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Congress retains Ludhiana seat
Ludhiana, May 16 The Ludhiana Lok Sabha constituency comprises three rural Assembly constituencies and six urban Assembly segments. Phoolka performed well in the rural constituencies, getting the maximum votes. In the urban constituencies, Bittu and Independent candidate Simarjit Singh Bains had an edge. However, in the Ludhiana West seat (urban), the AAP candidate polled more votes than his rivals. Among the three rural constituencies, Dakha, Gill and Jagraon, the AAP got maximum votes (62,359) in Jagraon. Phoolka polled 36,056 votes more than Ayali, who got only 26,303 votes. On the poll day also, the Jagraon voters' enthusiasm for the AAP was hard to miss. The voters were seen carrying brooms (the election symbol of the AAP) to the polling booths. In the Dakha Assembly constituency, Ayali got 40,736 votes, while Phoolka's vote count was 46,518. In the Gill constituency, Phoolka got 47,133 votes, followed closely by Bittu who polled 46,044 votes. The Jagraon, Gill and Dakha Assembly constituencies have Akali legislators. In the Ludhiana Central, North and East Assembly segments, the Congress got the maximum votes. In the Ludhiana West constituency that has a Congress legislator, Phoolka got 2,137 more votes than the Congress candidate. While the Ludhiana Central and North Assembly segments have Congress MLAs, the Ludhiana East constituency has an Akali Dal legislator. Bains retained his winning streak in the Ludhiana South and Atam Nagar constituencies.
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Ravneet Bittu survives many anxious moments
Ludhiana, may 16 Initially, Bains wiped out the deficit to gain the lead. He, too, could not sustain it for long as Manpreet Ayali gave pushed Bittu and Bains aside. This followed a see-saw battle between Manpreet Ayali and Ravneet Bittu. However, Phoolka bounced back to take the lead in the afternoon. Bittu and Phoolka went neck and neck with fluctuating margin. While five rounds were to go for the counting of 30,000 ballots at the Gill constituency counting centre at the PAU, Bittu was enjoying a lead of around 15,000 votes. Phoolka was hopeful that the voters of the Gill constituency would have voted for him. But Ravneet Bittu managed to sustain the slender margin. Ravneet Bittu was not present at the counting centre. Phoolka and his supporters were busy assessing voting pattern. When the margin started growing, Phoolka left the counting centre. Phoolka thanked voters before leaving the centre. He said: “I am satisfied with the results. We were new in politics so might have done some mistakes. We will try to do better in the future. I will visit Ravneet Bittu’s office to congratulate him”. Candidatespeak Winner
Losers
— HS Phoolka, Aam Aadmi Party
SAD-BJP candidate Manpreet Singh Ayali remained unavailable for comments, as his phone went unattended.
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Celebrations in Cong, BJP camps
Ludhiana, May 16 The jubilant BJP workers gathered at the Clock Tower. They distributed laddoos and burst crackers. “We will light up our houses in the evening. It’s a historic win. “Ab ki baar Modi sarkar. The electorate has voted for a change,” said the district BJP chief Parveen Bansal. Commenting on the defeat of the Akali Dal-BJP candidate, Manpreet Singh Ayali, he said: “The anti-incumbency sentiment against the state government is responsible for Ayali’s defeat. There is no other factor.” Meanwhile, Bittu’s supporters took out a victory procession, even before the declaration of the result officially. The declaration of the result was delayed as two EVMs had developed technical fault. Senior Congress leader Amarjit Singh Tikka said Bittu’s victory is a historic win. “Despite the overall poor performance of the Congress, Bittu has done well in the industrial town of Ludhiana. His humility and earnestness have paid off. The Beant Singh factor has played a decisive role.” Meanwhile, the District Congress Committee (DCC) Ludhiana (Urban) Chief Pawan Dewan was not seen with Bittu today. Some other DCC office-bearers were also conspicuous by their absence. In the evening, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) supporters took out a rally to thank the voters of Ludhiana.
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Tough going for counting staff, police personnel
Ludhiana, May 16 As the counting started at 8 am, 770 employees of different departments and 1,250 police personnel other than the officers deputed for counting started their work. Everyone had remained occupied with the jobs assigned to them throughout the day. Dr Charanjeet Singh, nodal officer at the Dakha constituency counting centre at Sukhdev Singh Bhawan, said: "All of us are chipping in today in the biggest exercise of Indian democracy." Sitting under a tent in the scorching heat, Jagdeep Kumar, a class IV employee, was sealing the envelopes tagged to electronic voting machines (EVMs). Police personnel Parveen Kumari and Pushpinder Kaur, who were keeping a strict vigil at the entrance to the Ludhian (East) counting centre, said: "We reached here at 5 am and do not feel tired as it is part of our duty." Everyone was trying to get the latest information at the media centre established at Student's Home, PAU. Mandeep Singh, a junior assistant, was answering to the queries of one and all. An employee said: “Indeed, the duty was very tough. But it filled me with a feeling of proud that I was deputed for something very important." DC a law-abiding citizen It was mandatory for everybody entering a counting centre to not carry his or her cellphone. Being a law-abiding citizen, Rajat Aggarwal, District Election Officer-cum-Deputy Commissioner, Ludhiana, handed over his cell phone to his security guard.
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Senior jail official’s son crushed under speeding bus
Ludhiana, May 16 However, the police denied the bus belonged to Orbit Transport Company. The investigation officer, Sunita Rani, said: “We do not know about the company yet. We have got the bus number (PB-03-X- 1135) and registered a case against an unidentified bus driver. We are investigating.” When Sunita was told that an eyewitness had claimed the bus belonged to Orbit Transport Company, Sunita said she could not register a case on hearsay and the probe was on. The victim has been identified as Ashutosh Singh, son of JP Singh, who is AIG (Prisons) and posted at the Chandigarh Headquarters. Ashutosh was married two years ago and is survived by his six-month-old son and wife. He lived in a rented apartment in the Model Town area and worked in the IOL company (Trident Group) at Focal Point. The family said the incident took place at around 8:45 am when Ashutosh, along with his friends (who were also on motorcycles), was heading towards his workplace. When Ashutosh and his friends reached at a place opposite to Rishi Dhaba near the Gill Chowk flyover, the bus came from behind and hit his bike. Ashutosh lost control over the bike and fell on the road. Instead of applying brakes, the bus driver ran him over. An eyewitness jotted down the bus number and informed the police that the bus belonged to Orbit Transport Company. The body was handed to the family after post-mortem. The incident caused a major traffic jam on the flyover after some area residents staged a protest. They complained reckless driving by the drivers of heavy vehicles was leading to frequent road accidents in the city. Soon after receiving the information, Ashutosh’s parents and senior jail officials from across the state reached the house. The relatives demanded strict action against the bus driver.
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A new game for children- politics
Ludhiana, May 16 The election fever engulfed everyone in the country, including elders and children. Tina, parent of an eight-year-old girl, said she was astonished to see how her daughter was taking interest in politics. “Though she is too immature to understand what all is going on in the Indian politics, still it was so nice to see that she and her friends continuously asked about the leaders of the country,” she said. Sehej, a 10-year-old student of Sacred Heart School, said at 12 pm, an announcement was made in the school that Narendra Modi of BJP will be the new Prime Minister of India. She further added, “Acche din aane wale hain.” Raj Kumar, driver of a school van, said it was so unusual to see the interest being taken by students in politics. “Some were heard saying that the Congress should have been given another chance while others said ‘Abki Baar Modi Sarkar’. They all shouted and had great fun till they returned home,” said the driver. A teacher at KVM School Monica Maini said it was good to see the change. “The students were innocent earlier, they never took interest in politics but this time, they were so aware. They even knew about the major political parties and the main candidates being fielded by them,” said Maini. New field of interest Students never showed interest in such serious issues earlier, but this time, they were aware of the Lok Sabha elections. They even knew about the major political parties and the main candidates fielded by
them. — Monica Maini, teacher, kvm school, ludhiana
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Sarcastic messages tickle funny bone of residents
Ludhiana, May 16 A text reads: "Modiji credited with clap, Kejriwal debited with slap while Rahul Baba will sit on mother's lap." "I am surprised to see how fast these texts are created by companies or individuals and that too with all updates. Funny texts and pictures sent on Watsapp kept us busy throughout the day. We have created a group of about 20 friends on Watsapp and the texts were doing rounds in circles," said Shalini, a resident. The residents remained glued to television sets with mobile phones in their hands. The updates on Indian politics, hilarious texts, interesting pictures kept doing the rounds till late evening. "Someone has to win and someone has to lose but such things keep you in lighter vein and one must not take these seriously," said Raghav, a bank employee.
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On duty, cops remain updated
Ludhiana, May 16 A few officials deployed outside Students Home got minute-to-minute updates through a television set installed there. Many were seen asking officials about the results at counting centres. The officials were flooded with queries. While many kept themselves updated through announcements, there were a few who approached the officials at the counting centres, asking about the latest happening. Some were even seen making rounds of the centres. An official said: "People are fed up with the drug menace in Punjab. Rural voters opted for the AAP candidate just to save their wards from drug addiction." A busy day
City residents remained glued to television sets throughout the day. Some shared updates on poll results with friends and family through SMSes. Sumeet Kumar, a bank employee, said, "My boss did not sanction my leave. So I requested him to allow me to leave early." Pardeep Kumar Dhall, a businessman, said, "We have high hopes from the new government." Recounting her college days, Kamal Dhir, a homemaker, said, "Our political science teacher used to tell us about the poll process."
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Namesake candidates make hay
Ludhiana, May 16 There are three such candidates. Independent candidate Simarjit Singh Bains' namesake got 3,980 votes. He secured the ninth position on the list of 22 candidates. Another Independent candidate Jaswinder Singh Bains got 3,238 votes and secured the 11th position. Another candidate Bittu from the Republican Party of India (A) got 1,286 votes. The namesake of Ravneet Singh Bittu, Congress candidate, put up a poor show. Not only Simarjit Bains and Ravneet Bittu, a number of other candidates, including Capt Amarinder Singh, Manpreet Badal and Bhagwant Mann also faced ?identity crisis? during the elections.
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NRIs too enthusiastic
Mandi Ahmedgarh, May 16 Despite time clock difference in various countries, residents continued receiving queries regarding candidates contesting the elections from the Fatehgarh Sahib, Ludhiana and Sangrur constituencies. Telephone calls, SMSes and social media sites were cited as popular modes of communication. Investigations revealed that the residents of the town and surrounding localities had started receiving calls about trends of Lok Sabha election results early in the morning from their friends and relatives settled in various states of the US, Canada and Australia. Users of some social sites had even started uploading pictures, cartoons and figures regarding genuine and fake results on their IDs. Yadwinder Singh Phallewal, a social activist from Phallewal village, said some of his relatives settled in New Jersey had started enquiring about the results early in the morning. Though there is a difference of almost 12 hours between the clocks of the two countries, they (NRI relatives) continued asking for the result till it was declared. Sikandar Singh Jartoli, who just returned from Canada, said he had received many calls from unknown Punjabis settled in various segments of British Columbia. “Though initially I thought my son and daughter-in-law had made a routine call, later I learnt that they had called to enquire about the fate of candidates,"? said Jartoli. Women were no exception to the tendency. Baljit Kaur from Canada and Pretima Sharma from Sydney in Australia like many other NRIs remained in touch with Baljinder Singh Dhaliwal and Venu Gopal Sharma throughout the day.
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Youngsters happy with AAP's performance
Ludhiana, May 16 Even though he his lost to Congress candidate Ravneet Singh Bittu, they said they were happy that he finished a close second, not losing by big margin. "It is good that the party has done well in Punjab, winning four seats. People of Punjab wanted a change," said Taranjit Singh, a student. The AAP candidates have performed well in the states, getting as many as 24 per cent of votes, which is a healthy sign for the party. Another student said people of Punjab wanted a change. Harpreet, a BA student, said: “Now the Assembly elections a couple of years later will be interesting as the AAP will be in a stronger position, if it sustains its good work.”
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IMA bandh hits OPD services at health facilities
Ludhiana, May 16 Also, work at leading hospitals including Christian Medical College and Hospital and Dayanand Medical College and Hospital went on as usual. The hospital authorities, however, condemned the attack on the hospital premises and a doctor’s house in Mansa following the death of a boy due to alleged negligence on the part of the doctor, which led to the bandh. IMA, Ludhiana, president Dr RK Sharma said the attack was unfortunate. "There are around 2,000 doctors in Punjab, of which 900 are members of the IMA. Today’s call for a bandh was observed by the IMA members,” said Dr Sharma. “As the bandh announcement was made in advance, only 10 per cent of the average number of patients visiting his nursing home daily turned up today,” said Dr Iqbal Singh Ahuja, an IMA member. While condemning the attack, he said though the OPD services were suspended, patients who came from far-off places and other districts were attended to by the staff. The major hospitals in the city, meanwhile, witnessed the usual rush. Sangita, whose husband had fractured his hand, said she took him to CMCH at around 10 am and faced no problem in getting him treated. On May 4, angered by the death of a 14-year-old boy at Dr Akashdeep Hospital in Mansa, his relatives and residents had ransacked the hospital and the house of the doctor who was attending to him. Why was bandh called? On May 4, following the death of a 14-year-old boy due to alleged negligence on the part of a doctor, angered relatives and residents ransacked Dr Akashdeep Hospital and the doctor’s house in Mansa.
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Farm university turns into a fortress
Ludhiana, May 16 "There are only a few places in the city to go for morning walks and the PAU is one of the greenest and cleanest places. As it was closed for morning walkers today, I went to Rakh Bagh," said a resident. "I was surprised to meet some of the other regular morning walkers there," he said. It is not often that Rakh Bagh becomes so crowded. "Walkers were seen bumping into each other and it is not often that you see so many people here," said a regular visitor to Rakh Bagh. Some residents, who go to Rakh Bagh regularly, were disconcerted to see too many people there. There was hardly any space for going for a mild jog, Kamal, a youngster complained. While some of the other residents were happy. A group of persons said more people should come to Rakh Bagh for morning walks as more people would mean more people to meet and chat with in the morning.
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Inter-house carrom competition
Ludhiana: An inter-house carom competition was organized for the students of Classes I to V at Bal Bharati Public School. Out of the total strength of about 900 students, 400 were shortlisted for the quarter-finals. Further, 80 students participated in the semi-finals. Finally, 40 students competed in the finals of the competition. Fruit day celebrated
Fruit day was celebrated at ABC Montessori School, Basant Avenue. Students came dressed as fruits such as mango, orange, apple, grapes etc. The school campus was decorated with the cutouts of various fruits. Interesting activities were organised for the students to make them aware of different fruits. Freshers’ party
Shri Harkrishan Sahib Public Senior Secondary School, New Janta Nagar, organised a fresher's party for the students of Nursery class. On the occasion the tiny tots came dressed in colorful dresses. The students of LKG and UKG presented bhangra and dance performances on songs such as 'Mere Ghar Aye Ek Nanhi Pari', 'Maine kaha fullon se haso to voh Khil khila ke has diye' and 'Baby doll main sone di'. Crowns and prizes were awarded to the winners. Students, teachers don yellow attire
The Kindergarten section of Guru Nanak Public School, Model Town Extension, celebrated Yellow day with great fervour and enthusiasm on Friday. The students and teachers of Nursery wing donned yellow-coloured apparels. The celebration was conducted to reinforce and familiarise children with the colour. The students displayed their skills by making tiger from yellow chart paper and pasting it in their scrap books. Also, the classrooms and display boards were decorated with yellow-coloured articles. International Family
Day observed
To inculcate the family values among the students, International Family Day was celebrated at SDP Senior Secondary School, Basti Jodhewal. Students delivered a lecture emphasising on the real value, meaning and importance of family in our life. Principal Sarita Goyal appreciated the lecture and told the students to respect their family and to co-operate them in all situations. Alphabet day celebrated
An alphabet day was organised for the students of KG wing at Green Land Convent School, New Subhash Nagar. It was done to provide platform to the students to groom their confidence and knowledge. The main objective to conduct the activity was to promote awareness and a conceptual framework for supporting and encouraging language learning. Various activities were organised to lay emphasis on the importance of English alphabets and phonetics. The students displayed their talent by reciting poems on alphabets. ‘Doha’ recitation contest
Observing the Rashtra Bhasha Saptah, Green Land Senior Secondary Public School, Jalandhar Bye Pass, organised declamation and doha recitation contests in which students of Classes IX and X presented their oratory skills in Hindi. The topics included meethi vaani, bharatiya naari, sarwa shiksha abhiyan and bhagya aur purusharth. They also gave a glimpse of their awareness towards the changing phase of Indian politics. The students of Class IX recited dohas of Kabir, Surdas and Tulsidas in melodious rhythm. Healthy tiffin competition
A healthy tiffin competition was orgainsed to mark fruits and vegetables day atGreen Land Convent School, Civil City, on Friday. The aim was to make the students aware of the benefits of various fruits and vegetables.
Children brought nutritious food, including green leafy vegetables, fruits, sprouts, etc. — TNS
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Power shutdown
11-kV Khalsa College feeder, fed from 66-kV DC Complex substation, will remain shut for urgent maintenance work from 9 am to 2 pm on Saturday. During this period, power supply to Maharani Jhansi Road, Vishwa Mittar Street, Mall Enclave, Cemetery Road, Malerkotla House, Patel Nagar, Green Park, parts of Government Officers’ Colony and surrounding areas will be affected. Shaheed Sukhdev remembered
The birth anniversary of Shaheed Sukhdev was celebrated in the city on Friday. The day was jointly celebrated by Inquilabi Kender Punjab, Bigal Mazdoor Dasta and Lok Morcha Punjab. A play was also staged at the government school in Sunet. — TNS
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Taxi driver found murdered at
house
Ludhiana, May 16 The victim has been identified as Bittu. His wife and three children were also present in the house when the incident took place, said the police. The wife told the police that when she entered the room she was shocked to find her husband lying in a pool of blood. No one, however, saw the killer, the police said. The police are questioning the victim’s wife and children. The incident took place around 8 pm when Bittu was watching television. It is suspected that the assailant entered the house and attacked on Bittu’s neck. Bittu, who suffered a deep cut on his neck, was declared brought dead on reaching hospital. Boy kidnapped High drama took place at Punjab Mata Nagar after a six-month-old boy was allegedly kidnapped. The baby’s mother, Rajwant Kaur, accused her sister-in-law Priya of kidnapping the child. Rajwant said she was visiting her sister Kuldeep Kaur’s house at Punjab Mata Nagar, where Priya, too, came on the pretext of meeting her. Rajwant told the police that while she, along with her sister, was making tea in the kitchen, Priya took away the baby. On finding the two missing, Rajwant raised the alarm and started looking for her child in the locality. In the meantime, Priya also switched off her phone, she said. Priya’s husband, Soni, reached the spot on being informed about the incident. Later, in the evening, Rajwant approached the police and lodged a complaint.
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Police rule out robbery
Ludhiana, May 16 The police said nothing had gone missing from the house. It has, however, not yet come to light whether Goel was having personal enmity with anyone. the police, meanwhile, are clueless about how the killer managed to enter and then leave the victims’ house. The couple was living alone in the Ram Nagar Railway Road Market area. Shaguna came to stay with her maternal grandparents on Tuesday. The area is densely populated. As the gate of the house was bolted from inside, the police suspect the killer might have entered the premises in the early evening, when the gate was open, and waited there till midnight. Initially, the police were of the view that the killer escaped through the roof. The probe team also found blood-soaked footprints on the roof. Now, however, the police have ruled out this possibility, as high walls separate the house from neighbouring houses. Today, the police rounded up some persons in connection with the murder and interrogated them for a few hours. Dr Kishan Singh, who performed the autopsy, said the assailant attacked the couple with the intent to kill, as the stab wounds were deep and punctured their lungs and liver. Shaguna told the police the incident took place at midnight. She, reportedly, woke up hearing her grandmother’s screams. She said a short and dark youth, who was covering his face, was stabbing the woman. When Shaguna tried to stop him, the assailant, reportedly, stabbed her as well. She said the handkerchief covering the youth’s face fell in the process, and that she could recognise him. Shaguna then ran to her room and started screaming for help. "While reconstructing the scene of crime, we found a smashed liquor bottle near the bed. As both victims have suffered head injuries, it appears the killer had attacked the couple while they were fast asleep. We suspect Suresh Goel fell unconscious due to the blow, while Shimla Goel rushed outside and screamed for help, before being stabbed to death," said the investigating officer. In the meantime, Suresh Goel regained consciousness and tried to stop the killer, following which he was stabbed on the back and stomach, resulting in his death, said the officer.
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I have a big responsibility to shoulder. I will do my best for the industrial town of Ludhiana. Though I got the ticket rather late and had already started my poll campaign at Anandpur Sahib, it goes to the credit of the Congress leadership and workers that they campaigned intensively for me. Despite the impressive presence of the Aam Aadmi Party in Punjab and the misinformation campaign being carried out by the rivals, we have done very
well. — Ravneet Singh Bittu, Congress
The poll result is our victory. We have done very well. We have succeeded in doing what we wanted - our poll campaign was sans any distribution of drugs or money. I’m satisfied with the results. I thank the electorate. My supporters took out a rally on Friday to thank the
voters.
I thank each and every voter who voted for me. My special thanks to the voters of the Atam Nagar and Ludhiana South Assembly constituencies. My mission was not to win the Lok Sabha polls. My mission was to root out drug menace, sand mafia and corruption from Punjab. I will continue my struggle against
these. — Simarjit Singh Bains, Independent candidate