Couple makes it, uncle-nephew lose

Congress couple Anita Raja and Jagdish Raja emerged victorious from Wards 36 and 37, respectively. However, the uncle-nephew duo, who was contesting against each other in Ward 13, have lost it. Vijay Dakoha of the Congress and his nephew Rohit Kumar Vicky of the SAD lost it to SAD rebel Mandeep Kaur Jassal, an Independent.

27 women make it to MC House

A total of 27 women have been elected as councillors in the 60-member House with against 20 seats reserved for the fairer sex. The women candidates who won polls from general wards include Simarjit Kaur Dhindsa of the SAD from Ward 10, Mandeep Jassal, a rebel SAD and an Independent from Ward 13, Uma Beri of the Congress from Ward 30, Independent Raminder Kaur Dhindsa from Ward 31, Kanchan Sharma of the BJP from Ward 34, Aruna Arora of the Congress from Ward 55 and Surinder Kaur of the Congress from Ward 58.

Fourth term

It is the fourth consecutive term for the Beri couple of the Congress from Ward 30. Rajinder Beri or his wife Uma Beri have been winning from the ward since 1997. Rajinder Beri had lost to Manoranjan Kalia of the BJP from the Jalandhar (Central) Assembly segment and had fielded his wife this time from the general ward.

Winner by 11 votes

Suman Sehgal, sister-in-law of former Mayor Suresh Sehgal, has won this time on the BJP ticket from Ward 18. Her margin, however, was just 11 votes. While she polled 1,516 votes, her rival Rita Sharma of the Congress finished quite close at 1,505 votes. Similarly, independent candidate Satya, wife of sitting BJP councillor Kirpal Pali, has won by a thin margin of 23 votes. She got 1,193 votes. Neelam Rani of the Congress polled 1,170 votes.

Winner by 3,603 votes

Jaspal Kaur Nagra, wife of a sitting SAD councillor, has won from Ward 39 with a huge margin of 3,603 votes. While she polled 4,825 votes, her rival Manjinder Kaur got 1,222 votes. Independent candidate Gurmit Kaur got just 70 votes.

Fifth timer

Sharvan Grover, Jagdish Raja, Bal Kishan Bali

Fourth timer

Uma Beri, Joginder Tony, Arvinder Kaur Oberoi

Third timer

Manjinder Singh Chatha, Arjun Pappi, Dalwinder Gandhi, Kamaljit Bhatia, Surinder Kaur and Balraj Thakur.

“The AIEEE result has come on the expected lines. But my aim was to bag the top position in the state. After cracking the IIT-JEE with a good rank, I was keenly awaiting the AIEEE result. Though I am content with my rank,” said Prnay.

The achiever, who had secured an aggregate of 91 per cent marks in the CBSE Class XII exams, was happy to share that most of his friends have also made it to the topmost engineering colleges of the country.

To a query, Prnay said: “I preferred to study alone. As far as helping friends with notes and study material was concerned, I was readily available for all of them.”

Prnay, who is the only child of city-based businessman Anil Jain, said he was eagerly awaiting his entry to the leading IIT of the country. “I am keen to pursue either computer science or mechanical engineering and set up my own business,” he added.

Prateek Narang, who bagged the second rank in the AIEEE in the district.

On his yearlong preparation for both the IIT-JEE and the AIEEE, Prnay said: “Like many students who end up becoming bookworms in quest of clearing these entrance exams, I studied only when I felt like. Instead of getting pressurised with fear of cracking these entrances, one should relax and study.”

The second rank in the district was bagged by Prateek Narang, a student of Swami Sant Dass Public School. Prateek bagged 13th rank in the state and 489th rank in the country. He had also cleared the IIT-JEE and bagged 6,920th rank in the country. “I will pursue a career in computer science or electronics engineering, either at NIT, Delhi, or Delhi Technical University. I wish to join academics and teach in one of the prestigious IIT or NIT of the country,” he added.

Prateek, who had scored 95.2 per cent marks in Class XII board exams, was all praise for his school and said: “The teachers in the school are very cooperative and they ensure that every student rises above his capacity.”

Vardaan Pahuja, also a student of Swami Sant Dass School, bagged third rank in the district and 32nd rank in the state. He secured 1,458th rank in the country. Vardaan has also cleared the IIT-JEE with 963rd rank.

Another student, Gaurav Arora, bagged 53rd rank in the state and 2,612th rank in the country while Kashish Chadha, also a student of the same school secured 73rd rank in the state and 3,176th rank in the overall merit. 

Jalandhar, June 10
Congress will stake claim to the Mayor’s post in Jalandhar, said convener of Punjab Congress publicity committee Virendra Sharma. He said the Congress, Independents and the PPP have won 30 seats in the MC polls.

While Congress emerged victorious in 22 wards, Independents seven and one seat went to the PPP. On the other hand, the SAD-BJP alliance has also won 30 seats. While the BJP emerged victorious in 19 wards, the SAD managed to capture 11 seats.

The Congress leader said: “Most of the winning independent candidates are either former Congressmen or believe in the ideology of the party. Besides, some winning SAD and BJP candidates are also in touch with the Congress.”

Virendra Sharma said the Congress performed well in Jalandhar even as the ruling SAD-BJP alliance used government machinery for ensuring their victory.

District Congress (Urban) president Arun Walia said: “Though the ruling SAD-BJP used money and muscle to ensure victory, residents of Jalandhar voted in favour of the Congress.”

Prominent winner

Congress candidate from the Jalandhar (Central) Assembly segment Rajinder Beri’s wife and former councillor Uma Beri emerged victorious by defeating her nearest rival Anil Sachar of the BJP from Ward number 30. Uma’s victory and Anil Sachar’s defeat is being considered as a setback to former Local Bodies Minister Manoranjan Kalia as Ward 30 is his home ward as his house in Central Town also falls under this ward.

Couple win

Leader of Opposition in the MC House Jagdish Raj Raja and his wife former councillor Anita Raj registered victories from Ward 37 and Ward 36, respectively.

Rinku, Bhatti win

Former councillor Sushil Kumar Rinku and Gurwinder Singh Bhatti registered victories from Wards 49 and 59 by defeating their nearest rivals Rajan Angural and Varesh Mintu of the BJP, respectively. Rinku and Bhatti’s win is considered as a jolt to Local Bodies Minister Bhagat Chunni Lal as Rajan Angural and Varesh Mintu are considered close to him.

Sharwan Grover wins

Congress leader Sharwan Grover again won from Ward 49 by defeating BJP candidate Ajit Bhardwaj.