Punjab CM and Deputy CM condoles the demise of two persons in a roof collapsed

Chandigarh 15 April:
The Chief Minister Mr. Parkash Singh Badal and Deputy Chief Minister Mr. Sukhbir Singh Badal today expressed deep shock and sorrow over an incident of roof collapsed of a building under renovation in the premises of Gurdwara Ramsar complex in Amritsar here this afternoon. The unfortunate incident claimed lives of two persons (kar sewaks) and injured three others.
The Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister share their heart felt sympathizes with the members of the bereaved families and pray to the Almighty to give strength and courage to bear this irreparable loss and grant peace to the departed souls. Meanwhile the Deputy Commissioner, Amritsar announced an ex-gratia grant of one Lac to the next of kin of the deceased and Rs. 25000/- for the injured on the behalf of the State Government.

Amarjit Kaur quits Congress to boost SAD poll campaign

Chandigarh, April 15--- The SAD-BJP alliance today got shot in arm in Patiala Lok Sabha constituency with another Congress leader, Mrs Sheelam Sohi joining Shiromani Akali Dal in quick succession to Mrs Amarjit Kaur, aunt of Capt Amrinder Singh whose wife, Parneet Kaur is contesting from this Parliament seat.

Aunt of former Chief Minister Capt. Amrinder Singh and former President of Punjab Mahila Congress Ms. Amarjit Kaur posing with Shiromani Akali Dal President S. Sukhbir Singh Badal after quitting Congress party and joining Shiromani Akali Dal at Patiala. Also seen in Picture SAD-BJP candidate from Patiala Lok Sabha constituency Mr. Prem Singh Chandumajra.

Mrs Sohi who announced her decision to quit Congress at here today, hails from Banur assembly segment of the Patiala Lok Sabha constituency. Pledging her full support to SAD-BJP candidate Prof Prem Singh Chandumajra, Mrs Sohi, a well-entrenched leader of her area said she had felt clogged in the Punjab Congress ,presently being controlled a bunch of self-centered leaders.

Mrs Sohi had lost the Banur assembly poll by a meager margin of only 714 votes to late Akali stalwart Capt Kanwaljit Singh in 2002. And her joining SAD has given a boost to its election campaign in the area.
The SAD campaign has succeeded in making a dent in the rival citadels and has consolidated its position to win the seat with a big margin. Besides the SAD senior leadership, the BJP leaders too have launched an aggressive vote-mobilization in the urban centers of the constituency. Speaking at the massive poll rallies at Dakala and Sanour , Punjab Minister Manoranjan Kalia today appealed the electorate to ensure the victory of Prof Chandumajra as to guarantee the installation of NDA government led by L.K Advani at the Centre.

Lashing out at the UPA, Mr Kalia said the Manmohan Singh Government has miserably failed in ensuring security of the countrymen from the impending terrorist menace besides bringing the development to a grinding halt.

Prof Chandumajra took a whirl wind tour of several villages of the constituency and got a tumultuous response from the voters. “ I will act as your ambassador in the Parliament and will openly plead with the central government for maximum funds for all round development of the area”, he told the people chanting slogans in his support.

PUNJAB C M AND DEPUTY C M MOURNS THE TRAGIC DEMISE OF FOUR CHILDREN WHO DROWNED IN SATLUJ

Chandigarh, April 14:

Punjab Chief Minister S. Parkash Singh Badal and Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal today expressed profound grief and sorrow over the sad and tragic demise of Four Children who had been drowned in the River Satluj on the occasion of Baisakhi near village asron in Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar District.

The Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister shared their heartfelt condolences with the members of the bereaved families and prayed to the Almighty to give strength and courage to bear this irreparable lose and grant peace to the departed souls. Meanwhile the deputy Commissioner Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar Mr. Gurkirt kirpal Singh announced an ex-gratia grant of Rs. 1 Lakh to the nest of the kin of the deceases on the behalf of the State Government.

PUNJAB GOVERNMENT SEEKS ECI’S APPROVAL FOR COMPENSATION TO FARMERS AND FARM LABORERS WHO COMMITTED SUICIDE

Chandigarh, April 14

The State Revenue department has sought approval from Election Commission of India to grant compensation of Rs. 2 Lakh each to the next of the Kin of the deceased farmers and farm labor who committed suicides in the district of Sangrur and Bathinda.

Disclosing this here today a spokesman of the Punjab Govt. said that Punjab Agriculture University Ludhiana had been asked to conduct a detailed survey to ascertain the such cases who had committed suicides over past many years in the state. The Authority of PAU had submitted the report of such suicide cases in districts of Sangrur and Bathinda. Accordingly the State Govt. had referred the case to the Election Commission of India to seek its clearance to make payment of the compensation to the families of the deceased. It may be recalled that the State cabinet had already given in principal approval to grant compensation of Rs. 2 Lakh each to the families of the farmers and Farm Laborers who were driven to commit suicides.

CHIEF ELECTORAL OFFICE PUNJAB

Chandigarh: April 14
The Election Commission of India has allowed the submission of the Punjab Pay Commission Report to the Government and its processing by the State Government. This was stated here today by a spokesman of CEO Punjab.
As many as six candidates have filed their nomination papers today for the forthcoming Parliamentary Elections 2009 in the State.
He further said that Mr. Bhagwant Singh Samao, CPI(ML) Libration, has filed his nomination papers from Bathinda. Mr. Jagmeet Singh Brar and Mrs. Amanpreet Kaur, Congress (I), Mr. Manoj Kumar, Akhil Bharti Shiv Sena (Rashatravadi) and Mr. Dhayan Singh SAD (Amritsar) have filed their nomination papers from Ferozepur Constituency. Mr. Billu Singh, All India Shiromani Baba Jiwan Singh (Majabi Dal) has filed his papers from Sangrur.
According to the spokesman, total number of 960 complaints of violations had been received out of which 536 had been disposed off and 424 were under process.

DECKS HAVE BEEN CLEARED FOR SUBMISSION OF 5TH PAY PANEL REPORT FOLLOWING ECI’S CLEARANCE

Chandigarh, April 14:
Decks have been cleared for submission of 5th Pay Panel Report following ECI’s clearance today.
It may be recalled the state Chief Secretary Mr. R. I Singh had taken up the issue with the Election Commission of India through Chief Electoral Officer, Punjab Ms. Kusamjeet Sidhu for seeking its approval for the submission and implementation of the recommendations of the Pay Panel in wake of the model code of conduct having been enforced in view of forth coming Lok Sabha Election. The Election commission of India Initially refused to grant permission to the State Government in this regard. Later on the insistence of the State Government to give permission to submission and implementation of Pay Panel’s report in view of the strong precedents of states like Chattisgarh cited in the letter addressed by the Chief Secretary to the Chief Election Commission of India on April 13.
The Spokesman further said that the 5th Punjab Pay Commission was constituted in December 2006 and as per the terms of reference issued by the state government on March 3, 2008 and the commission was asked to submit its report within a year by March 31, 2009. As now the report was ready and the Chief Secretary had already written two letters to the Election Commission of India twice on April 6 and April 13 in this regard. The State cabinet had already accorded in principal approval for the implementation of the recommendation of the 5th Punjab Pay Commission the spokesman added.

NDA to waive off all agricultural and small loans; to provide loan to poor and farmers at 4%; Akali Dal Promises at Talwandi Sabo

Chandigarh, April 14, 2009

Shiromani Akali Dal today promised to waive off all loans of farmers and poor people if NDA comes to power in mid May. Putting Congress party on defensive, in the political conference at Talwandi Sabo on the occasion of Baisakhi, Akali Dal today questioned the sincerity of its pro poor and pro farmers policies.

Chief Minister S. Parkash Singh Badal led the attack from front whereas Deputy Chief Minister and Akali Dal President exposed all the policies of Congress party threadbare, putting the UPA on mat especially when Rahul Gandhi was trying to explain the so called ‘Aam Aadmi policies’ in the Congress pandal. If sea of humanity present in the Akali Dal Pandal was any indicator, Bibi Harsimrat Kaur Badal the SAD candidate from Bathinda Lok Sabha Constituency seems to be much ahead Congress’s Rajkumar’ who was still moving on the crutches of ex kings and princes campaigning for him in Bathinda.
S. Parkash Singh Badal virtually opened the dialogue with the thousands of people when he asked them that how many people have got benefit of debt waiver scheme of UPA. Not finding any response, Mr. Badal said that this is the much touted scheme of UPA that has not benefited even 0.01 % farmers of Punjab, known as wheat bowl of the country. He said that Congress has always discriminated against Punjab and all its policies were tailor made to keep Punjab out of beneficiaries list.

Promising to correct all imbalances in the policies of centre government, Mr. Badal promised that if NDA comes to power it would come out with package for farmers and small laborers. He said that Congress policies were drafted to benefit few industrial houses whereas majority of Indian population was getting crushed with the ever rising prices of essential commodities, that too with inflation at 0% level. Mr. Badal promised that NDA would waive of all agricultural loans, all small loans and provide fresh loans at 4% interest. He said that farmers would get diesel at Rs. 10 per litre to make farming a profitable profession for them. Mr. Badal said that NDA would implement M. S. Swaminathan commission report by linking MSP of agricultural produce with whole sale price index.

Launching a frontal attack the young Akali Dal President Mr. Sukhbir Singh Badal lambasted the Congress for awarding butchers of Sikhs and denying justice to 3000 Sikh families even after 25 years. He said that it was surprising that firstly by awarding the tickets and that sheepishly withdrawing their candidature Congress was posing as martyr. He said that SAD-BJP government would continue to fight till all killers of 1984 massacre were given exemplary punishments.
The Akali Dal president also unveiled its futuristic agenda of development for Punjab. He said that within three years Punjab would be power surplus state and emerge as most preferred destination for the business. He said that with the completion of four thermal plants, three international airports, express ways, and 40 ROB’s, Punjab was all set to emerge as investor friendly state of India.

Addressing the rally SAD-BJP candidate from Bathinda Lok Sabha constituency Mrs. Harsimrat Kaur Badal said that as a local resident of the Bathinda constituency she was well aware of problems being faced by people, especially women of the area. She promised to address these on being elected as Member Parliament. She affirmed that being a politician also women empowerment was on her key agenda and social issues were more important to her.

Prominent among othres SGPC president Jathedar Avtar Singh, Mr. Balbir Punj, senior BJP leader, Mr. Manpreet Singh Badal, Finance Minister and Balwinder Singh Bhunder, General secretary Shiromani Akali Dal also address the rally. Whereas Mr. Jagdeep Singh Nakai, Chief Parliamentary Secretary, Mr. Darshan Singh Kotfatta, Incharge Bathinda rural, Mr. Gurdev Singh Badal, former minister were present on the political stage along with a number of Akali and BJP leaders.

Amarinder faces revolt in family; his aunt Amarjit Kaur joins Akali Dal

• Sukhbir Scoffs at ‘Rotational Headship’ in Punjab Congress

Chandigarh, April 14, 2009

Congress leader Amrinder Singh already facing revolt from various factions of his party faced another jolt from an unexpected quarter, that, too from his own family, as Mrs. Amarjit Kaur, his aunt (Chachi) quitted Congress party and joined Shiromani Akali Dal in the presence of SAD President Mr. Sukhbir Singh Badal at Patiala today. The defection of senior leaders like Amarjit Kaur, Member Parliament twice at the crucial moment of elections is an indicator of the fact that all right thinking and mass based leaders are fed up with the autocratic attitude of Amrinder Singh. She was also the member of UNO and the chairman of Central Social Welfare Board for two times besides being President of Mahila Congress. And their quitting Congress will make it more difficult for Parneet Kaur even to save her deposit.

Speaking to the media, Mr. Sukhbir Singh Badal said that the electoral battles can be fought only by leading the workers from the front and not by remote controlled media campaign from the air conditioned rooms of Moti Bagh Palace. One can understand the difficulty of the Maharaja not moving out of Air conditioned environs of his palatial palace, that too in scorching sun of mid-April. He was only appearing for brief photo sessions enacted daily, in the AC library of the Palace, which manifests the rootlessness of the leaders in the Congress party, Mr Badal said.

Making mockery of ‘rotational headship’ introduced in the Punjab Congress, to keep the dwindling flock of disgruntled ‘leaders’ together, Mr. Sukhbir Singh Badal said that Congress was a leaderless and directionless party, with every leader being given opportunity to head it for one month or so on rotational basis. There was so much infighting in the various sections of Congress that they have no energy left to face Akali Dal in elections. The Congress has invented various compromise formulae and changed nomenclature of various posts in the party like ‘Acting President’, ‘Working President’, ‘Campaign Manager’ which any political outfit for go in for only when it is in distress.

Describing Mrs. Amarjit Kaur as a mass leader, Mr. Badal said that every rooted leader invariably felt suffocated when the party controlled by sycophants, Raj Darbaries and erstwhile Maharajas and they opted for a cadre- based party like SAD.
Thanking SAD President for accepting her in his party fold , Mrs Amarjit Kaur said that she was pained at the callous attitude of the Congress which awarded ‘butchers’ of the 1984 anti-Sikh massacre with Lok Sabha tickets.She was also upset in the way the mass-based leaders were deliberately sidelined, giving priority to sycophants in the party.

Mr. Badal claimed that both ‘Rani’ and ‘Rajkumar’ were set to lose their deposits as his party was committed to defeat Raninder Singh by 2 Lakh votes in the Bathinda constituency and ‘Rani’ Parneet kaur by 1 Lakh votes in the Patiala seat.
Prominent SAD-BJP leaders present at the occasion included their candidate from Patiala Lok Sabha Constituency, Mr. Prem Singh Chandumajra, Mr. Raj Khurana, Chief Parliamentary Secretary, Mr. Surjit Singh Rakhra, President N.R.I wing of Shiromani Akali Dal, Mr. Gurpreet Singh Raju Khana, Chairman Youth Development Board, Mr. Surjit Singh Kohli, Mr. Harmel Singh Tohra, Mr. Ajaib Singh Mukhmailpur, Mr. Hamir Singh Ghagga, Mr. Dalip Singh Pandhi (all former Ministers), Mr. Indermohan Singh Bajaj, District President Urban Shiromani Akali Dal, Mr. Shajju Ram Sofat, Director Punjab Trade Board, Mr. Balwant Rai, District President Urban BJP, Mr. Tajinder Pal Singh Sandhu, former Chairman S. S. Board and Mr. Anil Bajaj, Senior Deputy Mayor were also present on the occasion

CHIEF ELECTORAL OFFICE PUNJAB

Chandigarh: April 14
The Election Commission of India has allowed the submission of the Punjab Pay Commission Report to the Government and its processing by the State Government. This was stated here today by a spokesman of CEO Punjab.
As many as six candidates have filed their nomination papers today for the forthcoming Parliamentary Elections 2009 in the State.

He further said that Mr. Bhagwant Singh Samao, CPI(ML) Libration, has filed his nomination papers from Bathinda. Mr. Jagmeet Singh Brar and Mrs. Amanpreet Kaur, Congress (I), Mr. Manoj Kumar, Akhil Bharti Shiv Sena (Rashatravadi) and Mr. Dhayan Singh SAD (Amritsar) have filed their nomination papers from Ferozepur Constituency. Mr. Billu Singh, All India Shiromani Baba Jiwan Singh (Majabi Dal) has filed his papers from Sangrur.

According to the spokesman, total number of 960 complaints of violations had been received out of which 536 had been disposed off and 424 were under process.