The Tribune – Moga bypoll; Parties wrap up campaigning with road show; Congress victory will change course of state politics: Captain

Tribune News Service

Moga, February 21. Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) president Captain Amarinder Singh today held a road show in support of party candidate Vijay Sathi Braving intermittent drizzling, Amarinder Singh chose not to take an umbrella as he stood in an open car.

A former Chief Minister, the PPCC chief was an immediate hit with the locals who came out of their shops and houses to shower petals on him. A few of them even got a chance to shake hands and pose for a photograph with him.

Talking to The Tribune, he said, “If the love and affection bestowed by people in today’s road show is any indication, the Congress will win by a comfortable margin.”

Also, he did not rule out simultaneous elections to the Punjab assembly along with that of the Lok Sabha, scheduled for 2014. “The victory in Moga bypoll will change the course of politics in the state,” he claimed.

Addressing party workers and leaders while wrapping up his three-week campaign, the Punjab Congress chief exhorted them to keep their momentum alive and show the same enthusiasm in the run-up to the parliamentary elections.

“The disintegration of the Akalis will start once the bypoll result is declared (and Congress wins). Subsequently, the state government will also fall. So, do not think your job is over. Rather, it has just begun,” he told his workers repeatedly during the road show.

Amarinder Singh also hit out at Sukhbir Badal and Bikramjit Singh Majithia: “Do not take it for granted that you (Badals) are going to rule for full five years.”

The Pradesh Congress president claimed that even a large section of the Akali leadership and workers were “feeling suffocated under the dictatorial, autocratic and arrogant attitude of Sukhbir and Majithia and all of them were waiting for the right opportunity to settle their differences”.

“Sukhbir will realise after the bypoll result that the local Akalis themselves defeated their candidate. The local BJP leadership is also unhappy over Jain’s induction in the SAD,” he said.

Citing the “hostile” response that Sukhbir got from lawyers during the Moga Bar Association function yesterday, Amarinder Singh said the behaviour indicated the angry mood of the public, “which would be reflected in the by-election on the polling day”.

While seeking votes for Sathi, he urged the electorate to compare for themselves as to who was a better candidate.

“On one side, you have an honest and sincere worker in Sathi who owns just a five-marla house and has never used politics to accumulate wealth. On other side, you have Akali candidate Jain whom even Sukhbir used to describe as a smuggler till recently,” he said.

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The Tribune – Moga bypoll; At Moga, Amarinder forced to toil hard; SAD president Sukhbir Badal also clocks 18 hours a day, addressing at least 20 functions

Jangveer Singh, Tribune News Service

Moga, February 20. The Moga byelection will be remembered for the start of a new political experiment in Punjab.

The election was thrust upon the people by the SAD by inducting Congress legislator Joginder Pal Jain into the party.

If the purpose was to further demoralise the Congress, it has not worked. In fact, the election has helped the state Congress galvanise itself and even boosted the image of its president Captain Amarinder Singh who has transformed himself into a hard worker and washed off accusations of being an easygoing campaigner.

On the other hand, for SAD president Sukhbir Badal, who is known to be an aggressive campaigner adept at micro management, the election is an opportunity to prove that he can single-handedly dictate the politics of the state.

Sukhbir hopes a victory here will build the tempo for the forthcoming parliamentary elections.

But political gambits are a risky affair. Captain Amarinder has now chosen to take the challenge head-on. The Congress had won this seat by 4,500 votes only a year ago and it feels this is the right opportunity to stop the Akali juggernaut.

Party election incharge Rana Gurjit Singh said: “We will win because for the first time Captain Amarinder is working hard. I don’t want to say this but this is the truth”.

Rana Gurmeet Sodhi said the byelection would be remembered for the manner in which Amarinder put his best foot forward to win back the voters’ confidence. Seeing the people’s reaction to the party’s campaign, general secretary incharge of Punjab Gulchain Singh Charakh admitted Amarinder remains the best bet to lead the Congress in the state.

Talwandi Sabo legislator Jeet Mohinder Sidhu, who drives Amarinder during the campaigning, echoed similar sentiments. He said after moving to the constituency on February 2, the PCC chief went out only for a day on February 9 to attend the wedding function of Amritsar leader Sukhjinder Randhawa’s daughter at Chandigarh. “Captain has been camping here since then. He even missed the wedding of his niece in Delhi,” he said.

Amarinder’s electioneering starts at 10.30 am with a break for lunch at a supporter’s house. Sidhu said Amarinder managed five rural and two urban meetings in a day which ended at around 8 pm. “After that we sit down and strategise”, he added.

On asking when he last worked so hard, Captain Amarinder said: “My job is to move around. I did so during the last assembly elections also. But the Akalis bought off our rebel leaders”. Amarinder feels his party is well beyond the winning stage. “As of today we have won,” he claimed.

In case of Sukhbir, the Moga election seems to be an experiment on how Congress strongholds can be broken. There is a feeling in the Sukhbir camp that Congress men who cannot be beaten should be co-opted into the SAD. The Moga byelection will decide whether this experiment can be replicated elsewhere or not.

Sukhbir is putting in even more time than Amarinder. The SAD president starts his day at 8 with a strategy session at the residence of senior Akali leader Tota Singh. At 11, Sukhbir is out in the field devoting most of the day in rural areas before converging into the city in the evening. After finishing electioneering at 10 pm, he takes feedback from party leaders coordinating different zones. “This meeting ends only by 2 am”, an aide disclosed.

The SAD chief claimed Amarinder’s schedule was no match for his. “I do 20 programmes in a day. He does four,” he said. He also claimed the Congress was still a divided house. Sukhbir said the main agenda of the SAD remained development.

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The Tribune – Supporters of Tota Singh, Gill will ensure Jain’s defeat: Captain

Tribune News Service

Moga, February 18. Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) president Captain Amarinder Singh today claimed that the supporters of Akali leaders Tota Singh and PS Gill would ensure the defeat of SAD nominee Joginder Pal Jain in the Moga bypoll.

Addressing a gathering at Rattian village, Amarinder Singh mocked at Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal for his “desperate attempts” to convince Tota Singh and Gill to support turncoat Jain whom they had opposed in last year’s assembly elections.

Taking a dig at the Chief Minister for staying overnight with dissident and alienated Akali leaders in Moga in order to bring them on the track, Amarinder Singh advised him “not to waste time and energy at this age and better take care of his ailing health, lest he catches chest infection once more”.

“I can understand Badal’s tragedy because he is fighting a desperate battle for survival, though everybody knows well that he (Badal) was not keen to induct Jain into the party and field him in the bypoll,” he said. Amarinder Singh claimed that Tota Singh first bluntly refused Badal to campaign for Jain but later Badal urged him that for the sake of his honour and age, he (Tota Singh) should at least accompany him to public meetings even if he did not want his supporters to join Jain’s campaign.

“This is the reason why none of Tota Singh and Gill’s supporters are campaigning for Jain,” he said.

“Notwithstanding Badal’s bravado about his good health and being 90 per cent young, the matter of the fact is that he has been advised complete bed rest but was dragged out from bed to campaign in Moga by his son Sukhbir Badal to save him from an imminent defeat.”

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The Tribune – In rural Moga, voters may back party in power

Jangveer Singh, Tribune News Service

Moga, February 13. The Congress might be slightly ahead in Moga town but as far as the villages of this constituency are concerned, the SAD seems to be having an upper hand.

A visit to the two most populous villages of the constituency, Ghal Kalan and Droli Bhai, reveals how entrenched the Akalis are in the villages. Though the Congress has deputed its leaders in rural areas, the Akalis are getting a much better response because they are in power.

“Khade da Khalsa hai (support the man in power),” said Hamir Singh of Ghal Kalan. “Sarkar naal chalna chahida hai (we should support the ruling party)”, he said, adding people wanted to reap the benefits by electing the ruling party’s candidate.

The Jat peasantry vote seems to have tilted towards the SAD as its president Sukhbir Badal has promised to resolve the issue of lack of canal water in the constituency. Attempts are also being made by Akali leaders to break into the traditional Congress Dalit vote bank. This is being done by doling out money for common causes like for utensils to panchayats for use in functions, construction of community centres and for digging tubewells in Dalit localities.

Sukhbir, who is leading the party’s campaign and has made the contest as one between himself and the Congress rather than between party candidate Joginder Pal Jain and Congress’ Vijay Sathi, makes it a point to stress that villages have prospered only during the SAD rule.

Though the Congress is putting up a brave front, its leaders admit that they are not being able to get the better of Akalis in villages. “People don’t want to identify themselves with us because the government still has four more years to go”, said a Congress leader. Others feel the party is simply not able to counter the financial might of the Akalis.

However, Congress leader Balbir Sidhu, who is leading the party’s campaign in villages, said the party was getting a good response but he had only a few people with him. PCC president Captain Amarinder Singh is also getting a fairly good response in the rural areas, indicating anti-Akali groups will vote for the Congress candidate who otherwise does not have any hold in villages. Amarinder claimed there was no fear among the people and they had vowed to support the Congress.

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The Tribune – Moga By-Election

Captain: Bypoll result will silence ‘arrogant’ Sukhbir, Majithia

Tribune News Service

Moga, February 11. Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) president Captain Amarinder Singh today claimed that the Moga residents will give a befitting reply to the “arrogant” duo of Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal and his brother-in-law Bikram Majithia.

Addressing a public gathering at Charik village for Congress candidate Vijay Kumar Sathi, Amarinder said the Moga people will change the political scenario in Punjab by voting against the “anti-people” and “repressive” policies of the SAD-BJP government. The byelection is scheduled for February 23.

“Sukhbir and Majithia have spoiled the socio-economic balance of the otherwise prosperous Punjab for their personal interests,” he said.

Once defeated in the bypoll, the state Congress chief said, the downfall of the Akalis would automatically begin. “The greater impact will be witnessed in the next parliamentary elections when the SAD will be routed completely….

Byelections have usually been trendsetters. In Moga, the Congress will re-script the Adampur bypoll victory of 1998,” he said.

Amarinder also warned that the Akalis should not take it for granted that they would remain in power for the rest of their tenure. “Given the track record of the Akalis of poor governance and deteriorating law and order situation in the last six years, their government can fall any time,” he said.

Claiming that he had gauged the mood of the electorate during his stay in Moga for the past over a week, he said it was because of the “poor” state of affairs that the people were fed up with the government.

The PPCC president said the recent incidents of crime involving Akali leaders and workers had angered the state people and they wanted to teach the government a lesson.

Banking on his father Sathi Roop Lal’s legacy, Vijay Sathi said he had a “clean image and, therefore, was most suitable to be elected”.

Amarinder and Sathi also addressed gatherings at Malliana, Patti Sandhuan, Tarewala, Chupkiti and a few locations in Moga city.

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Several Congress leaders in line to join SAD: Sukhbir

Tribune News Service

Moga, February 11. Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal today claimed that more Congress leaders wanted to join the ruling party but “we will pick only diamonds from among the stones.”

Campaigning for party candidate Joginder Pal Jain at Sadda Singh Wala, Kahan Singh Wala, Thamanwala and Jhandewala villages, Badal claimed that the Congress was on the verge of extinction, not only in Punjab but on other parts of the country too.

He said the SAD would welcome only those leaders who believed in the SAD vision. The fact that more and more Congress leaders were joining the SAd was an indication of the confidence that the people have in the SAD-BJP alliance.

Criticising the Congress for its negative campaign, he said the Congress leadership was taking up non-issues as there were no real issues against the SAD-BJP government. He claimed that the SAD-BJP victories were nothing but the triumph of the pro-people policies of the the Parkash Singh Badal-led government.

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Candidate Profile; PPP’s Ravinder Dhaliwal eyes youth vote bank

Kulwinder Sandhu, Tribune News Service

Moga, February 11. Contesting from Moga for the second time on the People’s Party of Punjab (PPP) ticket, 44-year-old Ravinder Singh Dhaliwal is hopeful that he would be able to pocket the youth votes.

In last year’s assembly election, Dhaliwal had secured more than 9,800 votes. A graduate in veterinary science and a post-graduate in business management, his vote share was more than 7 per cent in 2012.

Prior to joining politics, Dhaliwal used to work as a manager in corporate communications with a multi-national food processing company. Currently, he is into real estate business.

PPP chief Manpreet Badal claims that Dhaliwal was influenced by the party’s ideology and, therefore, left his fat-salary job and jumped into the election fray.

Dhaliwal, along with Manpreet, has adopted the traditional style of campaigning in Moga city by going door to door. In villages, the duo also holds ‘nukkar sabhas’.

Claiming that he is getting “favourable” response from the electorate, the PPP nominee says the people are fed up with both the mainstream parties (the SAD and the Congress).

“The Moga voters, particularly the educated youth, are disappointed with turncoat Joginder Pal Jain who first represented the Congress and now is seeking re-election on the SAD ticket. As such, people are not interested in both the parties with which Jain is associated. They will vote for change,” he says.

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The Tribune – Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee poll -2013; Majithia’s men camp in Sarna citadel

Jangveer Singh, Tribune News Service

New Delhi, January 23. Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) Delhi president Paramjit Singh Sarna, who has had a easy run in Delhi for the past nine years, is now bottled in his own constituency of Punjabi Bagh by the Bikram brigade of Punjab Revenue Ministerand Youth Akali Dal (YAD) president Bikram Singh Majithia.

The Punjabi Bagh constituency is unique in so far as that it has two parts – one posh and the other a lower middle-class area inhabited by Sikhs mostly doing menial jobs. Sarna has till date ruled this constituency with the rich flocking to him because of his clout and the poor Sikhs seeking him out because of his power to dole out seats in various Sikh institutions run by the DSGMC.

The SAD has decided to take the battle for Delhi to Sarna’s constituency. The SAD leadership has posted its trouble shooter Bikram Majithia in this constituency and has chosen a multi-millionaire in Manjinder Singh Sirsa to take on Sarna. Sources say this strategy is aimed at giving the Sikhs of this constituency a leader as rich as Sarna. Sirsa, who has delved in the liquor and real estate business, has a palatial house in Punjabi Bagh.

With Majithia has come his brigade which includes Majha legislators loyal to him such as Virsa Singh Valtoha, Inderbir Bolaria and Baljit Singh Jalalusma.

Also, Bikram acolytes former Faridkot Improvement Trust Chairman Bunty Romana and Muktsar leader Rosy Barkandi are camping in the constituency with their supporters.

Voters of the constituency admit that Sarna has a tough fight on his hands with the Sirsa firmly entrenched in the area. The latter’s wife is a local councillor.

Dimpy Sodhi, an influential businessman whose father is a reputed homoeopath, said Sarna had realised that he was in a fight and was now concentrating on the constituency. He said Sarna was devoting most of his time to the constituency and had little time to campaign in other areas.

Sarna is relying on the Punjab Congress leadership to attract votes. Union Minister for External Affairs Preneet Kaur was in the constituency yesterday. Sarna denies that he is bogged down in Punjabi Bagh. “I campaigned in Kalkaji and Lajpat Nagar today and have come to Punjabi Bagh because Maharaj Sahib (Capt Amarinder) is in the constituency.”

He claimed that it was the SAD which had got bogged down in Delhi with the Chief Minister, the Deputy Chief Minister, ministers and SGPC members “licking the dust of the streets in Delhi. We will beat them into shape and send them packing back to Punjab,” he added.

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The Tribune – Badal, not Captain, has ‘Majithia phobia’, say Congress leaders

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, January 15. Not letting the controversy surrounding Revenue Minister Bikram Majithia die down, Congress legislators and other leaders today hit out at the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD).

In a joint statement, the Congress leaders alleged that it was Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, and not Punjab Congress president Captain Amarinder Singh, who had ‘Majithia phobia’ and was “scared” of the latter’s chief ministerial ambitions.

For substantiating their claim, the party leaders cited that Badal himself had publicly said that “Majithia had got everything on a platter and that now he was eyeing his (Badal’s) chair”.

“Badal’s own admission that Majithia is after his chair makes it clear who is scared of whom,” the statement read.

The signatories to the statement are Rana Gurjeet, Rana Sodhi, Kewal Dhillon, Rana KP, Bharat Bhushan Ashu, Fatehjung Bajwa, Arvind Khanna, Raja Warring, Surinder Dawer, Ajaib Singh Bhatti, Joginder Singh Panjgraian, Tripat Rajinder Singh Bajwa, Bibi Harchand Kaur, Sukhjinder Randhawa, Om Prakash Soni and Mohammad Sadique.

Addressing the Akalis, they said, “Capt Amarinder knows your compulsions that despite feeling suffocated and bullied by Majithia, you cannot raise your concerns for fear of losing your jobs. So, he is helping your case only and you should be grateful to him.”

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The Tribune – Captain, Jakhar visit Bhaini Sahib

Tribune News Service

Bhaini Sahib (Khanna), December 20. Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee chief Captain Amarinder Singh, along with the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) Leader Sunil Jakhar, visited Bhaini Sahib today. They met the widow of Satguru Jagjit Singh and the next Namdhari head, Satguru Uday Singh. The visit assumes significance in the wake of the “succession war” within the sect and the recent protests against former state Congress president H S Hanspal, who is the Namdhari Darbar (Bhaini Sahib) president.

The International Sangat had on December 18 burnt the effigies of HS Hanspal and Namdhari Darbar vice-president Surinder Lyal, alleging that they were trying to create a divide in the sangat. International Namdhari Sangat president Navtej Singh, while casting aspersions on Hanspal’s role in the appointment of Thakur Uday Singh as the sect head, had claimed that Hanspal and Lyal wanted to draw political mileage. This angered Lyal who called the International Sangat a fake organisation.

During Amarinder’s visit today, Hanspal, MLAs Arvind Khanna, Gurkirat Singh Kotli, Punjab Youth Congress president Vikramjit Singh Chaudhary and senior functionaries of the Namdhari Darbar, were present at Bhaini Sahib.

Amarinder recalled the time he had spent with the late Satguru and appreciated his “selfless service to humankind.” Later, interacting with mediapersons at the helipad at Raian village, he criticised the state government for “failing to maintain” law and order.

Alleging that some SAD leaders had unleashed a reign of terror on the state by sheltering law-breakers, he appealed to the Chief Minister to take action against those disrupting law and order in Punjab.

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The Tribune – Murder of a policeman; ASI murder key accused in SAD directory, says Congress

G S Paul, Tribune News Service

Amritsar, December 11. The Shiromani Akali Dal’s recently published directory of district-level leaders kicked up a storm on Tuesday, with Punjab Pardesh Congress Committee chief Amarinder Singh alleging that leaders mentioned in it enjoyed “immunity” from police action if found indulging in any criminal activity.

Ranjit Singh Rana, the now expelled SAD general secretary who allegedly shot dead ASI Ravinderpal Singh in Amritsar on December 5, features on page 51 of the directory. Leader of the Opposition in Punjab Assembly Sunil Jakhar said there were 25 other SAD leaders with criminal background in the directory.

Titled ‘Zila Akali Jatha, Amritsar’, the directory’s cover page carries a slogan: ‘Sukhbir Singh Badal da supna, ik majboot jathebandhak dhancha (Sukhbir Singh Badal’s dream: A strong network of party workers’ and contains the antecedents of “active” SAD workers of Amritsar. Its aim: to serve as an area-wise ready reckoner of SAD leaders for the public.

Captain Amarinder Singh, at a dharna at Rialto Chowk here today, blamed the SAD top brass for the deteriorating law and order situation in the state. “The SAD directory has been distributed in all police stations. Officers have been directed to look the other way if a case involving party functionaries mentioned in the directory comes their way,” said Amarinder, who later visited the family of late ASI Ravinderpal Singh.

“The directory is authentic proof of the criminal-politician nexus. There are at least 25 SAD leaders mentioned in it who have been indulging in criminal acts such as land grabbing, liquor and drug smuggling. It is the liability of the Punjab CM to get the particulars of his leaders verified,” said Jakhar.

The Chief Minister admitted that Rana was an unknown name for him, he said. “Rana’s true face emerged only after the ASI’s killing, but there are more Ranas enshrined in this directory,” said Jakhar.

SAD Amritsar district unit (urban) president Upkar Singh Sandhu refuted the allegations.

“It is baseless to say that these directories have been specifically distributed in police stations. It is equally groundless to say the directory contains the antecedents of SAD workers with a criminal background. Rana did not have a criminal background till he killed a police officer,” he said.

We have informed the police commissioner that if any of our workers are found involved in any case, we should be informed right away, he said. “We have also directed our local chiefs to be vigilant about all party workers and verify their backgrounds,” he said.

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The Tribune – Minister dismisses Captain’s claim

Tribune News Service

Patran (Patiala), October 16. Punjab Revenue and Rehabilitation Minister Bikramjit Singh Majithia today dismissed Punjab Pradesh Congress president Capt Amarinder Singh’s claims that he received threat calls from Germany for speaking out against the Operation Bluestar Memorial.

Majithia spoke at a public gathering after attending a mass marriage, organised by Shutrana MLA Vaninder Kaur Loomba.

During his visit to the Saras Mela here this evening, Majithia said AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi should tender an apology to the people of the state for calling its youth drug addicts during his next visit to Punjab, scheduled for March 19.

“Both Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi had been responsible for so much turmoil in Punjab,” he alleged.

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