16062025-LT-01.qxd 6/16/2025 12:43 AM Page 1 c m y b Ludhiana tribune RALLIES, VIP CONVOYS BRING TRAFFIC TO STANDSTILL KEERTHY’S ACTION-COMEDY SET TO RELEASE IN AUGUST SIMRIT’S NATURE-INSPIRED SOLO SHOW BLENDS SERENITY With byelection campaigning in its last leg, the number of vehicles on roads has increased manifold. P2 Actress Keerthy Suresh is all set to showcase her action avatar in the upcoming film Revolver Rita. P4 Simrit Luthra's exhibition is presented by Chandigarh Lalit Kala Akademi in collaboration with Chd Tourism. P4 » » » FORECAST PARTLY CLOUDY MAX 41°C | MIN 30°C YESTERDAY MAX 42°C | MIN 28°C SUNSET MONDAY 7.26 PM SUNRISE TUESDAY 5:21 AM MONDAY | 16 JUNE 2025 | LUDHIANA Major local issues lost amid political rhetoric, mud-slinging Candidates claim they will resolve all grievances in Assembly constituency LUDHIANA (W) BYPOLL Shivani Bhakoo Tribune News Service Ludhiana, June 15 With less than a week left to elect the new MLA from the Ludhiana West Assembly constituency, which goes to the bypoll on June 19, local issues concerning the public at large seems to have been lost in the political rhetoric and mud-slinging between ruling and opposition parties. Instead of listing out their action plan to resolve the main public issues, senior leaders of almost all parties are busy spewing venom on each other. “Be it the AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal, CM Bhagwnat Mann, former CM Charanjit Channi, Kapurthala Congress MLA Rana Gurjeet, SAD president Sukhbir Badal or BJP state head Sunil Jakhar, all leaders seem more focused on hitting below the belt of their political opponents,” said Dr SS Johl, former Chancellor of Central University of Punjab. He said the parties know that the Ludhiana bypoll results will be a referendum not only for the ruling AAP , but also for the Congress and Waterlogging is a major problem in the Ludhiana West segment. FILE the BJP ahead of the General Assembly election scheduled for early 2027. “Real issues in the constituency have not been discussed by anyone so far,” he quipped. The major issues concerning the common man in Ludhiana West, which is a purely urban segment in the heart of the city, included deteriorating law and order situation, waterlogging during rainy season, stray dog menace, providing proprietary rights to residents of Jawahar Nagar Camp colony, cleaning of the Buddha Nullah, completion of the city centre, proper functioning of the district transport office and last but not the least, poor basic civic amenities for which voters are seeking time- KEY ISSUES ■ Deteriorating law and order situation ■ Waterlogging during rains ■ Poor public transportation ■ Traffic congestion ■ Pollution in Buddha Nullah ■ Poor road infrastructure ■ Erratic power supply bound and permanent action plan, said Nankana Sahib Public School principal Harmeet Kaur Waraich. Another voter in the Ludhiana West constituency, Shiv Puri, who is a stock broker and financial advisor said everyone knows what was happening in the state. “Let us not politicise the issue and focus on what you can do for the people of the segment. Traffic congestion, lack of parking space in Feroze Gandhi Market and snatching incidents need to be taken care of,” he said. The shifting of industry from Ludhiana and the erratic power supply are also issues about which candidates did not provide much attention. The member of the working committee of the Federation of Indian Exports Organisations (FIEO), Avinash Gupta, said for industrial city such as Ludhiana, these were major issues and candidates must provide assurance to the industry that they would provide the best suitable environment for the industry to grow, in addition to the 24-hour uninterrupted power supply. Amit Jain, another industrialist and voter in Ludhiana West, said the candidates must not deviate from the particular constituency and talk about issues here. “The state will be taken care of in the 2027 elections, now, the bypoll is going to be held for Ludhiana West, where we need proper parking spaces in markets. There are no markets where parking space is provided, except Sarabha Nagar and Malhar Road. Markets such as Ghumar Mandi, BRS Nagar, Dandi Swami and Model Town need proper parking facilities for the residents,” he said. The Ludhiana West bypoll was necessitated following the death of the sitting AAP MLA Gurpreet Bassi Gogi in January. About 1.75 lakh voters will decide the fate of the candidates on Thursday. All main candidates in fray — Sanjeev Arora from AAP , Jiwan Gupta from the BJP , Bharat Bhushan Ashu from the Congress and Parupkar Singh Ghuman from the SAD, however, claimed to redress all major issues concerning the people in the constituency, if they were elected. Most of main candidates fail to turn up for PAC interactive event Shivani Bhakoo Tribune News Service Ludhiana, June 15 Environmental issues seemed to be not on the priority list of candidates in fray for the upcoming Ludhiana West bypoll. The most of main candidates failed to turn up for an interactive event, ‘Saade Mudde Tuhada Stand’, organised by the Public Action Committee (PAC) here on Sunday, which had raised several issues, mostly concerning environment. Barring SAD candidate Parupkar Singh Ghuman and SAD (A) candidate Navneet Gopi, all others from the Congress, AAP and BJP preferred to stay away from the event. The BJP however, sent its , representative Gurdeep Singh Gosha to the event. The major issues on which the candidates had to speak included the state government’s proposal to acquire 24,000 acres of land, effluents being discharged into the Buddha Nullah, dangerous liquor factory in Zeera, new paper factory near Chamkaur Sahib, police action against PAU staff and students, grabbing of land in schools and colleges, encroachments on green belts, acquiring of land in Mattewara, etc. On being asked about issues, the SAD candidate said if he was chosen, he would be committed to resolve all these issues. Similar views were echoed by the BJP representative and the SAD A candidate. “The candidates from AAP and the Congress should have been here to listen to public grievances but they preferred to maintain a distance from PAC members and activists, who had come from Mattewara, Chamkaur Sahib, etc, knowing that they would be grilled on the issues. The government was hand in glove with defaulters in many cases,” said one of the members of the PAC, Kuldeep Khaira. Other activists of the PAC, Jaskirat Singh, Amandeep Singh Bains and Kapil Arora, however, said the candidates shied away from facing real issues and they did not have the courage to face environment activists. “They claim to work for the environment but actually the subject is too small for them to discuss,” they said. A BJP leader addresses PAC members during the interactive event at Leisure Valley. HIMANSHU MAHAJAN Kejri reduced Mann to a rubber stamp: Majithia Oppn can also appreciate govt’s good Guru Gobind Study Circle extends support to SAD candidate Ghuman Ludhiana, June 15 Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Bikram Singh Majithia said on Sunday that Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann had been reduced to a rubber stamp with Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convener Arvind Kejriwal announcing that party’s candidate Sanjeev Arora would be made a minister in case he wins the byelection. The SAD leader was addressing a press conference along with senior leader Sikandar Singh Maluka, whose homecoming he welcomed, and said it was a signal that Akali leaders were heeding the call of Punjabis to unite and speak about the state. Majithia said AAP was losing as Punjabis had realised that the Delhi model had failed and had nothing to offer to them. “The state is witnessing a financial emergency with the government calling back all works: Sonia Mann to Cong’s Lamba Says for first time, a govt in state was taking massive action against drug traffickers Tribune News Service SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal meets office-bearers of Guru Gobind Singh Study Circle in Ludhiana. funds from various departments to save itself from defaulting on loans. It has resulted in a complete halt to all development work,” he said. Majithia also highlighted how each section of society had been cheated in the AAP regime. In a major boost to the SAD campaign in the Ludhiana West constituency on Sunday, the Guru Gobind Singh Study Circle extended its support to the party and candidate Parupkar Singh Ghuman. The development occurred after SAD president Sukhbir Badal held a detailed meeting with officebearers of Guru Gobind Singh Study Circle here. Shiromani Committee president Harjinder Singh Dhami and senior Delhibased leader Manjit Singh GK were also part of the meeting. It witnessed Gurmeet Singh of the Study Circle and other members giving suggestions on how the SAD could be strengthened further. They also talked about the need to safeguard Sikh institutions and ensure there was no outside interference in their functioning. Sukhbir said the party had taken a strong stand on autonomy of Sikh institutions and resisted any interference in their functioning as well as their management structure. — TNS Ludhiana, June 15 Responding to Congress leader Alka Lamba’s statement on the drug issue in the state, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Sonia Mann countered by saying that the role of the opposition is not only to criticise the government but also to acknowledge and appreciate its good work. Sonia Mann said for the first time, a government in the state was taking such massive action against drug traffickers. “Anti-drug committees have been formed in every village and large-scale awareness campaigns are being conducted. It deserves praise but it is unfortunate that opposition leaders are resort- ing to petty politics even on the drug issue,” she said. The AAP leader said during the Congress tenure, several ministers and MLAs were themselves accused of being involved in drug trafficking. “Alka Lamba should say something about that also and she should question state Congress president Amrinder Singh Raja Warring on why he is advocating for opening opium theke, which would only encourage drug use,” she remarked. Mann said the Congress and SAD governments promoted drug use in Punjab by providing political patronage to drug traffickers. “It resulted in the destruction of thousands of families, with countless parents losing their children and many children becoming orphans. In contrast, the AAP government is taking strict action against the traffickers, sending them to jail and demolishing their illegal properties. It has created a fear among drug traffickers,” she said. She urged Congress leaders to support government’s efforts to rid the state of drugs as quickly as possible, instead of politicising the menace. On the other hand, AAP Minister Tarunpreet Singh Sondh tore into Congress leader Partap Singh Bajwa, lambasting his recent remarks on the SAD and calling out his political ambitions. Sondh said Bajwa’s attempts to mislead people of the state would fail as the state had already moved beyond the Congress, SAD and BJP . He said: “Say whatever you want, Bajwa Sahib, but you will never become the Chief Minister of Punjab. Write it down. The people of the state are wise enough to see through you. They have already rejected all traditional parties and dynasts in 2022.” Mocking Bajwa’s concern over the SAD’s miserable state, Sondh remarked: “First, Sunil Jakhar claimed Akali Dal is ‘khali’ (hollow) and now, Bajwa is repeating it. Are the two of you planning to join the SAD or create a new version of it together? It seems neither the Congress nor the BJP has any direction in the state and their leaders are just scrambling for relevance.” said Sondh. “The state is now focused on progress not outdated politics and rhetoric,” he said. AAP’s edu, health models failed to bring change: Supriya High drama as Cong candidate’s Tribune News Service Congress leader Supriya Shrinate addresses mediapersons in Ludhiana on Sunday. PHOTO: ASHWANI DHIMAN Ludhiana, June 15 Congress national social media in-charge Supriya Shrinate raised concerns over the education and healthcare models of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government, claiming that they had failed to translate into meaningful improvements. Speaking at a press conference at the campaign office of Congress candidate Bharat Bhushan Ashu, Shrinate pointed out that state schools were facing a shortage of teachers while hospitals struggling with lack of doc- tors, despite AAP’s promises. She criticised the government’s financial management, stating that Punjab had taken a ?1.5 lakh crore loan in three years and questioned the increased spending on advertisements, which, she claimed, had significantly risen under the AAP tenure. Shrinate also commented on law and order in the state, mentioning concerns about safety and governance. Congress MP Amar Singh, present at the event, addressed claims regarding the Halwara airport, stating that the project had been c m y b initiated in 2018 and was not solely an achievement of the current government. Meanwhile, Ashu, who is also Punjab Congress working president, called upon AAP supporters to reflect on their role within the party, stating that Punjabi workers should have greater recognition in leadership positions. During his address, Ashu pointed out that Rajya Sabha seats were allocated to individuals from outside the state, suggesting that local party workers had failed to get sufficient opportunities. flex removed from house wall Ludhiana, June 15 High drama was witnessed after a flex banner of Congress candidate Bharat Bhushan Ashu was removed from a wall. A poll officer, along with another person, was removing a flex banner of Congress candidate Ashu from a house wall in the Ludhiana West constituency. The official told a CRPF official remove the flex. While it was being removed, former Youth Congress president Barinder Dhillon reached the place and asked the officer the reason for removing the same, leading to a debate between the two. Soon, videos and pictures of the incident were circulated on social media. The officer stated that he was removing posters and flex banners from government locations as part of his election duty. Meanwhile, Dhillon claimed that the wall where the flex was placed belongs to his uncle’s house, asserting that the Congress did not put up flex banners on any government buildings. He said several flex ban- ners of the Congress candidate in the West segment were torn and removed, even from places where these had official approval. MLA Rana Gurjit Singh, incharge of the election campaign of the West constituency, has condemned the incident and said government officials should do their duty impartially by staying within the model code of conduct and not by becoming workers of any party. He said a complaint in the matter was being made to the Chief Electoral Officer.