Jaitley will win big: Majithia

Tribune News Service Amritsar, March 16

Cabinet Ministers Bikram Singh Majithia, Gulzar Singh Ranike and other prominent SAD leaders of the Majha belt, at a press conference here today, hailed the BJP decision to field senior leader Arun Jaitley from Amritsar. Majithia said Jaitley would emerge victorious with a huge margin and become the "voice of Punjab" in Parliament. He said though Prime Minister Manmohan Singh belonged to Amritsar, he had done little to ensure the city's development. On sitting Amritsar MP Navjot Singh Sidhu, he said: "He is like my elder brother. He has done well as an MP." He denied he had any differences with Sidhu. However, local Congress leaders claimed that Sidhu had been sidelined because Akali leaders were unhappy with him. Navjot Sidhu said what mattered most to him was the trust of Amritsar residents. He said he would discharge any responsibility given to him by the party high command and make all efforts to ensure Jaitley's win. "He is our pride and we will support him wholeheartedly. We will ensure that he gets a good lead in the Amritsar East assembly constituency represented by my wife," he said. On his future in politics, he said he believed in living in the present. Sidhu defeated senior Congress leader OP Soni in 2009 by a mere 6,858 votes, down by a whopping 90 per cent as compared to his victory in 2007 against then Finance Minister Surinder Singla by 77,626 votes. He won his first Lok Sabha election against Congress heavyweight RL Bhatia by over one lakh votes. Congress in a fix Meanwhile, Jaitley's candidature has put the Congress in a fix. The party may now field a celebrity from Amritsar. Already, there have been reports of the Congress approaching cricketers Harbhajan Singh and Yuvraj Singh. Among the local leaders, Punjab Congress vice-president and Amritsar Central legislator OP Soni is the front runner. He had lost to Sidhu by a thin margin in 2009. But this time a section of the party is opposed to him. The other contenders for the party ticket are Rajasansi MLA Sukh Sarkaria, Batala MLA Ashwani Sekhri, senior party leader Sukhpal Khaira and PPCC general secretary Sukhjinder Raj Singh Lalli Majithia. BJP leader to visit Amritsar on March 18 Amritsar: Arun Jaitley will visit the city on Tuesday. Preparations are afoot by SAD and BJP leaders to accord him a rousing reception. Jaitley will pay obeisance at the Golden Temple and the Durgiana Temple. He will address party workers at the BJP office at Khanna Smarak. Navjot Sidhus rise and fall 2004: Enters politics, defeats RL Bhatia (Cong) by 1 lakh votes

Enters politics, defeats RL Bhatia (Cong) by 1 lakh votes 2007: Wins Lok Sabha bypoll against then Punjab Finance Minister Surinder Singla

Wins Lok Sabha bypoll against then Punjab Finance Minister Surinder Singla 2009: Wins Lok Sabha elections by a whisker, defeating OP Soni (Congress)

Wins Lok Sabha elections by a whisker, defeating OP Soni (Congress) 2012: Helps his wife Dr Navjot Kaur win from the Amritsar East Assembly seat

Helps his wife Dr Navjot Kaur win from the Amritsar East Assembly seat April 2013: Wife says he is feeling "suffocated" in the BJP, may quit politics

Wife says he is feeling "suffocated" in the BJP, may quit politics September 5, 2013: Sidhu accuses SAD leadership of scuttling his pet projects

Sidhu accuses SAD leadership of scuttling his pet projects September 27: Threatens to go on fast against the govt.

Threatens to go on fast against the govt. September 28, 2013: Withdraws the treat after a written assurance from the CM

Withdraws the treat after a written assurance from the CM February 23, 2014: Skips Narendra Modi's Jagraon rally, says he was not invited

Skips Narendra Modi's Jagraon rally, says he was not invited March 15, 2014: BJP fields senior party leader Arun Jaitley from Amritsar

AAP, SAD flay EC ban at Anandpur Sahib

Arun Sharma

Tribune News Service



The AAP workers in Anandpur Sahib at Hola Mohalla on Sunday

Anandpur Sahib, March 16

The SAD and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) today criticised the Election Commission (EC) for banning parties from holding political conferences at Hola Mohalla. While Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal condemned the ban, alleging the EC had violated the rights of the Sikhs, Sumail Singh Sidhu, AAP state convener of the campaign committee, said there was no such rule in the Constitution of India that prevented political parties from holding conferences on private land during religious festivals. Yesterday, the EC had banned political rallies at Anandpur Sahib during Hola Mohalla, stating that political parties and candidates should desist from using religious places for election campaigns. It said political conferences should neither be held close to religious institutions or on grounds that are the property of institutions. Further, political conferences should not be held during religious festivals like Holi and Hola Mohalla, stated the EC in an order. Today a kirtan darbar was held at the venue of the SAD conference near Takht Sri Keshgarh Sahib. Leaders, including Badal, Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal, BJP leader and Industry Minister MM Mittal, Ropar MLA Daljeet Cheema and Prem Singh Chandumajra, candidate from Anandpur Sahib constituency, reached the spot. No posters with party symbols were displayed on the occasion. Badal was the only speaker at the SAD rally. He said in Sikhism religion and politics could not be separated. Condemning the order, Badal said the EC had violated the rights of Sikhs. I am shocked at the decision of the EC. How do we organise political gatherings when every village and city has temples and gurdwaras, he said. Later talking to mediapersons, Badal said now political parties would not be able to hold rallies on the occasion of Baisakhi at Talwandi Sabo. On the allegation that the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) is partial, he said the CEO was appointed by the EC. Hence, the ruling party could not interfere in the matter. At the AAP venue opposite the Panj Piara Park, campaign committee convener Sumail Singh Sidhu alleged the permission granted to them to hold a rally had been cancelled at the behest of the Congress. Sidhu said withdrawing the permission to hold a rally was against the rules. There was no such rule that prevented political parties from holding rallies on private land during religious festivals, he said.

BJP still undecided on Gurdaspur seat

Ravi Dhaliwal

Tribune News Service Gurdaspur, March 16

The BJP high command has announced candidates for the Amritsar and Hoshiapur Lok Sabha seats, but has left the Gurdaspur hanging in the balance as the party announced its fourth list of 55 candidates for elections. The party has named senior leader Arun Jaitley and Vijay Sampla as its candidates from the Amritsar and Hoshiarpur seats, respectively. The nominee from the Gurdaspur seat was also expected to be announced last night, but last-minute pulls and pressures put senior leaders in a bind forcing them to defer naming the candidate to March 19 when the party comes out with its last list of nominees. Sources say it is a toss-up between three-time Gurdaspur MP Vinod Khanna and industrialist Swaran Salaria. Khanna has the backing of a powerful section of senior leaders, including LK Advani, while Salaria is being backed by former party president Nitin Gadkari and some senior Punjab leaders. Yoga guru Baba Ramdev is pitching in for the Salaria, who joined the party five years ago. Both Salaria and Khanna have been camping in New Delhi for the past few days to impress upon the high command. Khanna is accompanied by his industrialist wife Kavita Khanna, who has was a member of the partys national executive. A senior leader said the partys parliamentary board and the election committee had cleared Khannas name for seat, but his candidature was put on hold at the last minute as Baba Ramdev and Gadkari mounted pressure on some leaders to ensure that Salaria got the ticket. To avoid confrontation, the high command deferred announcing the candidate till March 19. Khanna told The Tribune from New Delhi that the top leadership was apprised of the work he had done in the constituency during his 11-year tenure as MP from 1998 till 2009. After winning the seat for three successive terms, Khanna lost it in the 2009 elections when Punjab Congress chief and sitting Gurdaspur MP Partap Singh Bajwa beat him by nearly 8,000 votes. I am committed to serving the people of Gurdaspur. I will continue to serve them irrespective of what happens, Khanna added. Vying for ticket The toss-up is between film star Vinod Khanna and industrialist Swaran Salaria

Baba Ramdev pitches in for Salaria, senior leader LK Advani backs Khanna

Khanna unfazed; says his work in Gurdaspur speaks for itself

Labourers killed, bodies burnt inside car to claim insurance money

PK Jaiswar

Tribune News Service Amritsar, March 16

In a shocking development, a car mishap in which two persons were charred to death turned out to be a conspiracy. The car owner along with his family members hatched the ploy in order to claim insurance cover worth crores. The investigations revealed that Surinder Singh, the accused and the owner of the car, allegedly killed two migrant labourers and placed the bodies inside the car before setting it ablaze to make it look like an accident. Interestingly, family members of the car owner identified one of the bodies as that of Surinder. The bodies were badly charred. The police have booked Surinder Singh and his family members under the charges of murder, kidnapping and criminal conspiracy. Besides Surinder, others booked in the case are his wife Jasbir Kaur, his sons Sukhchain Singh, Mukhtiar Singh and Sukhwant Singh, Sahib Singh, Nishan Singh, Avtar Singh and Ranjit Singh, all relatives of Surinder. During investigations, the police also booked Sukhchains wife Sarabjit Kaur. A case has been registered at Chatiwind police station. Jasbir Kaur, Sukhchain Singh, Sarabjit Kaur and Sahib Singh have been arrested. The incident occurred near Manawala on the Amritsar-Jalandhar highway on January 22. The deceased were later identified as Surinder Singh (58) and Sahib Singh. Jasbir Kaur, wife of Surinder Singh, had stated to the police that her husband Surinder along with Sahib Singh and another person was going to Chandigarh in their car for a health check-up when the car caught fire, killing them on the spot. Rajeshwar Singh Sidhu, SP(D) Amritsar Rural, said when they found that Surinder Singh had procured insurance cover worth Rs1.50 crore and Sahib Singh had the insurance worth Rs 26 lakhs, they got suspicious. During the probe, it was found that Surinder and Sahib, who claimed to have died in the car mishap, were alive. Sahib Singh has been arrested. He said raids were being conducted to nab the other culprits. The conspiracy came to light when an NGO headed by former High Court Judge Ajit Singh Bains got suspicious. He approached senior police officials and sought a thorough probe. The probe conducted by the police had raised many questions, but the case had been closed. Sordid tale Car owner Surinder Singh allegedly killed two labourers, put the bodies inside his car and set it ablaze

The incident occurred near Manawala on the Amritsar-Jalandhar highway on January 22

Family members of the car owner "identified" one of the bodies as that of Surinder

But Surinder and Sahib were later found alive

Seven killed, 12 hurt in accidents

Tribune News Service Patiala/Hoshiarpur, March 16

Seven persons were killed in two different accidents in Patiala and Hoshiarpur over the last 24 hours.

The two buses that collided in Hoshiarpur

Four occupants of a car, including three women, were killed on the spot following a head-on collision between their car and a Punjab Roadways Transport Corporation bus on the Landran-Banur road near Patiala today. The victims are Indru Bala (38), her daughter Kiran Bala (17), Sharla Devi (37) and car driver Ashok Kumar. The police said the accident took place around 8.30 am. The bus was coming from Landran. "The mother- daughter duo had probably taken lift in the car as they were not known to the other occupants," said the police. While Ashok Kumar belonged to Karnal, the other occupants were from Balachaur. The police have registered a case and detained the bus driver for questioning in Banur. In another mishap in Hoshiarpur last night, three persons were killed while 12 sustained injuries in a collision between two buses when one of them was trying to overtake a tractor-trailer near Uchi Bassi. While two of the dead were occupants of the buses, a motorcyclist too got crushed between the two vehicles.

Three dry days set to dampen marriage revelry

Many likely to shift venue outside state; the poll commission has announced dry days from April 28-30

Aman Sood

Tribune News Service Patiala, March 16

The Election Commissions move to observe April 28, 29 and 30 as dry days in the state has dampened the spirits of those who have wedding of their close relatives scheduled for these days. Highly placed sources said the EC was most likely to declare three dry days in view of the Lok Sabha elections. While the formal orders are awaited, the Excise and Taxation Department is making sure that no licences to serve liquor are issued for these three days. Asiem Gupta, a Ludhiana resident, said: I have my brothers wedding scheduled for April 29. The sangeet ceremony will be held on April 28. Now I if no liquor is allowed to be served, he celebrations will remain subdued. We cant even change the dates as invitation cards have already been printed, but we may shift the venue to Chandigarh. Liquor traders are not happy as well. April is the first month of their trade after a fresh auction of vends. April will have three dry days which will cost us dear in the first month itself, said a businessman who will bid for a liquor licence. During the 2012 assembly elections, the EC had two dry days before polling and one on the day of polling. Jaideep Narula of Star Wedding Planners said: I have already got four cancellations and three requests for postponement of functions. I have advised my clients to shift venue out of Punjab if they cannot hold their functions without liquor. An excise official said: All liquor vends will remain closed on these days. We stand by the ECs move since the chances of misuse of liquor to influence the voters are high especially when 60 per cent of the liquor trade is run by politicians and their aides. Additional Chief Electoral Officer Raminder Singh said: Under no circumstances, liquor could be allowed 48 hours before polling. We will soon issue formal orders. People should make arrangements accordingly to avoid inconvenience. Polls play spoilsport I have already got four cancellations and three requests for postponement of functions. I have advised my clients to shift venue out of Punjab if they cannot hold their functions without liquor. Jaideep Narula, star wedding planners All liquor vends will remain closed on these days. We stand by the EC's move since the chances of misuse of liquor to influence the voters are high especially when 60% of the liquor trade is run by politicians and their aides. Raminder Singh, Additional Chief Electoral Officer

POLITICS More Congress leaders rebel, join Akali Dal

Jagraon strongman questions Bajwas leadership, Sukhbir Badal claims more will follow suit

Ruchika M. Khanna

Tribune News Service Chandigarh, March 16

The going has never been as tough for Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee president Partap Singh Bajwa. With senior Congress leaders continuing to quit the party to join the Akali Dal, Bajwa's ability to lead is being questioned. The state Congress has seen the flight of many senior leaders in the past one year. With two-time former Congress MLA Ishar Singh Meharban and senior leader Rajbir Padiala switching loyalties to the rival SAD today, the state Congress leadership has come under sharp criticism. All the leaders who have quit the party in the last one year have accused Bajwa of failing to lead from the front; carrying senior party men along; and disturbing seniority within the party rank and file. Earlier, his declaration of the PPCC office-bearers' list had led to a revolt in the party, forcing the high command to send its emissaries to restore peace. At least seven senior leaders have quit the party since March last year. These include Talwandi Sabo MLA Jeet Mohinder Singh Sidhu (who has now resigned), former MLAs Ajit Singh Shant, Avtar Singh Brar, Malkit Singh Birmi, Ravinder Singh Sandhu Bubble, Ishar Singh Meharban and senior party leader Rajbir Singh Padiala. Former Congress MLA Surjit Singh Dhiman has also decided to contest the Lok Sabha poll as an Independent against party candidate Vijay Inder Singla from Sangrur. On his part, Bajwa is dismissive of this flight of Congressmen to the Akali Dal. "These are not prominent leaders. Moreover, those who have left the party are doing so for their personal gains and reasons other than politics. I believe that the party will be cleansed," he told The Tribune, adding that the situation was much worse in neighbouring Haryana where a sitting Congress MP, an MLA and a chief parliamentary secretary have defected to other parties. However, Bajwa's bête noire and former Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh feels that this flight of Congressmen was demoralising for the party. "The leader of a party has to have a big heart and an open mind. He has to lead from the front. He has to repose faith in his party men and carry them along in all decision making," he said in an oblique reference to Bajwa's style of functioning. Capt Amarinder said during his tenure as PPCC chief, only one MLA, Joginder Pal Jain, had left the party while he had got more than 20 Akalis into the Congress-fold like Kushaldeep Singh Dhillon, Ajit Singh Mofar, Jeet Mohinder Singh Sidhu and Harminder Gill. While Bajwa remains dismissive on the issue, his rival Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal seems to be getting an edge. "Soon you will see that the Congress will be a party without any leader as most of them are approaching us to become Akalis," he told mediapersons while inducting Meharban and Padiala into the party this morning. Sukhbir said more Congress MLAs would soon join the Akali Dal. Bajwa refuted these claims, saying Sukhbir had a "use-and-throw" policy. "The leaders who had earlier joined the SAD have realised that the Akalis are using them. Shant was promised the Lok Sabha ticket from Faridkot as a trade-off, but it was not done. He is now ready to return to the Congress if we promise him the ticket. Even Meharban met me four days ago, requesting ticket from Fatehgarh Sahib. Since I expressed my reservations, he joined the SAD," he added. Padiala back with SAD Punjabs Taksali leader Rajbir Singh Padiala, who had left the SAD to join the Congress five years ago, today returned to the SAD. The Deputy CM welcomed him back at a function in Padiala village of Kurali this morning. He announced that now on, Padiala would be incharge of every developmental work in his area. The Akali district president, Ujagar Singh Badali, and his supporters did not attend the function. Facing severe criticism The state Congress leadership has come under sharp criticism as a number senior leaders have quit the party in one year

Two-time former Cong MLA Ishar Singh Meharban and senior leader Rajbir Padiala joined SAD on Sunday

All these leaders have accused Bajwa of failing to lead from the front and carrying senior party men along It is (leaders quitting Cong) demoralising for the party. The leader of a party has to have an open mind. He has to lead from the front. He must repose faith in his party men and carry them along in all decision making. Capt Amarinder Singh, former cm The leaders who had earlier joined the SAD have realised that the Akalis are using them. Shant was promised the Lok Sabha ticket from Faridkot, but it was not done. Meharban too wants ticket from Fatehgarh Sahib. Partap Singh Bajwa, ppcc chief

Meharban has cheated Cong: Ex-MLA Jagraon, March 16

Former Congress MLA from Jagraon Gurdeep Singh Bhaini said Isher Singh Meharban, who has joined the SAD today, had "back-stabbed" the Congress. The party had trusted him by giving him the ticket to contest the last assembly elections from Jagraon. "By deserting the Congress, Meharban has not only cheated the party but also the people of Jagraon," he said. Congress leaders Pritam Singh Akhara and Gopal Sharma alleged the party workers as well as people of Jagraon never liked Meharban because he was an outsider. The workers were feeling relieved with Meharban leaving the party, they claimed. PPCC general secretary Major Singh Bhaini said Meharban's move would prove beneficial for the party ahead of Lok Sabha elections.  OC

Tewari in hospital, nomination delayed

Tribune News Service Ludhiana, March 16

There is speculation that Congress leader and Ludhiana MP Manish Tewari may not contest the election. However, sources close to him deny it. They said the MP had not declined to contest. He was admitted to a south Delhi hospital owing to a heart ailment. Certain medical investigations were being carried out, but he would visit Ludhiana on March 18 as per schedule, they said. Earlier while talking to The Tribune on the phone, Tewari (48) had reiterated that he would only contest from Ludhiana. He had refuted reports that he was keen to contest from Chandigarh. Political analysts say the delay in Tewari's nomination may cost the Congress dear. Candidates of other parties, including SAD-BJP, AAP and even Independent Simarjit Bains, have already started their campaign.