11052023-JTR-01.qxd 5/11/2023 12:00 AM Page 1 c m y b Jalandhar tribune IN PICS: MYRIAD HUES OF POLL AS RESIDENTS VOTE JANHVI, GULSHAN DEVAIAH & ROSHAN TO HEADLINE ULAJH BERGEN, STEINEM BOARD S 2 OF AND JUST LIKE THAT... Tribune lensmen Sarabjit Singh and Malkiat Singh capture the mood and colour on the poll day. P2 The film, Ujajh, will be headlined by Janhvi Kapoor, Gulshan Devaiah and Roshan Mathew. P3 Candice Bergen and Gloria Steinem are set to star in the second season of And Just Like That.... P4 » » FORECAST CLEAR SKY MAX 38°C | MIN 19°C YESTERDAY MAX 38°C | MIN 19°C SUNSET THURSDAY 7:06 PM SUNRISE FRIDAY 5:32 AM » THURSDAY | 11 MAY 2023 | JALANDHAR Day of commotion, confrontation & car, motorbike chases INBRIEF 1 DEAD AS TRUCK RAMS INTO CAR Phagwara: One person was killed while another sustained serious injuries when a speeding truck rammed into a stationary vehicle near Jamalpur village. The deceased has been identified as Vikas of Sonipat. The injured, Amit Kumar, has been admitted to Phagwara Civil Hospital. The truck driver, however, managed to flee after the incident. The body of the deceased has been sent for an autopsy. The occupants of the car were en route from Beas to Sonipat at the time of the incident. OC Aparna Banerji Tribune News Service YOUTH DIES IN ROAD MISHAP Phagwara: A youth was killed in a collision between his bike and an SUV on the PhagwaraNakodar road last night. The deceased has been identified as Ranjit Singh. The SUV driver managed to flee after hitting the bike. The police have registered a case and the body has been sent to the local Civil Hospital for post-mortem. OC NURMAHAL MAN GOES MISSING Phagwara: A 34-year-old resident of Mohalla Chhibiayan, Nurmahal, has been missing for the last 18 days. Jaspal Singh complained to the police that his son Gagan Prit Singh left home without telling anybody and never came back. He added that his son was not mentally sound. Investigating officer Manjit Singh said a missing report has been registered in this regard. OC TRAIN RUNS OVER 14-YEAR-OLD GIRL Phagwara: A 14-year-old girl was run over by a Jammubound Superfast Express train near the Satnampura railway crossing in Phagwara. The girl has been identified as Baljinder Kaur of Dakoha. She was a student of Kanya Maha Vidyalaya, Phagwara. She was crossing the railway track when the incident occurred, said Government Railway Police in-charge Gurbheij Singh. The body has been handed over to the kin of the deceased. OC People stand in a queue to cast their vote at a polling station in Jalandhar on Wednesday. TRIBUNE PHOTOS: SARABJIT SINGH Result may go down to the wire Low turnout makes four-cornered contest interesting |All eyes on May 13 JALANDHAR LOK SABHA BYPOLL Deepkamal Kaur Tribune News Service Jalandhar, May 10 Owing to a low turnout of the voters of just 54.5 per cent for the Jalandhar Lok Sabha bypoll on Wednesday, it is now everyone’s guess that the margins between the candidates of various political parties would be low this time. The result of the voting will be declared on May 13. Of the 16,21,800 voters, a total of 8,84,627 voters are learnt to have exercised their right to franchise. Phillaur had a maximum turnout of 1.11 lakh voters while Jalandhar Central had just about 82,328 voters casting their votes. Since it is a four-cornered contest between the AAP Congress, BJP and , Akali Dal, their will be a larger split of votes. The SAD (A) too is likely to do better than its previous performance. There were 19 candidates in fray and some voters are also expected to go for NOTA. After having kept an attack against the ruling party workers for the whole day and having managed to bring out violation of the presence of outsider AAP MLAs and party Voters are all smiles as they show their inked fingers after casting their vote in the Jalandhar Central area on Wednesday. workers in Jalandhar, all Opposition parties felt much elated on having taken the action. Shahkot Congress MLA Hardev Laddi Sherowalia seemed most upbeat after an FIR was lodged against AAP MLA from Baba Bakala on his complaint. Laddi had also nabbed an AAP worker from Bhikhiwind and handed him over to the police. Laddi said, “The claims of the AAP to have got joined 5,000 workers including 500 sarpanches, panches and 50-60 councillors fell completely flat. Had so many people joined the party and started working for them, they would have helped them set up booths today. But this did not happen. They had to bring in MLAs and workers from outside”. Laddi had earlier been very close to now AAP candidate Sushil Rinku. But after ex-MLA Rinku left the Congress to become the AAP candidate, Laddi had started claiming that he would ensure Rinku’s defeat. Phillaur MLA and son of Congress candidate Karamjit Chaudhary Vikramjit Chaudhary said, “The AAP MLAs from outside had come with great enthusiasm in Jalandhar today to ensure some gains for the party but we ensured that they all had to repent and feel humiliated when they left from here”. Countering Laddi’s allegations, a senior AAP functionary who did not want to be named said, “Though we had got joined several persons, our party chose not to trust them, especially since most of them were joinees from other parties. We could not take a risk on such a cru- cial day and had to send our MLAs for a close supervision of booth management”. AAP Nakodar MLA Inderjit Mann thanked the administration for a peaceful and fair poll. “The entire process went smoothly,” she claimed, adding that Congress booths were missing at some places. “I did not see it in Bir Pind to which I belong,” she said. Her rival Dr Navjot Dahiya said, “Outsider AAP workers were there in Nakodar too but we managed to convince them to leave immediately”. Jalandhar, May 10 The state of law and order was a key issue raised by the Opposition against the AAP in the heavily contested Jalandhar bypoll, as the Jalandhar constituency went to poll today. There was unanimous uproar against the party for the glaring poll violations on the Jalandhar seat. As of 12 pm, at least half a dozen constituencies had already witnessed a fight, a confrontation or the chasing away of an MLA by Opposition leaders. In an unprecedented scenario, Congress, Akali and BJP leaders posted enthusiastic social media posts against the ruling party — reading, “AAP MLA/worker/leader bhajaye”. (AAP MLAs — or workers or leaders - chased away). Incidents were reported from over half a dozen booths — at Rupewali (Shahkot), Phillaur, Jalandhar Cantt, Dhann Mohalla, Bhargo Camp, Kotli Than Singh, Kotli Gajran, among other areas. Videos of Opposition leaders chasing cars, filming videos, gheraoing or simply catching the ‘outsiders’ have surfaced. The first person to raise concern before 10 am was SAD leader Pawan Tinu. He shared a video alleging, “In keeping with the previous code violations, AAP is indulging in violations on (this) polling day too with workers from outside the constituency deputed at its booths. We have made complaints regarding this at corresponding thanas of village(s) Hazara, Haripur, Wadhiana, among others.” Soon after, a video of Congress MLA Hardev Singh Ladi Sherowalia gheraoing a car with his supporters went viral. Sherowalia, in presence of police, said, “Catch him and take action. Beyaan darj karo (record his statement.)” He further asked, “Ajj de din bahron aana ehna da banda si? (Was it justified for an outsider to come here today?)” Shortly afterwards, Sarabjit Makkar, BJP leader from Jalandhar Cantt, alleged that he had “caught” a man disbursing Congress candidate Karamjit Kaur Chaudhary and AAP’s Sushil Rinku after casting their vote. PHOTOS: MALKIAT SINGH money in the Jalandhar Cantt constituency. The leader, Daljeet Singh Bhola Grewal, MLA of Ludhiana (East), was also “chased away” on a motorbike. The BJP’s JP Nagar booth leaders, including former district president Ramesh Sharma, also gheraoed AAP leader and Amritsar Improvement Trust Chairman Ashok Talwar — who later slipped away from the spot in a car. MLAs in spotlight Complaints were made against seven AAP MLAs for their presence in the booths of the constituency in violation of the election code of conduct. Those MLAs were — Dalbir Singh Tong of Baba Bakala, Madan Lal Bagga of Ludhiana (North), Daljeet Singh Bhola Grewal of Ludhiana (East), Jasbir Singh Sandhu of Amritsar (West), Amolak Singh of Jaitu, Gurpreet Gogi (Ludhiana West) and Ajay Gupta of Amritsar (Central). Young & old exercise right to franchise, but with different aspirations ‘Whoever wins should get our pension hiked’ Tribune News Service JALANDHAR, may 10 “Meri davai te kharcha bada aanda hai, islayi beta naal nai rehnda hun. Pension vadd jaaye te main bojh na bana kisi te (my medicines are costly, because of which my son doesn’t want me anymore, I just want that the amount I get as pension gets increased, so that I do not become a burden on anyone),” Surjit Kaur, a septuagenarian from Lallian Khurd village, shared her emotions as she cast her vote. Most of the senior citizens from financially weaker families The Tribune interacted with shared common sentiments. Kaur has two sons, but she said only one lives with her. She lost her husband 22 years ago. “A lot has got spent on the treatment of legs. I need a walker to walk. I feel that I am useless, so, I want that the newly elected MP ‘WE ARE SUFFERING’ My husband takes care of me; he can’t work. Whoever wins, I request them to ensure no needy person suffers like us. Surinder Kaur GIVE AT LEAST ~3,000 We should get pension of at least ~3,000 so that we can live our life respectably and peacefully. Charan Singh ❝ ❞ ❝ ❞ Two friends aged 80 and 75 show their inked fingers at a polling station in Jalandhar. SARABJIT SINGH takes up the matter with higher authorities and do something,” she said. Charan Singh, 85 said it was necessary that people of old age get pension up to at least Rs 3,000 so that they could live their old age life peacefully. Karmi Devi, 85, also said she would be grateful if the elected MP does something to increase the pension. “Je vadha deve te, davaiya layi paise hon jaange (I’ll at least be able to pay for my medicines if there the pension gets hiked),” Karmi said. Another voter Surinder Kaur lost her eyesight when she was operated on for the tumor. “My husband takes care of me, so, he doesn’t have any option to work. He makes food for me and whatnot. Whoever wins, I just request them to assure that no needy person suffers like us,” an emotional Kaur said. c m y b ‘Need employment, development in rural areas’ Aakanksha N Bhardwaj Tribune News Service Jalandhar, May 10 Jaspreet Kaur (18), a firsttime voter from Dhanal Khurd village was excited to cast her vote in a election for the first time on Wednesday. She did not just exercise her franchise, but she also volunteered to work at the polling booth. What does she want from the MP? “There are a lot of problems such as a lack of proper roads and the scarcity of water. My village often runs out of power,” she shared. There were several firsttime voters from rural areas who came out to vote in the hope of a better future. She is pursuing graduation in BBA from a private college. “I really hope that the elected MP will take care of the problem,” Kaur said. Arpan Preet Singh (19) from Sidhupur village is a Class XII student. He is clear Two first-time voters show their certificates after exercising their right to franchise in Jalandhar on Wednesday. MALKIAT SINGH about what he voted for. “The streets in our locality are covered in filth. Last year, we cleaned up everything on our own. Water seeps into our homes in the rainy season,” he rued. Many young voters just want to see their villages flourish. Then there are those who are worried about getting jobs. They just want the government to provide jobs for them so that they do not have to move abroad. Another first-time voter, Amritpal Singh from Mehrajwala village, shared his family’s plight. “My father is a worker. He doesn’t earn much, so I couldn’t study after my XII. I just want the government to assure me that I will get a job once I complete my education, otherwise wasting my father’s hard-earned money and not getting a job would be of no use,” he said. After completing Class XII, Ramanpreet Kaur has been pursuing IELTS. But as she cast her vote today, she wished, “I want to go abroad because there is no work here even after completing my studies. But I want the candidate who wins the elections to do something for the youth so that they remain here and get good jobs in their hometown only,” she said.