Nepal on the boil

Nepal Maoist supporters take out a victory rally in support of the Maoist government’s decision to sack the army chief, in Kathmandu on Sunday; and (right) Nepalese student activists affiliated to Nepal’s main opposition political party, Nepali Congress, burn tyres and shout anti-government slogans. The main coalition ally of Nepal’s ruling Maoists whithdrew from the hold on power. Nepal’s government fired General Rukmand Katwal from the post of army chief and appointed as caretaker army chief, Gen Kul Bhadur Khadka

The rise and rise of PM
Jalandhar, May 3
With the emergence of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as a focal point of the ongoing Lok Sabha elections, a new chapter to the history of Parliamentary elections has been added.

Rebel Buta Singh may spoil Cong’s chances
Jaipur, May 3
Former Union minister and veteran Congress leader Buta Singh’s entry into the poll fray as an Independent from Jalore-Sirohi Lok Sabha seat has spiced up what would have been a dull contest between two first-timers, Sandhya Chaudhary (Congress) and Devji M Patel (BJP).

BJP slams PM on Quattrocchi
New Delhi, May 3

The BJP has termed the justification given by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi issue as “absurd”.

 

Ensuring Peaceful Polls
EC toughens stance against cops

Jalandhar, May 3
The Election Commission of India has made it clear to the top brass of the Punjab Police that senior officers of the level of IG (Zonal) would be held personally responsible in case of any incident involving the use of firearms on the polling day or a day earlier in the state. The polling in Punjab is to be held on May 7 and 13.

Star support for Navjot
Amritsar, May 3
Bollywood actress and senior BJP leader Hema Malini said today that the term Hindutva, which owes its origin to “Hindu” and “tattva”, should not be misconstrued as a communal approach.

BJP star campaigner Hema Malini addresses a rally in support of Navjot Singh Sidhu in Amritsar on Sunday

• ‘Cong a chronic non-performer’

Cong women workers attacked
Manish Tewari’s mother has a narrow escape
Ludhiana, May 3
Women workers of the Congress, led by Dr Amrit Kaur, mother of party candidate from Ludhiana parliamentary constituency Manish Tewari, were attacked by Akali workers in ward 61 in the Simlapuri area. Dr Amrit Kaur had a narrow escape in the attack.

A damaged car of Amrit Tewari, the mother of Manish Tewari, in Ludhiana on Sunday.

Sonrise in Gurdaspur
Sujanpur (Gurdaspur), May 3
Actor Akshay Khanna here today addressed a rally and met villagers of this Assembly costituency seeking votes for father Vinod Khanna, BJP candidate for Gurdaspur Lok Sabha seat. Young fans of the actor, especially girls, could be seen vying with one another to shake hands with him. 

Actor Akshay Khanna, son of BJP candidate for Gurdaspur seat Vinod Khanna, in Sujanpur near Pathankot on Sunday

Multi-cornered contest for Sangrur
Sangrur, May 3
Earlier it was being presumed that in the current Lok Sabha (LS) elections it may be a cakewalk for sitting MP from the Sangrur parliamentary constituency Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) candidate. But in the light of reports that Congress candidate Vijay Inder Singla, who was almost totally new to the constituency, has improved a lot, it appears that Sangrur is going to witness not only a tough contest, but also a multi-cornered contest on May 7.

Harsimrat relies on social work
Mansa, May 3
Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) candidate Harsimrat Kaur Badal seeks to reach out to electorate on the strength of her profile as non-political, highly religious and humanitarian background, backed by her parental legacy as scion of the Majithia clan. This is in addition to her being a Badal and highly qualified and down-to-earth woman with zeal for social activism.

Sushma fails to reach SAD rally
Bathinda, May 3
Senior BJP leader Sushma Swaraj’s failure to reach the rally of SAD candidate Harsimrat Kaur Badal here today fueled speculations of disharmony between local SAD and BJP leadership.

SAD responsible for misrule, lawlessness: Preneet
Patiala, May 3
Preneet Kaur, the Congress nominee from the Patiala constituency has urged the voters here that everyone of them must vote in favour of the Congress on May 7 and “teach a lesson” to the Badals, who has “converted” Punjab into a land of misrule, misery and lawlessness.

Raninder, Chandumajra don’t sign undertaking against drugs for votes
Ludhiana, May 3
Lok Sabha election candidates from Bathinda, Patiala and Congress nominee from Hoshiarpur have failed to sign an undertaking not to distribute narcotics to woo voters.

Punjabi writers’ plea to people
Sangrur, May 3
The Kendri Punjabi Lekhak Sabha (Sekhon) today appealed to people, especially intellectuals, writers, artists, economists, to vote for pluralistic character of Indian polity in the Lok Sabha (LS) elections as the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) were heading towards American and British model of two-party system.

PSEB seeks permit to pay recycle working capital loan
Chandigarh, May 3
The Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB), which started in 2009-10 with an opening working capital loan of Rs 6,500 crore, aims to borrow Rs 6,500 crore and also repay Rs 6,500 crore this year and end the year with an outstanding working capital loan of Rs 6,500 crore. This jugglery will cost it Rs 780 crore in interest charges.

‘Implement human rights at grass-roots level’
Patiala, May 3
International workshop on the Human Rights Advocacy started at the Rajiv Gandhi National University of Law here today with vice-chancellor Gurjeet Singh giving an introduction of the workshop’s objective.

Opening of Indo-Pak border no poll agenda
Ferozepur, May 3
Lahore dreams are fast fading in the heat and dust of electioneering with even politicians making only feeble “border khula dayange” pledges even as the common man realises this is one promise which is not to be. “Lahore! Lahore! The cry of the conductor beckoning people to hop on for a ride to the pre-Partition capital city to see a movie or attend college is a cry I always thought will reverberate again at the Barki Square once tempers cooled after 1947,” says octogenarian Bhim Sen Gupta. 

A milestone on the Ferozepur-Hussainiwala road reminiscent of old times.

Edict on Dera Sacha Sauda
Takht chief in quandary
Amritsar, May 3
The “indifferent approach” of Jathedar, Akal Takht, Giani Gurbachan Singh on the hukmnama (edict) by Sikh clergy against the Dera Sacha Sauda has evoked a reaction from Sikh bodies.

NRIs for transparency in governance
Ludhiana, May 3
Many Indians living abroad are keen on investing, provided governance here is transparent and the system more accountable. These NRIs are in Punjab to canvass for friends in the Lok Sabha elections.

Mann lauds Sikhs for not paying jazia
Amritsar, May 3
Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) president Simranjit Singh Mann today praised Sikhs in Pakistan, who chose to shift to gurdwaras rather than pay jazia to Taliban in Orakzai Agency following attacks.

Why does GND varsity Dean keep three pens?
Amritsar, May 3
The Dean (Academic Affairs) of Guru Nanak Dev University, Dr Raghbir Singh, keeps three fountain pens with different colour inks in his pocket so that he can sign distinctively on each file in various capacities.

Sewermen sans proper gears
Ludhiana, May 3
They enter manholes to clean these. Neither the central nor the state government has ever come to their help. Sewermen, working with municipal corporations and committees in Punjab, work in conditions where they risk their lives and even enter 12-in diameter manholes full of excreta.

poll notes

11 of anti-Sikh riots’ victims society held
SANGRUR: Eleven persons, including president of the National 1984 Victims Justice and Welfare Society (New Delhi) Babu Singh Dukhia, were arrested on Sunday at Bhawanigarh, 22 km from here, when they were staging a protest in front of the election office of the Congress candidate Vijay Inder Singla. All arrested persons belonged to Delhi.

India Votes
Punjab: Cocktail of crorepatis, criminals
Bathinda, Patiala, Amritsar ‘red alert constituencies’
Vibha Sharma/Megha Mann
Tribune News Service

New Delhi/Ropar, May 3
It’s a cocktail of crorepatis and criminals who are contesting 13 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab. A state with stagnating farm economy and receding industrial base boasts of 49 crorepatis and 19 criminals sweating it out in General Election.

With three candidates each with criminal charges in the fray, the National Election Watch has classified Bathinda, Patiala and Amritsar in Punjab as “red alert constituencies”.

According to national coordinator Anil Bairwal, in all there are 19 candidates out of the total 218 in Punjab who have records of criminal cases against them. “This figure would be about 8.7 per cent of total number who are in the fray. The figure is well below the national average of about 15.5 per cent that the ADR culled based on 6700 affidavits analysed so far from all over India,” he explains.

As pert the list released by the ADR today, Karam Singh Ravinder (IND), Kiranjit Singh (LJP) and Raninder Singh (INC) in Bathinda; Karamjit Singh (IND), Arun Sood (IND) and Deepak Joshi (BSP) in Patiala, and Navjot Singh Sidhu (BJP), Surinder Singh (DCP) and Naresh Singh Bhadauriya (IND) in Amritsar give the three seats the title of “red-alert constituencies”.

“Among the parties, the BJP, LJP and SAD(A) have one candidate each with serious criminal cases against them,” says Bairwal. Simaranjit Singh Mann, SAD(A) candidate from Sangrur, Narian Singh (IND) in Gurdaspur, Rajinder (IND) in Ferozepur, Kumar (IND) in Ludhiana, Ajmer Singh (IND) in Sangrur, Girdhari Lal (LBP) in Ludhiana, Rimple Kumar (IND) in Ferozepur, Rattan Singh Ajnala (SAD) in Khadoor Sahib, Resham Lal Kahlon (IND) in Anandpur Sahib and Gurmeet Singh Ranghreta (PLP) in Faridkot are other candidates with criminal charges against them.

The highest number of cases, as many as eight, are against Simranjot Singh Mann followed by Narian Singh(3), Raninder Singh (3), Karam Singh(2), Kumar(2) and Girdhari Lal(2). Karamjit Singh and Navjot Sidhu are among those who have been convicted.

Apart from this, there are 49 crorepatis in fray, about 22.5 pc of the total 218 candidates. The top three political parties in terms of richest candidates are BJP (17.2 crore), INC (9.6 crore) and SAD (9.1 crore). All 26 candidates belonging to these parties are crorepatis without exception.

The crorepati list is headed by Harsimrat Kaur (SAD) with more than Rs 60 crores total assets, followed by Preneet Kaur (INC) with assets worth Rs 42 crore, Vinod Khanna (BJP) Rs 35 crore, Rana Gurjeet Singh (INC) Rs 34 crore, Swaran Singh (BSP) Rs 17 crore, Raninder Singh (INC) Rs 14 crore, Navjot Sidhu (BJP) Rs 14 crore and Hans Raj Hans (SAD) Rs 10 crore. The top three parties in terms of average liabilities of their candidates are BSP (20.2 lakh), SAD (17.9 lakh) and INC (15.6 lakh) Besides there are 13 women candidates, just about six per cent, and about 58 per cent of the total candidates have not furnished their PAN details.

In Chandigarh no candidates have any criminal charges against them. There are seven crorepatis out of the total 14 candidates in the fray. Amongst them eight are graduate or above and there is just one woman candidate fighting as an Independent.

Badal predicts SAD victory in Patiala, Bathinda
Devigarh (Patiala), May 3
Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal predicted that the SAD-BJP combine would emerge as winner in Patiala and Bathinda. Declaring that the development of the state was his priority, Badal called upon the people to make the “right choice” and vote the NDA to power at the Centre.

Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal with SAD candidate Prem Singh Chandumajra.