05062024-LT-01.qxd 6/5/2024 1:29 AM Page 1 c m y b Ludhiana tribune 26 INDEPENDENTS, 16 OTHERS LOSE SECURITY DEPOSIT BJP CITADEL COLLAPSES, AS CHABBEWAL WINS HOSHIARPUR GRATEFUL FOR THE LOVE AND SUPPORT: RAJ BABBAR Minimum number of votes required this time around to save security deposit stood at 1.76 lakh. P2 Raj Kumar Chabbewal of AAP defeats his nearest rival Cong candidate Yamini Gomar by 44,411 votes. P3 Raj Babbar, who contested elections on Cong ticket, gave one of the biggest fights to contenders in Haryana. P4 » » » FORECAST GENERALLY CLOUDY MAX 41°C | MIN 27°C YESTERDAY MAX 43°C | MIN 26°C SUNSET WEDNESDAY 7.21 PM SUNRISE THURSDAY 5:21 AM WEDNESDAY | 5 JUNE 2024 | LUDHIANA Man dies by suicide, wife, her father booked Ludhiana, June 4 After a man died by suicide by hanging himself from a ceiling fan at his residence in Kaonke Kalan village in Jagraon, his wife and her father were booked by the police on the charge of abetment to suicide. The deceased was identified as Kuldeep Singh (24). The suspects have been identified as Amandeep Kaur, the victim’s wife, and his father-in-law Wazir Singh, a resident of Dehlon. TRIED TO SAVE SON BUT IN VAIN I tried to save my son ❝he succumbed. He took but the extreme step due to threats of his wife and father-in-law. Strict action should be taken against them. — VICTIM’S FATHER ❞ Deceased’s father Karamjit Singh told the police that his son had solemnised love marriage with Amandeep Kaur in February this year. They were staying in Mansa. After the wedding, his son’s father-in-law started interfering in the life of the couple when differences erupted between them, following which his son returned to Kaonke Kalan while his wife started staying with her father at Dehlon. A few days ago, Kuldeep had informed the family that his wife and her father had been threatening him due to which he wanted to end his life. Yesterday, his son went into a room and died by suicide. “I tried to save my son but he succumbed. He took the extreme step due to threats of his wife and father-in-law. They must be brought to book and strict action should be taken against them,” the victim’s father said. — TNS Three rural Assembly segments made Bittu bite dust in Ludhiana INDIA DECIDES 2024 Cong’s Warring wins even as 5 of 6 urban segments voted mostly to BJP, AAP trails in all 9 seats with 2nd lowest from Parashar’s own Ludhiana Central; SAD among rest 40 nominees lose security deposits Nitin Jain Tribune News Service Ludhiana, June 4 A clear urban-rural divide came to the fore in one of the most bitterly fought and high-stake General Election to the 18th Lok Sabha in Ludhiana on Tuesday. Punjab Congress president Amrinder Singh Raja Warring, reckoned by many as a rank outsider, has scripted history as his party won this predominantly urban general seat for a record fourth time in a row, which no other party had been able to do since 1952. The three-time sitting MLA from Gidderbaha and former transport minister had come all the way from Bathinda to take on his friend-turned-foe turncoat three-time sitting MP Ravneet Singh Bittu of the BJP whom he defeated , with a convincing margin of over 20,942 votes. While the former Indian Youth Congress president polled 3,22,224 votes, Bittu got 3,01,282 votes. The ruling AAP’s sitting local MLA Ashok Parashar Pappi finished third with 2,37,077 votes. Rest all 40 candidates in the poll fray, including the SAD’s former MLA Ranjit Singh Dhillon, lost their security deposits by failing to poll even one-sixth of the total polled votes. Dhillon got 90,220 votes while the SAD (Mann) and BSP nominees Amritpal Singh Chhandran and Davinder Singh Ramgarhia polled 18,241 and 10,394 votes, respectively, Supporters showering rose petals on Ludhiana Congress candidate Amrinder Singh Raja Warring as he leads the victory procession in Ludhiana. TRIBUNE PHOTO: HIMANSHU MAHAJAN HISTORIC WIN URBAN-RURAL DIVIDE AC INC BJP Ludhiana East 41,296 50,833 Ludhiana South 32,982 37,278 Atam Nagar 30,696 22,753 Ludhiana Central 24,155 41,450 Ludhiana West 30,889 45,424 Ludhiana North 31,415 53,725 Gill 54,981 30,154 Dakha 40,276 7,072 Jagraon 34,734 12,138 Postal ballots 800 355 Total 3,22,224 3,01,282 which were even together less than 42,300 votes polled by an Independent, Kamaljit Singh Brar. The analysis of the Assembly segment-wise election results released by Returning Officer Sakshi Sawhney, a copy of which is with The Tribune, made evident that it was a clear urban-rural split that made the Congress winner and cost the BJP dear. AAP 28,096 19,289 25,600 20,039 22,461 25,127 41,520 28,743 25,745 457 2,37,077 ■ The Congress has scripted history with the fourth consecutive victory from Ludhiana this election. No other party had represented Ludhiana in Lok Sabha four times consecutively since 1952. Manish Tewari had reclaimed this Congress bastion from Shiromani Akali Dal’s Sharanjit Singh Dhillon in 2009 followed by two consecutive wins by Bittu on the Congress ticket in 2014 and 2019. ■ Of the total 18 elections held here in the past 72 years, the Congress had won 11 times, the SAD five and the SAD (Mann) and the Swatantar Party once each. While the winner, Warring (46), led from only four of the total nine Assembly segments in this parliamentary seat while Bittu (48), secured maximum votes from five Vidhan Sabha seats. However, the AAP trailed in all nine segments, eight of which it had won in the 2022 Assembly poll. Its candidate Parashar (59), even lost from his Ludhiana Central seat, from where he was elected two years ago. While Gill, Dakha and Jagraon (all rural pockets) and the urban Atam Nagar Assembly segment added to the victory of Warring, the urban seats of Ludhiana East, South, Central, West and North gave lead to the BJP . From the very first round, Warring secured the lead over his nearest rival Bittu and the WHAT CANDIDATES SAY Amrinder Singh Raja Warring (Cong) - Winner: “I thank the people of Punjab for an emphatic win given to the Congress with seven of the 13 seats. People have reposed their unfailing trust in the Congress. I assure that the party will acknowledge this support with service and commitment. I will always be grateful to Ludhiana voters for reposing their faith in me. Not just for another five years, I will remember this love and trust you have given to me, for the entire life.” Ravneet Singh Bittu (BJP) Runner-up: “I am thankful to voters of Ludhiana, who showed confidence in me and voted for me. We have led in five Assembly constituencies of the city but trailed in rural segments. I am thankful to the BJP leadership and party workers, who left no stone unturned, working day and night in the harsh weather, for me. I also want to congratulate the BJP for forming the next government at the Centre and Narendra Modi for returning as the Prime Minister for a record third term.. I will introspect about reasons for the loss and discuss them with my party leadership.” Ashok Parashar Pappi (AAP) Third: “We had worked hard but we accept the verdict with all humility. We would analyse the results and go to the electorate again to make amends in our performance to make up for this loss in future.” margin kept swinging from as low as 2,000 votes to as high as 27,000 votes. Of his total 3,22,224 polled votes, including 800 postal ballots, Warring got maximum 54,981 votes from Gill, followed by 41,296 from Ludhiana East, 40,276 from Dakha, 34,734 from Jagraon, 32,982 from Ludhiana South, 31,415 from Ludhiana North, continued on page 2 Two workers die as major fire breaks out in yarn factory Tribune News Service Ludhiana, June 4 A major fire broke out in a yarn manufacturing unit at Bal Singh Nagar, near Basti Jodhewal, in which two workers charred to death. After the incident, the victims could not rush out to save their lives. As per information, the incident occurred around 7.30 am when the two workers were inside the multi-storey factory. They reportedly tried to run out of the factory but were charred to death. The deceased were identified as Parveen Saini, a resident of Ekta Colony, Meharban, and Gagan Kumar Sharma of Prem Vihar, Tibba Road. Gagan was a machine operator while Parveen was a labourer. Station House Officer Inspector Harpreet Singh said after getting information, officials from the Daresi police station rushed to the scene. The fire brigade had also reached the place to douse the flames. When the fire was controlled and fire personnel along with the police entered the factory, they found two workers lying dead on the third floor. He said since the bodies were completely charred, the deceased could not be identified at the initial stage. The bodies were sent to the Civil Hospital for a post-mortem examination. The SHO said the owner had failed to reach the factory when the incident occurred. Had the owner informed the fire brigade or police about the presence of workers inside the factory, efforts could have been made to save them. But the owner or any continued on page 2 Voters remain loyal to Cong, show turncoat the door Double delight for Congress in city RESULT ANALYSIS Nitin Jain Tribune News Service Ludhiana, June 4 The state’s main Opposition Congress’ decent victory and the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) finishing poor third in the June 1 high-stakes General Election to the 18th Lok Sabha in Ludhiana has a clear message from voters. They remained loyal to the Congress by offering maiden parliamentary entry to party’s state president Amrinder Singh Raja Warring and showing the door to their turncoat sitting three-time MP Ravneet Singh Bittu, who had quit the Congress to contest the elections on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ticket. Ludhiana elected the Congress MP for a record 12th time and third consecutive term in the 19th Lok Sabha elections held here since 1952. The voters kept their allegiance to the INDIA bloc’s main constituent, notwithstanding a host of benefits and reliefs doled out by the twoyear-old Bhagwant Mann-led AAP regime, and the AAP failing to even keep along its two of the three MLAs that had won in 2017 till the 2022 poll. And this sentiment is doubly underlined by the fact that the ruling party not even secured Returning Officer Sakshi Sawhney hands over victory certificate to PPCC chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring in Ludhiana on Tuesday. TRIBUNE PHOTO lead in any of the nine Assembly segments, eight of which were won by the AAP in the 2022 Assembly poll, under the Ludhiana LS constituency. The AAP which had sprung a , surprise by winning an unprecedented 13 of the total 14 Assembly seats in Ludhiana district two years ago, even lost from the Ludhiana Central segment, which was represented by Ashok Parashar Pappi – the party’s nominee for this parliamentary poll. Though the Congress’ margin of victory this time was not that huge, it sent a clear message that the voters here can elect anyone fielded by the party but would not accept party hoppers. Warring, a three-time sitting MLA from Gidderbaha in Muktsar district and former transport minister, was dubbed as an “outsider” by his opponents, especially Bittu, whom the former called “traitor”. It underscores the point that the Ludhianvis vented their ire against the turncoat and the BJP which contested alone for , the first time after 1996, besides giving two hoots to the ruling AAP and even the lone region- al party Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), which not even managed 1 lakh votes this time. This was despite the fact that the SAD had won five LS elections from here in the past. The mandate also rejected the much-hyped Punjab and Delhi models of governance, which the AAP had been harping on to seek votes in less than mid-term to their ruling the border state. The BJP leading in five of the six urban Assembly segments showed that the urban and migrant electorate pressed lotus to go with the c m y b Narendra Modi-led NDA government at the Centre but the saffron party’s dismal performance in three rural seats paved way for the Congress to retain its citadel in the Malwa’s biggest pocket. It will not be inapt to say Ludhianvis have voted for the Congress, more than its state chief Warring. However, some observers seek to dilute this point by stating that Ludhiana this time polled over 60 per cent votes, which was not much less than 62.77 per cent polling recorded here in 2019 while the 2022 Assembly poll had reported 67.67 per cent turnout when the AAP had “broomed” the district. However, Ludhiana’s polling this time was also over 2 per cent less than the state’s average voter turnout of 62.8 per cent. While the urban Assembly segment of Ludhiana West topped the parliamentary constituency with the highest of over 63 per cent polling, the rural Jagraon Assembly segment recorded the lowest of over 56 per cent voter turnout, the official figures have revealed. The loser BJP and the AAP cadres, which are demoralised, feel that it was a clever ploy by the Congress to have guaranteed what it claims as “unviable and impossible” continued on page 2 as Kishori Lal wins big in Amethi Manav Mander Tribune News Service Ludhiana, June 4 It was double celebrations for the Congress in Ludhiana as Amrinder Singh Raja Warring won the Ludhiana seat by defeating BJP’s Ravneet Singh Bittu and besides him, Ludhiana-based Kishori Lal Sharma, who was chosen by the Gandhi family to lead the baton in Amethi, also won by defeating Union Minister Smriti Irani in Amethi. Warring, who is the president of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC), was pitched against Bittu after the latter joined the BJP. In Ludhiana it was a war of loyalist vs traitor. As the results were declared, it was celebration time for the Congress. Party workers danced to the tunes of dhol and laddoos were distributed by them to celebrate the victory. A victory procession was taken out by Warring along with his wife Amrita Warring while on their way to collect the certificate from the Returning officer at Punjab Agricultural University. Supporters showered rose petals as both of them marched forward in their car and supporters were following them in their cars while a large number of people were on their foot. Meanwhile, Priyanka Gandhi shared a picture of her with Kishori Lal Sharma on X and wrote that she never doubted and always knew that he will win in the elections. This was the first time in 25 years that the Congress pitched a non-Gandhi family candidate from the Amethi seat. While the family of Kishori Lal was away with him in Amethi since the declaration of his name, his father-in-law and mother-in-law were in Ludhiana at his home along with some other relatives. continued on page 2 Kin and Cong leaders celebrate Kishori Lal’s victory in Ludhiana. HIMANSHU MAHAJAN