B A T H I N D A    E D I T I O N

End of polling brings peace of mind but anxiety palpable
Faridkot, January 31
Can contesting an election or active participation in electioneering cause psychiatric problems?

Cong candidate’s spouse booked for F’pur death
Ferozepur, January 31
The Ferozepur police has registered a case under sections 302, 307, 148 and 149 of the IPC against six persons including Jasmail Singh Laddi Gehri, who is the husband of the Congress candidate from Ferozepur (Rural) Satkar Kaur, in connection with the alleged killing of a youth, identified as Nishan Singh, 22, during a clash between the supporters of SAD and Congress in village Piareana, around 12 kms from the district headquarters here yesterday.

ASI, head constable booked for gambling
Bathinda/Mansa, January 31
An ASI and head constable have been booked by the police for gambling in Mansa. Accused policemen have been identified as ASI Balvinder Singh, ASI Nazar Singh and head constable Iqbal Singh, all deployed at Boha Police Station.

Pak national arrested
Abohar, January 31
The 56th Battalion of the Border Security Force (BSF) has arrested a Pakistan national, as he crossed the Zero Line to intrude into India. Inspector Majid Khan said the intruder has been identified as Gausa Meer (45), son of Abdul Gaffar and belongs to the Fatehshah area of Bahawalpur in the West Punjab province.

End of polling brings peace of mind but anxiety palpable
Balwant Garg
Tribune News Service

Faridkot, January 31
Can contesting an election or active participation in electioneering cause psychiatric problems?

After a meeting with the some main contenders for the Faridkot and Kotkapura assembly seats, their families, close friends, party workers and some doctors on Tuesday, it was learnt that there has been an upsurge in the number of patients seeking psychiatric treatment, with most campaigners feeling low after spending sleepless nights, rushing about through the day and downing endless cups of tea and coffee during the last one month of intense electioneering.

Dr Harish Arora, a senior psychiatrist at the Guru Gobind Singh Medical College, Faridkot, who got a comparatively high rush of patients in his OPD today, said many of his active supporters in the election have had the symptoms of 'reactive depression' and they were prescribed anxiolytic drugs or anti-anxiety medication.

If the end of polling has brought some peace of mind to friends and relatives of the candidates, it has only heightened the stress for those awaiting the results, said Dr Arora.

Wherever the fight is expected to be close, the problem of frayed nerves tends to be more acute. Leaders are now busy collecting views to find out their chances of a win by applying the arithmetic of total votes polled, the booth-wise breakup, the urban-rural break-up and other significant determinants.

After one month of criss-crossing his constituency, when he was on whistle-stop tours for votes, with the close of polling, the over stressed and over-stretched, 74-year-old Avtar Singh Brar, Congress candidate from Faridkot, left for Chandigarh today early in the morning for some rest. "As I was feeling tired and need some medical assistance also, so I came to Chandigarh," said Avtar Singh Brar, who is diabetic.

It is Navdeep Singh Brar, Avtar Singh Brar's son who was not only settling the dues of chai-wallahs, polling agents and speakerwallahs, among others, in Faridkot but was also exchanging pleasantries with the supporters who were thronging the Brar house- weighing the chances of their victory.

Navjot Kaur, Brar's daughter, left for her in-laws' place after over two-weeks of her stay in Faridkot, canvassing for her father.

Deep Malhotra, the SAD (B) candidate from Faridkot, a seasoned businessman but a greenhorn in politics, was also been busy weighing his chances today. Sarpanches and other party workers assembled at his office since morning. Till evening, Malhotra continued calculating his chances even as party workers provided him with inputs regarding the voting patterns in their respective areas. Looking dead tired but still managing to radiate energy, he questioned every visitor with his first question, "Where do we stand?"

Dimpy, Malhotra's wife, was today taking a break after two weeks of hectic door-to-door campaigning. While Deep Malhotra was sitting in his Faridkot office to say 'thanks' to party leaders and workers, Dimpy Malhotra left for her house in Delhi.

Similarly, the routine had gone haywire during the last one month for Mantar Singh Brar, the SAD (B) candidate from Kotkapura. Having switched off his mobile phone, Mantar Brar was resting at an 'unknown' place.

Upinder Sharma, a dissident Congress leader and an independent candidate from Kotkapura, resumed his daily activity on Tuesday as per his routine. Since early in the morning, his supporters were reaching him to report about the voting trend.

After over a month of sleepless nights when meals were skipped and health problems ignored, there is not much relief from the heightened stress for all serious contenders and their supporters.

"We have yet to spend a month more of sleepless nights till the results are out," said Baljit Singh Dhillon, a supporter of Avtar Singh Bar.

Cong candidate’s spouse booked for F’pur death
Anirudh Gupta

Ferozepur, January 31
The Ferozepur police has registered a case under sections 302, 307, 148 and 149 of the IPC against six persons including Jasmail Singh Laddi Gehri, who is the husband of the Congress candidate from Ferozepur (Rural) Satkar Kaur, in connection with the alleged killing of a youth, identified as Nishan Singh, 22, during a clash between the supporters of SAD and Congress in village Piareana, around 12 kms from the district headquarters here yesterday.

SSP Hardyal Singh Mann said that the others who have been named in the case include Mandar Bhau, Happy Shera, Kanwaljit Singh, Lakhwinder Singh and Raju Kammagar.

The SSP said though the police have completed the preliminary investigations, however, no arrest could be made yet. Hardev Singh, DSP, sub-division, said the police parties were raiding various places to apprehend the alleged accused in the case.

Earlier yesterday, immediately after the stipulated time for the polling got over, the Congress and SAD workers entered into a heated argument over some poll related issue around 200 metres away from the polling booth in the village which took an ugly turn when some Congress workers allegedly fired a few shots which saw one dead and two injured. The deceased, Nishan Singh, who was hit by a bullet in his stomach, was immediately rushed to a private hospital where he was declared brought dead.

ASI, head constable booked for gambling
Tribune News Service

Bathinda/Mansa, January 31
An ASI and head constable have been booked by the police for gambling in Mansa. Accused policemen have been identified as ASI Balvinder Singh, ASI Nazar Singh and head constable Iqbal Singh, all deployed at Boha Police Station.

Mansa SSP Pradeep Kumar said that these officials have been suspended with immediate effect and departmental inquiry has been initiated against them. He said that the special squad from the city police station under the supervision of ASI Jagdeep Singh caught Balvinder Singh, a resident of Fatta Maloka village, Iqbal Singh of Dane Wala village, Baljinder Singh of Chakerian village and Lajpat Rai of Mansa city. They were gambling at a public place and Rs 31,315 were recovered from their possession. Their fifth accomplice Nazar Singh managed to escape and efforts are on to nab him.

It was later came to know that three of the arrested people are policemen and they were suspended.

A case under Sections 13,3,67 of the Gambling Act has been registered in this connection at Mansa city police station.

Pak national arrested

Abohar, January 31
The 56th Battalion of the Border Security Force (BSF) has arrested a Pakistan national, as he crossed the Zero Line to intrude into India. Inspector Majid Khan said the intruder has been identified as Gausa Meer (45), son of Abdul Gaffar and belongs to the Fatehshah area of Bahawalpur in the West Punjab province.

Nothing incriminating was found during his search but he would be interrogated by the state and central agencies to find out what prompted him to enter India illegally. — OC