14122024-JTR-01.qxd 13-12-2024 22:32 Page 1 c m y b Jalandhar tribune CONSERVE ENERGY TO MAKE FUTURE SAFER, SAYS MLA PATIENCE & ADAPTABILITY KEY TO HER SUCCESS, SAYS RIYA B-TOWN APPLAUDS D GUKESH ON MAKING HISTORY Rana Gurjeet said people should make energy consumption more ethical by making conscious choices. P2 Over past two decades, actress Riya Sen has transitioned seamlessly between Bollywood & regional cinema. P4 Indian chess prodigy D Gukesh has made history by becoming the youngest-ever World Chess Champion. P4 » » » FORECAST MAINLY CLEAR MAX 20°C | MIN 4°C YESTERDAY MAX 19°C | MIN 4°C SUNSET SATURDAY 5.26 PM SUNRISE SUNDAY 7:18 AM SATURDAY | 14 DECEMBER 2024 | JALANDHAR INBRIEF 5 BOOKED FOR SHOP ROBBERY Phagwara: The police have registered a case against five persons on the charge of robbing cash and valuables from a shopkeeper at gunpoint at a tea shop. Ranveer Singh of Ali Di Bassi, told the police that around 3:30 am, they came in a car to his tea shop at Jahan Khelan and had tea. Then one of the accused attacked him with a sharpedged weapon and snatched cash worth Rs 4,500, a gold chain, his mobile phone and fled. OC AVOID FIELD FIRING RANGE: DC Hoshiarpur: Deputy Commissioner Komal Mittal has said that the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) force is going to conduct field firing from December 16 to 23 in the field firing range of 11th Corps at Hoshiarpur. The DC appealed to the people and said that no one should go to the field firing range during this time. OC FOUR BOOKED FOR ASSAULT Phagwara: On a complaint lodged by Paramjit Kaur, a resident of Nangal Colony, Phagwara, the police have registered a case against four persons on the charge of assaulting the complainant. The booked accused were identified as Hema, Manisha, Surjit Kumar and Ram Charan, all residents of Satnampura, Phagwara. Old enmity was said to be the reason behind the incident. OC BSP NOMINEE’S PAPERS REJECTED Phagwara: The nomination papers of BSP candidate from Ward no 7 Komalpreet Kaur have been rejected during scrutiny by Returning Officer Dr Jagjit Singh. Phagwara SDM Jashanjit Singh said the candidate was not even registered as voter. Now 218 candidates are in the fray for 50 wards of the Phagwara MC. The Congress has fielded 40 candidates, AAP is contesting in all 50 wards, BJP in 38 wards, BSP in 10 wards and SAD in nine wards and 39 Independents. OC TWO ARRESTED FOR THEFT Phagwara: The police have arrested two migrant women from Madhya Pardesh, identified as Nargis and Sonam on the charges of stealing the purse of a woman, identified as Rajinder Kaur, a resident of Piparangi locality of Phagwara. The accused stole the purse of the victim when she was shopping in the market. oc THREE HELD FOR BIKE THEFT Hoshiarpur: The police have arrested three persons, who were allegedly involved in bike theft. The police had received information that those who steal vehicles for drugs are coming from Choa of village Pyalan towards Nasrala. The police laid a nake and arrested the persons coming on a bike. They were Kulwant Singh of Bhogpur, Raman Kumar of Ghazipur and Rajinder Singh of Daroli Khurd, Jalandhar. The accused could not present any documents of the bike. During interrogation, the accused said they had stolen the bike from the Civil Hospital, Hoshiarpur. oc MC poll: Papers of 5 candidates rejected Campaigning begins by candidates Returning Officers to share details today Deepkamal Kaur Tribune News Service Jalandhar, December 13 The nomination papers of five candidates have reportedly been rejected by the State Election Commission during the scrutiny conducted by the Returning Officers on Friday. The officers only shared the number of rejections but did not officially divulge the details of the candidates whose claim to contest had been rejected. “We will share it in the morning”, maintained the officials concerned. The most common observation, which has been noted by the legal experts, is that since the Returning Officers are not complying with the set norms to display the affidavits online, outside their offices and at other public places, most candidates have chosen to conceal their criminal records, including the FIRs lodged and their conviction matters. In all those cases where objections have been filed, the ROs had sought replies from the candidates. One such case is that of AAP candidate and ex-councillor Amit Dhall from Ward no. 24. His Congress rival Satish Kumar Dhir had filed an objection that he was convicted under Sections 353, 186 and 148 of the IPC and had Harpreet Singh Sudan, Election Observer for the upcoming MC elections in Jalandhar, reviews election preparations. been awarded three years of imprisonment. The case had been lodged against him in September 2009 and the order had been passed in August 2015. Dhir, in his petition, mentioned that Dhall had appealed before the Punjab and Haryana High Court wherein his sentence had been suspended but no stay had been imposed on his conviction. District Election Officer Dr Himanshu Aggarwal said, “The candidate submitted his reply to the objection this evening and the RO is yet to announce his decision on the matter”. An expert in election petitions, advocate Parminder Vig said, “If a candidate does not have a stay on conviction and his conviction is for more than two years, he cannot contest elections.” He too pointed out that since affidavits of the candidates had not been made public, concealment of facts by candidates, especially their criminal records in the MC elections, had become a common phenomenon this time. Another AAP candidate from a ward in the Jalandhar Central Assembly segment too is learnt to have concealed similar information about the criminal cases. To avoid a similar situation, Mandeep Jassal, a former councillor of the Congress, chose to field his wife Seema Jassal from Ward no. 8 even though it was not reserved for women. (Clockwise from left) AAP candidate from Ward no. 19 Harleen Kaur along with her husband; BJP leader Manoranjan Kalia addresses party workers during the opening of election office of Shivam Sharma, BJP candidate from Ward no. 12 and Congress candidate Uma Beri from Ward no. 25 along with suppoters during campaign in Jalandhar on Friday. TRIBUNE PHOTOS: SARABJIT SINGH AND MALKIAT SINGH When some got Rebels likely to queer pitch for party ticket from two candidates in city MC elections parties amid chaos Deepkamal Kaur Tribune News Service Action sought against rebels Aparna Banerji Tribune News Service Jalandhar, December 13 There had been chaos in every party for the past two days following last-minute crossovers by potential candidates and a scamper among parties to select the best ones. Amid this confusion, some candidates got their names finalised in two parties’ lists. Candidates Manmeet Kaur and Neeraj Jassal ended up getting ticket from two parties. However, after their choosing a side, the other party had to manage another candidate at the last minute. Manmeet Kaur, who was announced a BJP candidate from Ward 47 in the BJP’s first list, was also named by the Congress. The BJP removed Manmeet’s name at the last moment and announced Sheetal Dhall, the wife of Harish Kumar, as its candidate. Manmeet eventually filed her nomination from the Congress. Meanwhile, AAP and the Congress both announced Neeraj Jassal as their candidate. While AAP gave ticket to him from Ward 82, the Congress list announced his candidature from Ward 84.While confusion prevailed over his candidature yesterday, he eventually filed his nomination from the Congress. As it emerged, Jassal switched over to the Congress at the last minute when he didn’t got ticket from his MANMEET GOT TICKET FROM BJP, CONG Manmeet Kaur, who got ticket from Ward 47 from the BJP, was also named by the Congress. The BJP removed Manmeet’s name at the last moment and announced Sheetal Dhall, the wife of Harish Kumar, as its candidate. Manmeet filed her nomination from the Congress. preferred ward. Jassal said, “I was to contest from the Ward no. 84. I had joined the AAP in 2022 and remained dedicated to the party since then. I told the party that I wanted to contest from Ward no. 84. However, I was given ticket from Ward no 82. As my commitment wasn’t honoured, I switched over to the Congress.” DCC urban president Rajinder Beri said, “One of our block presidents was found to be working for AAP which was causing mix-ups. However, the issue has been sorted out. Both Manmeet and Neeraj have filed their nominations from the Congress.” Meanwhile, with almost all parties facing the ire of ticket hopefuls, parties also decided strict action against dissidents. BJP leaders met at the residence of party leader Manoranjan Kalia today, announcing strict action against those who indulged in anti-party activities during the MC poll. Kalia, district president Sushil Sharma, Sushil Rinku, KD Bhandari, Sheetal Angural, Rajesh Kapoor and Ashok Sareen were part of the meeting. Jalandhar, December 13 The last-minute release of lists by parties and changes of candidates made on the last day of filing of nomination papers by the candidates have led to heartbreak. Several leaders, who had been expecting ticket, have not yet recovered from the shock and were seen meeting people even today to discuss their future course of action. Some of them even filed their nomination papers as Independent at the last moment. There are rebels in almost all parties, though fewer in numbers than the previous years. Ex-Congress councillor Tarsem Lakhotra, who had quit the party to join the AAP ahead of the Jalandhar West bypoll for better prospects, too, is learnt to be upset. He was given ticket by AAP in the first list from Ward no. 46 but his name was deleted in the subsequent list that came five hours later. The ticket was given to Rajesh Bhagat instead. Lakhotra turned rebel and chose to file his papers as Independent. “I have left AAP I have not joined any . party so far. I will decide my future course of action after Ex-DCC chief Baldev Dev and his son Manpreet Mangu express annoyance after ticket denial by the Congress in Jalandhar. BHAGATS APPEASED Post the victory of Mahinder Bhagat as AAP MLA from Jalandhar West, the party seems to have chosen a strategy to appease the Bhagat community. There are at least three candidates from the community in the AAP list - Sameeta Bhagat from Ward no. 17, Rupa Bhagat from Ward no. 45 and Rajneesh Bhagat from Ward no. 46. December 21 result”, he said. Like him, Shibu Lahoria, too, had filed his papers as an Independent from Ward no. 48. Deepak Sandhu, who too was given ticket from Ward no. 60 by AAP but denied later, has been posting videos against the AAP local leader- ship, blaming them for selling tickets. His name had been replaced by Gurjeet Ghuman from Basti Bawa Khel. The Congress too has a rebel from Ward no. 60 from where Manpreet Mangu filed his papers as Independent. Mangu is the son of former District Congress Committee chief and ex-councillor Baldev S Dev. After the denial of ticket, the father-son duo posted a video on Facebook, saying that they were assured that Mangu was being given ticket and they were made to wait in Congress Bhawan for two hours but eventually the party ditched them to favour Lakhbir Bajwa, an aide of LoP Partap Bajwa. Dev said, “During the Jalandhar West bypoll, when all Congress councillors went to AAP we stood with the par, ty like a rock. At that time, MP Charanjit S Channi and DCC chief Rajinder Beri promised my son councillor ticket from the ward. But we never knew that we would be ditched like this at the last moment”. The other rebel in the Congress is Bishamber from Ward no. 40. The BJP too, has , a rebel from Ward no. 83 Ayesha Praveen, wife of BJP Minority Cell chief Naushad Alam, who has filed her papers as an Independent. Youth leader Angad Dutta had been reportedly promised ticket from Ward no. 18 and he kept preparing for it but it eventually was given to Surjeet. Dutta, however, had told the party that he had no objection to any such move. College pupils damage car, video viral Tribune News Service Jalandhar, December 13 A video of a group of youths from Jalandhar vandalising a car at a busy marketplace in Jalandhar has gone viral on social media. The video from New Jawahar Market, on a road next to a private college in Jalandhar, has raised questions about the law and order situation in the city. As per information, the video went viral when a group of two opposing groups studying at the college attacked each other. The police said no one was hurt in the incident. In the video, a group of men can be seen breaking the windowpanes of a white car with sticks and damag ing the car’s bonnet. SI, Major Singh, said, “There was an ongoing feud between two groups of students over a college presidentship. One group of students attacked the car of the other group. No one was injured. All these students belong to Shahkot, Malsian and Dhogri rural areas and none are residents of the city.” He added that a complaint had been filed by the group whose car was vandalised. Investigation is on. So far, no case has been filed. AAP govt undermining democracy, says BJP ex-MP Phagwara, December 13 Former BJP Rajya Sabha MP Avinash Rai Khanna has accused the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Punjab of sabotaging the democratic process in the run-up to municipal elections. Khanna c m y b alleged that AAP leaders were resorting to coercion and unethical tactics to secure victory, undermining the spirit of democracy in the state. Citing incidents from Patiala, Khanna claimed that AAP leaders have been tear- ing nomination papers of candidates from other political parties and threatening them, which he termed as a “blatant attack on democracy”. Condemning these actions, Khanna said, “The incidents in Patiala exempli- fy AAP’s undemocratic behaviour and are a disgrace to the electoral process.” Khanna further alleged that AAP leaders displayed similar behaviour during the recent Lok Sabha and Assembly byelections. “This shows that AAP is no longer relying on public support but on sheer coercion to rule,” he alleged. He urged the electorate to exercise their voting rights judiciously and ensure that AAP is removed from power in future elections. — OC