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Zila parishad poll results
Bajwa routed in Qadian, Manpreet in Gidderbaha
Cong cries foul; Akali Dal calls it dress rehearsal for LS poll
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Cabinet Minister Bikram Singh Majithia with a winner in Amritsar on Tuesday. Photo: Vishal Kumar
SAD-BJP wins in Gurdaspur
Cong does fairly well in Doaba
Congress candidates at a victory procession in Jalandhar on Tuesday. Tribune photo: Malkiat Singh
Coalition all the way in Malwa
Capt lashes out at DGP for self-praise
Punjab in thick of drug
menace
UK girl’s organs not transplanted: Report
Appointment of fishery
officers
Fire damages 2,000 jute bags
Fix wheat MSP at Rs 2,100: Kisan Morcha
Authorities told to register
runaway couple’s marriage
Explain basis of allowing CLU, HC tells Punjab
JE held for graft
Punjabi youth shot dead in Philippines
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Cong cries foul; Akali Dal calls it dress rehearsal for LS poll
Patiala, May 21 Earlier in the day, Congress MLAs Laal Singh and Brahm Mohindra visited a counting centre in Patiala (Rural). They highlighted some discrepancies in counting and pointed at sealed ballot papers dumped in a corner. “It is obvious the poll staff is trying its best to make sure that the SAD wins by all means,” they alleged. Brahm Mohindra, expressing surprise at the results, said: “Government control over the counting centres was complete. Even the media was not allowed in. Congress polling agents who pointed out wrongdoings were threatened and thrown out of the counting centres.” The Congress failed to win a single seat in Sanaur. It performed poorly in Samana, the home constituency of Surjit Singh Rakhra. In Congress leader Laal Singh's constituency, the Congress failed to open its account. Terming Congress charges as false, Rakhra said the Congress should learn a lesson from its defeat and accept the people's mandate.
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SAD’s impressive show in Majha
Amritsar/Tarn
Taran, May 21 Continuing its winning streak, the SAD once again banked on the plank of development to woo the electorate. The SAD leaders harped on the development works carried out by the SAD-led government in the state over the last six years. The SAD campaign in the region was led by Punjab Revenue Minister Bikram Singh Majithia who held several public meetings in the last leg of the campaign. The SAD performed exceptionally well in his home turf Majitha by winning all two zila parishad seats and all 29 block samiti seats, wiping out the Congress entirely from the assembly constituency. Though the Congress was at the receiving end of a couple of violent incidents in the run-up to the elections, it could not convert the issue into electoral gains. Interestingly, the official SAD candidates faced defeat at the hands of various Independent candidates supported by the SAD leaders themselves, particularly in Tarn Taran district which witnessed infighting in the ruling party. Tarn Taran MLA Harmeet Singh Sandhu had fielded his own candidates against the party's official nominees who were supported by SAD leader Alwinderpal Singh
Pakhoke, who is the nephew of SAD stalwart Ranjit Singh Brahmpura. Similarly in Chabhal seat, an Independent candidate supported by Punjab Minister Adesh Partap Singh Kairon defeated the official party candidate. The SAD has virtually made a clean sweep in Zila Parishad elections in both Amritsar and Tarn Taran districts. Till the filing of the report, it had won 17 of the 21 seats. The SAD also retained power in all the nine blocks of
Tarsikka, Majitha, Ajnala, Harsha Chhina, Verka, Attari, Jandiala, Rayya and
Chogawan. Of the total 176 block samiti seats, the SAD won 162 seats, leaving seven for the Congress, three for the BJP and four for the Independents. Similarly, it routed the Congress in Tarn Taran district by winning all 17 zila parishad zones.
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SAD-BJP wins in Gurdaspur
Gurdaspur, May 21 The first result came from the Kahnuwan zone where Monica Rajput, a loyalist of former Cabinet Minister Sewa Singh Sekhwan, defeated her Congress rival by 2,115 votes. The most impressive victory was registered by Sonu Langah, son of former Cabinet Minister SS Langah, who defeated his nearest rival by more than 10,000 votes. In Fatehgarh Churian assembly constituency where former Speaker Nirmal Singh Kahlon and his son Ravi Kiran Kahlon have been given a free hand by the SAD high command, the party wrested control of all the four zones.
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Cong does fairly well in Doaba
Jalandhar, May 21 In Jalandhar, three of the total 21 zila parishad zones were won by the SAD unopposed. Rajinder Singh Nagra, SAD's circle president, won from the Wariana zone. Of the total 194 block samitis, nine were bagged by the SAD unopposed. It was a clean sweep for the SAD in the Bhogpur block. It grabbed 14 of the 15 seats. In Shahkot too, SAD candidates won in 14 blocks. In Phillaur, of the 25 zones, 13 went to the SAD and two to the BJP. Eight of the remaining 10 seats were bagged by the Congress. The Congress' good showing in Phillaur is being attributed to Punjab Youth Congress president Vikram Chaudhary, who campaigned there vigorously. In Nawanshahr, 23 block samitis went to the SAD, 16 to the Congress and eight to Independents. The SAD won in three zila parishad zones and the Congress in one. In Hoshiarpur district, the SAD-BJP won 64 block samiti seats and the Congress 48. The PPP won three seats. One seat in Garhshankar went to the CPI (M). The remaining nine went to Independents. Results were pouring in till the filing of the report.
Some solace
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Coalition all the way in Malwa
Bathinda, May 21 Returning Officer-cum-ADC Varinder Kumar said there was no delay and all the results were declared only after finalising the counting and other paper work. Guruharsahai MLA Rana Gurmit Singh Sodhi alleged the SAD-BJP combine had murdered democracy in the state. “Leaders of both these parties have made a mockery of the system and used the official machinery according to their whims and fancies,” he alleged. He congratulated the Congress cardre for putting up a fight despite all odds. The Bathinda zila parishad seats went in the kitty of the ruling alliance, which won 15 of the total 16 seats. Education Minister Sikander Maluka's son Gurpreet Singh Maluka, who has already been elected unopposed from Bhagta Bhai Ka, is all set to head the parishad. Sikander Maluka, who is also the district president of the SAD, thanked the voters for showing faith in the party. He said people voted for the government’s performance. Maluka said at some seats, several local Akali leaders helped the opposition parties and this would be taken seriously. Akali leader Harbans Singh, former sarpanch of Dhinger village, had already been suspended for allegedly helping rival candidates, he added. At Mansa, the combine won nine of the 11 seats. Akali candidates from Joga and Borrawal lost to the Congress candidates. Ferozepur, too, was in the fold of the ruling SAD-BJP. It won all the 12 seats.
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Capt lashes out at DGP for self-praise
Chandigarh, May 21 The former Chief Minister blasted the police theory on the assault on Congress MLA from Guruharsahai Rana Gurjit Sodhi and his personal assistant. “The police is shamelessly trying to cover up when everything is only too obvious”. Debunking the police claims of peaceful elections, Capt Amarinder said if that was so, newspapers and television channels showing violence, particularly in the Chief Minister's constituency, were lying. “It is disgustingly shameful on the part of DGP Saini to parrot what he has been preached by his political bosses,” he said. Rather, the police should apologise to the people for the poll violence, he said. "The very claim of the police that it had controlled everything up to the booth level is an admission that the elections were rigged and that is what precisely the Congress has been saying," said Amarinder. On the police claim that Rana Sodhi’s PA had inflicted an injury upon himself and inserted a spent cartridge in the wound, the former Chief Minister said: " Even a naive person cannot buy this argument. An empty shell does not get into the body."
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CM calls it victory of constructive
politics
Chandigarh, May 21 He said the Congress had faltered yet again in assessing the mood of the people who wanted a positive agenda for development and disapproved unseemly confrontation. Badal thanked the rank and file of the SAD-BJP alliance for ensuring the victory of its candidates through a peaceful and dignified democratic conduct. "Our workers exercised great restraint in the face of grave provocation from the Congress who spoke a language of violence all through the campaign," he said. The CM regretted that all through the campaign, the Congress tried to whip up passions, openly incited violence and tried to play its old card of divide and rule. He said the victory brought its own burden of responsibility with it. He assured the people that his government would work even harder for their welfare. It is a victory of constructive politics based on a vision of peace and communal harmony.
Our workers exercised great restraint in the face of grave provocation from the Congress who spoke a language of violence all through the campaign — PS Badal,
Chief Minister
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BJP: Pro-farmer policies did it
Sharma said the SAD’s farmer-friendly policies had also held the ruling alliance in good stead. He praised the SAD for its “balanced" approach, claiming that every section of society had been given due importance. And this had resulted in the alliance's victory. The BJP president said the people of Punjab had rejected the Congress not only in the cities, as was borne out by the elections to the municipal committees, but also villages. — TNS
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PPP: Outcome won’t impact LS poll
This was so because the panchayati raj institutions were not empowered and did not have a political role. He said it was for this reason that the election results would not impact the parliamentary poll. Manpreet said if the ruling party needed to rig the poll in the Lambi constituency of Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, one could well imagine what the SAD must have done in other areas. The PPP chief said he saw a “spark” in Congress activists who burnt down cars belonging to SAD activists at Lambi on the polling day. “We never saw any resistance earlier and it is for the first time that people have come out openly against booth-capturing.” Manpreet said he was not ready to concede that the SAD was popular on the basis of the election result and that there was a strong undercurrent of opposition to the SAD-BJP alliance.
— TNS
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It’s murder of democracy: Cong
Bajwa said in Mann village, located next to CM's native village, the police had booked 150 persons for rioting. He said the violence in the village was a reaction to booth-capturing by a mob led by a confidant of the Deputy Chief Minister. The PCC president said registration of criminal cases against residents of the entire village was an attempt to gag the voice of the public. “It is a telling story of terror created by the SAD-BJP Government before and after the elections.” Bajwa said the Congress had taken the decision to fight the panchayati raj elections to safeguard the people’s faith in democracy and had succeeded in that. He said organised violence against Congress workers was an attempt by the ruling alliance to frustrate the Congress cadre and win the poll unopposed. “We ensured the maximum possible participation of people. This is the real victory of the people of Punjab,” Bajwa claimed.
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BJP defeats SAD in Faridkot block
Faridkot, May 21 This seat in Faridkot district was the focus of attention as the stakes were high for the local leadership of both the parties. Several leaders had been camping in Golewala village for the past many days. The Congress had announced its support to the BJP after the Congress’ official candidate announced his withdrawal in favour of the SAD candidate. Not only the Congress but the BJP leaders too accused the SAD leaders of intimidating voters and rigging the poll. The election observer had recommended repolling in Kothe Malooka Pati following reports of rigging and damage to ballot boxes on May 19.
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Jubilant SAD workers dance to beat of dhol
Malout, May 21 They were seen drinking and dancing on roads to the beat of the dhol near counting centres, where a large number of policemen were deployed. But none dared to stop them. This led to a chaos on roads as school buses started ferrying students to their homes. When contacted, PK Malhotra, Assistant Excise and Taxation Commissioner, Muktsar, said: " Consuming liquor at any public place is an offence. The police should have stopped people from consuming liquor on roads." But the police said that in the surcharged atmosphere, it was better to keep an eye on the the activities of party workers rather than confronting them.
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Now get ready for LS drubbing: Majithia to Cong
Amritsar, May 21 Majithia said starting from the Punjab Vidhan Sabha elections in 2007, it was the 12th consecutive defeat for the Congress. "The Congress should now get ready for a crushing defeat in the next Lok Sabha elections," he said. On accusations of poll violence, he said, "They (Congress leaders) tried to create an atmosphere of tension so that they can make excuses for their defeat." The Minister accused Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee president Partap Singh Bajwa of "political opportunism". About Youth Congress leader Sukhraj Singh Bhagupur's murder in Patti (Tarn Taran), he said the accused had been arrested and the law would take its own course. He accused the Congress of trying to gain mileage out of incidents that were "non-political in nature".
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The dead cast their vote too!
Faridkot, May 21 Several dead persons and NRIs were shown to have cast their vote in Kothe Gajjan Singh Wala. Jagdev Singh, a former sarpanch, Ward No. 3; Karnail Singh, Ward No. 1; and Surjit Kaur, Ward No. 5, had been shown to have cast their vote on May 19. They all died many years ago. A man in coma was shown to have voted too.
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Punjab in thick of drug
menace
Amritsar, May 21 The United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime's risk assessment survey had pointed out that opium production was likely to see a rise owing to withdrawal of foreign security forces by 2014. Twelve Afghan provinces out of over 30 were expected to show a rise in opium cultivation this year owing to various reasons, including remunerative price of opium, the report said. Afghanistan already produces 90 per cent of the world's opium from which heroin is derived. Its biggest share is smuggled to European and Central Asian countries, including Russia, Iran, Pakistan and India. The infamous Golden Crescent that includes three nations, Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan, is Asia's principal area of illicit opium production. The mountainous regions of these three countries define the crescent. In 1991, Afghanistan earned the dubious distinction of being the world's primary opium producer with a yield of 1,782 tonnes which was much more than South-East Asia's Golden Triangle. Sources in the intelligence agencies pointed out the 553-km Punjab border had become a major transit point for smuggling of heroin. Earlier, the heroin smuggled to India was usually routed to European countries through sea and air route, besides via Nepal land route while it has now percolated into the local markets as a large number of youths are becoming hooked to this drug. The state government has expressed its deep concern over the trend as rampant drug addiction is fuelling crime in the region. Officials in the State Special Operation Cell, Counter Intelligence Wing of the Punjab Police said as per the intelligence inputs, about 3,000 to 3,500 tonnes of heroin was smuggled to India through Punjab and only a little quantity was seized by various agencies. "You can now imagine the gravity of the problem," said an official, adding not only the Punjab Government, the Central Government should also initiate steps to curb this menace. Another official said Punjab had become a major target of Pakistan's ISI that was aiding the anti-social elements to push in narcotics in Punjab. The BSF has seized 288 kg of heroin in 2012 while in past couple of months it has already confiscated 55 kg of heroin. It had seized heroin consignments of 101 kg, 120 kg, 115 kg and 68 kg in 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011, respectively. The custom authorities at the rail cargo had seized about 150 kg of heroin last year. Besides, the state special operation cell had seized over 60 kg of heroin in 2012. Drug menace
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UK girl’s organs not transplanted: Report
Patiala, May 21 The report suggests there is evidence of extensive inflammation in heart muscles and micro-abscesses. "Gross brain and its coverings (meninges) also show evidence of infection. Liver tissue was autolyzed possibly due to four days time interval between death and postmortem and high atmospheric temperature these days," the report states. Gurkiran had died on April 2, 2013 at Khanna. The post-mortem examination was conducted by a panel of doctors, comprising Dr Vijay Kumar Bodal, Dr Anil Kumar Suri, and Dr Ranjeev Bhagat of Rajindra Hospital, Government Medical College, Patiala, four days after the death. The viscera (heart, lungs, brain and a piece of liver) was received in this department for pathological examination. Following the release of the report, Dr MS Bal, head of the Department of Pathology, said: "The report clearly refutes the allegations of the parents that their child was murdered and her organs were harvested". He said: "There are no transplantation centres for liver, heart and brain in Punjab. Only renal transplantation is done in Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Mohali and Chandigarh for which the donor and recipient are kept in the same operation theatre that too after an exhaustive matching tests and investigations for months together. Moreover, any organ of an eight-year-old child is not suitable for transplantation," he added. He said it was an international protocol in an autopsy to take out the organs for pathological examination as was seen in Sarabjit's case whose post-mortem was conducted in Pakistan. "The organs of this child are with the pathology department of Government Medical College, Patiala. This fact was also mentioned in the post-mortem report. Hence, there is no question of organ harvesting," Dr Bal added.
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Appointment of fishery
officers
Ludhiana, May 21 However, officials of the Directorate of Fishery denied the allegation, claiming the posts were advertised in September 2011 and at that time no batch of fishery students had passed out in the state. The state government had initiated the programme for Bachelor of Fishery Sciences in 2008 at the College of Fishery, Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Ludhiana. Its first batch of passed out in June 2012. The students claim they had met Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and Animal Husbandry Minister Gulzar Singh Ranike to incorporate a degree in fisheries science as basic qualification for the post. But, nothing has been done so far, they add. As per the Punjab Fishery Services (Non-Ministerial) Rules 1982, only science graduates with a post-graduation diploma from Fishery Research Institute, Barrackpore (West Bengal), are eligible for appointment as fishery officers. However, the High Court had ordered for making amendments to this rule after the students moved the court. The Punjab Public Service Commission has also given its approval to amend the rules. Deep Jot Singh, a BFSc degree holder, said: "The Animal Husbandry Minister had promised that fishery students would be recruited on a priority as they are the subject specialists". Gulzar Singh Ranike, Minister, Animal Husbandry, Fishery and Dairy Development Department, said: "We were not able to recruit these students due to some technical problem. But in future, when we will recruit some more fishery officers, we will adjust these students”.
Officialspeak The students were not eligible at the time of recruitment as their degree progarmme was completed in June 2012. Now, we have received the PPSC's approval for making amendments. — BK Sood, Director, Fisheries
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Fire damages 2,000 jute bags
Sangrur, May 21 The Punsup authorities maintained there was no major loss as the entire wheat stock at the plinth was safe. The fire was doused by three fire tenders, two from Sangrur and one from Samana, in about two hours. People of the nearby areas also contributed in extinguishing the fire. Pardeep Dhawan, District Manager, Punsup, said around 30,000 wheat bags covered with black plastic sheets were stacked at the plinth. Karam Singh, Station Fire Officer, said the cause of the fire could not be ascertained. He said while a number of jute bags were gutted, the wheat stock also suffered some damage.
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SAD-BJP sweeps Mohali zila parishad poll
Mohali, May 21 District Election Officer Tejinder Pal Singh Sidhu said in the zila parishad zones, Paramjit Kaur of the SAD won by 5,456 votes in Khizrabad. In Teur, Harvinder Singh of the SAD won by 2,872 votes. Parminder Singh Sohana of the SAD won the Sohana seat by 3,755 votes. In Dharamgarh, Karamjit Kaur (SAD) won by 6,031 votes. Karnail Singh of the SAD won the Zola Kalan zone by 8,000 votes. While the Manouli seat went to Gurpreet Kaur, Bimal Kaur annexed the Mullanpur Garibdass zila parishad seat.
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Fix wheat MSP at Rs 2,100: Kisan Morcha
Chandigarh, May 21 Dhankar said while the input cost of wheat was Rs 1,400 per quintal, its MSP was Rs 1,350 per quintal. It should be fixed at Rs 2,100 per quintal, he added. The new national vice-presidents of the morcha included Suresh Chandel (Himachal Pradesh), Dilip Sanghani (Gujarat), Pasha Patel (Maharashtra), Nawab Singh Nagar (UP) and Naresh Sirohi (UP). The regional representatives on the list included Sukhminderpal Singh Grewal from Punjab and Ajeet Khatri from Delhi as secretaries. The media in charge is Vineet Joshi of Chandigarh.
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Authorities told to register
runaway couple’s marriage
Chandigarh, May 21 The Punjab and Haryana High Court has now directed the officer concerned to do the needful after observing that the "insistence for adopting such a course by the registering officer is not in accordance with law". In their petition, Gagandeep Kaur and the groom had earlier claimed that the registering officer "requires the concurrence of the parents of both the parties for purposes of registration". The couple claimed since they got married against the wishes of the bride's parents, it would not be possible to secure their presence or concurrence. Justice Rajiv Narain Raina observed that the petitioners tied the knot on December 12 last year at a gurdwara in Sangrur. Justice Raina observed they fulfilled all the legal requirements for the registration of marriage. But, their marriage registration file had not been accepted by the officer on the pretext that presence of the bride's parents was also required. Justice Raina also referred to comprehensive directions by the Supreme Court for taking necessary steps to make marriage registration a compulsory step for persons belonging to all religions. The directions have been issued to the states and Central Government in the case of Seema versus Ashwani Kumar. Justice Raina added: "The reasoning adopted by the respondents that the presence of parents of the wife is a must for registration of marriage, if accepted, would just defeat the very intent of the intended benefit of the directions given by the Supreme Court. But this court hastens to add that it does not imply that the statutory provisions of law have to be given a go by". Justice Raina added: "The registering authority is merely to see that there is a valid subsisting marriage and the parties have completed the age of 21 years and the parties are not within the degrees of prohibited relationship and neither of the party is an idiot or lunatic and further none of the parties has more than one living spouse". The instant petition is allowed with a direction to the respondents to register the marriage of the petitioners if there is no other legal impediment".
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Explain basis of allowing CLU, HC tells Punjab
Chandigarh, May 21 The court had earlier asked Punjab to videograph the encroachments on scheduled roads as had been done by Haryana to prepare the record of structures as reference for any action against those who might raise unauthorised structures in future. The state of Punjab has already carried out videography of encroachments and violations on the national highways. An affidavit filed earlier by the state said 1,273 out of the total 3,016 encroachments on the national highways had been removed. In case of violations by builders, 1,136 out of the total 19,702 encroachments had been removed.
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JE held for graft
Patiala, May 21 Sources said the arrested JE, Jugraj Singh, had allegedly demanded Rs 15,000 from Tejinder Singh, but the deal was struck at Rs 10,000. "We arrested the accused from the house of the complainant and recovered the money from his possession," said KD Sharma, DSP, Vigilance.
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Punjabi youth shot dead in Philippines
Sangrur, May 21 After hearing the news, a pall of gloom descended at his house at Bapla village. The deceased's relatives said Gora had shifted to Manila in 2004. On Monday, he had gone to collect money from a customer along with his servant. He was allegedly shot at by some unidentified assailants. Gora later died in a hospital. Sources said he was cremated today.
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Jalandhar, May 21
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Chandigarh, May 21
