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Sehajdhari Party to back Cong
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VB carting money to Cong rebels: Amarinder
EC tells state to cough up Rs 8.5 cr for surveillance
In all, 1,880 nominations filed
It’s Cong’s Jeeta-Jaggi vs SAD’s Jhutha-Thuggi
This Gandhian aims to ride wheels of change
Politics parts Bajwa brothers
Rebel Khatra may dent SAD prospects
Acid test for all contestants here
Brar family richest
Candidates banking on sympathy factor
Ramoowalia richer by Rs 2.7 cr in 2 yrs
81% milk adulterated in Punjab
Only 225 children are malnourished in state!
Appointment of Info Commissioners
Rs 33.70 lakh, 10 kg poppy husk seized in Fatehgarh Sahib
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In Lambi, Brothers Stand Polls Apart
Lambi, January 12 The CM’s current electoral battle, perhaps his last, is the hardest of all the battles he has fought so far. He has had to fight against his brother Gurdas, who has been most dear to him all his life. Victory or defeat, the CM is bound to be emotionally hurt. The CM is contesting against Gurdas who has been put up by his son and People’s Party of Punjab chief Manpreet Badal. the third candidate in this electoral battle is Congress nominee Mahesh Singh Badal, also from the Badal clan. Mahesh’s grandfather and Pash’s grandfather were brothers. Mahesh’s father Teja Singh was Pash’s political mentor. In a way, the fight for this constituency is being fought within the Badal clan that has 30 members. The Badals, Pash, Dash and Mahesh, are a symbol of state’s landed gentry. Pash plays the emotional card wherever he goes. ”My wife is not with me anymore. She was a great companion. My brother has left me. You are my last hope, you should not leave me. I have done a lot for you,” is his common refrain. Dash makes only passing references to his rift with Pash at his election meetings. He appears pained at the separation from his brother and often blames his nephew Sukhbir Badal, Deputy CM, for the split in the family. Dash choses to target the Congress most. Mahesh, who is known in the area as a gentleman, does not make a direct attack on his two Badal brothers. He only indirectly blames the CM for poor development in area. He speaks of the perennial problem of water-logging and the resulting damage to crops. He says only “some favourites” were given compensation by the CM for the damage. He also alleges discrimination in the atta-dal and pension schemes. He is all praise for former CM Capt Amarinder Singh, contending that Amarinder alone is capable of saving Punjab’s riverwaters, a must for agriculture. Mahesh had lost to the CM by a margin of 9,000 votes in 2007. With Dash in the fray this time, the electoral fight seems to have become tougher for the CM, who has been winning from this constituency since 1997.
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Sehajdhari Party to back Cong
Chandigarh, January 12 Sehajdhari Party chief Dr PS Ranu made this announcement in the presence of Pradesh Congress president Capt Amarinder Singh here today. Dr Ranu claimed the Sehajdhari Party was responsible for exposing the designs of the SAD to create a divide in the Sikh Sangat. He said the party had learnt that the SAD planned to amend the Gurdwara Act in case if voted back to power to keep the Sehajdharis out of thre SGPC affairs. “We will ensure they are not successful in their goal by ensuring a victory for the Congress in the polls”, he said. The Sehajdhari Sikhs’ president claimed that Punjab had a Sikh population of 1.75 crore. Even if 55 lakh Sikhs were considered below the voting age, at least 69 lakh Sikhs were being kept away from voting in the SGPC elections. Dr Ranu said the Sanjha Morcha did not have the ability to form government and the Sehajdhari Sikhs should not waste their vote by supporting its candidates. Speaking on the occasion, PCC president Amarinder Singh said the Congress had always championed the cause of Sehajdharis who had been kept out of the SGPC elections by the Akalis. He said the Sehajdharis had understood the SAD’s designs and would now support the Congress. Others who joined the Congress were former PSIEC chairman and SAD youth leader from Jalandhar Parminder Singh Khalsa. The Youth Akali leader was brought into the party by Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee head Paramjit Singh Sarna, who was also present on the occasion. PM to address rallies on Jan 21 Pradesh Congress chief Capt Amarinder said Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh would address two rallies in Ludhiana and Amritsar on January 21. Later ( dates yet to be decided), Congress president Sonia Gandhi would address two rallies in Moga and Kapurthala . Party general secretary Rahul Gandhi would address three meetings over two days. — TNS
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VB carting money to Cong rebels: Amarinder
Chandigarh, January 12 Urging that all police vehicles, especially those of the Vigilance, be checked, the PCC president said the party had written to the Election Commission to get the matter inquired so that appropriate action could be taken. Questioned if the police force was acting in an arbitrary fashion at the behest of the Akalis, Amarinder said the general police administration was impartial. But there seemed to be a problem at the Station House Officer (SHO) level because some SHOs were deeply involved with Akali leaders. — TNS
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EC tells state to cough up Rs 8.5 cr for surveillance
Chandigarh, January 12 Videography duration is 37 days (starting from the day the code of conduct imposed). The mobile surveillance teams had started functioning from December 25. Over 1,000 cameramen have been assigned the duty in 117 constituencies across the state following the EC orders. “We are making a video trail of at least 50 prominent candidates, including the Chief Minster, Deputy Chief Minister, PPCC president and former government officials who are in the fray. We have deployed cameramen with these candidates,” said CEO, Kusumjit Sidhu. There are at least three videographers in every constituency, besides a cameraman each with the Deputy Commissioner, media monitoring committee and mobile surveillance teams, she said. Ludhiana Deputy Commissioner is learnt to have borne a bill of Rs 1 to Rs 1.5 lakh on videography till today. Certain cameramen are charging Rs 1,800 a day. Kusumjit said, “It will check the use of black money in elections. I am sure this time the surveillance will be reflected in candidates’ expenditure, which is expected to be more. Last time, most of the candidates had averaged an expenditure of Rs 5 to Rs 6 lakh. This time, the limit has been extended to Rs 16 lakh as compared to Rs 10 lakh last time.”
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In all, 1,880 nominations filed
Chandigarh, January 12 These nominations will be scrutinised tomorrow. With 98 nominations, Ludhiana reported the maximum number of candidates followed by Amritsar 88 candidates, Fatehgarh Sahib 20, Mansa 23, Moga 26, Gurdaspur 29, Ferozepur 30, Patiala 56, Jalandhar 54, Bathinda 43, Amritsar 88, Mohali 22, Muktsar 65, Nawanshahr 13, Fazilka 36, Tarn Tarn 68, Sagrur 55, Kapurthala 16, Pathankot 24, Barnala 24, Faridkot 52, Ropar 16 and Hoshiarpur 42. Among those who filed their papers today were Sewa Singh Sekhwan (SAD-Qadian), Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa (INC-Dera Baba Nanak), Tarlochan Singh Sund (INC-Banga), Rajwinder Lucky (INC-Balachaur), Amardeep Singh (PPP-Ropar), Balwant Singh Ramoowalia (SAD -Mohali, Bir Devinder Singh (PPP-Mohali), Simarnjit Singh Mann (Fatehgarh Sahib) and Pargat Singh
(SAD-Jalandhar Cantt).
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It’s Cong’s Jeeta-Jaggi vs SAD’s Jhutha-Thuggi
In order to counter the SAD-BJP coalition’s development agenda, the Punjab Congress commissioned two cartoon characters ‘Jeeta’ and ‘Jaggi’. The comic duo have been hitting where it hurts the most: punching holes in the SAD-BJP combine’s development figures, something that the ruling alliance had been banking upon to see itself through for a second consecutive term. Besides, Jeeta and Jaggi have been targeting Parkash Singh Badal, the chief ministerial candidate of the coalition government. Ever since Jeeta and Jaggi were created by ad agency Crayons, tension is visible in the Akali camp, which is dubbing Jeeta and Jaggi as ‘Jhutha’ (liar) and ‘Thuggi’ (swindler) in a counter-advertisement that suggests people “not to get misled by false propaganda”. In an advertisement, Jeeta dubs Badal as the biggest ‘jaadugar’ (magician). Asked by Jaggi to elaborate, Jeeta says that all schools and hospitals claimed to have been established by the SAD-BJP combine “could nowhere be seen on the ground”. That the Akalis reacted to Jeeta and Jaggi in itself shows that the Congress campaign has been successful, say party leaders. In a SAD counter-advertisement, a boy asks a mother as to “who introduced the Right to Service Act and who removed power woes in Punjab”. When the mother replies “it was the SAD-BJP coalition”, the son asks “then why are Jhutha and Thuggi trying to mislead the people”. Subroto Chakraborthy, who heads Brand Curry, which is managing the SAD campaign, claims a survey done by his agency revealed that the negative campaign of the Congress was not being appreciated. Asked why they resorted to negativity to counter it, he said, “We believe it is a lie and the people need to be informed about it”. However, there are some who feel the Akali campaign had been stumped. Sandeep Sandhu of Celeste agency claims the Congress campaign had hit the SAD hard “in the right quarters” and that their counterattack was not “innovative enough”.
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This Gandhian aims to ride wheels of change
Amritsar, January 12 Attired in ‘khadi’ and sporting a Gandhi cap, Sham Lal campaigns on his bicycle while one of the bodyguards provided to him for security rides pillion. The other follows him on a motorbike. Contesting as Bharatiya Chaitanya Party candidate, Sham Lal claims today’s leaders are taking the people for a ride. Having declared a bank balance of meagre Rs 1,000 while filing his papers a couple of days back, Sham Lal also contested the last Lok Sabha elections and had polled around 1,500 votes. He is a vocal supporter of Anna Hazare and he advocates a strong Lokpal Bill.
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Politics parts Bajwa brothers
Qadian, January 12 The family stood united when Charanjit, flanked by her husband and Fateh, filed her nomination papers on Tuesday. However, the next day Fateh called a meeting of his supporters at his native village and decided to leave the town bag and baggage. Fateh, both annoyed and livid in equal measure, has now locked his portion of the family house in Qadian and has left for his Chandigarh residence with family in tow. Family sources claim that Fateh would not be campaigning for Charanjit Kaur, a development which has rankled his elder sibling no end. The MP is a beleaguered man these days as ticket aspirant and former Minister SS Chottepur, who commands a lot of influence in the area, has also thrown his hat in the electoral ring by deciding to contest as an Independent. A Congressman revealed, “Despite the fact that Partap is a politically shrewd politician, he will have to walk like a trapeze artiste if he has to ensure the victory of his wife.” Sources reveal that if Fatehjung is fuming over the non-allotment of the ticket following which he has decided not to campaign for his sister-in-law, he will be extending his support to all other nine Congress candidates in the district.
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Poll snippets
Patiala: With numerous heavyweights in the fray, it is boom time for the sweetmeat sellers in the state. The sale of 'laddoos' is on an all time high in the region with the elections for the Vidhan Sabha round the corner. With the Election Commission keeping a close eye on the candidates who were usually weighed by coins and other expensive stuff, it is the traditional Punjabi sweet laddoos that are making it up for the supporters. As per tradition, the candidates are weighed equal to laddoos, which are later distributed among the people. And with more and more candidates, the number of supporters is also increasing, which ultimately results in more sale of this delicious sweet in almost all villages ahead of the arrival of a candidate. — Aman Sood
Ex-MLA Kukku to join Cong today Muktsar: Senior SAD leader and former MLA Bhai Harnirpal Singh "Kukku" is all set to join the Congress on Friday. He is peeved over the allotment of SAD ticket to youth leader Kanwarjeet Singh Barkandi "Rosy" from Muktsar constituency. Bhai Kukku was in race for the SAD ticket for the seat. He said, "My supporters have forced me to quit the party, which I served for the last 44 years. So, I approached PCC chief Capt Amarinder Singh, who will come to my house on Friday at about 12:30 pm to take me to the Congress fold. It will be totally an unconditional joining." He said SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal's "wrong" decision had forced him to quit the party. — Archit Watts EC notice to SAD’s Ajnala candidate Amritsar: Taking a serious note of SAD candidate from Ajnala, Amarpal Singh Bony, holding a poll meeting in a gurdwara, the EC has issued him a show-cause notice, asking him as to why action should not be initiated against him. Bony had held an election meeting at a gurdwara at Salodeen village of the constituency on January 3. The tehsildar of Ajnala, who probed into the incident, submitted that the meeting was held at the gurdwara at 4 pm on January 3. The EC issued a notice to Bony who has already submitted his reply. However, the officials concerned are not satisfied with it and have warned him not to resort to such a move in future. — TNS SAD campaign yet to gain momentum Patiala: While the entire Congress rank and file is busy in hectic election campaigning for the party's candidates contesting from eight assembly constituencies of Patiala, so far the electioneering by the SAD-BJP has proved to be a lacklustre. With the Congress leaders going all guns blazing as far as the election campaign, mass contact programmes and rallies, are concerned, the campaign by Akali Dal is yet to gain momentum. Though the campaign of the Congress had always been much better than the Akali's in Patiala as it is home turf of former Punjab CM Capt. Amarinder Singh, but this time till today the electioneering by Akali Dal has been "disappointing" and "unimpressive". "Since, SAD leaders knew that defeating Congress in Patiala is a daunting task, many leaders of the district have gone to assembly constituencies other than that of Patiala to campaign for their respective political bosses", said a senior Akali leader, preferring anonymity. — Umesh Dewan
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Rebel Khatra may dent SAD prospects
Khatra is likely to eat into the vote share of Kuldeep Kaur, something that may work to the advantage of Congress candidate Brahm Mohindra.
Projects: In wake of the fact that post-delimitation this constituency comprises areas of five assembly segments, the main emphasis of all the candidates would be to ensure the proper development of the areas lagging behind in having access to proper roads, water and other civic facilities. VOX POPULI: The residents of the areas that have been made part of the Patiala (Rural) constituency are happy that now they would get a chance to elect an MLA who would be accountable to the electorate. LOOKING BACK: Punjab polls 2012 would be the first assembly election to be held in this constituency.
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Acid test for all contestants here
It will be an acid test for leaders of all parties with the constituency now a mix of middle-income and lower-income families and urban and semi-urban areas. Projects: Barring the beautification of Gol Bagh and the covering of the nullah outside BK Dutt Gate, there are no signs of development in the constituency. Sitting MLA Laxmi Kanta Chawla says her long demand for a government college for boys was met this year, though due to lack of space the college is to come up at Verka. She says she was instrumental in setting up an Ayurvedic hospital at Verka. VOX POPULI: Residents are peeved at rampant encroachments and the absence of a dump yard. Also, unemployment and drug addiction among the youth in rampant. LOOKING BACK: In the six assembly elections since 1980, the seat was won thrice by former Vidhan Sabha Deputy Speaker Prof Darbari Lal and an equal number of times by Social Welfare Minister Laxmi Kanta Chawla. While Darbari Lal won in 1980, 1985 and 2002, Chawla was victorious in 1992, 1997 and 2007.
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Brar family richest
Muktsar, January 12 The 60-year-old Congress candidate from the Muktsar assembly constituency, Karan Kaur Brar, wife of sitting MLA Kanwarjit Singh Brar ‘Sunny’, filed her nominations today. She submitted an affidavit declaring assets (self and spouse) valued at Rs 127.5 crore. Immovable assets Karan Kaur Brar owns immovable assets worth Rs 1.20 crore, while her husband’s immovable assets are worth Rs 126.30 crore. Her husband Sunny, owns two palatial houses, one in New Delhi worth Rs 40 crore and the other in Chandigarh worth Rs 60 crore. However, Karan Kaur owns only agricultural land. Cash in Hand The couple owns movable property worth Rs 93.78 lakh. Both Karan Kaur and her husband have Rs 10 lakh in cash. Jewellery& vehicles Karan Kaur owns a ruby set and diamonds worth Rs 10 lakh, gold ornaments weighing about 100 tolas (worth Rs 27 lakh) and a diamond ring worth Rs 5 lakh. However, her husband owns no jewellery. Karan Kaur owns no vehicle, but her husband has a Mercedes car (1996 make) worth Rs 6 lakh. Loans/liability Karan Kaur has no loan/liability. Her husband has taken bank loans totalling Rs 1.58
crore.
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Candidates banking on sympathy factor
Nawanshahr, January 12 Satinder Kaur Kariha of the SAD is the widow of Jatinder Singh Kariha, who was elected from here thrice in 1977, the 2000 byelections and 2007. The Congress nominee, Guriqbal Kaur, is the widow of Parkash Singh, who was elected as MLA in 2002. He passed away about a year back. He was the nephew of former Agriculture Minister Dilbag Singh. “I am are here to accomplish the incomplete works of my deceased husband,” the candidates tell the people. “It is painful to go about asking for votes when my family lost two members last year. Kariha Sahib died eight months after the death of my son Lieut-Col Hira Singh, leaving me and my daughter-in-law to battle it alone”, says an emotional Satinder Kaur. She has the support of her younger son-in-law Jagteshwar Majithia, a relative of Bikramjit Majithia. Her eldest son-in-law Gurpartap Wadala, son of SGPC member Kuldip Singh Wadala, is in the fray from Nakodar. Unlike Kariha, Guriqbal Kaur, popularly called Babli, has been more active in social and political circles. She pulled a good crowd at a rally addressed by Capt Amarinder Singh in Nawanshahr recently. She has her son Angad to support her.
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Ramoowalia richer by Rs 2.7 cr in 2 yrs
Mohali, January 12 The former chief of the Lok Bhalai Party (LBP), who recently joined the SAD, has declared assets worth Rs 5,53,78,865. As per the affidavit filed today, Ramoowalia's movable assets stand at Rs 92,05,365 while immovable assets are worth Rs 4,61,73,500. He has properties at Mohali, Gurgaon and New Delhi, besides 80 gm of gold. The veteran politician had lost the 2009 parliamentary elections from
Sangrur. According to the affidavit, the leader (including his wife) has cash deposits of Rs 68,77,037 compared to cash deposits of Rs 1,54,70,826 in 2009. Ramoowalia's total assets have grown from Rs 2,84,71,686 in 2009 to Rs 5,53,78,865 in 2012. However, the numbers of cars in his stable has gone down from five to two over the last three years. He seems to have a liking for Ambassador cars. Meanwhile, Bir Devinder Singh, a former Kharar MLA, who filed his nomination papers as a PPP candidate from Mohali today, has put his assets at Rs 4,98,26,985. His immovable property is worth Rs 4,50,00,000 and movable property Rs 48,26,985. Both SAD candidate Ramoowalia and Bir Devinder are contemporaries in politics since their early days. Besides being from Akali background, both are good orators.
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81% milk adulterated in Punjab
Chandigarh, January 12 From adding water to packaged milk before selling it as loose milk to adding glucose powder and/or skimmed milk powder
(SMP) in milk, milkmen are doing it all to make a quick buck. Thus the milk that you get each morning is certainly not as healthy as you would want it to be. The only solace is that harmful substances like urea, detergents or non-fat solids are not being used by the milkmen before he delivers it at your doorstep. The National Survey on Milk Adulteration 2011 has revealed that 81 per cent of the milk supplied in Punjab is adulterated or substandard. This study says that 88 of the 109 samples taken by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India were found not conforming to standards. Most of the adulteration was found in the milk which is sold loose while the packaged milk samplers were found to be intact. The average milk production in Punjab is around 257 lakh litres per day. Of this, 55 per cent of milk is retained by dairymen for personal use and 25 per cent is procured by organised dairy players for supplying it as packaged milk and other milk products. The remaining 20 per cent is procured by milkmen and sweet meat sellers, and it is in this milk that maximum adulteration has been found. Though officials of
Milkfed, Punjab, said they had not yet seen the report, they confirmed the supply of adulterated milk by milkmen in the state. “In case of packaged milk, all companies have a strict quality control, but there is no check on the quality of loose milk that a vast majority of the population still consumes. In the past, we have held camps where we asked consumers to get their milk samples checked. Even now, we ask consumers to get the samples at any of our Verka milk plant for a quality check,” said a senior official in R&D cell of
Milkfed. He said in most cases, the milkmen buy full cream packaged milk and then dilute it with water. "This reduces the fat content in the milk, although the milk is not without fats,” said the official. Milking Profits n
As per a national survey, 88 of the 109 samples taken by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India were found not conforming to standards n
Most of the adulteration was found in the milk which is sold loose by milkmen while the packaged milk samples were found to be intact n
From adding water to packaged milk to adding glucose powder or skimmed milk powder, milkmen are doing it all to make a quick buck
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Only 225 children are malnourished in state!
Chandigarh, January 12 Out of the 21 lakh children in anganwari centres across the state, only 225 are malnourished. This, despite the fact that according to the last report of the National Family Health Survey (NFHS) by the Department of Health, Government of India, in 2006, as many as 34.7 per cent, 10.2 per cent and 23.6 per cent were malnourished as measured in three indices of height-for-age, weight-for-height and weight-for-age, respectively. Gurkirat Kirpal Singh, Director, Social Security, Women and Child Welfare, said the data collected under the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS), only 225 children were malnourished. "It comes out to be 10-11 children in each district," he said. "This is not hard to believe. Punjab is a prosperous state. There is no dearth of food here," said Subodh Chandra Agrawal, Chief Secretary. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had on Tuesday released a report by Naandi Foundation, which stated that 42 per cent of children under five were severely or moderately undernourished. While the Social Security Department claims only 0.01 per cent children were underfed, the Punjab's Health Department has got no survey done to find such number in the state. "The Health and Family Welfare Department does not conduct any such surveys. These surveys are conducted by the Government of India. The Social Security Department gets the details from reports of anganwari centres," said Satish Chandra, Principal Secretary, Health.
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Appointment of Info Commissioners
Chandigarh, January 12 Taking up a PIL filed by advocate HC Arora, Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Mahesh Grover directed the State of Punjab to take a considered decision on the issue of framing rules under Section 27 of the Right to Information Act, 2005, for selection and appointment of State Information Commissioners, in the light of the directions given by the full bench of High Court in Salil Sabhlok versus Union of India decided on August 17 last. The Bench, in fact, directed the State of Punjab to take a considered decision for framing rules under Section 27 of the Right to Information Act, 2005, since it is the duty of the State to examine the feasibility of framing rules. While undertaking the exercise, the state government would take into consideration the guidelines issued by the Full Bench of High Court in the PPSC case and may also incorporate any additional norms in the rules.
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Rs 33.70 lakh, 10 kg poppy husk seized in Fatehgarh Sahib
Fatehgarh Sahib. January 12 BL Meena, SSP, said the police had been searching vehicles to detect the inflow of unaccounted money and supply of drugs and liquor to be used in the forthcoming assembly elections to influence voters. During such checking on the GT Road, the Sirhind police recovered Rs 6.50 lakh from Parbhakar Naik of Kohlapur; Rs 4.28 lakh from Ramandeep Singh of Anand Nagar, Patiala; Rs 4.51 lakh from Mohan Singh of Badali Ala Singh; and Rs 4.31 lakh from Sarup Singh of Nurpur, Kangra, He said the Mandi Gobindgarh police seized Rs 5 Lakh from Sanjeev Kumar of Mandi Gobindgarh. Similarly, the Amloh police seized Rs 6.10 lakh from Jagtar Singh of Dalanwal, Sangrur; and Rs 3 lakh from Jagmeet Singh of Amloh, he added. He said as the occupants could not provide any source of money, the police informed the Joint Commissioner of Income Tax and the money was deposited with the department. Fazilka: A joint team of the Excise and Taxation Department and the police, led by Assistant Excise and Taxation Commissioner SPS Grewal, seized 100 boxes containing 1,200 bottles of country liquor on the Fazilka- Sulemanki road today. The Deputy Commissioner, Fazilka, has constituted special teams to check the misuse of money and liquor in the coming assembly polls. The team laid a naka near Chananwala village and stopped a Mahindra Pik-up Van. The police found 100 boxes of country liquor in the van. The driver of the van, who fled the spot, has been identified as Balwinder Singh of village Kotha Thagni. A case has been registered. — OC
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Lambi, January 12
Chandigarh, January 12
Amritsar, January 12
Of the amount, Rs 6.7 crore would be spent alone on videography of vehicles and sensitive booths during the elections. The Election Commission has told the state to bear the expenses.
Chandigarh, January 12
It would be a triangular contest in Patiala (Rural) constituency between four-time Congress MLA Brahm Mohindra, Kuldeep Kaur Tohra, foster daughter of former SGPC president the late GS Tohra and Satbir Singh Khatra, an Akali rebel and son of senior Punjab police officer Ranbir Singh
Khatra.
Post-delimitation, the number of voters in the Amritsar Central constituency has doubled from 68,267 in the last assembly elections to 1,25,6756 now.
