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Clashes, firing, candidate's death
in panchayat poll but
call them peaceful, please!
WSN Network
 PUNJAB'S
ELECTORAL TURF: After
violence in block samiti and zilaparishad elections, and after
Sukhbir Singh Badal's statement of unparalleled clairvoyance that no
more violence will happen this time, only chaos was to be expected.
And it happened.
Some violence
also happened, but CM Parkash Singh Badal did not twitch an eyelid
when he said: "Kaka ji, thorra bahut rola-gola tan hunda hee hai."
So clashes, a shootout and the death of a candidate under suspicious
circumstances notwithstanding, Akalis and the media described the
panchayat elections in Punjab as "largely peaceful".
Most villages
witnessed heavy voting at around 80 per cent. Dozens of panchayats
witnessed cancellation of polling due to ballot paper problems.
Badal's Muktsar district saw firing and booth capturing; political
workers had to be hospitalised. In Dera Baba Basantpur village of
Pathankot, a BJP-backed candidate, Jeet Ram, was found dead in the
morning of Monday. His rival was booked on the charge of murder.
Panchayat elections were not fought on party symbols and it was easy
for Akalis to claim victory.
In Lambi,
Badal's native place, ruling Akali Dal leader Iqbal Singh Tarmala
and his supporters were severely beaten by villagers when he tried
to capture a booth. Interesting scenes were witnessed at Capital
Business Systems Limited (CBSL) in Delhi where political activists
barged in and compelled the management to reprint faulty and erratic
ballot papers. This delayed timely distribution of ballot papers in
many districts, forcing the State Election Commission Punjab, to
call for fresh polls at many centres.
Much like the
earlier violence, Lambi remained a flash point. Clashes, firing and
booth capturing were the order of the day in Lambi as well as
villages of Gidderbaha, Malout and Muktsar. The police force led by
Lambi SHO Harinder Singh knew they were not expected to intervene.
In complaints to the Chief Election Commissioner and the Chief
Justice of the
Punjab
and Haryana High Court, the four candidates alleged that the SSP and
his team, accompanied by Akali leaders, captured the booth. The SSP
denied firing at the polling station.
CM's wife
Surinder Kaur Badal was the only member of the Badal family who
exercised her franchise at Badal village. Some 20 persons were
injured in clashes between SAD and Congress workers in
Amritsar
and Tarn Taran districts. Sukhjinder Raj Singh Lali Majithia,
district Congress chief, Amritsar (rural), accused the SAD of
malpractices. In Moga, Congress MLA Joginder Pal Jain and his
supporters were booked on the charge of attempt to murder during the
panchayat elections in Moga. Earlier, Congress worker Harnek Singh
was shot at allegedly by SAD supporters at a polling station in
Ramuwala Klan village.
In Ferozepur,
repolling was ordered in four villages due to violence during the
panchayat elections in this border district. In Batala and Dera Baba
Nanak, violence marked the panchayat elections leaving more than 12
persons injured. In Nawa Pind under Batala constituency, seven
persons were seriously inured in a clash between the two rival Akali
groups.
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Kin
everywhere, everyone's
A sister-in-law of Badal Sr and daughter-in-law of a former CM
Harcharan
Singh Brar were also in the fray for the election of panch in
Bathinda and Muktsar. At Chak Fateh Singhwala village, the
ancestral village of the in-laws of Parkash Singh Badal,
Shawinder Kaur, wife of Inderjit Singh, who is brother-inlaw of
Parkash Singh Badal, filed her nomination papers for the post of
panch. Thanks to the political influence of the family, Congress
leaders at the village withdrew in her favour. She is set to be
elected sarpanch now. At Sarainaga, the ancestral
village of Brar,
it is Karan Kaur Brar, his daughter-in-law, who contested the
election for panch. Interestingly, Karan Brar had contested the
2004 parliamentary election on Congress ticket from Faridkot
against Sukhbir Badal and had lost by a big margin. Her husband
Kanwaljit Singh Brar is MLA from Muktsar. |
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28
May,
2008
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