VOICE OF EX-SERVICEMEN PUNJAB

Akal Takht jathedar faces protest at Sirsa village; 4 hurt in clash

I was in Sangrur at the time of incident. The villagers were protesting against the Akal Takht jathedar for exonerating Dera Sacha Sauda head Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh of blasphemy charges. BALJIT SINGH DADUWAL, radical Sikh leader

BATHINDA: Four people were injured when Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) task force clashed with villagers at Dadu in Sirsa district after rotten tomatoes were thrown at Akal Takht jathedar Giani Gurbachan Singh’s cavalcade on Friday.

Villagers also showed black flags to the jathedar when he was addressing a gathering at gurdwara Dashmesh Darbar Sahib at Dadu, a village on the Punjab-Haryana border and headquarters of Baljit Singh Daduwal, radical sarbat khalsa appointed jathedar of Takht Damdama Sahib.The villagers were opposing the gurdwara committee’s move to invite the Akal Takht jathedar to address a gathering on death anniversary of Baba Gurdev Singh.

“I was in Sangrur at the time of incident. The villagers were protesting against the Akal Takht jathedar for exonerating Dera Sacha Sauda head Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh of blasphemy charges,” said Daduwal.

Station house officer Dharambir Singh said police were recording statements of the injured and organisers.

Meanwhile, the Akal Takht jathedar could not be contacted despite repeated attempts.

Bus driver who mowed down man, son arrested

LUDHIANA MISHAP Victim family agrees to cremate bodies after reaching a secret compromise with the bus operator; funeral today

SOURCES SAY THE BUS OPERATOR HAS AGREED TO PAY `25 LAKH TO THE VICTIM FAMILY, BUT NOBODY HAS COME ON RECORD TO CORROBORATE THIS

LUDHIANA: A day after a man and his son were crushed to death by a bus belonging to a company owned by deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal and his family, the driver, Amritpal Singh of Jhajjal village in Bathinda, was arrested from Mullanpur Dakha area on Friday. He has been booked for causing death due to negligence (Section 304 A of the IPC).Hardev Singh (60) and his son Manjit Singh (28) were mowed down by a bus of Dabwali Transport Company on Thursday. An angry crowd had set the killer bus afire after coming to know about the deaths.

On Friday, the family of the deceased refused to cremate the bodies, demanding arrest of the bus owners even as heavy police force was deployed at Baddowal village to maintain law and order.The family agreed to cremate the bodies on Saturday only after Akali MLA from Dakha Manpreet Singh Ayali met them and held parleys for three hours in the presence of members of Baddowal panchayat and bus company representatives.

Baddowal sarpanch Amarjot Singh said the victims’ family had reached a compromise with the bus company, but refused to divulge details.

Sources said the bus operator had agreed to pay `25 lakh to the family as compensation, but nobody came on record to corroborate this.

On Thursday, residents of Baddowal demanded `60-lakh compensation to the family, along with government job to one of the family members. MANN VISITS FAMILY; DEMANDS MURDER CASE AGAINST BUS OWNERS

Aam Aadmi Party’s Sangrur MP Bhagwant Mann visited the family and demanded that a murder case be registered against the owner of the bus company.

Calling it “road terrorism”, Mann said the buses owned by Badals were “ruining families”.

He said if the AAP came to power in the next assembly elections, an investigation will be done to find out how only the buses owned by the Badals got the long-route permits.

He said the AAP will launch an agitation if the victim family didn’t get justice.

He criticised deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal for his “Koi kamm di gal karo” statement, saying it was insensitive.

He also called up the Jagraon SSP to know the status of the case. LICENCES ISSUED TO BADALS’ BUSES MUST BE CANCELLED: CHANNI CHANDIGARH: Leader of the Congress legislature party in the Vidhan Sabha Charanjit Singh Channi on Friday wrote to the Punjab chief secretary, requesting to cancel the licences of all buses owned by the Badal family.

“The fearless behaviour of the drivers of these buses is compounding the agonies of hapless families. The operators of these buses have become so emboldened that they threaten people who question them,” Channi said.

He said Baddowal mishap was not an isolated accident in which a bus owned by the Badal family was involved and cited nine similar fatal mishaps.

He also appealed to the people of Punjab to stop travelling in the “killer busses”.

Nowhere Man: Sidhu left hanging after Kejriwal’s blunt message

THE PARLEYS BETWEEN THE TWO (SIDHU AND KEJRIWAL) DERAILED LAST WEEK AFTER THEY FAILED TO HAMMER OUT A DEAL, SAY SOURCES

From page 01 CHANDIGARH: Former Indian cricket opener Navjot Singh Sidhu’s ambitious move to leave the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and start a second political innings with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has hit a roadblock.

That is amply clear from AAP supremo Arvind Kerjiwal’s rapid-fire tweets on Friday that former MP Sidhu “needs time to think” on joining the AAP. But, it was in the last of the three tweets that the Delhi chief minister delivered a loaded message. By saying that his respect for Sidhu “will continue whether he joins the AAP or not”, Kejriwal admitted, for the first time, that negotiations on the terms of Sidhu’s entry to AAP had reached nowhere.

It squarely puts a question mark on Sidhu’s coming on board the AAP, which fancies itself as a potential winner in the upcoming assembly elections in Punjab.

Quickly enough, the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) interpreted Kejriwal’s tweets as a “goodbye” signal to Sidhu, who has been hobnobbing with the AAP ever since his resignation as Rajya Sabha MP on July 18. And the Congress lost no time in making a flurry of fresh overtures to woo Sidhu, whose father was a Congress leader from Patiala.

It’s an open secret that Sidhu has been bargaining hard with the AAP for a good deal for himself as well as for his wife Navjot Kaur Sidhu, BJP MLA from Amritsar-East.

Sidhu, according to sources, wants to be designated as the AAP face in Punjab — read chief ministerial candidate. Also, he is rooting for a poll ticket for his wife and a dozen other candidates of his choice.

However, Sidhu’s wish list has cut little ice with Kejriwal. The behind-the-scene parleys between the two derailed last week after they failed to hammer out a mutually acceptable deal, according to AAP sources.

Projecting Sidhu as the CM candidate has potential to trigger a volcanic eruption in AAP — a risk that Kejriwal knows only too well. Senior AAP leaders in Punjab differ strongly on whether the party should declare a CM candidate, or not. State unit convener Sucha Singh Chhotepur, who himself nurses chief ministerial ambitions, wants the party to follow its principle of elected MLAs choosing their leader after the polls.Sangrur MP Bhagwant Mann, who heads the AAP’s Punjab campaign committee, is in favour of the party declaring its CM candidate as the party did ahead of its Delhi campaign. Also in race for the top job, Mann believes that it will help the party’s campaign.

Moreover, the party is now convulsed by rumblings of dissent after it has declared the first two lists of 32 candidates. Chhotepur, who has openly expressed his dismay over candidate selection, is waiting to meet Kejriwal over the issue. Already divided into Punjab and Delhi camps, the party, by declaring Sidhu as the CM candidate, will invite further dissent.

Of the demands, all that AAP is willing to offer to Sidhu is the responsibility to spearhead the campaign. As for the poll ticket, Sidhu has been asked to choose between himself and his wife, sources said, as the party’s norms say two persons from a family cannot be given the ticket.

And Kejriwal’s latest move has dashed Sidhu’s hope of AAP pitching him as its trump card in Punjab. Rather, it has a blunt message: Take it or leave it.Sidhu, having burnt his bridges with the BJP, is fast running out of options. Though the Congress has warmed up to him with Manpreet Badal even saying that he “will walk barefoot” to welcome Sidhu into the Congress, it’s not an easy choice for the former Amritsar MP. For, cutting a deal with the Congress at this stage will deal a severe blow to his credibility. With his grand gambit losing much of its impact, Sidhu finds himself in a political bind — as a nowhere man.

Can go barefoot to welcome Sidhu, says Manpreet

RAJINDER KAUR BHATTAL, former CM and senior Congress leader Joining the BJP was just an experiment. Congress is in his blood.

SIRHIND/PHAGWARA: As talks between former BJP MP Navjot Singh Sidhu and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) appeared to have hit a dead end, the Congress in Punjab went all out on Friday in its eagerness to rope in the cricketer-turnedpolitician.

“Sidhu is always welcome in the Congress. Bahut changa munda hai (He is a very good boy)... has Congress DNA in him,” said state Congress chief Capt Amarinder Singh on the sidelines of a ‘Halke vich Captain’ programme in Phagwara. Sidhu’s father, Bhagwant Singh Sidhu, was an office-bearer of the district Congress committee in Patiala. “He will always be better off in the Congress than in any other party,” said the former chief minister. This point was made by another former Congress CM, Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, in Sirhind: “Joining the BJP was just an experiment. Congress is in his blood.”

And a relatively recent Congress entrant, Manpreet Singh Badal, went a step further: “I will go barefoot to welcome Sidhu into the party if he agrees to join.” Manpreet, former state finance minister who merged his People’s Party of Punjab (PPP) with the Congress, added, though: “We have not talked for years but he is a good friend and a true soul... Doors of political parties are never closed for anyone.”

Bhattal and Manpreet were talking to the media on the sidelines of the party’s manifesto committee meeting. However, they did not answer queries on what the Congress can offer to Sidhu, whose joining of the AAP was believed to have got stuck at a demand to be projected as the CM candidate.

Taking a dig, Amarinder said AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal backstabbed Sidhu: “Kejriwal first promised Sidhu that he will announce the joining the day Sidhu resigns from the Rajya Sabha. But, later, he changed his words.”

‘AAP IGNORING CHHOTEPUR’

Amarinder termed the AAP a party of arrogant people. “They (AAP) have even ignored their state convener Sucha Singh Chhotepur; sidelined him in the poll ticket-distribution process.”

He also referred to a recent allegation by an AAP national council member that he was asked to pay Rs 50 lakh to get the ticket for his wife; at which the party has sent that member a legal notice.

Sukhbir only wants to loot people: Akali leader Tohra

PATIALA: Former cabinet minister Harmel Singh Tohra said Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Badal refused him a ticket by saying that his family does not have enough money to contest polls.

“Sukhbir Badal has no value of social service, honesty and loyalty. He doesn’t like honest people. Sukhbir wants to loot people, befool them and make false promises to them. His only motive is to loot public money and then use this ill-gotten money in elections to purchase votes,’’ said Tohra in Madaur village of Patiala (rural) assembly segment.

Harmel is son-in-law of Akali stalwart late Gurcharan Singh Tohra. And he is miffed after the SAD cut his wife Kuldeep Kaur’s ticket from Patiala rural seat, where SAD president has handpicked Youth Akali Dal leader Satbir Singh Khatra.“I have personally witnessed the imperial mindset of Sukhbir, when he said –Tuhade kol paise nahi han, is lai ticket nahi deni—(Your family has not enough money for elections, thus ticket is denied),’’ he said.

“Tohra supporters are present in entire Punjab, and they will not forgive Sukhbir for this misdeed,’’ he said and added he would continue to raise voice against corruption.

Sidhu

The offer of course, is contingent on the party winning the 2017 assembly elections and Capt Amarinder Singh – who is the party’s chief ministerial candidate – vacating the Amritsar Lok Sabha seat. Sidhu was elected thrice to the Lok Sabha from Amritsar and his wife is the sitting MLA from there. “Sidhu has the Congress DNA in him and he will always be better off in the Congress,” Amarinder told reporters in Phagwara.

In a string of tweets on Friday morning, Kejriwal said there are rumours over the delay in Sidhu’s joining. “He met me last week. Didn’t put any pre-condition. He needs time to think. Let’s respect that (sic),” Kejriwal tweeted. In another tweet, he left the question whether Sidhu would join or not, unanswered: “He is a v gud human being n a ckt legend. My respect for him wud continue whether he joins or not (sic).”

Since last week, from the time Sidhu went back on the joining date of August 14, different sources in the AAP said the couple was negotiating hard and seeking tickets for both while the party’s constitution lays down the norm of ‘one ticket per family.’ A senior leader claimed Sidhu wanted an assurance that his wife would be given a cabinet berth in Punjab and he would be the AAP’s face or get a Rajya Sabha nomination. Another leader said Sidhu wanted to be projected as the party’s CM face. “We told him, we cannot forego our processes or change the party constitution for him. He doesn’t need any declarations from AAP, he is already a tall leader,” a source in the AAP said.“It will be entirely his decision to join the party. The people of Punjab will decide who their MLA and the chief minister will be,” AAP’s national spokesperson Dilip Pandey had said on Thursday giving credence to reports that the Sidhu’s were playing hard.

But with reports from Punjab suggesting that the delay in inducting Sidhu into the party will affect AAP’s popularity, the party brass began course correction. It appointed Delhi MLA Jarnail Singh, who is a survivor of the anti-sikh violence of 1984, as joint in-charge and spokesperson for Punjab. Hours later, Kejriwal tweeted saying he would always respect Sidhu whatever his decision.

Pargat to join AAP, recontest Jalandhar Cantt seat

Deepkamal Kaur

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, August 19

Pargat Singh, suspended Akali MLA from Jalandhar Cantt, will join the the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) by mid-September and recontest the seat on AAP ticket. This was confirmed by Durgesh Pathak, organisational incharge of AAP.

Sounding cautious, Paqthak said: “In politics, it is not wise to comment till something actually happens. In any case, the announcement will not come this month. It will take a few more weeks."

Pargat Singh is holidaying with his family in Kasauli. Sources say the MLA is buying time so as to complete his four-and-a-half-year term (by September 6) to become eligible for pension.

“I am enjoying my short break from politics. I will attend the Vidhan Sabha session that starts on September 5. The announcement (on his joining AAP) will come at the appropriate time,” the hockey Olympian and former Sports Director said.

Pargat had in April refused to accept the CPS post offered to him by his party, taking a firm stand against the solid waste management plant at Jamsher in his constituency. He stopped attending party events and was eventually suspended on July 19, a day after cricketer Navjot Sidhu announced he was quitting his Rajya Sabha seat.

Pargat had at a press conference accused Deputy CM Sukhbir Badal of mismanaging the party affairs. He had written to the CM, saying history would blame him for the party's "downfall."

Cong, AAP put ball in Sidhu’s court

Aditi Tandon

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, August 19

The Congress said today that it was not into talks with former BJP MP Navjot Singh Sidhu on joining its fold, even as Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener Arvind Kejriwal tweeted that Sidhu had not set any condition for joining AAP and needed more time to decide.

“He resigned from the Rajya Sabha but not from the primary membership of the BJP. We will comment only after he quits the BJP,” Asha Kumari, Congress affairs incharge for Punjab, told The Tribune today.

“You cannot talk to people who are part of other parties,” she added.

Asked if the Congress would welcome Sidhu in case he quit the BJP and expressed the desire to join, Kumari said, “If Sidhu decides to leave the saffron ranks and join the Congress’ secular fold, he will be welcome, as anyone else.”

Party’s chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala was more vocal in wooing the former cricketer. “We may have political differences with Sidhu, but he is a legend in the fields of cricket and entertainment. He has been betrayed by the BJP and also by AAP. No one should be treated like that,” Surjewala said.

Meanwhile, stating that he had great respect for the ex-MP, who met him last week, Kejriwal said his (Sidhu’s) decision to take a call on whether or not to join the party must be respected.

Ever since Sidhu quit the Rajya Sabha last month, speculation has been rife that he will join AAP as the CM candidate for the Punjab.

Badals biggest enemies of Punjab: Amarinder

Ashok Kaura

Phagwara, August 19

Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee president Capt Amarinder Singh today asked Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal not to rest on his laurels over the state Governor being reappointed the Chandigarh Administrator, instead he should assert state’s complete claim on Chandigarh.

Talking to mediapersons on the sidelines of the “Halqe Vich Captain” programme, he said, “The way Badal is reacting over the Central Government’s decision to reverse the appointment of a separate Administrator hints that he has forgotten that Chandigarh actually belongs to Punjab.”

Asked to comment on Badal’s statement that the 2017 elections would be the fought between pro and anti-Punjab forces, he said, “There cannot be a bigger enemy of Punjab than the Badals.” The way the Badals have looted and robbed the state for 10 years makes them eligible for the “enemy number one of Punjab” title.

He asked Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to clarify on the charges of his NGO “Parivartan” being funded by the Ford Foundation and the CIA. He said AAP’s graph had taken a dip with senior leaders revealing how they were asked to pay Rs 50 lakh for the party ticket.

About estranged BJP leader Navjot Singh Sidhu’s possibility of joining the Congress, he said he was always welcome. “Sidhu has the Congress DNA in him and he will always be better off in the Congress than any other party,” he said.

About the list of party candidates for the forthcoming elections, he said the PPCC would finalise its recommendations in the next 10 days after which the party high command would take the final call.

During an interaction with party workers, he said if voted to power, the Congress would provide five-marla plots to the homeless and eradicate the scourge of drugs within four weeks.

Cong seeks traders’ suggestions for manifesto

• Faridkot: The Punjab Congress started an outreach campaign in Faridkot, collecting inputs from small traders, shopkeepers, fruit dealers, retired employees, commission agents and members of various associations of the business community. Former Union Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal and former MP Vijay Inder Singla, in association with some senior party leaders, conducted a meeting with various communities, seeking inputs for the manifesto for the Assembly elections. We will collate the views after collecting these from the meetings with traders in different parts of the state. We will put the significant ones among these in the party manifesto, said Pawan Kumar Bansal. Under this outreach program, the Congress will cover every district and the maximum number of Assembly constituencies so that there is consensus on the most relevant issues confronting Punjab, said Vijay Inder Singla. TNS

• Cancel licence of Badals’ buses, demands Channi

• Tribune News Service

  Chandigarh, August 19

  Leader of the Opposition Charanjit Singh Channi today demanded that instructions be issued to the state Transport Department to rein in buses of private transport companies, especially those being run by the company owned by the ruling family.

  In a letter to Chief Secretary Sarvesh Kaushal, Channi said the licence of the erring buses should be cancelled and strict action taken against the drivers as well as the owners.

Man takes poison outside Badal’s house

Chandigarh, August 19

High drama was witnessed today outside the Punjab Chief Minister’s residence when a man claimed that he had taken poison. 

Sources said Ajaib Singh (48), a resident of Banur, who claimed to be a leader of the Bahujan Samaj Party, arrived outside Parkash Singh Badal’s residence and alleged that the Punjab Police had been harassing him by registering a false case against him. 

The man claimed that he had taken poison after which the Chandigarh Police were informed. DSP Krishan Kumar said the man was rushed to Government Multi-Specialty Hospital (GMSH), Sector 16, from where he was referred to the PGI. 

The police said it was yet to be confirmed what substance was taken by the man. — TNS

Over 6,500 attend ‘Halke Vich Captain’

Ashok Kaura

Phagwara, August 19

During the ‘Halke Vich Captain’ programme at Phagwara, residents and Congress workers attended the function in large numbers. They expressed their grievances before PPCC chief Captain Amarinder Singh and alleged that Akalis have been resorting to political vendetta and registering fake FIRs against them.

All leaders in the race of tickets, Joginder Singh Maan, Balbir Rani Sodhi, Sohan Lal Banga and Jarnail Nangal, and other leaders, Harjit Singh Parmar and Balbir Raja Sodhi, Daljit Raju, Ashok Uppal, Satbir Singh Sahbhi and Kulwant Pabbi, made their presence felt with their the show of strength. Sodhi had reportedly called several women from various villages to interact with the PPCC chief to apprise him about their problems. The residents raised several queries before Capt on drugs, unemployment, fake FIRs etc.

A resident, Amrik Singh, made serious allegations against the police. Capt said the Congress would wipe out drug issue in four weeks while replying to the grievances of the villagers. He said Congress would cancel all fake FIRs and put all the culprits behind the bars.

On corruption, Capt said, “Congress will make a Lokpal, not like the present government in which Badal’s relatives were the member, but a new one which will be headed by ex-judge and even CM could not intervene in its functioning.” More than 6,500 people attended the event out of which 1,500 were women.