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Punjab News
Faridkot February 3:
Punjab Police DSP Bhupinder Singh, who was dismissed from service last week, was earlier convicted by the Faridkot Sessions court on alleged charge of tampering with police records and helping an NRI in escaping to the United States.
DSP Bhupinder Singh and then SHO were sentenced to two years of rigourous imprisonment by the sessions court in September 2009. In 2002 the Faridkot Police registered a case against both the police officers on the orders of Punjab and Haryana High Court as both the officers allegedly accepted a bribe of Rs 5 lakh from an NRI to help him to escape from India.
The US-based NRI was booked for second marriage and the police impounded his passport on the complaint of his first wife Pal Kaur. Pal Kaur had filed a complaint against her husband who had married with second wife. The police had registered a criminal case against the NRI and his second wife. The police had arrested him and his second wife and the court granted them bail with the directions of depositing their passport so that they could not escape.
Accepting the bribe from the NRI, the DSP tampered the police record and procured the passports of both- NRI and his second wife. When both of them reached the US, they send back their passports and were back in the police records. When these facts came to the notice of Pal Kaur, she filed a complaint before the High Court and after inquiry the DSP and SHO were booked. Four months after they were sentenced to two years rigorous imprisonment. The state government appointed the DSP in vigilance department. After prodding by the high court last year, the government suspended him and started his dismissal process.
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
February 3
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Lambi February 3:
Two days after polling, the scenario at Badal village has undergone apparent changes. There were no security personnel in the village and villagers were busy with their daily routine.
However, people could be seen discussing the election results. While some said that the high poll percentage may be an indication against a vote against SAD-BJP, others felt that it could be due to the anti-incumbency factor. At the Badals' residence, chief minister Parkash Singh Badal was away at Chandigarh. Nor deputy chief minister Sukhbeer Singh Badal or his wife and MP from Bathinda, Harsimrat Kaur Badal were in the village.
According to party workers and security personnel at Badals' residence, the three were away since Wednesday. On the day of polling, big OB vans of different media groups and groups of security personnel could be seen deputed there, but on Thursday, the village was silent. In the main market in Badal village, shopkeepers were busy with customers while some villagers were sited together in front of shops, apparently discussing poll results.
The "rehri" of a Chhole-Kulchewala could be spotted near the Badals' residence, surrounded by security personnel and others, while senior citizens could be heard discussing the post-poll scenario thus: "Aitki vada badal vi tension ich haiga te pata ni resulut ki aauga. Aitki akali dal nu vi jhatka lag sakda haiga. Result ki rahuga ae te 6 march nu hi pata laguga." (This time, the senior Badal is also in tension. The results will come only on March 6. There could be shocks for SAD in the elections this time.)
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
February 3
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Chandigarh February 3:
Around 100 candidates, who contested the state Assembly elections, have been issued notices by the district-level media monitoring committees of the Chief Electoral Officer, Punjab over paid news. Sources said among the 100 were candidates of all political parties and Independents. After seeking replies from the candidates, the committees will now take a final decision over whether certain news items in papers were paid for or not.
If the candidates are found guilty of having paid for news items, the amount determined by the expenditure observer, will then be added to the candidate’s total expenditure. All the cases will then be referred to the state level media monitoring committee which will again study them and take a decision. If need be, then the committee can send notices in this regard to the concerned newspapers.
If the state level committee finds substance in some cases then those cases will be sent to the Election Commission of India (ECI) for a final decision. If then the ECI finds in some case that the news which appeared was paid for, then it can disqualify the candidature of the candidate, if one is elected. Before taking the final decision, however, the commission will send the matter to the Press Council of India for a review. An officer said: “This process is very lengthy and takes a lot of time and till date only one candidate in some other state was disqualified by the ECI on the same grounds but it took the commission three and half years to do so.’’
“Not only this, notices have been issued by the state level media monitoring committee to five news channels as complaints came in the morning about Star News, Aaj Tak, Zee, NDTV, Times Now and PTC . Besides PTC which was showing interviews of most SAD-BJP candidates, the monitoring committee saw that decided that the allegation was right and send their finding to ECI. As regards to other channels they went off the air in the state as it was alleged that they were showing exit polls-cum-Opinion based programs so we asked the ECI to watch the channels in Delhi. Also notices to three vernacular newspapers for publishing an advertisement that people should vote on religion basis,” the officer added.
Meanwhile, the CEO on Thursday clarified that as per the latest instructions of the Election Commission of India, the static surveillance teams and flying squads of the Departments of Police, Income Tax and State Excise, especially deployed to monitor expenditure and flow of liquor during the recent Assembly elections have been directed to be disbanded. Kusumjit Sidhu, CEO has asked the District Administration especially the SSPs to ensure that no person should be harassed or exploited in this regard.
78 ‘tendered votes’ cast: Jalandhar: In the January 30 Punjab polls, 78 “tendered votes” were reported from across the state. While maximum tendered voters of 21 were reported from Dhuri in Sangrur district, 20 tendered voters were reported in Moga district’s Dharamkot. Moreover, while five each tenderd voters were reported from Barnala and Dakha constituencies of Barnala and Ludhiana districts respectively, three such voters reported from Sunam. The rest were from Jalandhar, Kapurthala, Amritsar Pathankot, Bathinda, Mansa, Patiala, Fazilka and SAS Nagar districts. Tendered voting is a method by which one can vote on behalf of another, provided he has been authorised to do so.
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
February 3
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Chandigarh February 3:
The Election Commission has decided to disband surveillance teams and flying squads set up to monitor the Jan 30 assembly elections in Punjab, an official said here.
Punjab chief electoral officer Kusumjit Sidhu said that district authorities across the state have been asked to ensure that no person was harassed by these teams any more. The teams, made up of officers from various government agencies, were deployed to monitor election related expenditure and flow of liquor during balloting. The Election Commission recovered Rs.33.66 crore of unaccounted cash and over 697,000 bottles of country liquor in the run up to the poll.
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
February 3
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Amritsar February 3:
As THE sixth phase of Uttar Pradesh elections began it will be campaign season again for some leaders of the Punjab Congress.
The Congress high command appears to have left no stone unturned to use its campaigners in a strategic way. To play the Dalit card and woo the SC voters, National Commission for Scheduled Castes Vice-Chairman Dr Raj Kumar Verka had reached Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday. Verka, the Congress nominee in Punjab from Amritsar West, is scheduled to hold rallies and nukkad meetings in constituencies where Congress has fielded SC candidates.
The high command is also learnt to have asked party’s star campaigner in Punjab, state president Captain Amarinder Singh, to campaign in UP. Sources told The Indian Express that Amarinder was likely to head to Uttar Pradesh soon. Congress, it is learnt, wants to use Amarinder’s “star appeal” to win over the Punjabi population in UP and the migrant population.
“I have been instructed by the party high command to campaign in UP. I will campaign till the polling day, while occasionally going to New Delhi to look after my job as the vice-Chairman of National Commission for Scheduled Castes. I am going to organise rallies and nukkad meetings in the constituencies where the party has fielded SC candidates,” Verka told reporters. He added that majority of the 13 districts of Western UP, where polls will be held in the sixth phase, had “a sizable SC population”.
“Besides, there are scores of Punjabis who are settled in a number of these districts,” he added. While Amarinder could not be contacted for comment, Punjab Congress affairs in-charge Gulchain Singh Charak confirmed that Amarinder had been asked by the party high command to campaign in Uttar Pradesh.
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
February 3
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Amritsar February 3:
The police lathicharged Baldev Raj Bagga, a BJP leader and supporter of party MP Navjot Singh Sidhu, when he allegedly picked up a scuffle with the police personnel on duty. He was reportedly “adamant to wait inside polling booth number 76” in Amritsar East constituency, where a repoll was underway.
Bagga, the husband of a BJP councillor, allegedly abused a police gunman after being forced out of the polling booth. Following this, he was beaten up by the police. “Bagga was levelling baseless allegations that fake voting was taking place. When given a chance to corroborate his allegations, he could not prove it and instead started misbehaving with the police. He also abused one of our gunmen, forcing us to use some force against him,” said Maqboolpura SHO Ashwani Kumar. “He was neither a voter in the polling booth nor the election agent. We first asked him to stand in queue if he was a voter or leave the polling booth. But he started misbehaving with us,” the SHO said.
Navjot Singh Sidhu’s wife Navjot Kaur Sidhu is locked in a triangular contest from Amritsar East with Congress candidate Sunil Dutti and Congress rebel Simerpreet Kaur Bhatia, who is contesting as an Independent. The repoll at booth number 76 was ordered following a technical problem — the polling staff did not clear the mock poll data. With 672 voters casting their votes against the total number of 974 voters, 68.9 per cent votes were polled in the repoll.
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
February 3
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Chandigarh February 3:
Chief Information Commissioner (CIC), Punjab, R I Singh has held that the answersheet of a student cannot be considered 'confidential information' after the declaration of results, and a student is entitled to a certified copy of his answersheet.
The order was passed by the CIC following a complaint by Kamal Kishore Arora, father of Gaurav, against Guru Nanak Dev University (GNDU), Amritsar. Interestingly, by filing an RTI application to the varsity to see the answersheet, Arora was able to bypass the fee of Rs 10,000 charged by GNDU to show the answersheet to a student.
In the order, the CIC held that Arora was not liable to pay this fee as he had sought the information under the RTI Act. He had sought certified copies of the answersheets of Gaurav in an exam conducted during the second semester of MA (English) in May 2011. GNDU informed Arora that as per varsity rules, the examinee could see his answersheets within three weeks of declaration of results by depositing a fee of Rs 10,000.
The CIC said as per the RTI Act, no time limit had been prescribed and no fee was to be charged, and the provisions of the RTI Act overrode any other rules and regulations, or a statute. GNDU also took the plea that it could not give Gaurav's answersheets to his father, as it was "personal information of a third party". GNDU admitted that even though "the third party" is the son of the information seeker, the varsity was not bound to give the answersheet to him.
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
February 3
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Pong dam February 3:
Contrary to expectations, the number of birds visiting Pong Dam wetland, one of the largest man-made wetlands in northern India, has decreased by about 10 per cent this year.
During the two-day census of waterfowl species (birds that depend on water bodies for roosting and feeding), 119,500 birds of 103 species were spotted in the wetland in Kangra district, wildlife officials said. The largest influx is of the bar-headed goose (25,000), common coot (17,750), northern pintail (13,200), common pochard (10,200), tufted pochard (7,600) common teal (7,400) and little cormorant (6,800) while pied avocet (12) -- a wading bird species -- has been recorded for the second successive year, according to Chief Conservator of Forests, Himachal, Sanjeeva Pandey.
The falcated duck, the silvery plumage species predominantly found in China, has been spotted for the first time at Pong Dam (Maharana Pratap Sarovar) while the common shelduck (30), rarely seen in the country, was also seen with other prominent species like great-crested grebe, graylag goose, red-crested pochard, ferruginous pochard, common merganser, Eurasian spoonbill, greater white-fronted goose, garganey, sarus crane, western marsh harrier and osprey.
Spread over an area of 307 sq km in the picturesque Kangra valley, Pong wetlands, have the distinction of being one of the most important and popular winter bird sanctuaries for local and migratory species and the influx of birds can be seen at swamps near Nagrota Suriyan, Budladha and Sansarpur Terrace. The bird count is 12,500 less than last year's count of 132,000, and range officer (Pong wetlands) D S Dadwal attributed it to harsh winter during January. Over the last few years, the bird count had been steadily increasing.
"Some of the species of ducks have migrated to nearby wetlands, mainly in Punjab, due to continuous rain for many days in January and are likely to come back to Pong Dam during February," he said. The Pong wetlands are also home to many native birds like the red jungle fowl, large Indian parakeet, Indian cuckoo, bank myna, wood shrike, yellow-eyed babbler, black ibis, paradise flycatcher, crested lark and the crested bunting. During the 2010 census, 144,000 waterfowl of 91 species were recorded here, whereas the number was 95,000 birds (89 species) in 2009.
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
February 3
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Ludhiana February 2:
A Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) and an unidentified young girl were found murdered in mysterious circumstances at a farmhouse on the outskirts of the town Thursday morning.
The bodies of the Moga DSP Balraj Singh and the girl were found in the farm house of an industrialist on Hambran road, Police Commissioner Ishwar Chand Sharma told a news agency here. Sharma, who was one of the senior officers who reached the spot, said both were murdered with sharped-edged weapons.
Their bodies were lying on the sofa set in a room, he said. He said police was trying to get some clues with the help of the mobile telephone of the deceased.
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
February 2
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Ferozepur February 2:
A week after Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi addressed a massive rally in Ferozepur for his handpicked candidate Satkar Kaur, the candidate’s husband is on the run from the police, who want him for alleged murder.
Satkar’s husband Jasmel Singh alias Laddi allegedly shot 21-year-old Nishan Singh outside a poll booth in village Piaranwala in Ferozepur (Rural) assembly constitutency as Punjab voted on January 30. Jasmel is an active Congress worker; Satkar by contrast, is neither a Congress worker nor a good political orator. She was elected a member of the zila parishad in 2009, and had applied for the Congress assembly ticket along with her husband after Ferozepur (Rural) was reserved for SCs.
“The Congress high command decided to field a particular number of women candidates, and Satkar was selected as the nominee for the seat,” said a senior Congress leader. Forty-eight hours after the murder, the police have arrested a man called Lakhwinder Singh alias Lakhi, whom a Ferozepur court remanded in their custody for a day today. Nishan, a second year student at a Ferozepur college, was the only son of his parents, and had recently returned from a visit to Singapore.
He was not a voter; he had gone to the poll booth out of curiosity, said his family. They said Jasmel, Lakhi and another man called Bhau fired several rounds, and Nishan was hit in the abdomen. “People who saw the incident tell me that Laddi Gayri (Jasmel) shot Nishan. I don’t know if the police will arrest him, his wife is so powerful,” Nishan’s mother Pritam Kaur told reporters.
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
February 2
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Ludhiana February 2:
While elections results are more than a month away, supporters of both Congress and SAD(B) candidates in Malerkotla have started distributing sweets announcing victory of their respective candidates.
Malerkotla has a majority Muslim population and registered an 88 per cent voter turnout. Former DGP Izhar Alam, husband of SAD(B) candidate Farzana Alam, said, “This is the anger of the people against Mohammad Mustafa. Malerkotla has shown him the door by coming out in such huge numbers.” Mustafa’s wife, Razia Sultana is the candidate and sitting MLA of Malerkotla. Alam’s supporters claim that Hindu businessman and a section of women who in the last elections had not come out vote, fearing hooliganism, cast their votes this time thus giving Alam a huge lead.
Razia Sultana countered Alam’s thesis as, “All I can say is that by distributing sweets and bursting crackers they are not celebrating their victory, but trying to keep up the moral of their workers. The huge turn out is a validation of the work that we have done in Malerkotla.”
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
February 2
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Lehra February 2:
The similarity between Badal village in Lambi and Badalgarh in Lehra is not just in its name. It is as much in their respective claims to the throne of Punjab chief minister. But while Lehra gave Punjab its first and only woman CM, Rajinder Kaur Bhattal who had a short stint of 11 months, Lambi has given the one with longest innings — four-time Akali Dal Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal.
Between the two villages, the story is different this elections. Badal village is once again hopeful but the mood in Badalgarh — which gave Bhattal a lead of 494 votes in a total of 1,200 odd votes in the 2007 polls — is that of dejection. The throne of Congress CM has been reclaimed by Captain Amarinder Singh, erstwhile maharaja of princely state of Patiala — just 85 km away — days before the state went to polls when Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi announced him as the future CM.
But for neither Badalgarh nor Bhattal it is the last word on the issue. “Our party has a democratic tradition. The elected MLAs elect the CM and the final right to decide is with the party president Sonia Gandhi,” says Bhattal, refusing to be drawn into a controversy on Rahul’s statement. “It is never seen, nor heard in Congress history that the CM is decided before the poll verdict. Whatever will be the decision after the verdict is out, I will abide by it,” says Bhattal’s who is fighting another high-stake battle — her son-in-law is fighting from the Sahnewal seat.
In this village dominated by Gujjars, she is still in the reckoning for the top post. Malkit Singh, a farmer says the scenario may change after elections. “If no party gets majority, it will then depend on who is a consensus candidate for chief ministership in the numbers game,” he says. Gobinder Singh, who with his MA and LLB degrees is perhaps the most educated in the village, says the announcement was made looking at short-term electoral gains. “The party thinks it will poll more votes in dabangg Amarinder,” he says, adding, their lady is no less dabangg.
Harcharan Singh, a farmer, draws the elite, non-elite divide between the two constituencies. “Unlike the Patiala royals, we are a backward area, not elite enough to take our voice to New Delhi,” he says, adding, “She has given our village pucca roads, a girls polytechnic and a hospital is under construction near the village. Our area is backward and if she becomes CM, our lot will change.” The battle of chief ministership against Amarinder is also behind the talk of signals that abounds the village. The signals range from Akali sympathisers to secretly vote for Bhattal, to Amarinder’s supporters to not vote for her and from Amarinder camp to Sirsa-based Dera Sacha Sauda not to vote for Bhattal.
Nearly one-third of the village owes allegiance to Sirsa-based Dera Sacha Sauda. But the premis (dera followers) this time are not one on the silent signal of the sect head. Fakiriya Singh, who claims to be the local bhangidas — the political nominee of the dera — says the dera signaled for Bhattal after she gave an affidavit at the dera to look after them. “Many were not happy and had complained against her indifference towards them at the dera. She was pledged support after she gave a written confirmation to be helpful to us,” he adds.
He has the dera mouthpiece, Sach Kahun, as proof denying support pledged to People’s Party of Punjab (PPP) candidate Bhagwant Mann. But the premis supporting PPP say the original bhangidas is Mela Singh, who resides at the dera in Sirsa. “He told us to vote for who we think is the right candidate,” says Binder Insan. The counter claims are not just limited to who is the original bhangidas or signaled candidate but dera premi itself.
“The dera advocates against drugs and alcohol but many premis here are addicts. Their vote can be bought with a bottle (of alcohol). Wait for the polls to end at 5 pm and you can see them lined up at the theka (liquor shop),” a village elder said. As for Bhattal, she says politics is serious business. “Bhagwant Mann is a comedian, people may go to hear his jokes. Every area wants their leader to lead the state, so do my people,” she adds.
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
February 2
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Chandigarh February 2:
In a setback to the Punjab government, a Mohali court dismissed its application seeking directions to begin trial proceedings pending against former state DGP S S Virk for “consideration of framing of charges”.
Terming the application as “uncalled for”, the court refused to entertain it. The trial, pending before a Mohali lower court, is slated for hearing on March 8 — two days after Punjab Assembly poll results will be declared. Showing urgency, the state government on Wednesday moved the court stating that since the Punjab and Haryana High Court had dismissed a petition filed by Virk, where he had sought quashing of the FIR, the trial pending before Mohali court be resumed and charges framed against Virk. The government, in its application, also stated that since the Virk’s petition stands dismissed, the “stay” operating on the trial stands vacated.
On November 11, 2011, Justice Permod Kohli had dismissed a petition filed by Virk seeking quashing of the FIR registered against him and another accused Anurag Saxena on charges of corruption. The FIR was registered by the Punjab Vigilance Bureau. Advocate Amit Sharma, counsel for Virk, vehemently opposed the application. He averred that the application moved by the Punjab government was “ill-founded, misleading and contemptuous”. Contending that the “stay” granted by the high court has no relation with the petition filed by Virk, Sharma clarified that technically, no stay has been granted by the high court and that it had only directed the lower court to defer the hearing of the case. These directions were passed by the high court in another petition filed by co-accused Anurag Saxena.
Virk’s counsel demanded that the application be dismissed with exemplary cost since there is no “change in the circumstances of the case”. Refusing to entertain the application moved by the Punjab government, the court questioned the law officer, who submitted that certain “high-ups” of Punjab government had asked for filing the said application in the court. Passing a detailed order, the court of R K Aggarwal, special Mohali Judge, dismissed the application. The trial, slated for hearing on March 8, will come up on the said date.
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
February 2
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Chandigarh February 1:
Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal is going back to work, preparing for what he hopes will be his first cabinet meeting in a fresh term. His son and deputy, Sukhbir Badal, will relax with his family.
Their Congress rival Amarinder Singh, who too is confident that the March 6 election results will return his party to power, will rest only a day. And the Badal family rebel, Manpreet, has finally found time to attend to his medical treatment. Chief Minister Badal will rest for a day or two of rest at home in village Badal before heading for office. “There are many social obligations he had promised to fulfil after the elections are over. Also, he intends to take a round of his constituency to thank everyone,” said H S Bains, his media adviser.
And what about work? “When did Badal Sahib stop working? He is gearing up for the first cabinet meeting after March 6. We have many promises to fulfil in our first cabinet.” Sukhbir will be in Delhi. “I intend to spend some time with my family and kids in Delhi. That is my way of relaxing,” he said. “But I am sending my whole election team on a vacation. My team has worked very hard and they deserve the treat. I might join them before coming back and forming the new government.”
Amarinder, who rested on Tuesday, leaves for Delhi Wednesday to meet Congress leaders. “I intend to take off to Uttar Pradesh for campaigning,” he said. “Also, we are preparing our government’s agenda.” Manpreet Badal, president of the PPP, who appears not to have rested for almost two years, is rushing to Delhi to attend to a medical problem. “My throat is giving me problems. I have some tests in a hospital in Delhi tomorrow after which I’ll be going for a minor surgery,” he said.
“Then by the 13th or 20th, depending on how soon the doctors can release me, I will be in Chandigarh for a meeting with all our candidates and later with the leaders of the Sanjha Morcha,” says Manpreet. Like Amarinder, Rajinder Kaur Bhattal too hopes she will be kept busy by the Uttar Pradesh elections. “I have spent the entire day meeting people in my constituency, thanking them for their support,” she said. “Now I am headed to Chandigarh from where I will go to Uttar Pradesh to campaign for the Congress. I am hoping that time will fly when I am busy there,” she says.
Balwant Singh Ramoowalia, SAD candidate from Mohali and former president of the Lok Bhalai Party, is back at taking up causes. “I am moving around my constituency today, thanking people for their support,” the former Union minister said. “I have not been able to contribute on the cases of Punjabi youths jailed in Arab nations. I intend to focus my attention on those now.”
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
February 1
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Jalandhar February 1:
A day after Punjab witnessed an all-time high voter turnout of over 78.6 per cent for the Assembly elections, the political pundits and experts got down to analysing how it may affect the outcome on March 6.
While the fates of the 117 Assembly seats have been sealed, the speculations have begun over the the formation of the next government even as both the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD)-BJP alliance and the Opposition Congress have kept their fingers crossed. The experts have yet to come up with their verdict on the high turn out - whether it bring a reason a rejoice for the incumbent government or hand over the power to the opposition, something that has been a trend in Punjab.
However, a look at the data of the Election Commission on polling percentages after Independence from 1951 to 2007, it has been revealed that Akalis have formed the government if the polling in Assembly elections exceeds 70 per cent which has happened thrice earlier. The state has earlier witnessed over 70 per cent polling in 1967 (71.18 per cent), 1969 (72.27 per cent) and 2007 (75.45 per cent) following which the SAD wrested power.
The polling exceeded 65 per cent on six occasions and again the Akalis romped home to victory on four occasions in 1972 (68.63 per cent), 1977 (65.37 per cent), 1985 (67.53 per cent) and 1997 (68.73 per cent) while in remaining two 1972 (68.63 per cent) and 2002 (65.14 per cent) the Congress returned to power. The Congress had wrested power in case of polling being less than 65 per cent as was evident in 1951 (57.85 per cent), 1957 (57.72 per cent), 1962 (63.44 per cent) and 1980 (64.33 per cent).
The 1992 poll was boycotted by the Akalis and the Congress had returned to power in the Assembly elections which saw the lowest polling 23.82 per cent. If one goes by the history and the figures, then over 6 per cent increase in the poll percentage has mostly worked against the incumbent government. “It is very difficult to say whether the high voter turn out would help the Opposition or the ruling alliance as this time there was huge enthusiasm among the first time voters,” said a political expert. The young voters can swing the result both ways, he added.
However, there are certain groups that feel that though the higher voter turnout is generally considered to go against the incumbent, but in the recent years this trend was reversed in some states such as Bihar. “In Assembly polls held in 2010, Bihar saw an increase of 7 per cent in the voter turnout compared to to the 2005 elections, and the high vote percentage helped the ruling JDU-BJP return to power with a thumping majority,” said VS Jolly, a social worker and retired government officer.
The Sheila Dikshit government in delhi is another such example. Delhi has witnessed voter turnout increase from 49 per cent in 1998 to 63 per cent in 2008. However, it has also worked in favour of the incumbent government.
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
February 1
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Chandigarh, January 31
Punjab Pradesh Congress president Capt Amarinder Singh slept well last night. He got up late this morning and washed his hair bath. “I didn’t get a get a chance to do so for a long time”, he says, relaxing at his Sector 10 residence here.
Sipping coffee with his confidant Arvind Khanna and former PPP leader Kushaldeep Dhillon, he gave the feeling of a battle well won. In the backdrop of famous paintings of Allah Baksh, a reproduction of those at the new Moti Bagh Palace in Patiala, Amarinder says: “I don’t agree with you people when you say there is no wave”. He says it is true that people were first hesitant to express their feelings openly. “That was because they were afraid of Bikram (Majithia) and Sukhbir (Badal)”. He claims there was a surge in favour of the Congress in the last five days of campaigning, pointing out that ‘satta’ market had also given the party 63 - 64 seats. “The assessment of these guys is rarely wrong”, he observes.
Amarinder says the Akalis are miscalculating the strength of the BJP and the saffron party “is not likely to get more than four seats - two seats in Amritsar (Navjot Kaur Sidhu and Anil Joshi) and one seat in Sujanpur (Dinesh Singh). The Congress will win 32 seats in Majha and Doaba and around 40 in Malwa.” Rebuffs suggestions that there could be a hung assembly, Amarinder says the party has done well in the Malwa that has 68 seats. He claims the party will get near 100 per cent Dera Sachha Sauda votes. “South Malwa will go to the Congress.”
Asked to point out a single factor which could win him the elections, he says it was the party’s strategy to engage the youth in view of the 12 to 13 per cent increase in the youth votes and 18 lakh youngsters voting for the first time. Amarinder feels the SAD-BJP development plank did not work in the end. “The SAD-BJP combine kept harping on development but had no answer as to why the law and order machinery had broken down completely during its rule.
This created an anti-incumbency sentiment”, he says. Amarinder is now set to move to Uttar Pradesh. “The party wants me there,” he explains, adding that his trip to his farmhouse in Dochi in Himachal to rev up his energy levels may be delayed.
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
February 1
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Patiala February 1:
After hectic campaigning of many days could have been a day for relaxation for candidates, but most of them did not break their routines and left their homes early in the morning to meet party workers and leaders.
While some continued with their meetings, others attended bhogs and other public functions. Union minister of state for external affairs, Preneet Kaur, after seeing her relatives off in the morning, who had come to Patiala to campaign for her son Raninder in Samana, met party workers at her New Moti Bagh Palace. Workers came not only from Patiala city constituency, represented by her husband Amarinder Singh, but many came from Samana also, to meet Preneet.
"We would take care of all after coming to power in March. All have worked hard and we are confident that Congress would form the government," she told workers. She also attended a bhog ceremony in a local gurdwara, sources said. Her daughter Jai Inder Kaur and daughter-in-law Rishma Kaur, who handled the poll campaigns of Amarinder in Patiala and Raninder in Samana respectively, preferred to stay with their family members in their palace while Raninder also met his supporters to thank them for their support.
"I have won four elections and would win this time also. I never relax at home and always stay with my supporters. It's the main reason behind my success. Today I have attended two bhogs since morning and have also planned some meetings with my supporters," said Congress candidate from Patiala rural Brahm Mahindra. Some other candidates approached by media said they may go on vacation with family members after the declaration of results, but they don't have any plan to leave their homes before that. However, they did not give any reason for not having vacations before results.
"No. I don't need time to relax as I get energy by meeting my supporters. I woke up at the usual time in the morning and have been conducting meetings with supporters in my house. Around 1,000 supporters have met me in different groups since morning," said Surjit Singh Rakhra, SAD candidate from Samana constituency.
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
February 1
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Chandigarh February 1:
It is 3 pm and Sukhbir Singh Badal is asleep, recuperating after a hectic month-long campaigning that culminated in the polling last evening. Away from his children for a long time, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president flew back to Delhi to be with his family after polling came to an end.
There are strict instructions he not be disturbed for next two days, but repeated phone calls force him out of the slumber and he answers the call. What’s Sukhbir’s post-poll analysis of the heavy turnout? The election has shown a pro-development positive vote, the SAD is confident to form the next government, he claims. “We are headed for a clean sweep. Now, the polls are over, you can mark my words and everyone will believe me on March 6”.
What makes him so optimistic? The results from Malwa decide who forms the government and the SAD, he feels, would see major gains in this core belt. He claims the SAD-BJP alliance would win all nine seats in Bathinda district, all four in Muktsar, all the three in Faridkot and at least four of the six in Ferozepur. “I will win Jalalabad by over 70,000 votes,” he claims, saying the heavy turnout shows “charged up Akali supporters who have voted to keep Congress out”. “If the cadres are demoralised, then the polling is generally low, you can see the poll percentages, they are the highest in the SAD-dominated constituencies…. Lambi will be a cakewalk”.
Going by the predictions of the Deputy Chief Minister, several Congress heavyweights are likely to tumble. He doesn’t hesitate to name them. “Congress stalwarts like (Rajinder Kaur) Bhattal, Lal Singh, Avtar Brar, Harminder Jassi, Samra etc will lick the dust,” he declares with confidence. How can he be so confident of a landslide when the Congress in making similar claims? The SAD strategy, he says, was to consolidate the traditional base with emphasis on heritage and to create a strong constituency in the youth with a modern and futuristic agenda, focusing also on high-end tech vision. It was development and performance that was repeated everywhere.
Sukhbir, however, is critical of the Election Commission’s role. “The lady in the seat worked as a Congress agent. She blatantly ignored our complaints and let officers like Mustafa remain in his wife’s constituency on grounds of illness, which he was feigning…but it won’t help”.
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
February 1
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Jalandhar February 1:
With the elections of Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Managing Committee (DSGMC) scheduled on March 11, another electoral battle is ready for Shiromani Akali Dal.
For PPCC president Amarinder Singh, this will be an electoral battle through proxy as SAD (Delhi) headed by Paramjit Singh Sarna has been openly aligning with him and even campaigned for the Congress in the just-concluded polling in Punjab. SAD had a considerable clout on DSGMC, sometimes complete sometimes partial; but in 2001, a separate Akali Dal was formed by Sarna under the name of SAD (Delhi) which ended Badal-led SAD's control on DSGMC in 2002 elections in which Badal's party got 16 votes. Sarna further reduced SAD (Badal)'s clout as they got 12 seats in the 2007 elections.
Meanwhile, the newly elected house of SGPC is yet to establish its dispensation as its fate is hanging in balance due to the decision of the Punjab and Haryana high court which restored the right of Sehajdharis to vote in the SGPC elections. However, there is still mist over the fate of the newly elected house for which the Sehajdharis were barred from voting.
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
February 1
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Chandigarh January 30:
Around 65 percent of Punjab's 1.76 crore voters had cast their ballots by 5 p.m. Monday to pick a new state assembly, while thousands of people were still queued up outside polling booths, a poll official said.
All those in queue at 5 p.m. would be permitted to cast their votes. Till 3 p.m., nearly 60 percent voters had cast their ballots. Except for a few stray incidents of scuffles, no major incidence of violence was reported in the state. The highest voting percentage of 65 was from Barnala district in Punjab's Malwa belt. Most districts of the Malwa belt, which accounts for 65 seats in the 117-seat assembly and decides which party rules, had polled 55-60 per cent votes.
Jalandhar in the Doaba belt had 60 per cent voting. Border districts of Tarn Taran and Gurdaspur, both in the Majha belt, saw 51 per cent voting. Casting of votes started across 19,841 polling stations at 8 a.m. Monday. The EC received some complaints from various districts and required action was taken, officials said here. Despite the winter chill, some polling booths, especially in rural areas, saw people lining up to exercise the franchise even before the booths had officially opened.
No voter was being allowed to enter polling stations without an election identity card and voter slip, officials said. Over 73,000 security personnel, including more than 2,000 paramilitary troopers, have been deployed to ensure smooth and peaceful polling. The fate of 1,078 candidates, including 417 independents and 93 women, will be decided by the 17,683,559 voters in the state, of which 8,361,014 are women.
The main contest is between the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alliance and the opposition Congress. A third front, Sanjha Morcha, has been formed recently and is led by former finance minister Manpreet Badal's newly floated People's Party of Punjab (PPP). Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, accompanied by his son and Akali Dal president Sukhbir Badal, who is also the deputy chief minister, Sukhbir's wife and Bathinda MP Harsimrat Badal and PPP president Manpreet Badal and other members of the Badal clan cast their vote Monday morning at the government primary school in Badal village, 230 km from here.
"We will win at least 80 seats. I can clearly see a wave for the Akali Dal-BJP government," Sukhbir Badal said after casting his vote. Five assembly constituencies -- Patiala, Lambi, Bholath, Majithia and Gidderbaha -- have been declared hyper-sensitive while 33 constituencies have been declared sensitive by the EC. The highest number of candidates, 16 each, are in the Jalalabad, Ludhiana-east and Patiala rural seats. The lowest number of candidates, four, are in fray in the Attari seat in border area of Amritsar district.
Parkash Singh Badal, 84, is facing his toughest political test as he is locked in a bitter triangular contest with his younger brother Gurdas Badal, 81, of the PPP and cousin Maheshinder Singh Badal of the Congress from the Lambi seat. Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh is seeking re-election from the Patiala Urban seat while Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal, who is also the deputy chief minister, is seeking re-election from the Jalalabad seat in Faridkot district. Amarinder Singh, who voted in Patiala, said the Congress would win more than 75 seats.
Other prominent leaders in the fray include PPP president Manpreet Badal (Gidderbaha and Maur), former chief minister Rajinder Kaur Bhattal (Congress, Lehragana seat) and Amarinder's son Raninder Singh (Congress, Samana seat). In the 2007 assembly polls, the Akali Dal had 49 legislators with alliance partner BJP winning another 19 seats (total tally 68). The Congress had 44 legislators while five seats were won by independents.
Prominent voters included union minister for information and broadcasting Ambika Soni in Hoshiarpur, national spokesman of the Congress and Ludhiana MP Manish Tewari in Ludhiana, Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) president Avtar Singh Makkar in Ludhiana and cricketer-turned politician and Amritsar MP Navjot Singh Sidhu in Amritsar.
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
January 30
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Patiala January 30:
Raninder Singh, the son of former Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh, who is fighting elections in the state from the Samana Assembly Constituency, has said that he expects the opposition Congress party to register a sweeping win in over 70 of the 117 seats that are up for grabs in the state.
Speaking to mediapersons on Monday, Raninder Singh said he was confident about the Congress party forming the next government in the state. "I expect the Congress to get close to about 70-72 seats," said Singh. "The Alkalis (regional ruling party of India's northern poll-bound Punjab state) have always traditionally announced their candidate for or the chief minister in advance. I think this time high command has very graciously announced my father's candidature for the post of the party being elected to power.
I think this has had a major impact on people making up their minds because he has emerged over time because of his work, his administrative capabilities as a strong leader and people look for strong leadership," he said. In Punjab, the main battle is between the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD)-National Democratic Alliance combine and the Congress party, which heads the government at the centre.
"Public mood for us was good. Everybody wants captain sahib (Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee Chief Amarinder Singh) to come to power and there was a lot of development when he was the chief minister in Patiala and I think we are going to win very comfortably," said Minister of State for External Affairs Preneet Kaur, who is also Raninder Singh's mother. In a recent development, Sehajdhari Sikh Party President Paramjit Singh Ranu extended support to the Congress party by withdrawing all of its 21 candidates from the elections.
In Punjab, about 1.76 crore voters will seal the fate of 1,078 candidates. Voting is taking place amid tight security. About 200 companies of the central para military forces, besides Punjab Police personnel, have been deployed to ensure free and peaceful polling at 19,841 polling stations in Punjab, including five identified as "hyper-sensitive" and 32 as sensitive, an election office spokesman said on Sunday.
Out of the 1,078 candidates in fray 417, including 45 women, are Independents. In 2007, there were 1,055 candidates, including 56 women, in the fray. The ruling SAD-BJP alliance, the Congress and the BSP are contesting all the 117 assembly seats. The recently formed Punjab People''s Party will contest 92 seats while the SAD (Amritsar) headed by former IPS officer Simranjit Singh Mann will contest 57 seats. The SAD has put up candidates on 94 seats which include 10 women while the BJP is contesting the remaining 23 seats, which includes three women.
The Congress has fielded 11 women while the BSP has fielded six women. Most of the 117 assembly seats will witness a triangular contest between the ruling SAD-BJP alliance, the main opposition Congress and the Sanjha Morcha which includes the Left and People''s Party of Punjab (PPP) led by Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal''s estranged nephew Manpreet Badal.
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
January 30
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Amritsar January 30:
Shiromani Akali Dal MLA Amarpal Singh Bony, who is seeking re-election from Ajnala Rural seat, was today booked on charges of manhandling a scribe in the constituency.
Bony allegedly manhandled vernacular journalist Sukhdev Singh, who was covering today's polling, following an altercation between the two in the Ajnala constituency, Amritsar SSP Surinder Pal Singh Parmar said. Sukhdev was carrying an authority card issued by the Election Commission, the SSP said.
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
January 30
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Hoshiarpur January 30:
Union Minister Ambika Soni on Monday claimed that the people of Punjab will vote the ruling SAD-BJP coalition out of power due to its "anti-people" policies and expressed confidence about Congress' thumping victory in the Assembly elections.
Speaking after casting her vote at Bajwara near here today, Soni said people were fed up with policies of the SAD-BJP government which has "pushed the state to bankruptcy". On reports of former chief minister and Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly Rajinder Kaur Bhattal's aspirations of becoming the next CM, Soni said Bhattal was a loyal soldier of the Congress and would certainly abide by high command's decision.
Taking a dig at social activist Anna Hazare, Soni accused him of playing politics in the name of anti-corruption movement. Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi had recently said that Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh was party's chief ministerial candidate in the state.
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
January 30
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Chandigarh January 30:
Extra paramilitary forces have been deployed in Punjab's Banga town in Nawanshahr district after a fight broke out between two groups on the eve of Assembly polls on Sunday.
"There was a fight between two groups last night after which 50 extra paramilitary forces have been deployed there as a precautionary measure," Punjab's Chief Electoral Officer, Kusumjit Sidhu said. When asked to comment on reports that opposition Congress is claiming that a DSP rank officer had been changed in Banga, she said that was not the case.
"Only the forces have been deployed, but no DSP has been changed," she said. Polling is taking place for the 117-seat Punjab Assembly on Monday. With People's Party of Punjab led by former Minister, Manpreet Badal alleging tampering of some EVMs in Buddhlada, the CEO said, "There were some machines from the reserve stock being adjusted when some member from PPP thought there was some tampering going on, which was not the case".
"The polling is going on in a peaceful manner. No incident of any violence during the polls has been reported from anywhere so far. Brisk polling is going on for all the seats, with highest poll percentage by 11 AM being 32 per cent in Gurdaspur while lowest being 15 per cent at Tarn Taran," sheadded.
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
January 30
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Chandigarh January 30:
Election authorities in Punjab on Monday replaced 11 electronic voting machines (EVMs) in Mansa district after complaints that an unidentified person had tried to tamper with them.
Workers of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the People's Party of Punjab (PPP) had complained to the Election Commission (EC), alleging that an unidentified person had tried to break the seals of the EVMs in the sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) office here late Sunday. The Mansa deputy commissioner immediately ordered that the 11 EVMs be replaced with new ones. The voting process that began at 8 am on Monday, was, however, not affected by the incident.
The person who is said to have tried to tamper with the EVMs was able to escape. Despite a tight security cordon around the offices where EVMs were kept for voting, security agencies were caught off-guard on how this person reached inside the SDM office. They complainants alleged the person was trying to press the button of the ruling Akali Dal on the EVMs. "We complained to the EC and the EVMs have been replaced. We are satisfied with the action," PPP president Manpreet Singh Badal said.
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
January 30
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Chandigarh January 30:
On the eve of assembly elections in Punjab, Shiromani Akali Dal President and Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal said that countdown had began for the "historic event of decimation of Congress party from Punjab".
"Vigilant electorate of Punjab has made up their mind to punish Congress party for unprecedented price hike, record corruption and insensitive government at the centre and reward the SAD-BJP government with a repeat term to continue the development agenda in the state", he said in a statement here.
Mr Badal said that people of Punjab were all set to create history in the state as for the first time the SAD-BJP coalition was set to repeat the government with the blessings of electorate who had decided to reward it for unprecedented development, governance reforms and pro-poor and pro-farmer initiatives. He said that people of Punjab were set to give ‘compulsory retirement’ to arrogant Maharaja who never bothered for common masses during his five year tenure and was hoping to befool the masses for another term.
He said that electorate had already made up their mind that they were not going to be swayed by the gimmickary of Congress party and would honour the development vision of the SAD-BJP government. Mr Badal said that the Punjab elections was going to be the repeat of Bihar elections and would mark the beginning new political agenda all over the country where performance of the government would be rewarded by the electorate.
He said that it was matter of gratititude that electorate of Indian democracy had become mature enough to see through the games of Congress party and was wise enough to choose the SAD-BJP government that was focussed on development, employment generation, farmers welfare and poverty eradication besides welfare of oppressed classes. Giving a call to electorate to honour the SAD-BJP government with a repeat term, he said that it was in the hand of electorate that they were going to script a new history in Punjab by dumping Congress party in the oblivion.
"Let the electorate tell the world that the times of Maharajas are over and only man of masses like Parkash Singh Badal can script the history of Punjab. Let us confine Maharaja Amarinder Singh to Motimahal for rest of life and let him enjoy his favourite friendships", he added. Promising to carry forward unfinished agenda of development and governance reforms, Mr Badal said that another term was imperitive to take Punjab back to the pinnacle of glory and to open new vistas of employment for lakhs of Punjabi youth.
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
January 30
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Chandigarh January 30:
Shiromani Akali Dal President Sukhbir Singh Badal claimed that the Congress will face its worst-ever defeat in tomorrow’s assembly polls and it will mark the end of the political career of former Chief Minister Amarinder Singh.
In a statement on the eve of polling, Badal said that Amarinder had already announced his retirement plans. “We will give him a royal fair well,” said the Punjab deputy Chief Minister. Badal said that the SAD-BJP alliance is set to return to power with greatly improved figure to serve the people of Punjab for another five years. Badal said that his party and the alliance partner are fully geared to storm their way back to government and change the 64-year-old history of an incumbent not returning to power.
“We have changed history already. Never in the past did people ever think just 12 hours before the elections is to start that those in government will come back. This time even our critics are depicting a close fight. That by itself is proof that history has already been changed,” he said. The visibility of development in Punjab over the past five years has been so strong that we are sure that people will not even listen to outdated slogans of the opposition, he said.
Meanwhile, Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee President Amarinder appealed to the voters to exercise their franchise cautiously to ensure that the state got a good and clean government which is not corrupt and which does not resort to vendetta. He questioned the claims of the Akali-BJP government about the development in the state, saying had it really been so, the state would not have added seven lakh more families living below poverty line and would not have a cumulative debt of Rs 1.72 lakh crores.
“Yes, the Badal family and their close relatives have really made immense progress themselves by multiplying their wealth, constructing two seven star luxury hotels in Gurgaon, setting up an airline company, and launching television channels,” Amarinder alleged. He asked the people to compare the performance of the Akali-BJP government during 2007 to 2012 with that of the Congress between 2002 and 207. “Think before you vote,” he said, adding, “ask yourself whether any of the promises made by the Akali-BJP alliance has been kept.”
Meanwhile, Amarinder asked some questions to Parkash Singh Badal, saying people of Punjab wanted to know the answers since he was seeking a fifth term as Chief Minister. He demanded Badal’s reply on questions ranging from his wealth to dual constitution of his party to his claims about development of the state. Why SAD has two constitutions — one for the SGPC elections where it claims itself to be a panthic party, and another for parliamentary and assembly elections in which it claims to be a secular party, the Congress leader asked. He also asked Badal as to why did he “burn the copies of the Constitution of India in New Delhi in May 1984 and whether he had any regrets about that”.
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
January 30
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Chandigarh January 30:
His call for a change in the status quo is not without its takers. In a state where agriculture and industry have declined, the ruling family’s rebel, Manpreet Badal, has tried to use that as his poll plank. His speeches are drawing the crowds, and his call for “awakening the Punjabi pride” has caught the fancy of many among the youth.
It is another matter, though, whether all that translate into votes. “Ever since I turned 18, I have voted for either the Congress or the Akali Dal,” says Mohit Butta, 24, a businessman in Khanna. “But Khanna has not changed. The roads, sanitation and power remain bad. The new hope is the People’s Party of Punjab.” In a seat that has been rotating between the Congress and the Akalis, it is PPP candidate Gurpreet Bhatti who, Butta says, has nurtured the constituency.
Elsewhere, Manpreet has the support of Sarabjit Singh, 34, a businessman in Zirakpur. Sarabjit, who owns a factory, is campaigning door to door for Bhagwant Singh, the PPP’s Dera Bassi candidate, though his chances look slim in a quadrangular contest between the Congress, the Akali Dal and their respective rebels. “He is talking of ridding the state of corruption, drugs, alcoholism and the downslide in the economy. At least he has an agenda,” says Singh. In Amargarh, the PPP has fielded Ajit Singh Chandurian, who lost to Congress MLA Razia Sultana by a slender margin in 2007. Here too it is Chandurian’s personal appeal that seems to be impressing voters.
The clean record that nearly all PPP candidates have, however, contrasts with the disadvantage of their political inexperience. Another factor that could reflect in the results for Manpreet’s fledgling front will be rebels. Though PPP candidates such as Didar Bhatti of Fatehgarh Sahib and Bir Devinder from Mohali may not dent the votebank of the Akali Dal and the Congress, the major parties’ rebels are expected to affect the final arithmetic in other seats such as Balachur and Khanna.
Amid talk of the voice of the aspirational Punjabi against that of the resentful Punjabi, the Congres’s Amarinder Singh says they are the same. “The unemployed youth of Punjab is both aspirational and resentful and has taken to drugs and alcoholism.” So have they found a voice in Manpreet? Amarinder says poll surveys have given the PPP just a five per cent vote share. Manpreet says he has made the economy the poll plank as it is about the Punjabi pride. “If we keep begging for debt waivers, Punjab will stop being respected,” he says. And about the five per cent, he says, “If poll surveys were to decide the verdict, why have polls? Don’t underestimate the mood for change.”
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
January 30
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Chandigarh January 30:
No party has been ever repeated in Punjab, post 1966 when the State was reorganised. But ask Congress supporters and they will say that “historical coincidence” and ground level battle are two different things and they cannot take victory for granted.
The SAD-BJP combine too is hardly bothered about the 44-year old tradition, riding on a development bandwagon and promising the moon to the people of the State to woo them again. “It is a battle between development (by SAD-BJP) and promises of development (Congress),” a senior bureaucrat said, adding, “development is the punch-line this time round”.
Both SAD and Congress have their traditional vote bank almost intact. The SAD has not lost the vote base amongst the rural farmers and landholders, primarily Jat Sikhs. Though the Congress has retained its support base amongst the urban voters, Dalits and also a section of the backward class, it is still far away from the base it had in the 2002 polls when the party was voted to power. Despite some setbacks, the BJP has stuck on to its core urban vote base even though its performance might not be as good as 2007 when it won 19 seats and swept the urban areas.
The Congress is also facing a dozen and half serious rebels and another dozen who may be rebels but pose no serious threat. The numbers for the Akali Dal is barely six and none for the BJP. The Congress rebels have the potential to change equations in several seats and in at least 4 seats, they are ahead than the official Congress candidate. Projection of Captain Amarinder Singh as the chief ministerial candidate by Rahul Gandhi has also not gone well with a 2-3 contenders who refused to go anywhere after the announcement and confined themselves to their constituencies or their houses.
Being a Dalit bastion of the country with almost 31 per cent population in the SC category, a lot has changed for them post 2007 polls. There has been a consolidation of the Dalit votes after the assassination of Sant Ramanand of Dera Sachkhand Ballan, which almost has a complete hold on the Ravi Dassia community in Doaba. This could go the BSP way, affecting Congress.
Dera Sacha Sauda’s neutral stand so far will also help the Akalis in their traditional bastion of Malwa. There is no fiat for or against any party like last time when the Dera openly came out in support of the Congress, helping it win 37 of the 65 seats in Malwa. The Dera perhaps realised that “supporting clean and honest” candidates was the way forward and not dabbling in politics. On the penultimate day, Baba Ramdev asked for a vote against the Congress but he hardly has support base to make any difference. None of the deras have so far come out openly for or against anyone.
Politically, both the SAD-BJP alliance and the Congress will have to contend with the Sanjha Morcha, led by People’s Party of Punjab. It would east into the votes of both the parties and remains the untested phenomenon of Punjab polls. Voting percentage was almost 72 per cent in the 2007 polls, symbolising the faith of the people in the system and democratic process. Results would be known only 35 days later on March 6 but clearly development has come to define politics of the state after a long time.
With development taking the center stage, relegating other issues in the background, Punjab going to polls on Monday has the potential to set the agenda for the 2014 general elections. If SAD-BJP wins, National Democratic Alliance will be on a song in the run up to the general elections, if not, Congress would feel comfortable going to the polls, a little over two years from now.
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
January 30
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Fatehgarh Sahib January 30:
With AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi pitching his support for his choice of “youth” candidate, Kuljit Nagra, for the Fatehgarh Sahib constituency, Nagra has come into the reckoning and is poised for an almost direct clash with the PPP candidate Didar Singh Bhatti.
The sitting SAD MLA of the area, Bhatti was not given the party ticket that went to Prem Singh Chandumajra. Even as the PPP candidate, Bhatti has managed to strengthen his position substantially and is depending on his performance as an MLA to see him through. His last rally organised on Saturday saw an impressive gathering, with several onlookers describing Rahul’s rally “dull” as compared to Bhatti’s show.
Though a prominent face of the SAD, Chandumajra is an outsider in the area and has been toiling uphill to enthuse confidence among Akali ranks. He is depending mainly on the fixed Akali votebank for support but with Bhatti also in the fray, the Akali cadre is sharply divided between the two. A former student leader, Nagra is contesting the Assembly polls for the first time. Though a political greenhorn as compared to Bhatti and Chandumajra, he had been working in the area for at least two years now and was sure that he would get the Congress ticket.
But Nagra too has had to contend with his share of infighting within the party. Three-time Congress MLA (1992, 1997, 2002) Dr Harbans Lal declared himself as an Independent candidate after the Congress ticket went to Nagra. This is bound to make a dent in the Congress votebank. The contest is formally five-cornered, with Simranjit Singh Mann also in the fray. Once a powerful force to reckon with, the SAD (Amritsar) chief is banking on this seat to bolster the fortunes of his party.
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
January 30
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Chandigarh January 29:
Though the Akali Dal and the Congress are both claiming to form the next government in Punjab this time, the key to electoral victory in the state lies in the hands of Bahujan Samaj Party and BJP on the one hand and the tilt of Dera Sacha Sauda followers on the other.
With BJP, which was faced with allegations of corruption leading to dropping of its few ministers, unlikely to repeat its star performance in the 2007 Assembly polls when it bagged 19 of the 23 seats it contested, the Akalis prospects of retaining power in Punjab can be hit, political observers feel. The Congress is not on a comfortable wicket either as Mayawati‘s BSP is set to cut into its traditional voter base, making its ride bumpy, they say.
The Akalis and the Congress both positioned weakly with the latter enjoying a slim edge even though the Akalis are fighting against anti-incumbency factor, the support of Baba Gurmeet Ram Rahim-led Dera Sacha Sauda may play a crucial role in formation of the new government as the state goes to polls tomorrow. The Dera is likely to extend its support on candidate basis, which will mainly be from the Congress, the observers say.
The Dera wields considerable influence in the Malwa belt of the state which has 65 seats and had supported the Congress in 2007 when it lost on account of anti-incumbency factor. The state has throughout its history has never voted for the same ruling dispensation consecutively.
If the Akalis perform well, they will set a precedent in Punjab. But that is an ambitious target for the outgoing Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, who has consciously projected himself as the CM candidate. His son and deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal is yet to totally win over the Akali old guard and loyalists, the observers say.
It is not just the way the Dera goes for the Akalis. The newly-formed Punjab People’s Party, floated by the outgoing CM’s estranged nephew Manpreet Badal, is also threatening to erode its votes. The PPP and Left parties are contesting under the Sanjha Morcha alliance which is expected to affect both the Akali and the Congress vote banks.
Dera Sacha Sauda, which had openly backed the state Congress chief Capt Amarinder Singh in the 2007 Assembly polls, is keeping its cards close to its chest this time. In the last polls, the Congress, despite sweeping the Malwa region with Dera’s support, had lost the elections as Punjab voted for change of guard as has been the case in the past.
Even this time around, the Malwa region of Punjab spread across nine districts with 65 Assembly segments will hold the key to power. Other regions of the state have fewer seats. Doaba has 25 and Majha has 27 seats in the 117 seat Assembly. In 2007, the Congress with the active support of Dera had bagged a majority seats in Malwa, with the Akalis securing only 19 seats and the BJP 5.
However, of the 25 seats in Doaba, the Akalis had bagged 13 and the BJP 7 in 2007, leaving only 7 to the Congress. In Majha (27 seats), the Akalis managed 17 and the BJP 7, leaving only 3 to the Congress. The SAD had won a total of 49 seats, BJP 19, Congress 44 and remaining five seats were won by Independents. Earlier, in the 2002 polls, the Congress had come to power winning 62 seats. SAD had won 41 seats and its alliance partner BJP three, while the CPI had got two seats and Independents nine.
Of the major contestants, the SAD had got a vote share of 37.09 per cent in 2007 as against 31.08 per cent in 2002. Its alliance partner BJP got a vote share of 8.28 per cent in 2007 against 5.67 per cent in 2002. The Congress had bagged a vote share of 40.90 per cent in 2007 as compared with 35.81 per cent in 2002. The BSP had also managed to get a total vote share of 4.13 per cent in 2007, against 5.69 per cent in 2002.
This time the BSP is contesting in a big way and has fielded its candidates in all the 117 Assembly seats, while the PPP has fielded candidates in 92 seats and hardliner Simranjit Singh Mann-led SAD (Amritsar) has fielded as many as 57 candidates. The Monday polls will determine which way the tide sways for as many as 1,078 candidates including 93 women in the fray. A total of 1.77 crore voters are eligible to exercise their franchise.
The Election Commission’s strict monitoring of fund flows has also cast its shadow on Punjab polls, with the campaigning remaining low key and not picking up the frenetic levels seen in the previous years. This has resulted in no definitive wave in favour of any political party. The January 30 polls will also decide the future of many a political heir of state leaders who are keen to pass on the legacy and maintain the traditional clout of Punjab’s political dynasties.
Hanging in the balance is the fate of heirs of former chief ministers Beant Singh and Harcharan Singh Brar; of former SGPC chief and Akali stalwart Gurcharan Singh Tohra; and of political bigwigs like former chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh and the outgoing CM Parkash Singh Badal.
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
January 29
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Chandigarh January 29:
Around 1.76 crore voters will seal the fate of 1,078 candidates, including the two chief ministerial aspirants Parkash Singh Badal of ruling SAD-BJP and Amarinder Singh of opposition Congress, in fray for
117 assembly seats in Punjab where polling will take place on Monday amidst tight security. About 200 companies of the central Para military forces, besides Punjab Police personnel, have been deployed to ensure free and peaceful polling at 19,841 polling stations, including five identified as "hyper-sensitive" and 32 as sensitive, an election office spokesman said.
Out of the 1,078 candidates in fray 417, including 45 women, are independents. At the last hustings in 2007, after scrutiny and withdrawal there were a total of 1,055 candidates, including 56 women, in fray. The ruling SAD-BJP alliance, the Congress and BSP are contesting all the 117 assembly seats. Newly formed Punjab People's Party is contesting 92 while SAD (Amritsar) headed by former IPS officer Simranjit Singh Mann is contesting 57 seats.
The SAD has put up candidates on 94 seats which include 10 women while the BJP is contesting the remaining 23 seats, which includes three women. The Congress has fielded 11 women while the BSP has fielded six women. Most of the 117 assembly seats will witness a triangular contest between the ruling SAD-BJP alliance, the main opposition Congress and the Sanjha Morcha which includes the Left and People's Party of Punjab (PPP) led by chief minister Parkash Singh Badal's estranged nephew Manpreet.
Prominent among those in fray include Badal (Lambi) as also his predecessor Amarinder (Patiala City) whose sons Sukhbir, who is also the Deputy chief minister (Jalalabad) and Raninder (Samana) are also in the fray besides another former chief minister Rajinder Kaur Bhattal (Lehra). Two civil servants D S Guru, Principal Secretary to the CM and P S Gill, DGP, who resigned and retired respectively shortly before the assembly polls have filed their nominations from Bhadaur and Moga.
The other contestants include Manpreet (Gidderbaha and Maur), his father and Badal Senior's younger brother Gurdas (Lambi, PPP), and his cousin Mahesh Inder (Lambi, Congress), former Deputy Speaker Bir Devinder Singh (Mohali, PPP), turncoat Balwant Singh Ramuwalia (Mohali, SAD), former Industries Minister and senior BJP leader Manoranjan Kalia (Jalandhar) and former SGPC Chief Jagir Kaur (Bholath, SAD).
The maximum number of 16 candidates each is in three constituencies of Ludhiana East, Jalalabad, Patiala Rural while the lowest number of four candidates is in fray at Attari (SC). In the 2007 General elections 76% of the 1.67 crore voters had sealed the fate of 1,043 candidates against 65% of the 1.58 Core voters sealing the fate of 923 candidates in the 2002 elections.
The security deposit of 798 candidates was forfeited in the 2007 polls which returned the SAD-BJP alliance to power with SAD winning 49, BJP 19, Congress 44 and remaining five seats going to the independents. Earlier, in the 2002 polls the Congress had returned to power winning 62 seats. SAD won 41 seats, its alliance partner BJP three, CPI two and Independents won nine seats. The security of 655 candidates was forfeited in these polls.
Of the major contestants the SAD had got a vote share of 37.09% in 2007 as against 31.08% in 2002. Its alliance partner BJP got a vote share of 8.28% in 2007 against 5.67% in 2002. The Congress had got a vote share of 40.90% in 2007 as compared with 35.81% in 2002. The vote share of 431 Independent candidates in the 2007 polls reduced to 6.82% from 11.27% secured by 274 candidates in the 2002 general assembly elections. The counting of votes will take place on March six.
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
January 29
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Chandigarh January 29:
A day before assembly elections in Punjab, State Congress President Amarinder Singh today appealed to the voters to vote carefully and cautiously to ensure that the state got a good and clean government.
In a statement here, he also questioned the claims of the Akali-BJP government about the development and said, the number of BPL families had increased by seven lakh in the state. Besides, the number of unemployed people had grown to 47 lakh and the state was reeling under a cumulative debt of Rs 1.72 lakh crore.
He also alleged that the Badal family and their close relatives had really made immense progress themselves by multiplying their wealth, constructing two seven star luxury hotels in Gurgaon worth Rs 4000 crores, set up an airline company Orbit Aviation, ran a fleet of transport buses in the name of Orbit Transport and Dabwali Transport, PTC news and entertainment television channels and controlled liquor vends and sand mining business. In an appeal to the people of Punjab on the eve of elections, Capt Amarinder urged them to compare the performance of the Akali-BJP government during 2007 to 2012 with that of the Congress between 2002 and 2007.
He said with the addition of seven lakh BPL families during the last five years, the number of such families in the state had grown to 20 lakhs. The PPC President referred to Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal’s claims about producing surplus power by the year 2010 and even now the industry was facing three days’ power cuts in a week. He appealed people not to get misled by his false promises once again.
Referring to the law and order situation he said, no road and no street in Punjab was safe. Chains and purses were snatched every day, banks were robbed in broad day light and vehicles were snatched at gunpoint. He appealed people that if they want peace, progress and development they must vote for the Congress.
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
January 29
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Hoshiarpur January 29:
On the complaint of Tanda Naib Tehsildar Harkaran Singh, police have arrested Daljit Singh and Baldev Singh of village Baich last evening for allegedly paying Rs 1500 and Rs 2500 to voters Sukhdeep Singh and Surinder Pal of the same village last evening.
Ppolice sources said that Daljit Singh and Baldev Singh were allegedly influencing the voters to cast their vote in favour of Shiromani Akali Dal candidate. Both were arrested under Sections 171 E and 171 F of the IPC and later released on personal surety bond of Rs 50000 each. Meanwhile, on a tip-off police raided the house of Kamaljit Ram of Fattowal and seized 51,000 ML whisky from his possession last night meant for the distribution among voters.
However, Kamaljit Ram managed to flee. He was booked under Sections 171 and 188 of the IPC, Section 135 C of the Representative People Act 1951 and Sections 61, 1 and 14 of the Excise Act.
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
January 29
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Lambi January 29:
The last day of campaigning saw noholds-barred trading of charges with no issue spared: Girlfriends, drugs, thugs, religious pariahs. Accusations flew thick and fast as politicians tore into each other signaling the end of a highstrung month-long campaign.
"Amarinder taan sirf jananian de naal ghumda hai - oh jananian jehrian border de us paar hun (Amarinder only roams around with women, and that too with women who live across the border), said Shiromani Akali Dal chief and deputy CM, Sukhbir Badal. "Te desh de andar endian kinian jananian ne, eh kisse nu nahin patta . Saada kehre Sikh guru hai jinane ik ton vadh vyaah karaya hove? (Within India, nobody knows how many wives he (Amarinder) has. Which of our gurus married more than once?) ," asked Sukhbir at the Lambi rally.
Attacks on Amarinder's personal life have grown shriller. "What can you say of a person who, for the sake of becoming CM, threw his brother out of the party? The same brother who brought up Amarinder's son and fondly named him 'Tikku' ," said Sukhbir, referring to the split in Amarinder's family. Addressing his now-estranged cousin Manpreet Badal, Sukhbir waved the panthic card. "Manpreet did not stay true to his religion. He took 'amrit' and trimmed his beard, drank liquor and ate non-vegetarian food. He was always a misfit in our family," said Sukhbir.
A short distance away, Amarinder trained his guns on the Badals, saying the family was responsible for "spreading drug addiction in Punjab" . He said unemployment and corruption are Badals' gift. He called Badal a "thug" . Badal is a thief and cheat who knows how to steal government money, he alleged.
Captain storms Fort Badal: It was straight out of a gripping war flick. Just 48 hours before Punjab goes to polls, state Congress chief Captain Amarinder Singh stormed the Badal bastion of Lambi, keeping CM and Akali stalwart Parkash Singh Badal tied to his constituency through the day and even had his son and SAD president Sukhbir Badal away from his own seat. Campaigning for the 117 seats of Punjab Assembly ended.
Moving away from the script at the last moment, Amarinder decided late on Friday night to take the fight straight into the enemy camp and flew in his chopper to Lambi - the CM's constituency - from his own seat Patiala, leaving a host of leaders and mediapersons on his campaign trail wondering. This left Parkash Singh Badal little scope to manoeuvre as he concentrated in his own constituency and in nearby seats though it was the last day of campaigning.
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
January 29
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Chandigarh January 29:
The importance of Punjab's Lambi assembly seat could be gauged from the fact that, the last day of campaigning for assembly elections in Punjab, saw both the Shiromani Akali Dal-Bharatiya Janata Party combine and the Congress signing off from the constituency for Monday's assembly elections.
Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, who is the patron-in-chief of the Akali Dal, faces his toughest political test as he is pitted against his own younger brother, Gurdas Badal, 81, of the People's Party of Punjab (PPP) and cousin Maheshinder Singh Badal of the Congress in a bitter triangular contest.
With former BJP president Rajnath Singh, former Haryana chief minister Om Prakash Chautala and son and Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal by his side, the senior Badal, 84, ended his campaigning from his traditional seat Saturday. The four-time chief minister sought votes from the electorate for, perhaps, his last election in a political career spanning over six decades.
The opposition Congress too chose Lambi seat as one of the venues to finish off their poll campaign on the last day. "We are going to have a landslide victory. The Congress will win over 75 seats," Punjab Congress president and former chief minister Amarinder Singh told the gathering at Lambi and other places. The Election Commission (EC) has declared Lambi and four other assembly seats as hyper-sensitive while 33 other seats out of Punjab's 117 seats have been declared as sensitive for the Jan 30 elections.
Special chief electoral officer Usha R. Sharma told reporters here Saturday that all preparations have been made for Monday's election and security has been tightened across Punjab. EC officials will watch the voting from 200 polling stations through live telecast, she said. The EC has declared three dry days, starting Saturday, when liquor vends will remain closed and liquor cannot be served at hotels, restaurants and other drinking places also. Over 1.76 crore electors are eligible to cast their votes in 19,841 polling stations Monday.
There are 1,078 candidates in the fray, including 93 women and 417 independent candidates. The main contest is between the ruling Akali Dal-BJP alliance and the Congress while the PPP is trying to put up a third front.
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
January 29
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Jalandhar January 29:
Hours before the election campaign came to an end in Punjab Union Human Resource Development (HRD) minister Kapil Sibal said that Akali-BJP government had neither used central grants nor had it put its own share for the development of the state.
The state used just 38 per cent of the total grant sent by the UPA government to Punjab in last five years. “The money was spent only on the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) and Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Programme (AIBP) while grants remained either unused or heavily under-utilised in all other departments,” Sibal said while talking to the media here.
“They are demanding a strong Lokpal Bill from us while in Punjab state Lokpal was appointed in 1996. Here the Lokpal is appointed by the Chief minister and has no power to investigate cases,” he said while adding that the state should make its own Lokpal stronger before seeking the same at the centre. “If voted to power, Congress will make amendments in the state Lokpal Bill to make it stronger,” he added. On Baba Ramdev’s appeal to the voters in Punjab to vote against the Congress, Sibal said that there was nothing wrong in it and he could make such appeals.
He also found no problems in Rahul Gandhi announcing Capt Amarinder Singh as the chief ministerial candidate. On the state of education in Punjab, Sibal said that state government has been boasting about opening four universities, including the Chitkara , DAV and Guru Granth Sahib universities. (These are all private universities, so what is the contribution of state government,” he asked while adding that the UPA government has given Central university to the state in Bathinda.
He also lashed out at the Badal government for commercialisation of education. “When we try to bring a legislation pertaining to the accreditation of the universities to bring qualitative change in education sector, the Opposition makes hue and cry,” he added.
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
January 29
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Chandigarh January 29:
Its a signal not a farmaan (diktat). In the high-stakes poll battle, the visit of Congress “chief ministerial candidate”, Capt Amarinder Singh, to the Sirsa-based Dera Sacha Sauda on Friday has been rewarded with assurance of tacit support.
Shying away from openly supporting the Congress like last time, the Dera is learnt to have signalled its followers to support the People’s Party of Punjab on at least six seats and on the remaining others where it matters, it is advantage Congress.
In the 65 seats in Malwa belt, the Dera has considerable followers in nine seats each in Ferozepur, Faridkot, Bathinda, Sangrur and four to five seats in Patiala district. The political wing of the Dera held several rounds of meetings on Friday with its district units after Amarinder called on them early in the morning. This was Amarinder’s second visit to seek Dera head Gurmit Ram Rahim’s blessings, the first one was made before the announcement of polls. On Tuesday Union Minister Preneet Kaur had also visited the Dera to garner support for son, Raninder Singh.
According to Dera sources, People’s Party of Punjab president Manpreet Badal has been assured support on both the seats he is contesting from, Gidderbaha in Muktsar and Maur in Bathinda. The others where the Dera vote is likely to go to the PPP is Budhlada, two seats in Sangrur district and one in Faridkot. The Dera’s strategy this time seems to be two-fold - not to antagonise Akalis by openly supporting the Congress and show respect for internal democracy by seeking the views of its lower hierarchy in districts known as the bhangidas. The Dera’s official version remains the same. “We have left it open to our followers to decide who they think is the best candidate,” says Ram Karan of Dera’s political wing.
The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee president Avtar Singh Makkar has warned leaders against heading to the Dera following their much-publicised visits. While some political observers contend that it may lead to polarisation of radical Sikh votes, who see Deras as threat to their orthodoxy, others say the influence of Deras should not be misconstrued in Punjab politics. “While Deras are the new power centres of social and political mobilisation but their influence on the poll verdict is a matter of speculation.
Caste affiliations do matter in elections, but it would be naive to believe that everything translates into votes. Like all Jat Sikhs votes do not go to the Akalis and Hindu to the BJP, likewise the Dalit vote too can get divided among Dera, BSP and now the People’s Party of Punjab,” says Professor Akshay Kumar of Panjab University. On why the Dera is not openly supporting any party, Kumar says Deras are not the natural constituency of the Akalis. “They can’t be seen to be supporting Akalis. And it is not political wisdom to be seen as supporting one party openly as they are in the line of fire of mainstream Sikh politics, which they are diluting. The midway is to offer tacit support,” he adds.
Meanwhile, with the Dera choosing to take the signal route, leaders of all parties where Dera followers (Premis) are in big numbers, are claiming support of the sect. Till two months back, riding high on the no-party-repeats-itself in Punjab syndrome, the Congress has left no arrow unfired in its armour. Defying tradition, AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday had also announced party’s state president, Capt Amarinder Singh, as the chief ministerial candidate. The party, which had ruled the rebel factor as a non-issue after distribution of tickets is still trying to win them back.
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
January 29
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Chandigarh January 29:
It was a star-studded campaign by the Congress party in Lehra Assembly constituency, from where Rajinder Kaur Bhattal is contesting the election. Besides Union Minister Ambika Soni and Members of Parliament Raj Babbar and Vijay Inder Singla, various other Congress leaders addressed a massive Congress rally in Lehra.
Addressing the rally on the last day of campaign, seeking support for Bhattal, Union Information & Broadcasting Minister, Ambika Soni expressed the hope that Bhattal and Capt Amarinder would take the state to new heights. While taking a dig at Bharatiya Janta Party and Shiromani Akali Dal, Soni mentioned that both the parties were least bothered about development of the country and have their own axe to grind. In her address, Ambika Soni even accused SAD of projecting the Panthic agenda while seeking votes.
Soni, while addressing the voters, said that the tall claims of development by SAD-BJP are only a farce and pictures of roads, buildings shown in advertisements are of foreign origin. In fact they have sustained only on Central grants and by selling government properties. Divulging the facts and figures, she said that the State was under debt of over Rs 72,000 crore. On the lines of other Congress stalwarts, Ambika also alleged that out of Rs 4,870 crore provided by the UPA government for upkeep of hospitals and dispensaries, the state had utilized only Rs 800 crore.
Addressing the gathering, Bhattal said that the state had to pass through a bad phase due to terrorism sponsored by Akalis, as they were the people who eulogized terrorists by calling them `Babas’. During the previous regime several BJP ministers were shown the door due to corruption charges, she added. Like Capt Amarinder Singh, Bhattal too hinted that on coming to power, Congress will definitely take into account the excesses committed on Congress workers to bring the perpetrators to task.
Speaking on the occasion, Raj Babbar asked people to vote for Bhattal, since she belongs to the family of Baba Hira Singh Bhattal, a renowned freedom fighter. Calling Bhattal a bold politician and `messiah of the poor,’ Vijay Inder Singla urged the people to vote for Congress so that Punjab could derive the maximum benefit from the centre.
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
January 29
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Chandigarh January 29:
The three week-long campaigning for 117-seat Punjab Assembly ended this evening with ruling SAD-BJP alliance and opposition Congress putting their best foot forward to wrest power in the January 30 polls.
The campaigning by and large remained peaceful in the state which saw national leaders including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Congress president Sonia Gandhi, General Secretary Rahul Gandhi, BJP leaders LK Advani, Nitin Gadkari, Arun Jaitley, Rajnath Singh, Uma Bharti and BSP Chief Mayawati criss-cross the state.
Besides Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and his son Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, the other campaigners included Team Anna members who, however, did not advocate in favour or any political party confining their campaign to corruption and setting up of a strong Lokpal.
Film and TV actors Hema Malini, Shatrughan Sinha, Rajesh Khanna, Kirron Kher and Samriti Irani and a host of local singers and actors, including Gurdas Mann, Harbhajan Mann and Gurpreet Ghuggi besides cricketer-turned-politicians Navjot Sidhu and Mohd Azharudin added to the colour.
The other leaders who visited the state included Union Ministers Ambika Soni and Ghulam Nabi Azad, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal, former Chief Ministers of Rajasthan and Haryana Vasundhara Raje Scindia and Om Parkash Chautala, respectively. Leaders of Left and other parties, including Brinda Karat and Sitaram Yechury, also toured the state which will see a total of 1,078 candidates, including 93 women, in fray.
About 1.76 crore voters, including 83.61 lakh women, will seal the fate of the candidates at 19,841 polling stations, including five identified as "hyper sensitive" and 32 as "sensitive". Besides Punjab Police personnel, about 200 companies of central paramilitary forces will be deployed in the state to ensure free and fair polling.
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
January 29
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Chandigarh January 29:
As campaigning officially ended evening for Monday's (Jan 30) election to Punjab's 117 assembly seats, the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alliance and main opposition Congress made confident claims to victory.
With neither of the two main contenders seeing a wave in their favour, both sides are keeping their fingers crossed. Counting of votes takes place March 6. What is worrying for both sides is the uncertainty surrounding the newly floated People's Party of Punjab (PPP) of former state finance minister Manpreet Singh Badal and his third front (Sanjha Morcha). Both sides are unsure of how much the PPP will cut into their respective vote shares.
With the state going to polls under re-carved assembly seats, many candidates are testing themselves in new political waters, leading to further uncertainty. There are a total of 1.76 crore eligible voters. The Akali Dal-BJP combine has harped mainly on the development plank, claiming that Punjab has not witnessed as much development as has been seen in the last five years (2007-2012) of their rule.
"We have gone to the people with the sole agenda of development. Punjab has seen a sea change on the ground level with scores of flyovers, bridges, roads and other development projects. The opposition (Congress) has nothing to show. We are going to win between 80-85 seats. The mood among people is upbeat for us," Akali Dal president and Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal said. Led by Sukhbir, the Akali Dal wants to reverse the trend in Punjab where no party in over four decades has been returned to power after completing its term.
"There is no anti-incumbency. In fact, there is pro-incumbency. We will come back to power with more seats," Sukhbir Badal asserted. For the Akali Dal, this election is a testing ground for its relatively young president Sukhbir Badal, 49, the son of Punjab chief minister and party patron-in-chief Parkash Singh Badal, 84. The senior Badal has largely been confined to his Lambi assembly constituency in Muktsar district in, perhaps, his toughest political test as he faces his younger brother, Gurdas Badal, 81, of the PPP and cousin Maheshinder Singh Badal of the Congress in a bitter triangular contest.
In the 2007 assembly polls, the Akali Dal had 49 legislators with alliance partner BJP winning another 19 seats (total tally 68). The Congress had 44 legislators while five seats were won by Independents. The Congress too says it is smelling victory. "We are going to form the next government. The Akalis are going to be wiped out. We will win 75-80 seats easily. All their claims of development are a sham. Most of the things have come from central government funds," a confident Punjab Congress president and former chief minister Amarinder Singh said.
"We had hundreds of leaders wanting the Congress ticket this time. Everyone wanted to be on the winning side. That shows that we are coming back to power," he added. Top leaders of both the Akali Dal and the Congress are engaged in a bitter war of words, both in the media and their speeches. Meanwhile, the PPP is asking the voters to opt for change. "There was no third alternative for the voters earlier. We want to provide a clean set-up and we can see that voters too want a change. We will form the next government in Punjab," party founder Manpreet Badal claimed.
Though no one is expecting the PPP to come anywhere near forming a government, its role, at best, will be that of a spoiler in many constituencies and probably that of a kingmaker if the Akali Dal and the Congress do not get a clear majority. The PPP has formed the Sanjha Morcha with the Communist Party of India (CPI), Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) and Akali Dal (Longowal). "A zero plus zero will remain a zero. They (PPP) have no standing at all," Sukhbir Badal dismissed the challenge to his party from his estranged cousin, who was once touted to be the political heir apparent to Parkash Singh Badal in the state.
Though the campaigning has been without much colour of party flags, posters and banners, the flow of money, liquor and drugs has been ample despite a strict watch by the Election Commission (EC). The EC teams and other agencies have recovered over Rs.33 crore of unaccounted money in cash, over 512,400 country wine bottles, over 16,500 litres of illicit liquor, nearly 30 kg of heroin, 2,700 kg of poppy husk and over 161,000 kg of other drugs. Over 209,686 licenced weapons have been deposited with the authorities.
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
January 29
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Amritsar January 29:
On the last day of electioneering for the Punjab assembly poll, BJP MP Navjot Sidhu moved from door-to-door to seek support for his wife who is contesting from the Amritsar East constituency.
The MP from Amristar urged the electorate to vote for his medico-wife Navjot Kaur who has thrown her hat in the ring for the first time. Kaur promised potable water to people living in slum areas. At a few places, Sidhu faced the wrath of the masses when they pointed at the heap of garbage lying in their areas for some months.
Bollywood actor Raza Murad also campainged for Congress candidates in the city. Yesterday, actor Rajesh Khanna was in the city to boost the election campaign of Congress candidates.
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
January 29
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Ludhiana January 29:
Actor-turned-politician Shatrughan Sinha here today called upon the people of Punjab to vote for Shiromani Akali Dal-BJP candidates in the January 30 state polls.
Addressing a public gathering in Slem Tabri park on the last day of campaigning here for Monday's polls in favour of BJP candidates Parveen Bansal, Sat Pal Gosain and Rajinder Bhandari, Sinha said his appeal was meant especially for those who had still to make up their minds and make their choice. The BJP MP appealed to Biharis living in Punjab to come out openly in support of the Akali-BJP candidates. Ludhiana has sizeable migrant population from Bihar.
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
January 29
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Moga January 29:
Police have registered a case against two persons for carrying tokens allegedly provided by a political party supporter to take delivery of liquor bottles from local vends.
A case was yesterday registered against Gursewak Singh of Kot Ise Khan and Tehal Singh of Fatehgarh Panjtoor. An Excise official, who had seized 36 such tokens, had filed a complaint in this regard. The elections to the 117-seat Punjab Assembly will take place on January 30.
The Excise department had earlier received complaints that some candidates were trying to influence voters by offering them free liquor. On Thursday, the department had seized about 131 cartons of liquor belonging to the vend owner of Kokari Kalan as these boxes were kept at an unauthorised place. Another 54 cartons were seized from Sadhanwali Basti Moga. About a fortnight back, a similar raid was carried out at the house of a woman, who was acting as a courier, in which police had seized eight cartons of liquor.
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
January 29
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Jalandhar January 29:
As campaigning drew to a close, the Congress and SAD candidates from Jalandhar Cantt constituency took to the road to drum up last-minute support.
Both candidates held huge road shows in Jalandhar city and Jalandhar Cantt areas and the areas were flooded with party flags that were conspicuous by their absence during campaigning. With the EC keeping a close watch on poll expenditure, candidates seem to have stored flags for the last day.
While Congress candidate Jagbir Brar’s road show was at Sadar bazaar and on several roads of Jalandhar Cantt area, SAD candidate and former Olympian Pargat Singh took out a similar rally in the city areas including from Model town to GTB Nagar, and Urban Estate, among others.
Despite having taken permission for the road shows, the processions still managed to create traffic jams at many places in the city as a large number of party workers were following the candidates in open vehicles. The EC, however, was keeping a close eye on proceedings with videographers and poll observers moving with the rallies. The road shows lasted for three to four hours with the candidates addressing the public at various places and trying to out do each other with the show of strength.
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
January 29
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Mansa January 29:
Though Dera Sacha Sauda has ‘taken a neutral’ stand when it comes to support any particular political party, it has not stopped various candidates from claiming Dera support and conveying the same to the masses.
On Saturdya, Congress candidate from Budhlada, Satpal Singh announced that the Dera chief has asked Premis to vote for him. “There are nearly 20,000 voters in Budhlada who are Dera followers, so it matters a lot to me,” he said. However, in the same constituency, even the PPP candidate Ranjit Kaur Bhatti claims that Dera is in favour of her.
Congress’ Sardulgarh candidate, Ajit Inder Singh Moffar, said, “I am waiting for the Dera’s verdict. They have not yet made it clear for my area. I am hopeful it will be in my side.” PPP chief Manpreet Badal too is banking on Dera as he stated that with the religious sect’s support, his party can get more than 40 seats. Interestingly, most candidates from Mansa district have visited the Dera at least four times in the last one month to seek its support.
Even as the Dera chief Gurmit Ram Rahim is playing safe, the Shahi Imam of Punjab, Maulana Habib-ur-Rehman Sani Ludhianvi, on Saturday appealed the nearly 17 lakh Muslim population to vote for Congress. “SAD-BJP government has not been issuing OBC certificates to Muslims for last two years affecting admission and job prospects of our children. The ruling government cheated us on agendas like hike in salaries of Imams, hike in grants for masjids and took everything back,” Shahi Imam said.
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
January 29
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Ludhiana January 29:
Premis, followers of the Sirsa-based Dera Sacha Sauda, have come out in support of Congress leaders in Moga and Faridkot.
With the support, the campaigning and the poll chances of Congress leaders like Joginderpal Jain who is contesting from Moga, Darshan Singh Brar (Baghapurana), Ajit Singh Shant (Nihalsinghwala) and Sukhjeet Singh Lohgarh (Dharmkot) have received a huge fillip.
The Premis have also agreed to support Congress’ Avatar Sigh Brar from Faridkot and Ripjit Singh Brar from Kotkapura. However, in Jaitu, the Premis are supporting PPP’s Amarjeet Kaur. “The Premis want to vote for change. A large section was ready to back Manpreet Singh Badal-led PPP but the chances of the party forming a government are very low. Even the intelligentsia in the Dera wanted to back PPP but then it was decided to extend support to the candidates with a clean image and those who follow Dera’s commitment to wipe out menace of drugs, alchohol and corruption,” sources said.
Sitting Congress MLA from Moga, Joginderpal Jain, said, “Dera’s support is very important in our part of the Malwa belt where there is a sizeable presence of the Premis. The Premis are very committed and when asked by their Guruji, they tend to vote en mass, which could turn the fate of any candidate. It is the support of the Dera that has helped the Congress wrest Malwa from the Akalis in the last two Assembly elections and this time too we will be repeating the same.”
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
January 29
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