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Bihar style scenes across rural,
urban Punjab as
war for total control is on
WSN Bureau
PUNJAB:
Abduction,
threats and blatant use of police and official machinery has become
the staple news across Punjab and shockingheadline shave long
stopped figuring on the front pages even as arm-twisting methods
are beingused in full public view to install sarpanches, municipal
council presidents and vice presidents.
At one place, in
Batala's village Daduwal under Dhariwal, there wa so much presure
that one after the other Returning Officer wenton medical leave
after failing to deliver what the regime wanted. Finally, the Punjab
and Haryana High Court stepped in to blow the lid off and has now
asked the district administration not to holdthe election of
sarpanch till all the panches are present. In Qadian, after
Congress councillor,her husband and a former MC president were
abducted, a complete bandh was observed onMonday. Councillor Rita
Bhatia, her husband and former MC president Narinder Kumar Bhatia
and their son Ankush were kidnapped and released only in the
evening.
Former Congress
minister Tripat Rajinder Singh Bajwa led a dharna at Buttar Chowk to
rpess for the family's release. Congressmen openly said theAkalis
had abducted the family to ensure the ruling alliance's victory in
the MC president's election on Tuesday. Rita Bhatia's nephew Amit
Kumar said the family was too terrified to speak to the media. He
said the family was abducted at gunpoint and scores witnessed it.
Police expressed helplessness in view of the political pressures.
In Gurdaspur's
Daduwal village, three panches – Manjeet Singh, Gurpinder Kaur and
Kirpa Masih -- had gone to high court on July 23, saying there was
pressureon the administration to elect a particular person who did
nothave majority.
Daduwal has
become a turf war ground between rebel Akali leader Sucha Singh
Chhotepur and Agriculture Minister Sucha Singh Langah. The
complainants are part of the Chhotepur group. Returning Officer
Sarwan Singh who earlier asked them to prove their majority, put off
the election on July 19 and himself went on medical leave. The same
day, a new returning officer, Jeet Singh, was appointed, but he too
proceeded on medical leave. On July 21, PSEB SDO S.
Nagra took the
charge, and followed his predecessors in relinquishing the charge.
The fourth person to take over was Thakur Singh, but unable to
resolve the matter, he had to fall "sick" too. Now, the High Court
on July 24 has asked the district administration to hold a fair
election, for which the presence of the three petitioners had been
made must.
In Pathankot,
authorities have put off the election for a few days. The scales
were tilted in favour of the BJP that has 10 councillors when two of
the 15 Congress councillors failed to turn up and three
Independents, who had pledged support to the Congress, did not
arrive. The Congress councillors claimed that the SDM was favouring
the BJP and questioned why the media was kept out. Former Congress
MLA Ashok Sharma claimed that the Congress was united and was about
to bag the top post when the BJP triggered the chaos, which prompted
the SDM to stop the process. In Bassi Pathana, two Akali Dal members
and a BJP councillor on Monday defied SAD leader Sukhbir Badal's
directive and elected Kulbhushan Malhotra as president of the Bassi
Pathana Municipal Council. Though Malhotra and Gupta are both from
the SAD, Sukhbir had instructed the councillors to elect Raman
Gupta.
29
July, 2008
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