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Just 40 per cent weapons seized so far, EC not pleased
SAD expels rebel candidates
Chautalas descend on Punjab to campaign for friend Badal
Congress will implement RTE Act: Preneet
It pays to be ‘dabang’ in Majha
Orders on Mustafa’s plea on hold
Sukhbir’s escort vehicle hits bike
Health dept asks food units to get registered
Unaccounted Rs 2 crore recovered in Sirhind
Ex-boxer held for robberies
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Campaign reins in their hands
Chandigarh, January 18 Be it state Congress president Capt Amarinder Singh’s constituency (Patiala- I), Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal’s constituency (Jalalabad) or People’s Party of Punjab Manpreet Singh Badal’s constituencies of Maur and Gidderbaha, campaigning remains in the “safe hands” of the leaders’ kin and trusted lieutenants. From planning a campaign strategy to managing party workers, forming campaign teams for separate zones and getting the big leaders’ next of kin to address rallies, the campaign managers do it all with precision. For Jai Inder Kaur, Capt Amarinder Singh’s daugh ter, it is the third election campaign that she is managing for her father, having managed the earlier two elections under the guidance of her mother Preneet Kaur. This time with her mother dividing her time between Patiala and Samana, Jai Inder is handling the entire campaign independently. “My cousins and relatives are all camped here to help us out. We have divided the constituency into 12 zones with a family member incharge of each zone. We hold meetings with workers in the morning. While an an average, we hold eight nukkad meetings, we go campaigning door to door between 4 pm and 8 pm,” she says. While the Punjab Congress president is banking on his family to manage his poll campaign in Patiala, estranged cousins Sukhbir Badal and Manpreet Badal are relying on their friends and confidantes for the same in their respective constituencies. Nirabjit Singh, Sukhbir’s college-mate and his OSD, is overseeing the campaign in Jalalabad. “We have divided the constituency into 24 zones in rural areas and 15 wards in Jalalabad. I take stock of the day’s campaign every evening and discuss the strategy for the next day, wherein each zonal incharge is asked to cover his area by campaigning door to door and holding public meetings,” he says. In Maur, it is PPP chief’s long-time friend Sukhpal Singh Bhullar who is managing his poll campaign. Bhullar is an acclaimed progressive farmer and a horticulturist who has won a national award. “In every village, where Manpreet’s wife Veenu Badal is to hold a public meeting, we first meet voters door to door, inviting them to the meeting. Since there are 64 villages in this constituency, we have a cluster of eight villages making a zone and dedicated party workers managing each zone,” he says.
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Just 40 per cent weapons seized so far, EC not pleased
Chandigarh, January 18 The fact has left the Election Commission worried, which has now directed the deputy commissioners of all the districts to expedite the process and ensure that at least 80 per cent of the weapons are seized at the earliest. The state has been able to confiscate only 1,87,238 weapons till date while as per police sources, there are nearly 3.23 lakh arms licence holders across the state. Besides, many licence holders have more than one weapon. Chief Electoral Officer Kusumjit Sidhu today asked all the DCs and SSPs to ensure that more weapons were confiscated at the earliest. Later, during a videoconference with the police chiefs, district heads and electoral officers, Deputy Chief Election Commissioner Alok Shukla asked all the DCs to ensure at least 80 per cent weapons were seized, which was considered mandatory for peaceful polls. Several DCs even reported to the commission that they had touched the 70 per cent mark, but this failed to satisfy the Deputy Election Commissioner. A deputy commissioner said he was asked by the CEO in the morning only and he had already issued orders in this regard. In Punjab, the districts of Bathinda with 35,594 licences and Gurdaspur with 35,152 licences have the maximum number of weapons. Patiala and Moga have 24,361 and 21,326 licence holders, respectively. Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal's home district Muktsar has 17,000
licences.
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Money wasted on Sangat
Darshan: Capt
Tarn Taran, January 18 Addressing a rally in support of Congress candidate Harminder Singh Gill here, he said though the people of Punjab had made him Chief Minister four times, he did not have a single achievement to his credit. Instead of working for the state’s development, he had been holding Sangat Darshan, wasting precious money which could have been used as matching grants for various centrally sponsored schemes. He announced that on coming to power, the Congress would set up a commission of inquiry to look into every case of vendetta against Congress workers. He lashed out at the SAD-BJP government for “having let loose a reign of terror on Congress workers and indulging in corruption”. He alleged the Akalis “did not spare anything, ranging from sand mining to cable business.” Talking to mediapersons, he said the Congress had succeeded in reining in the rebels and the party was now in a position to win 70 plus seats. Patti Municipal Council chief Jasbir Singh Shaheed and a number of sarpanches and joined the Congress on the occasion. Capt Amarinder also addressed a rally in the border village of Amarkot in support of party candidate from Khemkaran Gurchet Singh
Bhullar. In Malout, he attacks Manpreet
Malout: PCC chief Capt Amarinder Singh today criticised the ruling Badal family as well as PPP chief Manpreet Singh Badal for their alleged involvement in corrupt practices in the past five years.
Addressing a public rally in support of Congress candidate former MLA Nathu Ram, Amarinder said the CM and his son were “corrupt leaders, who have been befooling the public for the past so many years.” He did not spare Manpreet Singh and his brother-in-law Jaijeet Singh Johal “Jojo” either. “Though Manpreet talks about law and order, his own brother-in-law is collecting ‘Jojo tax’ from residents of
Gidderbaha.” The PCC chief said that rampant drug abuse was worrisome and “we will open three drug de-addiction centres in Punjab, as mentioned in our manifesto.”
— Archit Watts
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Divided Congress makes it easy for Majithia
Majitha, January 18 He is pitted against Congress candidate Shailenderjit Singh Shelly, who belongs to AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi’s youth brigade, and rebel Congress candidate Sukhjinder Raj Singh Lalli Majithia, whom he defeated in the last elections. Clad in a crisp white kurta pyjama, a black jacket and a blue turban, Bikram begins his day early morning, addressing about a dozen meetings. During the campaign, he prefers to drive his Toyota Fortuner himself. He addresses people with élan. His speeches laced with humour, often provokes a chuckle. He begins his address by expressing gratitude to the people for giving him the opportunity to serve them for five years. He implores them to give him another five years. He strikes a chord with the people mentioning his forefathers’ contribution to the region. Playing the development card, he claims that Rs 300 crore have been spent on development works in Majitha. These include construction of roads, boosting drinking water supply, building schools and colleges and setting up power stations. He also talks of gymnasiums and bicycles being provided to schoolgirls. He attacks the Congress on the rising inflation. He does not utter a word against his rivals. His Congress rival Shailenderjit Singh also campaigns from dawn to dusk and is banking on the youth power. Among the main issues that he raises are the alleged excesses perpetrated against Congress workers in the constituency and the “hollow” claims on development. “Whatever development has taken place here has been under Central schemes,” he avers. "Only the SAD workers have benefited under the Badal regime while nothing has changed for the common man" in the past five years, he says. Congress rebel Lalli Majithia addresses 20 meetings daily. He too harps on the “excesses” on Congress workers. He claims that “vendetta” is the biggest issue in the constituency.
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Bloody scuffle minutes after Rishma’s rally
Patiala, January 18 The police said some outsiders reportedly attacked a few youths at the rally with rods. Samana SHO Ranbir Singh said: “Two of the injured have been admitted to hospital with minor injuries. We are investigating the matter.” Congress workers, however, alleged that some persons had come to attack their leader and the police was trying to downplay the incident. Patiala SSP Dinesh Partap Singh said he was in touch with the investigating officer. Raninder Singh said he had spoken to his wife and she was fine.
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SAD expels rebel candidates
Chandigarh, January 18 Party spokesman Daljit Singh Cheema said Balwinder Singh Saifdipur from
Ghanaur, Rajinder Kala from Sanaur, Youth leader Satbir Singh Khatra from
Patiala-Rural, Manpreet Kaur Dolly from Dera Bassi and Daljit Singh Grewal from Ludhiana East had been expelled. Others who had been shown the door were Jarnail Singh KotMehtab from Baba
Bakala, Davinder Singh Lali Dhala from Tarn Taran and Bhola Singh Kamalpur from
Dirba. Dolly, daughter of the late Capt Kanwaljit Singh, is contesting from Dera Bassi as an Independent. Satbir Singh
Khatra, son of a police officer, is contesting against Kuldeep Kaur Tohra in Patiala
(Rural). Cheema said Ajit Singh Kutba, Chairman, Market Committee, Mahal Kalan, had been sacked for opposing the party candidate in Mahal
Kalan. The party has warned the workers to maintain discipline and work unitedly for the victory of the
SAD-BJP candidates.
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Chautalas descend on Punjab to campaign for friend Badal
Chandigarh, January 18 INLD supremo Om Prakash Chautala, a close friend of Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh
Badal, kicked off campaigning from Dera Bassi, seeking votes for SAD candidate NK Sharma while his MLA son Ajay Singh Chautala spent the day campaigning in Sardulgarh for Dilraj S
Bhunder. Party sources said while no itinerary for the campaign of the father-son duo had been chalked out, they would campaign in the constituencies as and when the SAD invites them, depending on their availability. Interestingly, the INLD has put its weight only behind the SAD in the Punjab election and is even campaigning for the party candidates given the long-standing friendship between the Badals and the
Chautalas. The support does not extend to the SAD-BJP alliance for the simple reason that the INLD is at daggers drawn with the BJP in Haryana where the party is in alliance with the
HJC Meanwhile, the Congress leaders of Haryana are campaigning for party candidates in Punjab at a personal level rather than being officially assigned duties. Sources in the Haryana Congress office said they had received no requests for leaders from any of the states going to polls.
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Sonia to address rallies today
Moga, January 18 “Campaigning by Sonia will also attract the attention of the voters and will finally steer the wave in favour of the Congress in the state," they said. Meanwhile, the EC on Wednesday made a video of the rally site to count the number of chairs, sound systems, flags and other material being used to set up the dais etc. Returning Officer Chander Gaind said all the expenditure of the rally would be divided equally among the Congress candidates of 11 constituencies of the region. The Moga rally is being held for 11 constituencies including
Faridkot, Muktsar, Moga, Zira and Jagraon. The local administration has made adequate security arrangements for the visit of Sonia Gandhi. It has set up a helipad adjoining the stage in the New Grain Market so that the Congress president need not have to Meanwhile, local MLA Joginder Pal Jain also claimed that Sonia’s rally would change the mindset of the floating voters to turn in favour of the Congress party. “She is a charismatic woman who has the ability to the poll prospects of the party in the state,” he claimed. He expressed confidence that the Congress would definitely get a comfortable majority in the state assembly.
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Congress will implement RTE Act: Preneet
Patiala, January 18 "There is an immediate need to revamp the education system in order to ensure better future for the children of the state," the Minister said. Campaigning for Raninder Singh, Congress candidate from Samana, Preneet said, "Providing quality education to our children is primary duty of the state government, but unfortunately the SAD-BJP government has failed to upgrade the educational infrastructure in the past five years." — TNS
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Tough battle ahead for Raj Khurana
Patiala, January 18 However, on the other hand, Khurana supporters are maintaining with confidence that in view of the development work initiated by the BJP MLA in Rajpura, for Kamboj, who is a close confidant of Preneet Kaur, Minister of State for External Affairs, it would be an uphill task to defeat Khurana. "The false propaganda of the Congress against Khurana would not help Kamboj as people are wise enough. Khurana has a clean track record. Unless and until proven guilty, no one can be labelled as corrupt", said majority of Khurana supporters. Undeterred with the Khurana's aggressive poll campaign and the fact that he had lost the last Assembly election to Khurana by 14,184 votes, Kamboj, while speaking to The Tribune claimed to be confident of victory, as according to him the anti-incumbency factor against Khurana was very strong. "Will you like to make a person MLA, who was arrested on charges of accepting a bribe"?, is his commonly expressed rhetoric. These claims apart, an interaction with the electorate in Rajpura reveals that the fight between Kamboj and Khurana will be neck to neck. Meanwhile, another constituency of Patiala witnessing an interesting poll battle is Shutrana (SC). With Vaninder Kaur Loomba of the SAD making all efforts to woo voters Shutrana, a large part of which is flood-prone, sitting Congress MLA Nirmal Singh too is leaving no stone unturned to assure the people that if he retains the seat, he would get the matter of floods due to the Ghaggar river resolved for once and all. Two-time MLA Nirmal Singh is mainly seeking votes while accusing the SAD-BJP government of not doing anything for Shutrana because it was being represented by the Congress MLA. Loomba, who is first timer, is taking a dig at the sitting MLA by stating, "During the past one decade, Nirmal Singh failed to do anything for the betterment of the people of the constituency." Amidst allegations and counter allegations, people of the constituency are not ready to open their cards, as to whom they would vote.
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PPP candidate joins SAD
Amritsar: The SAD received a shot in the arm on Wednesday with PPP candidate from Amritsar (South) Jasbir Singh Sham declaring his support for SAD candidate Inderbir Singh Bolaria and joining the party in the presence of Youth Akali Dal chief Bikram Singh Majithia. Sham's decision is signifact as Bolaria is facing a major challenge from rebel SAD candidate Gurpartap Singh Tikka. Various office-bearers of district Youth Akali Dal had resigned in Tikks's support on Tuesday. The Congress has fielded Jasbir Singh Dimpa from the constituency. Sham said he had begun his political career with the SAD and had returned to the party without any pre-conditions. He said he would work to ensure Bolaria's victory from Amritsar South. — Perneet Singh Weather pangs for Kerala cops Ludhiana: Besides language problem, nearly 100 police personnel who have come from Kerala for election duty are finding it difficult to tackle the extreme cold weather here. "The temperature here is down by more than 25 degree Celsius as compared to Kerala. We have brought light warmers with us, but on reaching here we realised that these are not enough. Thanks to the local cops who have arranged jackets for us at reasonable prices," said Vishnu, a constable from Kerala. He adds, "I am the interpreter for my colleagues. They can barely understand Punjabi and Hindi. Except senior officials, none of police personnel can communicate in English. And you know well the kind of English the lower rung cops speak here." — Mohit Khanna Mahila Cong chief warns dissidents Ludhiana: All-India Mahila Congress president Anita Verma on Wednesday said that dissidents' activities would not be tolerated and all party functionaries must actively campaign for the official party candidates. Addressing a press conference here, Verma said Mahila Congress should not hold any grudge over grant of party ticket to women relatives of senior party leaders as several factors had to be taken into account. Verma, assured the party activists that once the Congress government was in place, all deserving party workers would get important posts in boards and corporations.
— Kuldip
Bhatia Thapar no more with Sathi Moga: Dr Pawan Thapar, husband of Punjab Mahila Congress chief Dr Malti Thapar, has stated that he is not helping rebel Congress leader Vijay Sathi, who is contesting as an Independent from the Moga constituency. In a statement, he said: "I neither advised Sathi to rebel against the party, nor to contest as Independent. If he is standing against the party nominee, it is purely his personal decision." Sources say that Thapar, who was instrumental in holding a rebels' meeting in favour of Sathi, has toned down his stand under pressure as could have affected the political career of his wife who failed to secure the ticket from the nearby Dharamkot constituency. — Kulwinder Sandhu
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It pays to be ‘dabang’ in Majha
Khemkaran, January 18 “Candidate takkar de hone chahida
ne” is the common sentiment in the Patti and Khemkaran assembly constituencies. Sukhdev Singh of Chuslawar village in Patti puts it in perspective. “Majha is not
Malwa. Here leaders must have muscle power as well as connections to keep people on their side,” he says. The Majha belt has been a hotbed for smuggling and going to jail on this charge is not frowned upon. The border belt sees intense fights over land disputes and politicians invariably end up adjudicating such disputes. They are often accused of takings sides too. Despite assertions by the Congress to the contrary, the issue of fake cases has not caught the fancy of voters with most claiming that political activists often “create grievous hurt” to implicate opponents. Congress leader and former Assistant Advocate-General Maninder Singh Patti says even bullet injuries “are fabricated with the help of corrupt
doctors”. Devinder Singh of Tarn Taran says the demand for arms licences can be gauged from the fact that when the basmati 1121 variety fetched spectacular returns two years back, there was a spurt in the number of persons carrying firearms in the district, especially in
Khemkaran, Patti and Tarn Taran. Khemkaran legislator Virsa Singh Valtoha maintains that not many are being issued arms
licences, “though the administration is required to do so after due police verification.” The MLA says 60 per cent of the farmers in his constituency live in ‘deras’ in their fields and feel more secure if armed.
Akali legislators, however, deny encouraging registration of false cases. Says Bikram
Majithia: “ All that I am guilty of is having aggressively pursued the causes of my constituents.” Congress leaders, including Khemkaran candidate Gurchet Bhullar who is also considered a dhakad (daredevil), is not ready to buy Majithia’s explanation. Former Mandi Board Chairman and Congress candidate from Rajasansi Sukh Sarkaria claims that the people are fed up with false cases and “ will give their opinion on the voting day”. The Akali candidates seem well-placed in three of the four seats in Tarn Taran district. Bikram Majithia is well-entrenched and finds time to campaign for other party candidates too. The Majha seems to be inclined towards the ‘strong’.
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Orders on Mustafa’s plea on hold
Chandigarh, January 18 Mustafa, whose wife Razia Sultana is contesting elections from Malerkotla on the Congress ticket, was asked to report on duty by the commission after his 91-day earned leave was cancelled. In the interim report to the commission today, Mustafa has claimed to have undergone surgery and advised rest by the doctor. He is at his residence in
Amargarh, which does not fall in the Malerkotla constituency. Usha Sharma, Special CEO, said they had sent the interim report to the EC. TRANSFERS Acting on complaints regarding involvement of government officials in political activities, the state Election Commission has transferred Pradeep
Jaiswal, an engineer with the Amritsar Improvement Trust has been shifted to
Pathankot. Chogawan Block Development and Panchayat Officer Ashok Kumar has been shifted to Chandigarh and accountant Jasvir Kaur handed over charge. Sulkhan Singh, a lecturer at Government Senior Secondary School,
Harchowal, Gurdaspur, has been transferred to Rurki Khaas near Garhshankar and a charge sheet issued to him. Paramjeet
Kaur, health worker posted at Kot Isse Khan has been suspended. work STOPPED Taking cognisance of a news report regarding a road being constructed in the Lambi assembly segment, Usha Sharma has asked the Muktsar Deputy Commissioner to get the work stopped immediately.
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High-profile village low on security
Badal (Muktsar), January 18 The security scenario in this tiny village, which is located close to the Punjab-Haryana border and is home to a number of VVIPs, seems to be dismal. Police pickets have been set up on all roads leading to this village, but rarely any cop is found on duty there. While visiting the village, The Tribune team met a number of locals who said they had never seen any policeman on duty at these pickets. Being the village of a number of VVIPs, it becomes the duty of the police to provide 24-hour security here, but the authorities seem to be least bothered. “Only those deployed with the VVIPs are performing their duty, otherwise the police is hardly seen on patrol duty,” said Gurmeet Singh, a local resident. Similarly, Harjinder Singh, another resident, said, “This is the election time and the entire Badal family is in the fray. The subordinate staff appears on when a VVIP or a senior officer travels by road”. Harsh Bansal, SSP Muktsar, said he had directed all police personnel to remain vigilant in their respective areas. “If there is some lapse on part of the police, action will be taken against those found guilty,” said
Bansal. Empty post The security scenario in Badal village, which is located close to the Punjab-Haryana border and is home to a number of VVIPs, seems to be dismal as no cop is found on duty in police pickets set up all along the roads.
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Sukhbir’s escort vehicle hits bike
Ludhiana, January 18 Apprehending that the accident could be a terrorist trap, Sukhbir’s security guards cordoned the area as the Jagraon police sounded an alert. The three persons on the motorcycle were detained for questioning. They received minor injuries. Jagraon SSP AS Chahal said the trio had consumed liquor.
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Health dept asks food units to get registered
Patiala, January 18 Civil Surgeon Dr Virinder Singh Mohi said the health department was committed to suppling hygienic food to the public. He said, "Keeping this in view, the state government had implemented the Food Safety and Standard Act in August 2011 as per the instructions issued by the Government of India. Under this Act, it is mandatory to get registered and make license of all establishments dealing with food items." All restaurants, bakeries, sweet shops, motels, dhabas and confectionaries whose sale is more than Rs 12 per lakh per year, dairies and milk units whose milk production per day is 500 to 50,000 litre, refined oils processing units having capacity of more than two metric tonne per day, hotel and restaurant (three star) whose business is more than Rs 12 lakh per year, slaughter houses with 2-10 large animals, 10-150 small animals, 50-1000 poultry birds and meat processing units whose capacity is 500 kg per day must apply for the license and registration in the office of the Civil Surgeon, Patiala, he said. "The licensing fee is Rs 2,000 to 3,000 per year depending upon the unit," he said, adding that the amount of sale of any unit would be gauged from the annual Sales Tax or VAT returns. He said that all retailers, hawkers, stall holder, vendors must get themselves registered. “The registration fee for them is Rs 100 per annum. All concerned should apply for registration and licensing by the end of this month,” Dr Mohi said.
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Unaccounted Rs 2 crore recovered in Sirhind
Fatehgarh Sahib, January 18 SSP BL Meena said that during checking of vehicles, the police recovered Rs 2.03 crore from a resident of Dhangherian village in the district. He said as the occupant of the vehicle could not provide the source of the money, they deposited the it with the Income Tax Department.— OC
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Ex-boxer held for robberies
Patiala, January 18 Police officials said that pugilist Jaspinder Singh had joined the CRPF in 2005 and left the job in 2008 after he fell prey to bad company and joined a gang of robbers. CIA in-charge Kuldeep Singh said Balkar Singh, Jaspinder Singh, Rohtas, Sanjay Saini and Asheesh Sharma were arrested with illegal arms, stolen vehicles, fake voter ID cards and fake driving licenses. Their role in past cases would be verified, the police said
— TNS
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Patiala, January 18
