17122024-LT-01.qxd 12/17/2024 12:25 AM Page 1 c m y b Ludhiana tribune CITY LAD WINS BRONZE IN NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP ABOHAR BECOMES HUB OF ILLEGAL LIQUOR DISTILLATION FAREWELL, USTAD ZAKIR HUSSAIN Keshvam Thapar has made city proud by winning a bronze in national roller skating championship. P2 Days before MC poll, areas along canals in Abohar subdivision emerged as key hubs for illegal liquor distillation. P3 Legendary tabla player Zakir Hussain has passed on, but he leaves behind a legacy for generations to cherish. P4 » » » FORECAST MAINLY CLEAR SKY MAX 22°C | MIN 4°C YESTERDAY MAX 22°C | MIN 4°C SUNSET TUESDAY 5.25 PM SUNRISE WEDNESDAY 7:12 AM TUESDAY | 17 DECEMBER 2024 | LUDHIANA Stakes high for AAP after winning single seat in 2018 MC elections Cong hopes for return; BJP, SAD contesting solo after 23 years Nitin Jain Tribune News Service Ludhiana, December 16 The stage is set for the elections to the Municipal Corporation (MC), Ludhiana, and three municipal councils (MCs), and a nagar panchayat (NP) in the district on December 21. Besides, the bypoll to one ward each in Khanna and Samrala MCs will also be held on the same day. The MC elections in Ludhiana were being held after a delay of almost two years, precisely 21 months, as the five-year term of the previous MC House had ended on March 25 last year. Since then, administrator’s rule had been imposed to run affairs of the state’s biggest and largest civic body, in terms of area, population and budget as well. While the main Opposition Congress had swept the 2018 MC poll by winning 62 of the total 95 wards, the erstwhile Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alliance was reduced to 21 seats, and the present ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which had then debuted in the civic poll by Caring little about defacing public and private properties, political parties have put up huge banners and billboards on various buildings across the city ahead of the MC poll. HIMANSHU MAHAJAN FLASHBACK Year 2018 2012 2007 Congress SAD-BJP 62 SAD 11, BJP 10 17 SAD 27, BJP 12 19 SAD 24, BJP 13 AAP-LIP 8 NA NA IND 4 21 17 TELLING NUMBERS City Ludhiana Mullanpur Dakha Sahnewal Machhiwara Maloud Wards 95 13 15 15 11 Voters 11,61,689 14,730 18,603 18,583 6,067 joining hands with the then local MLAs’ Bains brothers’- Candidates Booths 447 1,224 44 19 54 22 31 23 31 11 led Lok Insaaf Party (LIP) had merely opened an account by winning a single seat. The LIP had won seven seats while four wards had elected Independents. The then SAD-BJP combine had ruled the MC House for two consecutive terms in 2017 and 2012 before losing in 2018 while the then ruling Congress had stormed to power in the 2018 poll after 10 years. In the past three MC elections, the BJP had always remained a junior partner of its erstwhile ally SAD. Of the total 21 seats won by the continued on page 2 c m y b Check process of preparing EVMs, political parties told Ludhiana, December 16 Deputy Commissioner-cumDistrict Election Officer (DEO) Jitendra Jorwal on Monday urged political parties and candidates contesting the MC elections to inspect the EVM preparation process on December 17 to ensure transparency. The initiative aims to uphold the integrity of the electoral process in Ludhiana. The EVMs will be prepared on December 17 at Government College for Girls, Bharat Nagar; Khalsa Girls Senior Secondary School; Khalsa College for Women, Ghumar Mandi; SCD Government College; KVM School; EVM Warehouse at SRS Polytechnic College, Rishi Nagar; Guru Nanak Public School, Sarabha Nagar; Green Land Senior Secondary Public School, Ludhiana; Guru Nanak Dev Polytechnic College (GNE Campus); S Kuldeep Singh Sekhon Auditorium, GTB National College, Dakha; SSD Government Senior Secondary School, Machhiwara; Office of the market committee, Dana Mandi, Maloud; AS Modern Senior Secondary School, MK Road, Khanna; and BDPO office, Samrala. — TNS Nepalese help targets elderly woman, decamps with valuables from home dent of Nepal, a day before the incident. He called two of his companions and made his elderly mother-in-law Lakhwinder Kaur (75) unconscious by serving food laced with sedatives or making her smell something. Afterwards, the miscreant stole gold jewellery and cash from the house. He said since his mother-inlaw was admitted to a hospital, only she could reveal about the value of stolen things. Sources said the police verifi- cation of the Nepalese servant was yet to be done. It would be a daunting task for the police to crack the case due to the same. Earlier also, Nepalese servants had committed several thefts with the same modus operandi and most of the cases are lying unsolved. Ravinder Kumar in-charge, Shaheed Bhagat Singh police post, said the police launched investigation and efforts were on to trace the suspects. — TNS Security guard dies as mini-truck hits bike Sarpanch’s husband attacked, 5 booked Ludhiana, December 16 Nepalese servant employed in a house a day ago committed a theft there. The miscreant committed the crime by calling two accomplices to home. They made the elderly woman of the house unconscious before decamping with valuables. Giving information to the police, elderly woman’s sonin-law Amarinder Singh said they had hired a Nepalese domestic help, Suraj, a resi- Ludhiana, December 16 A security guard died in a road mishap on the Hambran road on Sunday night when his motorcycle was hit by a rashly driven loaded Tata Ace vehicle. After the collision, the victim fell on the road and suffered serious injuries on his head, due to which he succumbed to his injuries on the spot. After the mishap, the driver of the mini-truck stopped the vehicle. He along with passersby tried to give first aid to the bike rider but the youth could not survive. Later, his family members were informed. The deceased was identified as Karamjit Singh, a resident of Salempura village. His uncle Jagjit Singh said Karamjit was 24-year-old. He worked as a security guard at a textile factory near Ladhowal. On Sunday night, he was going to work when the accident occurred. Karamjit was the sole breadwinner in his family. He was survived by his mother and a sister. The Hambran police nabbed the driver and registered a case of negligent driving. The body was kept in the Civil Hospital for autopsy. — TNS Ludhiana, December 16 The Sadar Raikot police registered a case against five persons on the charge of attacking the husband of the sarpanch of Littran village in Raikot. Two of the suspects were identified as Davinder Singh and Pardeep, residents of the village. Complainant Surjit Singh said he works as a daily wager. On December 13, he had gone to the cooperative society for some work, where the suspects attacked him with a sharp weapon and an iron rod. He was saved by Harjinder Singh, a resident of the village. Later, he lodged a police complaint, following which a case was registered. — TNS