Cops man a naka laid near Dhobiana Basti in Bathinda on Sunday evening. Tribune photo: Pawan Sharma

Bathinda, January 29
The police today sealed all the areas vulnerable to vote-purchasing and the places where party workers or supporters of political parties may clash. The areas, including Dhobiana Basti, Janta Nagar, Paras Ram Nagar and the outer areas of the city, have been sealed with barricades.

Apart from the Punjab Police, commandoes and paramilitary forces have also been deployed at the nakas laid in the city.

Pleading anonymity, a senior police official told TNS that the areas have been sealed following the reports of suspected arguments, fights and purchasing of votes by political parties in fray.

Sources said the slum areas with large number of voters were frequently visited by supporters of the political parties contesting the elections. “Many families were offered money between Rs 2,000 and Rs 6,000 after they swear in the name of god to cast their vote in favour of the candidates striking a deal with them,” said a party worker not wishing to be named.

He said with deployment of security forces and strict measures being taken by the authorities concerned, the process of selling votes is now being hampered.

Forces deployed at the entrance of residential areas also put the commuters to inconvenience.

A naka laid by the Punjab Police commandoes and constables near Dhobiana Basti, ahead of the entrance to the cantonment area, left the commuters a confused lot.

“I have no idea how to enter the cantonment area where I am posted. I reside with my family in the central colony,” said Saket, an army official.

The policemen instructed Saket to take an alternative route to enter the cantonment as the entry of all private vehicles entry from this side has been banned in view of the elections. He said only government vehicles of the Punjab Government and the Army were allowed to pass.

A policeman deployed on the naka said last night, skirmishes were reported in Dhobiana Basti and today two candidates were campaigning in the Basti following which they received instructions to seal the area.

“There is no ban on the entry of two-wheelers and rickshaws. However, private four-wheelers have been prohibited from crossing the naka,” said the policeman.

There is only one entrance to the Basti from where four-wheelers may enter and all the other routes are blocked.

Interestingly, the policemen were unaware of the alternate routes but did not refrain from diverting the private vehicles.

When some commuters apprised them of the poor condition of the roads on the alternate routes, the cops on duty expressed their helplessness in sorting out the problem and asked them to bear with the orders given by their seniors.

Bathinda, January 29
In a smear campaign ahead of tomorrow's assembly election, pamphlets with derogatory remarks against the Congress candidate from the Bathinda (Urban) assembly constituency, Harminder Singh Jassi, were pasted at various places in the city along with his photograph with a Punjabi artiste.

The contents on the pamphlet were in Punjabi and the source of its origin was not mentioned.

Residents of the area said they noticed such pamphlets at many main roads in the city, busy market places and in the streets.

Congress workers said they came to know about the pamphlets in the wee hours and the matter was brought to the notice of MLA. Many leaflets were torn and destroyed before afternoon and a formal complaint was lodged with the police and election officials.

Terming the pasting of posters as 'dirty trick' against him, Jassi said a case in this connection has been registered and the unscrupulous elements would be arrested soon.

"I will file a defamatory suit against those behind the unethical act. I know them all and they are the family members of my opponent," said a fuming Jassi while talking to TNS over the phone today in the evening.

Jassi said there is not an iota of truth and the bundle of lies is aimed at tarnishing his image. “It shows that those fighting the Vidhan Sabha elections against me have been baffled as a large number of voters expressed their solidarity with me," he said, adding that many people, who witnessed the pasting of pamphlets, have approached him and are ready to give their statements.

He pointed out that the Congress workers had informed him about the pasting of the posters late last night but he did not wish to enter into any tiff with his opponents.

"I cannot go against the law and Election Commission but will surely get the guilty punished using all legal means," he said.

Returning Officer Harjit Singh Kandhola, when contacted, said he is yet to look into the complaint lodged in this regard. "I have not yet seen the pamphlets with derogatory remarks against the MLA. We are busy in sending the polling parties to their respective polling stations and will look into it to take suitable action against the culprits behind it," Kandhola said.

Deputy Commissioner Kamal Kishore Yadav said that a case under the Defacement of Property Act is being registered in this regard and the officials are exploring other legal angles.

Bathinda, January 29
Six candidates from five constituencies of the district have criminal cases pending against them while one of the candidates is also a convict in a case registered against him under the Arms Act. The Punjab Election Watch (PEW), an NGO that has minutely analysed the affidavits submitted by the contesting candidates while filing their candidature, has reported these revelations.

Both the Congress and SAD candidates from Bathinda (Urban) assembly constituency, namely sitting Congress MLA Harminder Singh Jassi and SAD candidate Sarup Chand Singla, have criminal cases lodged against them.

This is the only constituency to have two main candidates booked in criminal cases, while Bhucho (Reserve) is the only seat that is being contested by persons having no criminal case lodged against them.

The only convicted candidate is a fresh face, the PPP candidate Lakhvir Singh Lakha, contesting from Rampura Phul constituency. He was convicted under Section 25 of the Arms Act in a case dated July 8, 2001.

The other candidates with criminal cases registered against them include Congress sitting MLA from Talwandi Sabo Jeet Mohinder Sidhu, Congress candidate from Bathinda Rural (reserve) constituency Makhan Singh and Mangat Rai Bansal from Maur. Bansal is the sitting MLA from Budhlada constituency in Mansa.

Interestingly, three of the candidates with criminal cases are also among the top 10 crorepatis in the district. These candidates are Sarup Chand Singla, Jeet Mohinder Singh Sidhu and Harminder Singh Jassi.

A former finance minister and the PPP chief Manpreet Singh Badal tops the list with assets worth Rs 28.70 crore while his arch-rival in the Maur constituency Irrigation Minister Janmeja Singh Sekhon trails at Rs 13.71 crore.

The youngest crorepati candidate in the district is 45-year-old Gurpreet Singh Kangar, who is the sitting MLA from Rampura Phul and has assets worth Rs 11.62 crore.

Both the Congress and the SAD have five crorepati candidates each while the PPP has only three crorepati candidates.

Furthermore, despite being crorepatis, neither of the Rampura Phul candidates - Kangar and an independent candidate Sikander Singh - have ever filed an income tax return.

Also, the PPP candidate from the same constituency Lakhvir Singh Lakha Sdana has never filed an IT return.

Advocate Surjeet Singh Sohi from Bathinda Rural (reserve) is also part of this bandwagon. Interestingly, Sikander, Lakha and Sohi have not even provided their PAN details in the affidavits filed by them.

Bathinda, January 29
The very sense of an approaching Monday is enough to put off the holiday mood on Sunday. The Monday blues put off quite a few and not many look forward to the full working day after the weekend lull. But this Sunday proved to be quite different. All appeared to be in a waiting mode for the crack of dawn on Monday — the time to decide the fate of their political representatives.

As the restlessness and expectation remained palpable throughout the day, Bathinda found itself preparing for the big day.

Seventy-one-year-old Jagdeep Singh, a resident of Model Town, was pushing his limits to become the first one to push the button on the Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) at his polling booth. “I will get up early in the morning and will try to reach on time to be first one in the queue,” said Jagdeep, while talking to the Bathinda Tribune, on the eve of polling day.

“The perfect atmosphere created by the Election Commission, the administration and the police has encouraged me to cast my vote and my leader,” said Jagdeep who will exercise his franchise after over two decades.

Jagdeep is not a case in isolation. The entire city was apparently in the grip of poll fervour on poll eve.

“No tea stall, betel shops and market place remained untouched by the intense talk about candidates, political parties and their work,” said a tea stall owner at the Tinkoni here. “Not even drawing rooms,” said a local while sipping tea.

While the development work done by the candidates and political parties dominated the discussion everywhere, track records of independent candidates and some “juicy” stuff that appeared in the media about them also become a part of conversation in the city’s nook and cranny.

Statements made by the candidates against each other made the discussions hot at many places even in the prevailing cold weather conditions.

Though the mercury did not show any sign of let up in the morning, recording 3.4 degree Celsius, it relented as the day progressed to make the atmosphere amicable for pre-poll chat by climbing to 20.2 degree Celsius in the afternoon.

The presence of men-in-khaki everywhere in the city also presented the picture of a poll-soaked city on Sunday evening.

Bathinda, January 29
Although the curtains came down on the campaigning for the assembly elections, complaints were pouring in at the election office even on Sunday — a day before the Vidhan Sabha elections — against campaigning being done by the candidates of various political parties.

Returning Officer (RO) Harjit Singh Kandhola, while admitting that complaints had been pouring in at the election office in this connection, said the candidates are accused of campaigning with large number of vehicles.

Once the campaigning ends, no candidate is allowed to campaign and have a cavalcade of vehicles following him on his campaign trail. “We are keeping a close watch on the activities of all the candidates and political parties and efforts are on to take suitable action against the wrongdoers,” Kandhola said.

Local political leaders said the candidates were trying to woo voters till the day before the elections by making promises and assuring the public that all the pending works will be done if their party comes to power in the city.

Besides holding corner meetings, some candidates continued door-to-door campaigning on Sunday.

The observers said they have warned candidates and their supporters to stay away from using cavalcades and campaigning in the favour of their political parties. Campaigning a day before the elections is considered violation of the model code of conduct.

Bathinda, January 29
A man and his son have been booked by the police after the death of a woman in Mehma Sarja village.

In his complaint to the police, Jora Singh of Tapa Mandi said his daughter, Sukhdeep Kaur, was married to Gurcharan Singh for almost 16 years. The family members, including the boy and his parents, had been harassing the woman and demanding dowry.

On January 27, the in-laws of the woman called up the complainant and informed him about her death. The father accused the in-laws of killing his daughter as some marks of injury were visible on the neck of the woman.

A case in this connection has been registered under sections 302 and 34 of the IPC against Gurcharan and his father Harjinder Singh. No arrests have been made in this regard so far. Investigating officer in the case, Sham Sunder, said efforts were on to nab the culprits.

Bathinda, January 29
PPP candidate Sukhdev Singh Chahal has been booked for violating code of conduct by travelling in a motorcade of 16 vehicles. The static surveillance team of Talwandi Sabo constituency, headed by deputy DM Punsup Sandeep Kumar Bansal, had complained at the Raman police station that his team stopped the motorcade at village Laleana for checking. The motorcade didn’t have any permission to move around. During investigation it was found that motorcade comprised of supporters of PPP candidate from the area and had violated the model code of conduct. Police have impounded all the vehicles.

Bathinda, January 29
The air on poll eve in Bathinda was one of anticipation and expectation. As the countdown began for the people to exercise their franchise on Monday, the babudom stirred into action to conduct the democratic process in a free and fair manner. Paramilitary forces descended upon the city and took over the reins of security even as government officials headed for their designated polling booths and on patrolling duty. The city – part tense and part thrilled – looked eager for its tryst with D-day.