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BJP vows strong Lokpal to tackle corruption
Congress candidate Pinki booked
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Nitin Gadkari speaks up for farmers
Nitin Gadkari in Jalandhar.
5 years of populist performance
Preneet, Raninder woo Dera Sacha Sauda
Kusumjit fair and impartial: Qureishi
Cheema visited Moonak: Report
Team Anna decides to play neutral
Malvinder to contest LS elections against Preneet
Ballot power: Village gets link road after 50 years
Flag march in Malerkotla
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BJP vows strong Lokpal to tackle corruptionVarinder Singh/TNS
Jalandhar, January 24 Among those present were senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley, leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, BJP campaign incharge JP Nadda and MPs Navjot Sidhu and Avinash Khanna. It seems a cut and paste effort of the party’s 2007 manifesto, the only major difference being that this time round, the party has elaborated the ways and means to tackle corruption through a strengthened Lokpal. Apart from curbing corruption, the BJP has reiterated its resolve to allot five-marla plots to landless Dalit families, strengthen the PDS, ensure round-the-clock power supply, make Punjab power surplus, recruit more teachers, check unemployment, make Punjab drug-free and ensure better healthcare facilities. “We are in favour of a strong Lokpal. The BJP will ensure confiscation of the ill-gotten wealth of politicians and officials and such properties will be declared state properties. All public servants will be brought under the purview of the Lokpal. Special efforts will be made to redress public grievances on priority and to bring transparency and accountability in the administrative system,” said Jaitley, adding that the SAD-BJP govermment had already provided jobs to thousands of youngsters in the state. “The ruling alliance has intitiated the urban renewal mission, so now you have better connectivity through a better road network and flyovers.” Jaitley said the alliance would bring more services in the ambit of the Right to Service Act. Octroi on diesel and petrol would be done away with. Vacant government posts would be filled. Punjab would be made power surplus as the under-construction four thermal plants would be completed within the time limit. “Industrial clusters would be carved in the state, trading hurdles removed and to encourage new industry, a single- window system introduced,” said Jaitley. Besides this, the border posts at Attari and Hussainiwala would see more trade. Jaitley said the Centre would be pressurised to extend the Delhi-Mumbai corridor till Amritsar. Jaitley said the cities would be provided drinking water, sewerage treatment plants, and RO plants. Children from For Dalit and Backward Classes would be given free education. Computer education would be introduced from the primary classes. To strengthen healthcare, district-level super-specialty hospitals would be established. For the economically weaker, housing facilities would be provided through government agencies. The law and order situation in the state would be strengthened and those responsible for custodial deaths strictly dealt with. Jaitley said strict action would be taken to curb crime against women. Widow pension would be increased to Rs 750 per month and women given maternity leave for a year. Families hit by terrorism would be given Rs 5,000 a month. Other Salient features... n
Good governance through an empowered Lokpal n
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Octroi on diesel and petrol to be done away n
Vacant government posts to be filled n
Industrial clusters to be be carved and single-window system introduced n
The border posts at Attari and Hussainiwala to see more trade n
Centre to be pressurised to extend the Delhi-Mumbai corridor till Amritsar n
District-level super-specialty; housing facilities for weaker sections n
Crime against women to be curbed; widow pension to be increased to Rs 750 pm and families hit by terrorism to get Rs 5,000 a month
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Congress candidate Pinki booked
Ferozepur, January 24 The police has booked 52 persons, 40 of them unidentified. Hardyal Singh Mann, SSP, said the police had also received a complaint against Ravinder Singh Sandhu lodged by Pinki’s supporters. A scuffle erupted yesterday during a debate on a private TV channel at Housing Board Colony with Pinki’s supporters entering into an argument with Sandhu’s supporters. Both parties flung chairs at one another and exchanged blows. Pinki said it was Sandhu’s men who had provoked his supporters. Sandhu said his supporters would show black flags to Rahul Gandhi to protest against the incident during his visit to the town tomorrow. Sandhu claimed that markets in the town would remain shut in protest against the “vandalism unleashed by Pinki’s supporters.”
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Nitin Gadkari speaks up for farmers
Nangal, Janaury 24 Addressing a rally here, his first in the state, in favour of local candidate Madan Mohan Mittal, he said, “It is a big contradiction that on the one hand the area sees floods and on the other it has no adequate facility to store water for the dry season. In another contradiction, we grow potatoes and tomatoes in abundance but the farmers are forced to dump the produce on roads because of poor marketing.” He said it was a mockery of the system that banks charged 13 per cent interest on farm loans and 10 per cent on luxury cars. Gadkari said petrol prices had gone up 13 times during the Congress government tenure and home loan rates 15 times. He said more than 10 lakh farmers had committed suicide in the country. "What good is it to have an economist as PM who does not know anything about managing the country's economy,” he asked. On the Congress role in the alleged the 2G and Commonwealth Games scams, Shanta Kumar, former Himachal Chief Minister, said the Congress had given the licence to multi-nationals to “loot the country”. Later, Gadkari addressed a rally in
Jalandhar.
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INFRASTRUCTURE SUCCESS: The five years saw a flurry of road and bridge construction, besides a few super-specialty hospitals. Many projects are still underway. Sewerage projects were initiated in many small towns. Successfully introduced the public-private partnership mode of investment against some initial resistance. FAILURE:
Urban infrastructure failed to take off, with the government not even able to take benefit from the Centre's Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission. The major reason was non-availability of funds for cities and towns after octroi was abolished. Basic amenities in cities like roads and sewerage remained in bad shape. ADDING UP: The government has plenty to showcase, with broad new roads, and a few shiny hospitals and five-star hotels, but experience at the level of the individual in terms of civic amenities remained unpleasant. This happened because the government had very little of its own funds, and nor could it make use of Central schemes. Most of the funding came under the PPP mode, which serves mostly heavy infrastructure, and it is the people who end up paying for it. POLLUTION SUCCESS: Common effluent treatment plant set up for electroplating units in Ludhiana; partially functioning in Jalandhar. Process of setting up sewerage treatment plants for 50 towns initiated. Production of polythene bags below certain thickness banned, as also early sowing of paddy. Bio-medical waste segregation started. FAILURE: Dyeing units of Ludhiana continue to release effluents untreated. Auto emissions continued unchecked. Untreated sewerage and effluents from around a hundred towns continue to flow into rivers, causing toxicity downstream. ADDING UP:
The government showed political courage in checking early sowing of paddy, but where funds were required to set up treatment plants, it failed. It even failed to utilise all of the aid available from the Centre for the purpose. Some action in Jalandhar was more a result of the pressure built by environmentalist Baba Balbir Singh
Seechewal. INDUSTRY SUCCESS: The government brought out a 'new industrial policy', introduced online filing of VAT, and set up three boards for large and small/medium industries and traders. Sanctioned Rs 51,000 crore worth of mega projects, though only Rs 10,000 crore came in. Investment of Rs 15,000 crore came in other forms. FAILURE: The promised land bank for industry never materialised, keeping away investors owing to high land prices. Lack of adequate power supply too kept away fresh investment. Failure to train the youth as per the industry's needs kept manpower in short supply. ADDING UP: The government spent a lot of energy on condemning the incentives to neighbouring hill states for robbing Punjab of investment, despite the fact that it was a decade-old issue. No real ways to overcome the hurdle were found. A major reason for investment staying away, however, was the perception that clearances were not all above board, especially in the absence of single-window approvals. YOUTH SUCCESS: The government claims it filled 1.15 lakh vacancies in government offices. During the five-year tenure, at least three top-end higher education institutes were opened in the state. Also, a large number of private colleges were opened. FAILURE: With little growth in industry, there was no demand to absorb the estimated 25 lakh unemployed youth in the state. What few jobs were there also went to migrants, as the education available here was not appropriate to the industry's needs. Under the circumstances, many a young man has taken to drugs. ADDING UP: The policy of promoting private education has given an impetus for future human resource development, but before industry develops, and loans become available, not many from the rural areas would be able to afford higher education. The immediate need is to find employment for rural youth who cannot be accommodated in farming anymore. SOCIAL WELFARE SUCCESS: Many schemes for the poor were launched by the government, and a particular success was the atta-dal scheme that gave subsidised food. Shagun scheme for poor brides and free domestic power supply for BPL families were the other benefits widely praised by the economically weaker sections. FAILURE: Scams in the Shagun scheme, and interference from local-level leaders of the SAD in directing the distribution of benefits under various schemes marred the initial years of the government. Schemes for house-building aid and toilets for the poor were also a disaster. ADDING UP: The success of the atta-dal scheme and free power for poor alone would be enough for the poor to overlook the deficiency in some of the other schemes. Impressed, the Congress too has promised to continue the benefits. The subsidy bill, however, does not seem to be anyone's concern. EDUCATION SUCCESS: The biggest achievement was recruitment of more than 50,000 teachers, a desperately needed step. New schools were opened and many old ones upgraded. Large number of technical colleges opened in the private sector. FAILURE: Sudden recruitment of a huge number of teachers resulted in poor quality of those hired, which led to the quality of teaching falling in government schools. The curriculum in schools has remained archaic. It is thus not encouraging learning and is inappropriate as a base for higher education. Technical colleges are finding it hard to fill seats, as they lack both good faculty and applicants. ADDING UP:
First things first, the government deserves credit for arranging the basics of education - schools with teachers in them. The next target can be quality. Still, little is being done to encourage science education at senior-school level. The result is very poor quality of students for higher technical education, which is affecting the employability of the state's youth. POWER SUCCESS: Construction of three power plants is underway in Punjab, raising hope of increased power supply in coming years. The power cut situation was relatively better through the SAD-BJP government's tenure. It was able to supply free power to the farm sector, as promised. FAILURE: The basic promise of arranging "surplus power" by the end of its tenure was grossly missed. Ensuring supply in summer months cost a huge amount as power had to be purchased from the open market. Free power to farmers and the poor led to a huge subsidy bill, and brought the power utilities to near bankruptcy. ADDING UP: The government may be criticised for making the ambitious promise of surplus power, but it did initiate new generation projects, something that had not been done in a long while. But the populist policy of free power is killing the state financially, and also leading to many Central funds being denied. FINANCE SUCCESS: The year 2010-11 saw a remarkable 44 per cent jump in tax collections, largely on account of value-added tax, excise and stamp duty. Abolition of octroi was also hailed by the business community. FAILURE: Public debt rose from Rs 48,000 crore in 2006-07 to Rs 77,000 in 2011-12. No way was found to pay the subsidy bill, which continued to bleed the state. Inability to contribute the state's share in many Central schemes led to funds being denied. The state's own receipts are not even enough to pay for fixed annual expenses such as salaries. ADDING UP: The policy of populist expenditure smacks or irresponsibility and political expediency. The state is going under increasing debt, reducing its credit worthiness and raising the cost for future generations. A lot of expenditures were financed by selling off prime government land, which is a one-time gain at best. But with the Opposition too showing no inclination of curtailing such expenditure, the ruling party can hardly be blamed. WOMEN SUCCESS: For the first time, the government got serious about curbing female
foeticide, marginally improving the child sex ratio. Scheme to give Rs 1,000 to women delivering in hospitals and bicycles to senior-school girls gave attention to basics of health and education. FAILURE: The high rate of crime against women saw no decline. Overall, as no promise had been made for women in the manifesto, not much attention was paid to their social issues. ADDING UP: What little was done is only lip service if one looks at the lot of women in society. Apart from empowering them with education, especially higher education, and jobs, massive effort towards public awakening on their needs has to be made. It is because women do not figure prominently in the political scheme of things that no party has paid much attention to their uplift. AGRICULTURE SUCCESS: The SAD-BJP government stuck to its promise of free power to farmers despite all odds. Land acquisition policy was made farmer friendly. Early variety of paddy was banned, a major step. Amendment of the forest Act gave relief to many. Canals were repaired. FAILURE: Small farmers remained under debt, and the families of those who committed suicide were given no relief. As no attempt at diversification was made, ways to generate greater income from small holdings could not be found. ADDING UP: Despite the SAD being a party that depends heavily on the farmer community, it did little to think out of the box for them. For any ill, it just blamed "poor MSP" paid by the Centre, despite the fact that MSP saw the highest rise during the UPA's tenure. No alternatives to the conventional modes of agri-business were found. Its bias towards the arhtiya system did not allow direct payment to be paid to farmers. GOVERNANCE REFORMS SUCCESS:The single greatest achievement in this direction is the enactment of the Punjab Right to Services Act, meant to ensure people receive services in various government offices in a time-bound manner. Irritants such as affidavits have been done away with. FAILURE:
The execution of the promise came too late in the day — last year of the government's tenure. As such, there was little time to implement the Act on the ground. ADDING UP: Planning the reforms took a long time, as there was tremendous resistance from the bureaucracy. Credit must go to the government for overcoming that. There may be staff shortage and other hassles, those can be overcome in time, but a paradigm shift in approach towards red tape has been made.
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Preneet, Raninder woo Dera Sacha Sauda
Patiala, January 24 As per information, Preneet and Raninder left the Moti Bagh Palace at 6 am for dera headquarters. Contrary to the claims of Congress leaders in Patiala that both had gone to attend the election rally of UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, a dera spokesman confirmed that the mother-son duo was at the dera this afternoon. Though Preneet could not be contacted, Raninder confirmed that he went out of station. He, however, added that he was busy with Rahul Gandhi’s proposed visit to Mansa. Interestingly, Ram Singh, who is associated with the political wing of the dera, said, “Preneet and Raninder stayed at the dera for about half an hour. They also met the dera head, but the interaction was brief”. Though the dera is silent on its stand on backing any particular party, sources claim that the dera chief has agreed to Preneet’s request of “giving blessings” to her son. “If the dera votes are polled in favour of Raninder in Samana, the latter might win with a handsome margin,” claimed some of the Congress leaders, who have been aggressively campaigning for Raninder. “A ‘naam charcha ghar’ (religious shrine) exists in Samana on the Patiala Sangrur road. An appeal to ‘premis’ (dera followers) for casting their vote in favour of particular candidates may be issued on January 29, a day before the polling,” said a dera follower.
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Kusumjit fair and impartial: Qureishi
Chandigarh, January 24 Talking to The Tribune on the phone, Qureishi said though he had not yet received SAD’s complaint against Kusumjit, he could categorically say that she was “working impartially and without any biases towards any party and I have full faith in her.” “I am yet to see the complaint. I will look at it. But the CEO has been fair and upright in her conduct,” he said. The SAD had complained to the EC yesterday that the CEO was “soft peddling” the complaints filed by the party against the Congress and was showing “promptitude and inventiveness” on the complaints filed by the Congress. Stating that the SAD always complied with the code of conduct and cooperated with the EC, the Akalis said in the complaint that they were prompted to complain owing to certain recent developments, thereby seeking his (CEC’s) intervention to maintain level playing field in the assembly elections. The SAD had stated that Amarinder Singh and CEO Kusumjit Sidhu belonged to the same village, Mehraj in Bathinda, and the party wanted to bring it to EC’s notice. The complaint had mentioned specific instances in which Kusumjit had allegedly not taken any action on SAD’s complaints. Meanwhile, Usha Sharma, Special CEO, said the SAD had filed just 10 complaints with the CEO and eight of these were redressed. She added Kusumjit belonged to Mehraj village, but she had no connection with the village now. “Her forefathers used to live there, but no member of her family is staying in that village anymore,” she said. What SAD says CEO Kusumjit Sidhu is “soft peddling” the complaints filed by the party against the Congress and is showing “promptitude and inventiveness” on the complaints filed by the Congress. Both the PCC chief Capt Amarinder Singh and Kusumjit belong to the same village, Mehraj in Bathinda What CEC says “I am yet to see the complaint but I can say that Kusumjit is working impartially and without any biases towards any party and I have full faith in her”
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Cheema visited Moonak: Report
Chandigarh, January 24 A satirist-turned-politician, Mann had complained to the Election Commission that Cheema allegedly addressed a meeting and sought mandate in favour of his rival and Congress candidate Rajinder Kaur Bhattal. The visit was “confirmed” in a report that Punjab Chief Electoral Officer Kusumjit Sidhu had sought from the poll officials concerned. Chief Secretary Subodh Chandra Agrawal has forwarded the report, prepared by Sangrur SSP HS Bhullar, to Kusumjit. While the SSP was not available for comment, sources said he had submitted a report that confirmed Cheema’s visit to Moonak in Lehragaga constituency. Agrawal confirmed he had submitted the report to the CEO, though he refused to divulge the details. Kusumjit said she had received the report, which had been forwarded to the Election Commission in Delhi. “They will take the final call,” she said. Mann had alleged that Cheema held a meeting at his residence in Moonak Mandi with the local leaders in the presence of Bhattal. “Cheema not only assured Bhattal of his support but also openly persuaded the people present there to vote for the Congress candidate,” he said. Not only was this a violation of the poll code but was also against the conduct of the officer concerned (Cheema), Mann alleged. Cheema was not available for comments despite repeated attempts.
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Team Anna decides to play neutral
Amritsar, January 24 Team Anna members Prashant Bhushan, Manish Sisodia, Gopal Rai and Dr Sunilam reached the city this morning and held a public meeting after visiting the Golden Temple and Jallianwalla Bagh. However, the team’s two key members, Kiran Bedi and Arvind Kejriwal, were conspicuous by their absence. The team members took out a road show to sensitise the residents on corruption and Lokpal. Addressing the gathering, Sisodia dubbed the present Lokpal Bill as “today’s Rowlatt Act” while drawing a parallel between the protest against the Rowlatt Act in Jallianwalla Bagh in 1919 and their protest against the government now. Sisodia said they were here not to ask people to vote for or against anybody. “Somebody asked me whom do you want to win in Punjab. I replied, we are not getting into it, we are here only to create mess for the corrupt,” he added. Sisodia said the political parties were out to divide the electorate on the lines of religion and caste, besides luring them with sops like laptops, cycles, cheap foodgrains and free electricity. The voters should not get misled by them and exercise their franchise with caution, he said. Addressing schoolchildren present at the meeting, he said, “Ask your parents to do the homework before they vote”. Meanwhile, the public meeting held by the Team Anna could not draw much crowd. Most of those present included activists of India Against Corruption and schoolchildren.
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Malvinder to contest LS elections against Preneet
Mehraj (Bathinda), January 24 But at the moment, he would concentrate on election campaign for the SAD candidate against his nephew and Congress candidate Raninder Singh in the Samana assembly constituency, he said. He said that Preneet was instrumental in getting his candidature rejected by the Congress high command.
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Surjewala canvasses
for Amarinder Warring Candidates skip eco pledge Haryana CM in Bholath Residents to boycott polls Bus operators to back Cong Sarna hits out at Badals 21K cases of liquor seized
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Punjab misused Central funds: Sonia
Gurdaspur/Samrala, January 24 This mood of thousands of Congress men was euphoric as Sonia struck an emotional chord with the people, saying: “I salute Gurdaspur because it is the land of Gurus, pirs, fakirs and large-hearted people like you.” The crowd exploded into a deafening applause. For the rest of her 20-minute speech, she managed to carry the masses with her with ease. Clad in a salwar kameez and donning a mustard duppata, Sonia claimed that the SAD-BJP combine had misused funds meant for Central schemes like NREGA. “I have concrete evidence that funds meant for these schemes are being siphoned to sustain Sangat Darshan programmes of the government,” she said. On fake cases registered against Congress men, she promised a special commission to look into the cases. Highlighting the spread of cancer in the Malwa belt, the AICC president said: “We will set up three multi-speciality cancer hospitals in Malwa. What has the ruling SAD-BJP government done for the welfare of cancer patients who have to trudge to nearby Rajasthan for treatment?,” she asked. “Punjab is under a massive debt of Rs 65,000 crore. I ask the Akali government as to why such a large debt has accumulated in a state which at one time was known for prosperity.” On the Food Security Act, she said: “The legislation is awaiting the nod of Parliament and once passed, we will be able to provide you wheat at Re 1 per kg.” The UPA chairman was presented a siropa and a shawl by PCC chief Capt Amarinder Singh, MP Partap Bajwa and AICC incharge GS Charak. In Samrala, challenging the SAD-BLP alliance claims on power generation, Congress president Sonia Gandhi today questioned the MoUs signed by the state government with private companies. “What happened to the MoUs signed by the state government for power generation? I know that not one power plant has become operational. Not only this, but they have even increased the power tariff. In such cicumstances, forget about setting new industry, even the existing industrial houses are shifting base. This has led to increased unemployment and that is why the Punjabi youths are taking to drugs,” Sonia told a rally at Samrala in Ludhiana. In her 13-minute speech, Sonia said she was aware that Congress workers were being harassed with false cases registered against them. She said the farmers of this agrarian state were suffering and were forced to dump their produce on streets. “I want to warn you that if they do not dislodge the SAD-BJP alliance, Punjab will further move backwards.” She said if the Congress came to power, it would provide 100 per cent subsidy on drip irrigation to farmers witjh less than 4 acres of land-holding. “A special annual fund of Rs 100 crore would be formed for boosting agriculture and we will give Rs 100 crore annual grant to Punjab Agricultural University. Dairy farming will be promoted so that milk production is doubled in the coming five years,” Sonia woos farmers n Pledges special annual fund of Rs 100 crore to boost agriculture I salute Gurdaspur because it is the land of the Gurus, pirs, fakirs and large-hearted people like you — Sonia Gandhi at a rally in Gurdaspur
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Ballot power: Village gets link road after 50 years
Masol (Kharar), January 24 Only last month, the Punjab PWD Department had started the work on the link road to the village, which is otherwise impossible to reach through meandering rivulets filled with quicksand and rocks. In high spirits on seeing the progress of the road, voters are now eagerly waiting to cast their vote on January 30. But it has been a long battle for the villagers. “For half a century, we have voted for politicians of Punjab. But they did nothing even after writing to the Haryana Chief Minister to include the village in Haryana. Then, we announced to boycott the elections in 2007 and it made an impact”, said Kashmira Singh, an aged native of the village. Most of the residents of the village are solely depending for the source of income on small land holdings. Only a few villagers are in government jobs. Located just 10-km from Punjab Chief Minister’s residence and the Punjab and Haryana Civil Secretariat, Masol has for years survived without roads, medical facilities, proper power supply and regular drinking water. All because the village has been cut off from the outside world in absence of proper connectivity. Not to miss the opportunity, sitting Morinda MLA and SAD candidate from Kharar assembly segment Ujagar Singh Wadali claimed credit for getting the work started. On the other hand, Congress candidate Jagmohan Singh Kang, who had been thrice minister and represent the area, said, “It was me who had got the funds sanctioned from the Centre. The Akalis are claiming for the initiative taken by our party.” Unmindful of the claims and counter claims of politicians, an exhilarated Banta Singh, another native of the village, said mobility would increase and getting employment would become easy. “Outsiders have started buying land here on hearing that the link road is being built,” said Santokh Singh. Officials in the PWD Department said that apart from the link road to Masol, work on raising six bridges on the Nayagoan-Tanda road was in progress. When complete, the road would provide link to several villages situated on the way. Jubilant with the construction work of the road, residents also want a dispensary in the village as they have to carry a sick person on a cot to the nearest road, which is about 10 km away near Karoran village, Nayagoan, located next to the PGI, Chandigarh.
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Flag march in Malerkotla
Malerkotla, January 24 Returning officer Sonali Giri said rallies and canvassing on loudspeakers would now be held till 8 pm instead of 10 pm. Paramjit Singh Gorayan, Sangrur SP(D), said the police had arrested four Akali workers. He said three Akali workers had been admitted to the local Civil Hospital with minor injuries, but no case had been registered against any Congress worker in this regard. Akali workers Mohammad Shabbir, Anwar Mehboob, Sakib Ali Raja MC, Yaseen, alias Eena, and Mukhtiar Ahmed, alias Kaka, had been booked. Mukhtiar had been let off after questioning. Izhar Alam, former DGP and husband of SAD candidate Farzana Alam, at a press conference, alleged that Congress musclemen had attacked his house last night but the police had registered a false case against his workers. He said he had sent a notice to Mohammad Mustafa, ADGP, for distributing defamatory handbills against him. The RO said a notice had been sent to the Congress for organising a rally sans permission. n Police arrests four Akali workers after clash
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Following in the footsteps of its alliance partner, SAD, the BJP today released its manifesto, promising good governance and an empowered
Lokpal.
Lambasting the Centre for the “poor state of affairs”, BJP president Nitin Gadkari said today that it was a shame that foodgrain valued at Rs 58,000 crore had been allowed to rot owing to inadequate storage, even as thousands went hungry in the country everday.
Addressing a rally here, his first in the state, in favour of local candidate Madan Mohan Mittal, he said, “It is a big contradiction that on the one hand the area sees floods and on the other it has no adequate facility to store water for the dry season. 
Taking a cue from the flak it drew by opposing the Congress in the Hisar bypoll last year, the Team Anna has arrived in Punjab only to appeal to the electorate to vote for parties/candidates with clean image and good track record while refraining to support or oppose any particular political outfit.
Malvinder Singh, the estranged brother of PPCC president Capt Amarinder Singh, today announced that he would contest the Lok Sabha elections in 2014 against his sister-in-law Preneet
Kaur.
At last, a village located close to Pinjore in Haryana has got a link road. Living in despair for years together, residents of Masol village boycotted the 2007 assembly elections in protest against unfulfilled election promise of constructing a link road.
Gidderbaha:
Bholath:
Jalandhar:
Amritsar: