Rs 60.75 CR VALUABLES SEIZED AFTER Model
CODE ENFORCEMENT
Various enforcement teams have seized valuables worth Rs 60.75 crores in violation of code till January 20 (Thursday) in Punjab after the Model Code of Conduct came into force in the state for February 20 Vidhan Sabha elections. Giving details, the state Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Dr S Karuna Raju on Friday said that surveillance teams have seized 10.33 lakh litres of liquor worth Rs three crore, while enforcement wings have recovered psychotropic substances amounting to Rs 44.57 crores besides confiscating unaccounted cash of Rs 12.32 crore.
CHANNI LOOTED HUNDREDS OF CRORES BY ENGAGING IN CORRUPT DEALS: SUKHBIR
SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal on Friday said that Rs 11 crore recovery from the residence of Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi’s nephew by ED was just the tip of the iceberg “and Channi has looted hundreds of crores by engaging in corrupt deals”. Sukhbir, addressing small gatherings in support of party candidate Hardeep Singh Dhillon, said: “It is shameful that Chief Minister is crying wolf and trying to paint himself as a victim of a political witch-hunt after his nephew was caught red handed with huge sums of money and gold”. He said Punjabis would hold Channi accountable for his corrupt deals and that the next SAD- BSP government would take him to task.
DEMOCRATIC BHARATIYA LOK DAL EXTENDs SUPPORT TO SAD
SAD on Friday received a further boost, particularly in Malwa region, with the Democratic Bhartiya Lok Dal extending its support. Dal president Gurmukh Singh Khosla and general secretary Gurdev Malri said that they were convinced that SAD alone could lead the State at this crucial juncture. Asserting that SAD was already proceeding towards a complete majority, SAD president Sukhbir Badal said: “Now all genuine opinion makers are convinced that it is the SAD-BSP alliance which will form the government in Punjab.” Hundreds of Congress and AAP workers, including senior Congress leader, former municipal councillor, and ex-president Gidderbaha Truck Union Kulwant Singh Mann joined the SAD, and Sukhbir assured him all of due respect and responsibilities in the SAD.
CONG MANIFESTO TO ADDRESS EXPECTATIONS OF ALL SECTIONS: BAJWA
Punjab Congress Manifesto Committee chairman Partap Singh Bajwa on Friday declared that the party would consider expectations of all sections of the society while preparing the party’s manifesto for the upcoming assembly elections. Accompanied by AAP’s former MLA Aadarsh Shastri, Bajwa put special emphasis on agriculture and farm distress. “Congress party will focus on the needs of agriculture sector while drafting the manifesto, and the farmers will be encouraged for diversification,” he said adding that there was a need to bring the second green revolution in the state and come out of wheat-paddy cycle. Besides, Bajwa said, the party’s second-biggest priority will be giving employment to the youth, besides giving concessions to industry, developing infrastructure in urban and rural areas; and emphasis will also be laid on sports and cultural development in the State.
CHANNI GOVT STAGE-MANAGED BLOCKADE THAT LED TO PM’S SECURITY BREACH: AMARINDER
Former Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Friday launched a scathing attack on his successor Charanjit Singh Channi while accusing him and his Government of “clearly stage-managing” the blockade that had led to the serious security lapse on the Prime Minister’s route. “I had earlier passed the bridge, where the Prime Minister had been stuck for a long duration, and there was no blockade there...Clearly, the Channi government had instructed the police to not remove the farmers who were stopping BJP buses from reaching the spot,” said Capt Amarinder, who has floated a new political outfit Punjab Lok Congress. Describing the incident as a major security lapse which no constitutional head should ever have to face and which could easily have become a threat to the Prime Minister’s life given the proximity to the international border, the former Chief Minister said that instead of taking a defiant stand, Channi should have issued an unequivocal apology. “We are sensitive border state and Pak ISI is always looking to create trouble here,” he pointed out, asserting that “one cannot ever take any chances”. Dubbing Channi as an unreliable and untrustworthy person who had made transfers and postings an industry in Punjab in the past three months, Capt Amarinder said that the incumbent government had been exposed as a ‘suitcase di sarkar’ after the recent ED raids that had unearthed crores of rupees from the Chief Minister’s kin.
KEJRIWAL making FAKE promises IN PUNJAB: EX-AAP MLA SHASTRI
Exposing Delhi’s Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s tall claims, AAP’s former MLA Aadarsh Shastri on Friday said that Kejriwal has not fulfilled the promises he made with the people of Delhi and now he is announcing fake guarantees in Punjab. “There was a surplus of Rs 60,000 crores in the budget during Sheila Dikshit's government; and today, despite surplus in the budget, the Kejriwal Government has failed to give allowance of Rs 100 to the Delhi-based women and here he is making fake promise to give Rs 1000 to women in Punjab,” he said. Commenting on selecting Bhagwant Mann as CM face for AAP, Shastri said that the decision has been taken to run Punjab as been done to run the government of Punjab through remote control from Delhi. He also asked Kejriwal to clear his stand on the issue of SYL.
BEWARE OF TURNCOATS: SIDHU URGES MOHALI ELECTORS
Sitting MLA and Congress candidate from Mohali Balbir Singh Sidhu on Friday continued his whirlwind tours of surrounding villages and held election meetings in ten villages, while making an appeal to the villagers to beware of turncoats, in direct reference to AAP’s candidate Kulwant Singh and SAD nominee Parvinder Singh Sohana. Sidhu urged the villagers to not to fall for their fake claims.