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State ministers backing drug mafia: Kejri
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Preneet, Deepinder fail to turn up at all-candidate session
Wheat harvest fails to keep date with Baisakhi this year
Farmers feed emus to dogs as venture fails
Capt takes poll fight to Majithia’s turf
253 leaders in fray after withdrawal
Cong, SAD tussle for credit over PGI Centre
Ashwani to campaign for Bajwa in Gurdaspur
‘Outsider’ Jaitley buys house in Amritsar
Ropar sarpanch returns to Cong within hours of joining SAD
Badal’s rally powered by ‘kundi’
Graft accused ASI denied bail
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State ministers backing drug mafia: Kejri
Ludhiana, April 12 Kejriwal charged the parties with “playing the politics of hatred.” He promised the people to provide governance based on the principles of integrity and brotherhood. The AAP leader said: “God has given us the mandate for cleaning the political landscape of our country with a broom. It is a signal that the public should also start wielding a broom.” Kejriwal claimed that voting AAP to power was the only chance for the electorate to vote for change. He charged the successive governments at the Centre with “failing to do justice” to the victims of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. He claimed AAP was instrumental in getting an SIT formed to probe the matter. He praised AAP candidate HS Phoolka, crediting him for spearheading the cause of the riot victims. Many supporters of AAP were seen carrying brooms during the roadshow. They raised slogans like “Aa gaya bhai aa gaya, jharoo wala aa gaya”, “Niklo bahar makaanoo say, jang laro baimanoo say”. Earlier, Kejriwal kicked off his roadshow from old city area of Jalandhar bypass. He along with Phoolka travelled in an open jeep. Party supporters had formed a protective ring around him to prevent any untoward incident. As Kejriwal's cavalcade passed through various parts of the city, commuters stopped by to listen to his speech. Some commuters praised Kejriwal for his “bold” and “pro-public” stance. The five-hour roadshow, which culminated at Sarabha Nagar, led to traffic jams at various places.
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Gujarat Sikh farmers come for support
Muktsar: Combine harvesters of the state who go to Gujarat every harvesting season have alleged that the Gujarat Government had been looting them for long. “The Gujarat Government charges Rs 4,500 from every combine harvester owner entering the state. Besides, the police collect Rs 30,000 from them as bribe,” alleged a delegation of combine harvester owners while narrating their plight to CLP Leader Sunil
Jakhar.
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Villagers swarm AAP chief’s roadshow at Khatkar
Kalan
Khatkar Kalan (Nawanshahr), April 12 In a packed roadshow, Kejriwal’s walk from his vehicle to the memorial and back took at least half an hour as overzealous supporters swarmed in large numbers to meet him. People from various villages from other constituencies too thronged Khatkar Kalan to extend their support. But their attempts to talk to Kejriwal proved futile due to a huge rush. Balwant Singh (62), a shopkeeper from Khatkar Kalan, said: “The Akalis have ruined the state. The leaders only remember the village on March 23 every year when they hold a symbolic function to pay tributes to the martyrs. This man (Kejriwal) is the only one who has stepped down and mingled with the people. We see hope in AAP.” Sethi, a commissioning agent from Udanwal village, said: “People are sick of corruption in politics. The silent vote will surely go in the favour of AAP.”
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Black flags shown to Harsimrat in Bathinda
Bathinda, April 12 The villagers, mainly belonging to the Bhullar community, were protesting against the SAD-BJP Government for its alleged role in a dispute over the management of a historic gurdwara. The Bhullars claimed that they had been managing the historic shrine for generations, but the SGPC wanted to take its possession. The dispute had led to several protests in the last three years, but the matter is yet to be resolved. The villagers did not even allow entry to a police vehicle that brought lunch for the personnel deployed in the village. The villagers themselves provided lunch to the policemen. Village sarpanch Gurpal Singh was caught in a piquant situation as he had organised a reception meeting for Harsimrat at his house, but his father Maghar Singh chose to join the protesters. Meanwhile, black flags were shown to Harsimrat in Rampura, Balianwali and other villages also.
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Preneet, Deepinder fail to turn up at all-candidate session
Patiala, April 12 Preneet Kaur sent her son-in-law Gurpal Singh as her representative along with a letter that stated that she had to go for an important meeting and so, could not attend the function. The organisers, however, did not allow Gurpal Singh to speak, saying that they had categorically made it clear while giving invites that no representative would be entertained on any candidate’s behalf. Meanwhile, keeping his date with the workers, AAP candidate Dr Dharamvir Gandhi assured the Front that whether he wins or loses, he would help them in getting their genuine demands fulfilled. Communist Party of India candidate Nirmal Singh Dhaliwal, SAD (Amritsar) candidate Prof Mohinderpal Singh and BSP candidate Ram Singh Dhiman also attended the programme and assured support to the workers. The event was attended by over 1,000 workers from Patiala, Fatehgarh Sahib, Mohali and
Ropar districts. The workers demanded that their salary be increased from a meagre Rs 1,200 to Rs 6,500 per month as per the Deputy Commissioner’s rates. They said every cook should be covered under an insurance policy of Rs 1 lakh and in case of any accident while cooking food, they should be given free medical treatment. State president of the Front Harjinder Kaur said the absence of Congress and SAD candidates spoke volumes about their concern for workers and it was sad that they preferred to go ahead with their election campaigns instead. When contacted, Preneet Kaur said the workers had recently informed her about the programme and her meetings in Shutrana village were fixed way back. She said she could not skip the meetings because the harvest season would begin tomorrow and these workers would not be available then. On the other hand, SAD candidate Deepinder Dhillon said he was not aware of any such programme and that had he been informed, he would have definitely attended it.
Those who attended
Dr Dharamvir Gandhi of AAP, Nirmal Singh Dhaliwal of CPI; Prof Mohinderpal Singh of SAD (Amritsar) and Ram Singh Dhiman of BSP kept their date with the workers and assured them of support.
Book Dhillon for fraud: Preneet Patiala: Congress candidate from Patiala Preneet Kaur on Saturday filed an elaborate reply with the election authorities claiming that neither she nor her son had any foreign bank account. The reply comes a day after District Electoral Officer (DEO) Priyank Bharti asked her to reply to a complaint filed by the election agent of SAD candidate Deepinder Singh Dhillon. She alleged that the documents submitted by SAD candidate Deepinder Dhillon pertaining to the account numbers opened in the Bank of Jersey in 2005, which he claimed belonged to Preneet Kaur and Raninder Singh, were fabricated. She demanded that Dhillon be booked for fraud.
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Wheat harvest fails to keep date with Baisakhi this year
Faridkot/Baghapurana, April 12 This is not only a cause for concern for the farmers but also for politicians ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. With harvesting being delayed, poll campaigning would be affected in rural areas. Farmers would be tending to their harvested crop and taking it to markets rather than sparing time for politics. The crop has not yet reached the perfect golden colour and is still green. Experts say the crop requires at least a week of warm weather for ripening. MS
Sandhu, Director, Agriculture, Punjab, said wheat would take at least another week to mature and be ready for harvesting. Till date, only 400 metric tonnes of wheat have arrived in the ‘mandis’ of Patiala, Mohali and
Faridkot. The farmers had faced a similar problem last year as well. Officials in the Food Corporation of India said due to delayed arrival, the mandis would face a glut once harvesting begins. “The daily arrivals may touch 5,000 MT within a week. The total wheat production in Punjab is expected to be 168 lakh metric
tonnes,” the officials said. In Baghapurana, the grain market wears a deserted look. Balbir Singh, a farmer, said though the yield appeared good, he was praying for favourable weather in the coming days. “The showers last month had led to flattening of crop,” he said. Another worry for farmers is unavailability of farm
labour. With elections being held in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and
Jharkhand, migrants have delayed their visit to Punjab. Gurcharan Singh of Rajeana village near here said he had got some farm hands to harvest his fields after agreeing to pay them Rs 2,700 per acre as against Rs 2,300 charged last year.
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Farmers feed emus to dogs as venture fails
Some farmers have even started feeding emus to their dogs while some are abandoning their birds which they had bought for Rs 6,000 to Rs 15,000 a pair. More than a 100 such birds were abandoned in a forest on the Una road a few days ago. While few birds strayed into nearby villages, some were killed or injured by dogs and other animals. At the time of its introduction, it was propagated as the “future of poultry”. Farmers were told that they could get high returns from emu’s eggs, meat, oil and skin. A farmer said: “We were told that eggs of these birds have a market price between Rs 500 and Rs 1,200, meat Rs 500 per kg and oil Rs 2,500 per litre. We were also told that we would get a yield of 5-6 litres of oil and 22-28 kg of meat from a well grown emu and that these products have a great demand in Western and European countries. But all this has proved false.” An adult bird’s diet costs Rs 18-20 per day. Their large green coloured eggs have no local market. The farmers first tried to get rid of the birds by selling these to meat processing units. But to their surprise, there was no unit in North India which processed emu meat and oil. There are a few in the South, but sending birds there is not economically viable. The farmers then starting selling birds to other farmers at throwaway prices. This could not last long since most farmers have realised that emus are proving a burden. Nirmail Singh of village Kahri, who has 48 birds at his farm, told the Tribune: “The farm from where I had bought the birds has closed down. Since rearing them is a costly affair, we are left with no option but to abandon the birds. I have been feeding
emus to my dogs. I have gifted some to my friends. I also recently destroyed 200 eggs.”
Tall claims
Ground reality
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Capt takes poll fight to Majithia’s turf
Amritsar, April 12 In a significant move that hints at the Congress' intention to take Majithia head on in his backyard, Amarinder’s brother Malwinder Singh has decided to take charge of the Congress campaign in Majitha. He said he had selected Majitha for obvious reason that the people there “were being terrorised” by Majithia and his supporters. He said since Amarinder would have to campaign in all the nine Assembly segments of Amritsar parliamentary constituency, he would not be able to devote much time in Majitha. Addressing the rally, Amarinder lashed out at Majithia for “monopolising” sand business and announced that the next Congress government in the state would de-regulate the sand quarrying so that it did not go beyond the common man’s reach. He issued a warning to Majithia against “intimidating and arm-twisting” the people. He said 2017 was not that far when he (Bikram) will have to face the music. “In any case, I am not going to wait that long as there are other avenues also available and even if I have to move the Supreme Court, I will go to seek justice for my people in Majitha,” he told the people amid shouts of Bole So Nihal. The former Chief Minister said the law was already catching up with Majithia as he “had been named” in the Bhola drug racket. “I am sure given the quantum of evidence that the investigators have collected against him (Majithia), he will be inside jail for a long time.” He said Majithia deserved no sympathy as the drug trade he was patronising had ruined an entire generation. He quoted the example of Maqboolpura near Amritsar, which is known as ‘locality of widows’ as scores of men have died of drug addiction. “His next target appears to be Majitha, but I won’t let him do that and hopefully he should be behind bars before that,” he said. Rubbishes Modi's charge Amarinder dismissed the charges levelled against him by BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi about the alleged foreign bank account in the name of his wife or son. “It is a classic case of pot calling kettle black,” he remarked, referring to the charges of mass murder against
Modi.
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253 leaders in fray after withdrawal
Chandigarh, April 12
Additional Chief Electoral Officer Supreet Singh Gulati today said 455 nominations were filed by 350 candidates, which were reduced to 280 after scrutiny. He said after the withdrawal of nominations, a total of 253 candidates would contest the poll. Chilli, cot among symbols Ropar: Cot, table, green chilli, flute and glass are among the symbols allotted to candidates from Anandpur Sahib constituency. The cot symbol was allotted to Ramesh Rani. Harcharan Singh got flute and Fakir Chand, Gurnam Singh and Baljit Kaur got kite, batsman and ‘Handi’ (cooking vessel). Faridkot rebels withdraw Faridkot: After three days of high political drama in both the SAD and Congress camps, rebels, Youth Congress general secretary Sukhwinder Danny and three-time SAD MLA Sheetal Singh, today withdrew their nomination papers. They were going to contest as Independents.
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Cong, SAD tussle for credit over PGI Centre
Sangrur, April 12 On the other hand, Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, the SAD candidate from Sangrur, has been claiming that Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal met the Union Health Minister in this regard and brought the project to the region. He further said the state government had also allotted 25 acres of land free of cost for the PGI Satellite Centre. Singla further said, “It is the duty of the state to allot land for a central project so the Badal government has done nothing new by allotting the land for the satellite
centre.
Claims of both rivals
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Ashwani to campaign for Bajwa in Gurdaspur
Gurdaspur, April 12 The Rajya Sabha MP took pot shots at leaders of rival parties for allegedly forgetting developmental issues and indulging in political slander. About Bajwa with whom Kumar has a love-hate relationship, he maintained that being the PPCC president it was good that the Gurdaspur MP was leading from the front. “The foot soldiers automatically follow when the general leads. Bajwa needs the support of every Congress worker in the district,” he said. On October 5 last year, the Rajya Sabha MP had courted controversy by inviting Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal to inaugurate an Old Age Home constructed from his MPLAD funds in Gurdaspur, ignoring Bajwa and Congress MLAs. — TNS
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‘Outsider’ Jaitley buys house in Amritsar
Senior BJP leader Rajinder Mohan Singh Chhina confirmed that Jaitley had purchased a house in the posh Green Avenue area of the city. However, the details regarding the area and the cost of the house could not be ascertained. The senior BJP leader had already made his intent clear to buy a property in Amritsar during his press conference here on April 4. “I would certainly have my residential base here while I would run my office from the BJP office at Khanna Smarak,” he had said while replying to queries regarding his accessibility in case he won the election and went on to become a minister at the Centre. He had also taken a dig at his Congress rival saying unlike him (Amarinder), nobody could accuse the BJP leader of being inaccessible. Amarinder had hit out at Jaitley over his roots while using terms like “pseudo-Punjabi”, “political mercenary” and “our esteemed guest from New Delhi”. The duo were engaged in a war of words over “outsider” row.
Remove hoardings: ECI
Following a complaint by the Congress against the SAD-BJP alliance in Amritsar, the Election Commission of India has issued orders for removal of all political hoardings put up on the government property with immediate effect.
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Ropar sarpanch returns to Cong within hours of joining SAD
Ropar, April 12 Soon after, Ramesh Dutt Sharma, former minister and Congress in charge of Ropar assembly segment, reached the village. Sharma then, in Dutt’s presence, announced that he along with panches Ranjit Singh, Tarsem Singh and Ranjit Singh Rana had attended the function to welcome Cheema as he was the local MLA. He said in a goodwill gesture, Cheema honoured them with
siropas.
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Festival holds little meaning in waterlogged
Muktsar
Muktsar, April 12 Karaj Singh, sarpanch of Rattakhera village, worst-affected by
waterlogging, says, “We have not reaped a single crop over the last 20 years. So, Baisakhi holds no meaning for us.” Around 1,800 acres of this village is affected by
waterlogging. He says though some farmers had taken to aquaculture, the results of fish farming are yet to be seen. “As such, we are dependent on dairy farming for our survival. Sometimes farmers reap benefits from paddy crop but that too remains minimal,” he
says. Gurmukh Singh, husband of Ghagga village sarpanch, another worst-affected village, says, “A number of farmers in our village haven’t seen a single crop on their once fertile land in the last almost 25 years. They often have to seek alms from landlords.” He says they cannot even think of celebrating
Baisakhi. Gulshan Rai Nagpal, Executive Engineer, Drainage Department, says, “The work on the construction of new drains is yet to begin. But the department has started cleaning drains all over Muktsar district.”
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Graft accused ASI denied bail
Chandigarh, April 12 It said the accused would remain behind bars, at least for the time being. The ruling by Justice Tejinder Singh Dhindsa came on a petition filed by Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) Jarnail Singh. He was booked under the
Prevention of Corruption Act in Mohali on February 25. The complainant, Dalwinder Singh, had submitted an application to the Vigilance Bureau, alleging that Jarnail, who was the investigating officer in a rape case, was threatening to implicate his son Kanwaljit Singh. He stated that Jarnail had asked him to pay Rs 3 lakh if he didn’t want his son behind bars. Dalwinder said he had met the ASI and assured him that he would pay the first instalment of Rs 1 lakh as bribe on February 25. Thereafter, a trap was laid and the petitioner was allegedly
apprehended while accepting the bribe.
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It's Baisakhi tomorrow — a festival to celebrate the harvest of wheat crop. But this year, the cold weather, especially low temperature at night, has delayed the harvest by almost 20 days.
Though the wheat procurement season begins in the first week of April, the crop will now be harvested only towards the mid or end of the coming week.
Following a low turnout last week, Congress candidate Capt Amarinder Singh today again challenged Revenue Minister Bikram Majithia by holding an impressive rally at his home turf
Majitha. The SAD leader, though, dubbed it a “flop show”, alleging the Congress had “hired outsiders”. Ever since his candidature has been announced, Amarinder has been on the offensive against Majithia, accusing him of “criminalisation of politics”. He had also made it clear that he would be holding more rallies in Majitha than any other Assembly segment.
Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today addressed a rally in favour of BJP’s Hoshiarpur candidate Vijay Sampla in Mukerian. Sources alleged electricity was used in the rally through a kundi connection.
Rahul Chaba, Assistant Returning Officer, Mukerian, said a notice in this regard was being issued to the candidate and executive engineer of the power corporation for violation of the model code of conduct. The rally was held at the Dussehra Ground. The organisers had “illegally” connected wires with an open joint in the main supply line of the area.
Chaba said: “A video surveillance team of the Election Commission has videographed the entire rally that ended at 2 pm. The team then prepared a CD and reported the matter to us. I believe that there has been a violation. A notice is being issued to the candidate and the powercom executive engineer.”
Khatkar Kalan: A number of Sikh farmers from Banku village in Bhuj district of Gujarat who are allegedly facing eviction from their land came in support of Arvind Kejriwal at his roadshow here on Saturday. They have been campaigning in favour of AAP’s Anandpur Sahib candidate Himmat Singh Shergill. Jagjit Singh, a farmer, alleged: “The Modi government has grabbed 1 lakh acres of land of 5,000 farmers in Banku village. Our family shifted there 30 years ago. Ten members of my family are in Gujarat. Our land documents have been seized by the government. Had Shergill not taken up our case without charging any fee, we would have been without hope.” He said: “All these 5,000 farmers and these relatives in Punjab are with AAP.” Sarabjit Singh, another farmer, said: “We cannot sell our land and get loan against it. Modi threatened us and our families. His government pressured our previous lawyer. Then Shergill offered to fight for us. The entire farming fraternity should back AAP.”
Hoshiarpur, April 12
An official press release said Bathinda had the highest number of 29 candidates whereas Gurdaspur had the lowest 13
candidates.
Amritsar, April 12