kalia, however, said: “I have no role in opening the dhaba. The owner must have started it to do some brisk business on poll eve realising a large number of visitors come to my house….He serves low-cost food and all my supporters may have gone to him to have their meal.”
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Kalia in crorepati club
Compared to last elections, the BJP leader's total worth has grown by Rs 1.7 crore. As declared by Kalia, he now owns movable assets worth Rs 1,25,65,867; 100 gm gold (same as last time), Rs 18.47 lakh in bonds and Rs 1 lakh as investment in LIC. His immovable assets' worth is Rs 1,34,15,500. He, however, also has dues to the tune of Rs 1,08,45,887. In 2007, Kalia's movable assets were worth Rs 14,51,180, which included Rs 10,000 cash, deposits of Rs 2,95,224, Rs 1,22,561 and Rs 4 lakh in UCO Bank and Rs 23,395 in Central bank. He owned two vehicles: a Hyundai Accent and a Toyota Qualis worth Rs 2 lakh and Rs 3 lakh, respectively. His immovable property was worth Rs 74,60,000, which included plots in Jalandhar, Ropar and Pathankot and ancestral property worth Rs 55 lakh in Central Town, Jalandhar. (With inputs from Deepkamal Kaur in
Jalandhar)
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Tikshan Sud is worth Rs 5 crore
He owns 350 gms gold jewellery and 5.5 gm of silver jewellery. His wife has gold and silver jewellery weighing 450 gms and 950 gms, respectively. The minister has shown a liability of Rs 51,89,320 as income tax dues.
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Manpreet vows to end VIP culture
Chandigarh, January 6 The elimination of the “VIP culture” will be on top of his agenda. He said that red beacons would only be allowed on ambulances and fire brigades. There would be a 90 per cent cut in the number of security personnel deployed with politicians and officials. He has proposed a dress code for securitymenl so that their services are not misutilised by the high-ups. He is for banning reimbursement of medical bills for treatment abroad. He said his party would announce a special development package for border and kandi areas and there would be a special job plan for youth from these areas. Demands of the agitating teachers would be met, employment generation scheme launched and electronic information centres set up in all villages. There would be a special agriculture relief fund. He promised to enact tough laws, including one on NRI marriages, go for major police reforms , set up agriculture insurance corporation, hold dialogue with the Centre on loans and introduce health insurance scheme against the life-threatening diseases for the poor sections. On his agenda is... Development package for border & kandi areas
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Portal war turns ugly
Chandigarh, January 6 An ugly war of words rages between the SAD and the Congress on Facebook, but the helpless Election Commission can only advise the candidates to exercise restraint. “When IT Minister Kapil Sibal could not do anything to regulate content on these sites, what can we do,” said Usha Sharma, Special CEO. She said the media monitoring committee had no control on these portals. With as many as 5,23,508 Internet users in Punjab out of which 66,350 are in rural areas (data provided by India Internet Statistics Compendium), the mudslinging on the net is becoming a cause of concern for election watchers. Ravinder Singh Khitna, a representative for NGO Election Watch, said: “Ways and means should be chalked out to check this kind of negative campaigning. Nobody believes in self-regulation anymore.” The EC today ordered the transfer of Kulwant Singh, principal of Government Senior Secondary School, Bholath, for allowing the nephew of former SGPC president and SAD candidate from Bholath, Bibi Jagir Kaur, to use the school premises for political goals. Bibi Jagir Kaur has been sent a reminder on the notice issued to her by the commission. Taking note of the installation of submersible pumps at panchayati land free of cost by MS Ayali, SAD candidate from Dakha, at Latala and Chappar villages in Ludhiana, the Assistant Engineer, Panchayati Raj, Sushil Kumar Arora, and Gidderbaha BDO Gurpreet Singh have been transferred with immediate effect. CLEAN CHIT to SSP The complaint against the SSP, Ferozepur, that he was favoruing Akali candidate Vardev Singh Mann, has been found baseless.
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Poll snippets
Jalandhar: The top brass of the BJP would be at hand to help their candidates in the assembly elections from January 20 to January 27. Among them will be BJP president Nitin Gadkari, Sushma Swaraj, Rajnath Singh, Arun Jaitley, Narendra Modi, Bihar CM Nitish Kumar and actors Vinod Khanna and Smriti Irani. National general secretary JP Nadda said it would be the first time that all these star campaigners would not only canvass in the constituencies of their candidates but also those of their alliance partner the SAD. He also said party vice-president and former HP CM Shanta Kumar would tour the state from January 9-19.
— Amarjit Thind Sikh Anand Marriage Act
Troubles aplenty for Kuldeep
Patiala: With four-time MLA Brahm Mohindra getting Patiala (Rural) constituency, considered to be a safe seat for the Congress, it would now be a triangular contest between SAD candidate Kuldeep Kaur Tohra, Brahm Mohindra and Akali Dal rebel Satbir Singh Khatra. Brahm Mohindra had earlier represented the Patiala seat thrice in 1980, 1985 and 1992 assembly elections. However, in 2002, he was shifted to Samana so that Amarinder Singh could contest from the seat. Now, with Patiala (Rural) being carved out from Patiala (City), Nabha, Samana and Amloh constituencies, Brahm Mohindra in a way has been rehabilitated. According to reports, Satbir is likely to eat into the vote share of SAD candidate Kuldeep Kaur Tohra, which would only benefit the Congress.
— Umesh Dewan Receipt for every voter card
Faridkot: In run-up to assembly elections, Faridkot district electorate office wants to leave no room for any political party to blame the office for showing favouritism to the ruling SAD-BJP regime. He has directed all block-level election officers in rural areas to get the signature of every voter at the time of handing over photo identity card to them. The directions were issued to ensure that every voter get his card and even gives a receipt in the form of his signature, an official said.
— Balwant Garg
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SAD drops Maheshinder
Chandigarh, January 6 Education Minister Sewa Singh Sekhwan has been given the Qadian seat. He will be pitched against Charanjit Bajwa, wife of Gurdaspur MP Partap Singh Bajwa. The Batala seat, that the SAD swapped with the BJP, has been allotted to Lakhbir Singh Lodhinangal. After the SAD lost the 2002 elections, Grewal and Manjit Singh Calcutta (both have been denied the ticket) had facilitated a patch-up between the Tohra and Badal factions, that resulted in the SAD victory in 2007. Former Punjab police officer Izhar Alam, who was hoping to get the party ticket, has also been left out. too The Taran Taran seat has been allotted to Harmit Singh, Ferozepur Rural to Joginder Singh Jindu, Malerkotla to Nissara Khaatoon, Patiala City Surjir Singh Kohli, Banga to Mohan Lal Banga, Dera Bassi to Narinder Kumar Sharma, Sangrur to Parkash Chand Garg, Budhhlada to Chetan Singh Samaon, Lehragaga to Sukhwant Singh Sarao and Urmur Tanda to Arvinder Singh Rasoolpur.SAD is now to announce eight more names.
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In Adampur, BSP connections count
Jalandhar, January 6 The SAD nominee Pawan Tinu was also with the BSP till about four years back. The BSP itself has also fielded its one of the most promising candidates Sukhwinder Kotli from the constituency. Of all the three, 50-year old Kainth has had the best political graph having remained an MLA, MP and Leader of the Opposition in the Vidhan Sabha. He had also won the the Phillaur parliamentary seat in 1998 as an Independent. Later, he had formed the Democratic Bahujan Samaj Morcha as a breakaway group from the BSP, but merged it with the Congress in the last parliamentary polls in 2009 to make a comeback. A resident of Sotran village in Nawanshahr, the Dalit leader had canvassed for Ravneet Bittu for the Anandpur Sahib seat. The SAD nominee, Pawan Tinu, too, had been with the BSP since 1989. He remained as the state general secretary of the party and contested in 2002 Assembly polls. Hailing from Kotli Than Singh village, falling in Adampur, Sukhwinder Kotli has been sarpanch from the area thrice. He, however, is the state general secretary of the party for the past six years.
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Seechewal sets green agenda
Chandigarh, January 6 Seechewal said, The politicians should promise that they will make efforts to stop the drainage of toxic effluents from industrial belts and sewer water into various water bodies and ensure the setting up of sewage treatment plants in all municipal towns.” The environmentalist also urged the voters to elect only those candidates who showed "sensitivity" towards the issues related to the state's ecology and promised to do something in this regard. Drawing the attention of people towards state's poor rating on environmental front at the national level, Baba Seechewal said time had come to set the things right. He said with cooperation from politicians, environment in the state could be saved from further deterioration.
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BJP expels 3 Hoshiarpur councillors
Hoshiarpur, January 6 Party sources said councillor Gopi Chand Kapoor has been expelled from the party for six years, Sanjiv Dua for three years and Perveen Saini for a year. Sanjiv Dua criticised the district leadership of
the party for expelling him from the party without giving any show-cause notice to him. He said that he was a loyal soldier of the BJP and would remain its sincere worker forever.
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Traders upset with political parties
Chandigarh, January 6 Upset at not getting any representation, these industry leaders are now advising members of the bodies they head to exercise restraint while funding candidates in the elections. The industry in the state reportedly gives crores of rupees in each elections, mainly from Ludhiana and Jalandhar, many candidates could now feel the pinch as majority of businessmen would shy away from doling out 'donations'. Talking to The Tribune, Narinder Bhambra, convener of the All Industry and Trade Forum, Punjab, who had sought the Congress ticket from Ludhiana (East) constituency, said that both the Congress and the Shiromani Akali Dal had failed to include any businessman in their list of candidates. "As the industry is going through a tough phase and the Election Commission has made it difficult for anyone to carry more than Rs 2.50 lakh. So funding of candidates will become difficult for the industry. Moreover, since these political parties do not seem interested in fielding candidates from trade and industry, they should not expect to ride on the traders' backs to win elections. Before the businessmen decide to vote for a particular candidate, we will hold meetings with them and ask them if they have any agenda for reviving the industry in Punjab, before we decide on helping them," he said. The only exception is Rana Gurjit Singh, who is the Congress candidate from Kapurthala. Though he owns sugar mills in the state, but for almost two decades now, he has been a full time politician. Ludhiana-based industrialist and prominent industry leader, SC Ralhan, too, said that political parties were afraid of fielding industrialists because they were insecure about handing over power to the public, including industrialists. Gursharan Singh, president of the Federation of Jalandhar Industrial and Traders' Association, who was an aspirant for the Congress ticket from Jalandhar (Central) seat, said that rather than considering the ability of each aspirant, 'money power' had played the most important role in seat allotment.
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Constituency Watch:
Fazilka
In the past four elections, voters of this Rai Sikh dominated constituency have either voted for the BJP or the Congress. This time, the BJP seems to be in a comparatively stronger position with Fazilka accorded district status by the
SAD-BJP government.
Sitting MLA Surjit Kumar Jyani, Transport and Technical Education Minister, has been re-nominated by the BJP from this constituency. He had gone on a fast to press for district status for
Fazilka. This has earned him much appreciation. On the other hand, two-time MLA Dr Mohinder Kumar Rinwa is the Congress candidate. But the main worry for the party is the infighting among workers over ticket allotment. The BSP has already announced Dr Mohan Singh Phalianwala as its candidate. He belongs to the Rai Sikh community. The PPP’s ticket aspirant, Mehtab Singh, is also a Rai Sikh and it bound to create a dent in the the vote bank of other parties. A youth leader, Jaswinder Singh Rocky, has announced his candidature as an Independent candidate. Projects:
The major demand of the people that Fazilka be declared a district has been met. Drinking water, road connectivity and draining out of floodwaters are the major issues now. Located close to the Indo-Pakistan border, the constituency has faced neglect at the hands of successive state governments. VOX POPULI:
The people of the constituency are all praise for the sitting MLA. “After becoming Cabinet Minister, Jyani got district status for Fazilka and also sat on fast for it. He visited the constituency at regular intervals and knows most of the voters personally,” say locals. LOOKING BACK:
In 1992, Dr Mohinder Kumar Rinwa won after defeating Surjit Kumar
Jyani. But in 1997, Jyani defeated Rinwa. In 2002, Rinwa won after again defeating
Jyani. However, in 2007 Jyani defeated Rinwa with a huge margin.
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Constituency Watch:
Ghanaur
Projects:
The rising pollution level due to a nearby distillery has spelled doom for nearby villages who have been opposing the distillery waters being thrown into the water channel. The annual floods caused by the Ghaggar is another perennial problem. VOX POPULI:
Residents of this constituency claim that politicians have done little in the past 10 years and basic infrastructure is in the doldrums, with sanitation and roads in a mess. “The two main candidates, Mukhmailpur and Jalalpur, have been accessible to their supporters but not for the common man”, claimed Karamjit Singh, a resident.
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Parents urge education dept to declare holidays
Patiala, January 6 The Education Department has changed the timings of all government schools from 9 am to 9.30 am, still parents want that following the decision of the Haryana government, the Punjab government should also declare holidays for a few days. Moreover, many of the students reach schools from far off places either on bicycles or buses and there is very low visibility in the morning hours. "Going to school in heavy fog might lead to an accident. I think, the government should declare holidays for some days," added Paramjit Singh. A resident of Indra Colony, Sunita, says her son studies in a primary school. "Though I try to dress up my son properly, still it is not sufficient," she added. "When students come, we can see them shivering and their hands frozen. Many of them don't even have suitable clothes to wear," said a government school teacher.
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Excise policy
2012-13
Chandigarh, January 6 The directions by the Bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Surya Kant came as it closed four writ petitions filed on the issue by advocate HC Arora and others. In their petition against the State of Punjab and other respondents, the petitioners had raised issues such as opening and closing timings of liquor shops in the state. Taking up the petitions, the Bench asserted: "The issues arising in these writ petitions pertain to the policy matters, which are covered by the laid down norms framed by the state government from time to time." The Bench observed, "Whether the liquor shops should be opened at any particular time and whether in Punjab, such timings should coincide with the timings in the other states like Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, are the primarily matters for the executive to decide…." "We have noticed that in Punjab, the liquor policy is framed every year in the month of February in view of the experiences that have been gained in working of the previous policies. In this manner, the new policy for 2012-13 is likely to be framed in the month of February, 2012, to be made effective from April 1, 2012," the court observed. "We, therefore, deem it appropriate to leave it to the wisdom and discretion of the appropriate authorities of the state to fix the timings of operation of the liquor shops in the state after taking into account all the relevant facts and circumstances," the court said.
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Ludhiana DC told to decide encroachment issue in 2 months
Chandigarh, January 6 The directions by the Bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Surya Kant came on a petition filed by Satinder Singh and other petitioners against the State of Punjab and other respondents. In their petition filed in public interest, Satinder Singh and others had alleged that land grabbers had already encroached upon nine-and-a-half biswas of panchayat land and had raised a construction thereon under the name of Mata Gujri Memorial Library. The petitioners had added that it was a bogus body. Moreover, the alleged land grabbers were trying to raise another construction by purchasing the remaining land at a throwaway price. Taking up the petition, the Bench observed a detailed representation dated December 10, 2011, in this regard filed by the petitioners before the Ludhiana Deputy Commissioner. The representation, according to the petitioners, "is yet to be answered". Disposing of the petition, the Bench added: "We have considered the basic facts on which the writ petition has been structured. According to us, instead of entertaining this writ petition as a public interest litigation, it would be more appropriate if the representation dated December 10, 2011, filed by the petitioners, inter alia, before the Deputy Commissioner, Ludhiana, is disposed of by the said authority so that the essential and primary facts in the case stand crystallized." "We, therefore, direct the Deputy Commissioner, Ludhiana to dispose of the petitioners' representation, annexed along with the petition, and pass appropriate orders in the matter within a period of two months from the date of receipt of this order". Before parting with the judgment, the Bench added: "We also make it clear that if the petitioners entertain any further grievance in this regard, it will be open for them to avail of such legal remedies as may be available to them in law".
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Apex court slaps Rs 50,000 cost on Punjab govt
New Delhi, January 6 A Bench comprising Justices GS Singhvi and SJ Mukhopadhaya passed the order, reprimanding the PR department for coming all the way to the SC to settle the dispute over the promotion of Sukhdev Singh Randhawa as an Assistant Public Relations Officer (APRO) in 1986. The APRO, who was demoted within a year citing some procedural mistake in the promotion, has been forced to litigate for the past 25 years and spend most of his income on lawyers because of the "ex-facie illegal action taken by the officers" of the Information and Public Relations Department, the Bench noted in the order. The judiciary was getting clogged with mounting number of pending cases mainly because of such reckless attitude of the government authorities, the Bench observed during the arguments. "In the garb of considering the case of one Narendra Singh, in the light of the trial court order, the department undertook an exercise for reverting Randhawa and other similarly situated employees and ultimately reverted them," the Bench observed.
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Former Local Bodies Minister and BJP candidate from Jalandhar (Central) constituency is now a member of the
'crorepati club'. While filing his nomination in Jalandhar today, Kalia declared assets worth Rs 2.59
crore. His assets were less than Rs 1 crore while he had filed his papers in the 2007 assembly elections.
Compared to last elections, the BJP leader's total worth has grown by Rs 1.7
crore. As declared by Kalia, he now owns movable assets worth Rs 1,25,65,867; 100 gm gold (same as last time), Rs 18.47 lakh in bonds and Rs 1 lakh as investment in
LIC. His immovable assets' worth is Rs 1,34,15,500. He, however, also has dues to the tune of Rs 1,08,45,887.
Poll snippets
Chandigarh , January 6
Hoshiarpur, January 6
Bathinda: MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal has accused the Congress of ditching the Sikh community by not introducing the Bill to enact the Anand Marriage Act despite "promises" made by the Prime Minister and the Union Law Minister. In a statement, Harsimrat said the Congress had again "exposed its anti-Sikh and anti-minority" face by doing so. Harsimrat Kaur claimed PPCC chief Capt Amarinder Singh and the party's "proxy voice" Paramjit Sarna befooled the Sikh community on the issue saying the Bill would be introduced in Parliament's winter session.
— SP Sharma
A keen contest is on the cards in the Ghanaur constituency. This time, SAD leaderAjaib Singh Mukhmailpur’s wife Harpreet Kaur is in the fray. She faces Congress MLA Madan Lal Jalalpur, a Kamboj, in a straight contest. The constituency has a little over 7 per cent Kamboj, 55 per cent Jat Sikh and 18 per cent SC/ST votes. The constituency covers roughly 180 villages. Every monsoon, residents of the flood-hit belt of Ghanaur see their crops being damaged in the receding waters.