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Congress leaders all out to woo rural voters
Gurdaspur, January 12
With the sitting Gurdaspur SAD MLA G.S Babbehali having it safe in the town, which has nearly 20,000 hardcore BJP voters, his opponent and Congress candidates Raman Bahl is targeting the rural vote back in an attempt to checkmate his rival in this Vidhan Sabha seat.

Joginder Maan not to contest polls
Phagwara, January 12
Obeying the Congress party high command, former minister Joginder Singh Maan, who was denied party ticket this time, today withdrew his decision to contest the Assembly elections as an Independent candidate from the Phagwara Assembly constituency and announced to campaign for the Congress candidates in the state.

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	Congress leaders all out to woo rural voters Ravi Dhaliwal Tribune News Service Gurdaspur, January 12 With the sitting Gurdaspur SAD MLA G.S Babbehali having it safe in the town, which has nearly 20,000 hardcore BJP voters, his opponent and Congress candidates Raman Bahl is targeting the rural vote back in an attempt to checkmate his rival in this Vidhan Sabha seat. Raman Bahl, who beat 18 contestants to get the party ticket, has started canvassing in right earnest in the rural areas. Bahl is seen as the Hindu face of the party. Observers feel that he has the capability to make huge inroads into the Hindu vote bank in this Hindu dominated assembly segment. Bahl is trying to take the help of various splinter groups, including the group led by former Delhi Police Commissioner PS Bhinder and the one led by Gurmeet Pahra who has the backing of MP Partap Singh Bajwa. However, it remains to be seen how far he is successful in his endeavour, “If Babbehali is a strong candidate, so is Raman Bahl because his family has been working tirelessly in the area for the last several years. The contest will be tough and it all depends how the Bahl family marshals its resources in the coming days,” said a former Congress Minister. In the adjoining assembly segment of Dinanagar, former MLA Aruna Chowdhury too is fanning out among the villagers to counter her BJP rival. The indefatigable Aruna, seen as a charismatic leader, lost the 2007 election by less than 500 votes and this time she is seen as a favourite to win the seat which is reserved. A major factor working in her favour is that she enjoys a personal rapport with the residents of Dinanagar town and adjoining villages. She starts campaigning from the wee hours in villages while her husband Ashok Chowdhury takes care of Dinanagar town. In the newly carved out Dera Baba Nanak constituency, Sukhjinder Randhawa, who is facing the might of Agriculture Minister SS Langah, is busy holding scores of meetings everyday. Randhawa earlier used to contest from Fatehgarh Churian but post limitation a majority of villages of the area were shifted to Dera. Sukhjinder has been active in the area for the last two years and has been vociferously supporting Congressmen against whom fake cases have been registered allegedly at the insistence of the SAD-BJP combine.
	Joginder Maan not to contest polls Our Correspondent Phagwara, January 12 Obeying the Congress party high command, former minister Joginder Singh Maan, who was denied party ticket this time, today withdrew his decision to contest the Assembly elections as an Independent candidate from the Phagwara Assembly constituency and announced to campaign for the Congress candidates in the state. Earlier, District Congress Committee president Harjit Singh Parmar along with other Congress leaders went to meet Maan at his residence today and urged him to review his decision for the sake of party discipline. Meanwhile, total 17 candidates have filed nomination papers for the Phagwara seat by today, ie the last date for the filing of nominations, said Returning Officer-cum-SDM Manpreet Singh.
	Youth murdered; 3 die in mishaps Our Correspondent Tarn Taran, January 12 Harpal Singh (24), a resident of Doblian village, was found murdered today. The body was found near Gaggobua village. The police said according to the preliminary investigations, Harpal was strangulated before disposing off his body. Harpal had gone to play volleyball last evening but did not return. His family members found his body today. The Chabal police has lodged a report under 174 CrPC in this regards and have initiated further investigation. Three persons died in separate road accidents today. Sahib Singh (30) of Sarhali and his associate Satnam Singh (28), a resident of Dadehar Sahib village, were killed when a 18-tyre truck hit their car 25 kilometers from here. The truck was being rashly driven and was coming from Harike. They were taken to Sarhali Community health centre but died on the way. A case under Section 304 A, 279 427 of the IPC has been registered against the driver of the truck who is absconding. In another incident, Sawinder Singh (40), a resident of Nandpur village, was crushed to death a truck near Sheron village today. The deceased Sawinder, a labourer, was coming back to his village after work at the time of the accident. A case under Section 304 A, 279, 427 IPC has been registered in this regard.
	Cash seized, 83 vehicles impounded Our Correspondent Phagwara, January 12 As many as 83 vehicles, including 66 cars were impounded by a team of the officials headed by Executive Magistrate Raj Kumar Nanda and several sharp-edged weapons, including swords and dozens of base balls were seized. The vehicles were impounded from three different places. The police also seized Rs 10 lakh in cash besides foriegn currency at nakas set up at various places here today. He said the car owners have been booked under various sections of the Arms Act and 188 of the IPC. Nanda said a red beacon car belonging to Assistant Income Tax Commissioner was also searched.