VOICE OF EX-SERVICEMEN PUNJAB

AAP ‘rejects’ welcome to board Congress ship: Capt

Dubs AAP first list a ‘flop’, says Cong to announce list in September

CHANDIGARH: Punjab Congress chief Captain Amarinder Singh dubbed the first list of 19 candidates announced by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) as a “flop show”. At the same time, he also went ahead and welcomed those left high and dry by the party to the Congress ship.Punjab Congress chief Captain Amarinder Singh addressing the media in Chandigarh on Sunday.

Addressing a press conference here, he said the bickering in AAP against the first list of candidates was “just the beginning”. “They had 31 contenders in Sultanpur Lodhi. They announced the name of the one not on the list. Similarly, in Mohali, Himmat Singh Shergill was announced overlooking the claims of 19 others. We too face the rebel trouble. But the AAP will face more rebellion as it is a new party,” he said.

On AAP state convener Sucha Singh Chottepur showing resentment against the list, he said people have started realising that the AAP was being run and managed by a team from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. “They didn’t bother to take the state convener into confidence before finalising the list. Chottepur is my old friend. But I do not want to embarrass him by inviting him to join the Congress nor will he leave the party,” he said.On the first list announced by AAP, Amarinder said, “It’s a flop list. I have asked all MLAs and leaders where AAP has announced its candidates. They all said ‘wadiya ho gaya’ (it is good for them). They are overestimating themselves after forming their government in Delhi. But people there are already disillusioned with Arvind Kejriwal’s government in two years. He is not bothered about Punjab. Kejriwal is eyeing the 2019 parliamentary elections when he wants to challenge Prime Minister Narendra Modi.”

On Congress list of candidates, he said the screening will start after applications are received from the ticket hopefuls by August 15 and the list will be out only in September. He said both the All India Congress Committee (AICC) and the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) are doing their own surveys to find the right candidates. “Even candidates are getting their individual surveys done,” he said, while dismissing the contention of Congress Legislature Party leader Charanjit Singh Channi that he too is getting surveys done across Punjab. “He must be getting one done for his seat Chamkaur Sahib and not across the state,” he said.

He said no application fee is being charged from the applicants. “Earlier, the candidates for general seats paid `10,000 and `5,000 was taken for reserved seats, This time, we have asked them to show two voters per booth to ensure only serious contenders apply,” he said.

‘DOPE TEST FOR POLICE RECRUITMENT A FRAUD’

Reacting to government claims that the results of the dope tests done during police recruitment have “exposed” the false claims of the opposition Congress and the AAP, he said, “Who is getting the dope test? Who are releasing the results and who gain from the results? It is all a fraud and drama.”

HELPLINE FOR EX-SERVICEMEN

Amarinder launched a helpline for ex-servicemen after addressing their convention here. Responding to their demands, he said ex-servicemen will be given due recognition and representation in his government. “The Congress government will accord priority to the ex-servicemen in the allotment of tubewell connections,” he added.

Capt: Badal creating communal divide

Tribune News Service

Chanduigarh, August 7

Punjab Congress chief Capt Amarinder Singh today accused Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal of attempting to polarise people along the religious lines ahead of the Assembly elections.

“The series of desecration of religious scriptures at Bargari, Ludhiana, Malerkotla and now the attack on an RSS leader in Jalandhar clearly indicate towards the designs of the ruling party,” said the former CM, while questioning silence of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on the Jalandhar incident.

Addressing a press conference here, he said the developments could turn out dangerous for peace in the state.

On ticket distribution

He said the Congress would complete its process to shortlist the candidates by September-end. He said surveys were being conducted to help the party’s top leadership to arrive at a consensus.

On CM candidate

Given the rise of regional parties across the country in almost every state, it was necessary for the Congress to declare the CM candidate before the elections, he said, adding that it was important for the people to know about the person who was going to lead them. “The Congress will have to announce the CM candidate else it will be left behind. It is not the party policy, but its face that sells,” he said.

On probe into drug case

The former CM alleged that the Enforcement Directorate was going slow on the investigations into the revelations made by dismissed DSP Jagdish Bhola as Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley “wants to protect someone”. He said while the ED was showing unusual haste in issuing notices to him and his family, it was delaying the investigations into the drug racket involving Youth Akali Dal leader Rozy Barkandi.

Ex-servicemen helpline

• Chandigarh: Amarinder on Sunday launched a helpline for the ex-servicemen where they could register their grievances. Addressing an ex-servicemen convention here, he said the ex-servicemen would be given due recognition and representation in the government. Col Bhag Singh (ret), incharge of ex-servicemen cell, listed their demands, including disparities in the one rank, one pension scheme.

कैप्टन बोले सिद्धू को नहीं जानते युवा, कॉमेडियन के AAP में जाने से फर्क नहीं पड़ता

चंडीगढ़। नवजोत सिंह सिद्धू के मामले में कांग्रेस के पंजाब प्रधान कैप्टन अमरिंदर सिंह ने रविवार को यूटर्न ले लिया है। उन्होंने कहा, अमृतसर को छोड़कर उनका कहीं कोई आधार नहीं है। पटियाला का होने के कारण यहां सिर्फ उनके पारिवारिक रिश्ते ही हैं। कैप्टन का यू टर्न, पहले की थी सिद्धू की तारीफ...कॉमेडी शो में लोगों को हंसा सकते हैं...

-कैप्टन ने यह भी कहा, युवा भी उसे नहीं जानते क्योंकि जब वह क्रिकेट खेलते थे जो लोग बच्चे थे वे आज बड़े हो गए हैं।थोड़ा बहुत केवल इसलिए जानते होंगे क्योंकि वह कई बार मैचों में कमेंटरी करते हैं।

-साथ ही उन्होंने यह भी कहा कि वह केवल कॉमेडी शो में लोगों को हंसा सकते हैं।

-अच्छा है पहले भी आप में काॅमेडियन ही हैं एक और चला गया जाएगा इससे क्या फर्क पड़ेगा।

कैप्टन ने सिद्धू को दिया था कांग्रेस में आने का न्यौता...

-काबिले गौर है कि इससे पहले जब नवजोत सिद्धू ने राज्यसभा की सीट छोड़ी थी तो कैप्टन ने उनको कांग्रेस में शामिल का यह कहते हुए न्यौता दिया था कि वह उनके शहर पटियाला के हैं।

-वह जट्ट ही नहीं सिद्धू भी हैं । याद रहे कि कैप्टन खुद भी सिद्धू गोत्र से हैं।

-उन्होंने यहां तक कहा था कि जब उनकी मां पटियाला जिले की प्रधान थीं तो उनके पिता उनके साथ जनरल सेक्रेटरी थे।

-एक सवाल के जवाब में कैप्टन ने कहा, यह उनका यू टर्न नहीं है।

-मैं आज भी उनका कांग्रेस में स्वागत करता हूं लेकिन मुझे पता है कि वह कांग्रेस में नहीं आएंगे। -उन्होंने कहा, जिस दिन सिद्धू ने इस्तीफा दिया था और उनकी जो हाइप थी आज वह नहीं है। उनकी हवा निकल चुकी है।

पंजाब में सीएम के लिए केजरीवाल खुद को ही आगे करेंगे...
-कैप्टन ने कहा, पंजाब में सीएम पद के लिए अरविंद केजरीवाल खुद को ही आगे करेगी ।

-अब पंजाब के लोगों को यह समझना है कि क्या बाहरी लोग उन पर राज करेंगे।

-अभी भी पार्टी ने पर्यवेक्षक के तौर पर 52 लोग पंजाब में भेजे हुए हैं उनमें से एक भी पंजाबी नहीं है।

-उन्होंने कहा, दिल्ली में अब विज्ञापनों में डिप्टी सीएम मनीष सिसोदिया की भी फोटो लग रही है। -साफ है कि केजरीवाल का अपना ध्यान पूरी तरह से पंजाब पर है।

-वह पंजाब में एक पूर्ण चीफ मिनिस्टर बनकर प्रधानमंत्री नरेंद्र मोदी को चुनौती देंगे। उसी पद पर उनकी नजर है।

फ्लॉप लिस्ट
-कैप्टन ने कहा, आप ने जो लिस्ट जारी की है उसे वह फ्लॉप मानते हैं और उन्होंने अपने विधायकों और नेताओं से संबंधित उम्मीदवारों के बारे में पूछा तो उन्होंने कहा कि यह उनके लिए अच्छा है।

-उन्होंने कहा कि जो लोग पार्टी से बगावत कर रहे हैं हमारे नेता उनके संपर्क में हैं।

-लेकिन जब उनसे पूछा गया कि कांग्रेस की लिस्ट जारी होते ही जब इस तरह की बगावत उठी तो ? इस पर उन्होंने कहा, हमारा टिकट देने का सिस्टम काफी अलग है।

-सुच्चा सिंह छोटेपुर के कांग्रेस में आने के बारे में उन्होंने कहा, ऐसी सलाह देकर मैं उन्हें परेशानी में नहीं डालना चाहता।

Rise of the rowdy class: It’s time for SAD to look within

Nirmal Sandhu in Chandigarh
One still associates senior Badal with a bygone era when impolite talk was viewed disapprovingly. Today’s Akal Dal has evolved under Sukhbir and every tehsil and district level leader wants to sound as ‘powerful’ as the Deputy CM.

Illustration by Sandeep Joshi

A clean-shaven Akali leader is still an unusual sight, hard to associate with the Shiromani Akali Dal. However, when Navdeep Goldy manhandled Amritsar’s Deputy Mayor last Thursday and pointed a gun at him right in the presence of the Deputy Commissioner, all doubts about his being an Akali ‘kaka’ disappeared. In recent years such lumpen elements have been nurtured in the Akali political culture. 

Taking law into one’s own hands, disregarding authority, using force to settle issues and having one’s own way are qualities that make young Akalis stand out. Goldy reportedly escaped with his gunman’s AK-47 and the DC did not have the nerve to get him arrested right there after a criminal act of assault had happened.

One still associates Parkash Singh Badal with a bygone era when impolite talk was viewed disapprovingly. Today’s Akal Dal has evolved under Sukhbir and every tehsil and district level leader wants to sound as ‘powerful’, aggressive and brash as the Deputy CM. Goldy represents the new face of Akali politics. Having Akali Dal membership was once a privilege and a duty to work for public good; today it is a licence to abuse authority and break the law.

A political party and a government have to be run in accordance with the established laws and democratic norms. Neither the Akali Dal nor its government hesitates in bending the law for convenience. If top Akali leaders like Sukhbir Badal and Bikram Singh Majithia pursue the politics of intimidation, then party workers can’t be expected to be civil, nice and well-mannered.

Time was when the Akali Dal enjoyed tremendous respect and goodwill of villagers in general and Amritdhari Sikhs in particular. The Sikh religion had so much sway in the Khem Karan-Patti-Khadoor Saheb-Tarn Taran belt under the influence of Sant Kartar Singh that Akali candidates would win every election. Jathedars then were less clever and calculating than today’s lot but they did maintain a certain level of character and decorum.

In recent years the Akali Dal has witnessed a moral decline, which is reflected in the way governance is carried out. Grants are diverted, financial figures are fudged and public money is distributed as a political largesse without a CAG scrutiny. People are burdened with taxes so that the Badals can win elections through free atta-dal, free power, free pilgrimage etc. Memorials are being built while school and hospital building crumble.

As a consequence of misgovernance, the Akali leadership has lost the respect not just of ordinary villagers but even of Amritdhari Sikhs. The incidents of sacrilege, inaction against the police officers responsible for the Behbal Kalan firing and disregard of Dhandrianwale’s complaint against his known assailant all have spread disenchantment with the Akali style of running a government.

On June 3, 2016, Chief Minister Badal was denied a “siropa” at the Golden Temple by an ‘ardassia’, Balbir Singh. Badal downplayed the incident, but it is indicative of the collective Sikh anger. The SGPC did not forgive Balbir Singh, who lost his job but rose in public esteem. People felicitated him for what he did and collected money for him. 

Lumpenisation of the Akali Dal began under Sukhbir. His sole goal was to win elections, whatever the cost, and he took his job so seriously that he opened the party’s doors to all– atheists, law-breakers, drug addicts and even convicts. The youth wing inducted spoiled and not-so-spoiled brats who have frequently shamed the leadership with their ignoble deeds. Making the SHOs report to small-minded, low-level leaders, appointed as halqa in-charge, has not only destroyed the police as an institution but also made life miserable for those who asserted their legal rights. Corruption and crime have flourished. Criminalisation of the Akali Dal surfaced on December 6, 2012, when an Akali leader shot dead an ASI in full public view at Amritsar after repeatedly harassing his daughter. Then a former Akali sarpanch kidnapped and paraded naked a 13-year-old girl at Tur village in Tarn Taran district. The police, as expected, sided with the accused. 

While all non-Badal Parivar members holding key positions have swallowed their self-respect and accepted the place assigned to them in the hierarchy in order to enjoy the fruits of power, Pargat Singh and Navjot Singh Sidhu have spoken out, though a bit late in the day. The Badals have surrounded themselves with self-servers and self-seekers who say what they want to hear. Criminalisation of the Akali Dal, erosion of the rule of law, bad governance, promotion of nepotism and family rule and institutional decay will be part of the legacy Badal leaves behind. Badal is no democrat or respecter of merit. Had he allowed democracy to prevail in the SGPC and ensured appointments on merit, including that of Jathedar of Akal Takht and SGPC chief, unrest among Punjabis would not have gone that far. His misrule and petty politics to grab and stay in power have impoverished Punjab and divided and weakened the Sikhs.  Attack on RSS leader: BJP seeks stern action against culprits

Vibha Sharma
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, August 7

In a stern message to the Akali Dal, its senior partner in the coalition government in Punjab, the BJP on Sunday asked Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal to take “very seriously” the attack on senior RSS leader Brigadier Jagdish Gagneja.

Talking to The Tribune, senior Punjab leader and Rajya Sabha member Shwait Malik warned that the attack on the leader of a “social organisation” like the RSS could be an attempt by anti-social elements to destablise the social harmony in the border state of Punjab ahead of the coming Assembly elections”.

Malik said the attack on the RSS leader is not a one-off incident. A shooting incident had also taken place outside a RSS shakha in Ludhiana about a month back. 

Also, as per Malik, similar incidents were reported before militancy started in Punjab during the 1980s.

”Terrorism in the 1980s started with such incidents, which is why the Chief Minister should take the attack very seriously. 

”He should be extra careful and take stringent action those who are behind this incident. This could be an attempt by anti-social elements to destabilise Punjab ahead of the Assembly polls.

”This is an election year and there are many anti-social elements who are aiming to disturb communal harmony in the state,” Malik said. Notably, BJP president Amit Shah has left the responsibility of the planning of election strategy to the “elder brother” Alkali Dal. 

But the attack on the senior RSS leader is being taken very seriously by the Central leadership. Brigadier Gagneja’s condition remains critical after being shot at in Jalandhar by two bike-borne assailants last evening.
Probe into solar light scam fails to make headway

Aman Sood

Tribune News Service

Patiala, August 7

The state government is yet to complete a probe involving officials of the Rural Development and Panchayat Ministry who purchased solar lights from a Rajasthan-based firm at inflated rates.

Despite an initial probe pointed towards an alleged scam worth crores, the department failed to order an inquiry even after four months.

An inquiry ordered by the Deputy Commissioner is yet to be completed due to frequent transfers.

In April, Rajesh Tripathi was transferred and Parminderpal Singh was posted in his place. A couple of months ago, Parminderpal was replaced by Kumar Saurab Raj.

Sources said certain department officers favoured a Rajasthan-based firm while buying solar streetlights for villages in the district.

“Junior officials and sarpanches were asked to sign the purchase order and requirement for solar lights. The purchase was done by seniors in the department without following the due process,” hints the initial probe.

“A sum of Rs 1 crore was spent on buying solar streetlights for villages in Patiala. The probe points towards irregularities. We will get the matter probed thoroughly and the guilty will be spared,” confirmed Patiala DC Ramvir Singh. “I have asked the ADC (D) to submit the complete report within a week,” he said.

Officials privy to the probe said the lights were purchased for Ghanaur, Sanaur, Rajpura, Patran and Nabha blocks. “A solar streetlight unit that is available for Rs 8,500 was bought for Rs 14,000 to Rs 16,000 and that too without taking the local officials into confidence many of whom were against buying them at an exorbitant rates,” they pointed out.

The initial probe report, pointed towards the fact the then District Development and Panchayat Officer (DDPO) did not invite tenders despite bulk purchase of solar lights.

Sources confirmed that some of the officers involved in this scam are politically well -connected and there is lot of pressure to brush the probe report under the carpet.

“The bills for purchase were cleared immediately and no one from the department knows why there was such a hurry to purchase such equipment,” claims the initial report.

ADC (D) Kumar Saurab Raj said that the probe was ordered before he joined and he would soon submit his.“I am already working on the report”, he added.

Rs 1 cr spent on buying streetlights

• Officials of the Rural Development and Panchayat Ministry allegedly purchased solar lights from a Rajasthan-based firm at inflated rates
• An inquiry ordered by the Deputy Commissioner is yet to be completed due to frequent transfers.
• A sum of Rs 1 crore was spent on buying solar streetlights for villages in Patiala

SEALING OF ILLEGAL MARRIAGE PALACES

Majithia assures to discuss issue in Cabinet meeting, promises relief

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, August 7

Giving a slight ray of hope to agitating marriage palace owners, Revenue Minister Bikram Singh Majithia today said the Punjab Government would discuss the issue of sealing of illegal marriage palaces in a Cabinet meeting soon.

While pointing out that the action against the illegal marriage palace owners was initiated on the directions of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, he said the government would provide a big relief to marriage palace owners.

It is evident to mention that the district administration has sealed over 200 illegal marriage palaces in a month-long drive. This has not only resulted in problems to marriage palace owners, but also led to the harassment of people who had booked their functions at these palaces. A number of poor youth who were associated with these palaces were also rendered unemployed after the sealing drive.

Majitjia was speaking during a programme organised to distribute cheques under the Shagun scheme and tricycles to beneficiaries at Majitha. He criticised the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party for defaming the border state of Punjab as drug affected by declaring that around 70 per cent of the youth in the state were drug addicts. However, he pointed out that the recent drive to recruit Punjab Police constables should silent them. He said only 1.36 per cent youth had failed the dope test which was made mandatory by the Punjab Government during the recruitment. On the issue of controversy after the announcement of AAP candidates for various constituencies in Punjab, he said no honest person would remain attached with the AAP for long.

Meanwhile, he gave around 450 checques under the Shagun scheme and 17 gyms to the beneficiaries besides 25 tricycles to handicap persons from his own funds.