Indian Discussion Forum

Process for Punjab assembly election


The election process for 117 seats of Punjab legislative assembly and one Lok Sabha seat of Amritsar would begin on Thursday with the issuance of notification by Election Commission of India(ECI). The ECI Wednesday communicated the programme for elections to Chief Electoral Officer Punjab.

The last date for making nominations shall be 25th January, 2007 (Thursday). The scrutiny of nominations shall be done on 27th January, 2007 (Saturday). The last date for withdrawal of candidatures is 29th January, 2007 (Monday).

The polling shall be held on 13th February, 2007 (Tuesday) from 8AM to 5 PM and counting shall be held on February 27,2007.

The ECI has notified that the election process shall be completed by 2nd March, 2007 (Friday).

Punjab goes into election mode



In the midst of a cold wave in Punjab, the state's political scene has become hotter for the February 13 Assembly elections.

The opposition Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) took the lead by announcing the names of all its 94 candidates, it is to field in alliance with BJP, ahead of the ruling Congress. The saffron party has also announced the names of 15 of its nominees.

The process of filing of nominations, which began on Thursday, would continue till January 25, scrutiny would take place on January 27 and the last date of withdrawal is January 29.

Chief Minister Amarinder Singh has undertaken three phases of his Vikas Yatra- a warm-up for the formal electioneering- while the SAD-BJP alliance has organised rallies at a number of places.

Singh has been targeting the SAD on the issue of alleged corruption and non-performance during their five-year rule in the state from 1997 to 2002.

Immediately after wresting power from the SAD-BJP alliance, the Congress had filed cases of corruption and possessing assets disproportionate to their known sources of income against many ministers in the Badal regime.

On the other hand the SAD-BJP has been attacking the ruling Congress for having "failed" on all fronts and "misleading" the electorate on development.

Various scams, including Ludhiana City Centre and Janata Land Promoters, and the alleged police repression on various sections of society are among the issues being raised by the alliance.

CPI, which had contested the 2002 Assembly election in alliance with the Congress, is going it alone this time accusing Amarinder Singh of misleading the people on development "which are only on paper".

Badal, meanwhile, has kept faith in his loyalists while allocating tickets. The party has preferred to replace nominees for around 23 seats, the most notable being reserved Assembly seats of Shutrana and Nihalsingh Wala where Badal ignored sitting party legislators Nirmal Singh and Zora Singh.

SAD has nominated seven Hindus, the highest by the party in any election. They are Harish Rai Dhanda (Ludhiana West), Des Raj Dugga (Gardhiwala), Nand Lal (Balachaur), Mohan Lal (Banga), Prem Chand Garg (Sangrur), Sarup Chand Singla (Bathinda) and Avinash Chander (Kartarpur).

ye hai bharat ke neta!

Sidhu, Singla spar on TV screen

BJP nominee Navjot Singh Sidhu and Punjab Finance Minister Surinder Singla of Congress, battling each other for Amritsar Lok Sabha byelection, indulged in a heated exchange of words that degenerated into personal mudslinging during a televised debate here.

The rival contestants were invited by Star TV for a live debate at Khalsa College here. Trouble began when Sidhu asked Singla "where is your captain"? This irked Singla who taunted the BJP leader in connection with a case involving him in a road-rage death case.

The telecast had to be interrupted when the situation slipped out of control as a slanging match between the supporters, allegedly in an inebriated condition, of the two groups began.

Despite repeated requests by the television anchor, both the leaders continued to egg on their supporters with victory signs.

When contacted, Singla said he was here for a healthy debate but never expected "such indecency on the part of the BJP leader", a charge denied by Sidhu.

The BJP MP said "how could I control my temper when an elderly person (Singla) was attacking me personally".

Over 1,030 candidates, including several rebels of the ruling Congress and main opposition Shiromani Akali Dal, are in the fray for the 117 assembly seats in Punjab that goes to polls Feb 13.

Monday evening was the last day of withdrawal of nomination papers by candidates. As many as 1,664 candidates had filed their nominations for various seats till Jan 25 - the last date for filing of nominations.


The main contenders in the fray are Amarinder Singh from Patiala, Parkash Singh Badal from Lambi, deputy chief minister Rajinder Kaur Bhattal from Lehra, former Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) president Jagir Kaur from Bholath and several ministers in the present Punjab government.

Is Punjab headed to a violent election?

As the political climate in Punjab heats up along with the day temperature, the electoral scene in the state up to the Feb 13 assembly election is showing signs of getting violent.

The killing of a Shiromani Akali Dal worker by Congress activists at Beas town near Amritsar Monday has indicated that the ruling party and the main opposition Akali Dal-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alliance are unlikely to give away even an inch in the run up to the polls.
Congress legislator from Beas Jasbir Singh Dimpa, his two brothers - one a senior Punjab police official and another a wealthy transporter - have been named along with six others for the death of the Akali worker.


Also, before this mishappening Congress and Akali-BJP leaders and supporters came close to a clash Sunday evening during a live TV debate between cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu and Punjab Finance Minister Surinder Singla.

Congress has unmasked election menifesto!

The Shiromani Akali Dal described the Congress election manifesto as "clinching documentary evidence of betrayal of people by the Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh.

What is the truth?
Their was a claim on some of congress leaders that some contestants had bought the party tickets paying crores of rupees. Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh rubbished the claims of some Congress leaders that some contestants had bought the party tickets paying crores of rupees. He was talking to mediapersons in Begowal after an election rally organised by Congress candidate Sukhpal Singh Khaira in Bibi Jagir Kaur's village

Shilpa is also going to involve in election!

Bollywood actress-cum-“racism victimâ€

Beas case: SP told not to leave UT

The Punjab Government tonight issued instructions asking Mr Harmanbir Singh Gill, a brother of the sitting MLA from Beas, Mr Jasbir Singh Dimpa, not to leave his place of posting in Chandigarh or seek leave till February 27.

Mr Gill is an SP with the Punjab Police and was originally alleged to be linked to the firing incident two days ago where one SAD worker was killed in the Beas constituency.

A report sent by the Punjab Police to the Home Department today cleared the name of Mr Gill, saying he was not present at the scene of the firing.

Poll duty: EC banks on banks

Several extension counters and small branches of nationalised banks in Punjab face temporary closure as their employees have been asked to report for election duty.

PM promises Green Revolution II

Setting the political agenda for Punjab, the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, today urged the state to go the Congress way so that it could work in tandem with the UPA government at the Centre to accelerate its economic development and for regaining its number one position in the country.

Dr Manmohan Singh chose Amritsar, his home town, and Punjabi, to address his first election rally in the state before flying to Jalandhar on the first day of his two-day election tour of Punjab.

It’s dharam yudh, says Sushma Swaraj

Mrs Sushma Swaraj, BJP general secretary, addressed a rally in support of the SAD-BJP combine candidate, Mr Surjit Singh Kohli, here today. She stated that the main factors which would go against the Congress would be failure of the government to provide employment and end corruption within the rank and file of the Congress as well as the inaccessibility of Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh in his own segment.

Masol makes light of poll

A mere 10 km from Chandigarh on the Punjab and Haryana border exists a village where there is no water, no electricity. “We don’t want a change in government. We want to change our state,” is the refrain of every single household in Masol village, where time seems to have come to a standstill. No politician till date has bothered to get a road constructed to link this village to the outside world.

Punjab elections held on 13th january sucessfuly!
The fate of 1,038 candidates, including 55 women candidates, now stands sealed in electronic voting machines (EVMs), which will be opened on February 27.

Last hour was most crucial !

The last hour of voting proved to be the most crucial for the candidates vying for a seat in the Punjab Assembly. While it rained almost through the day, the sky cleared by 4 pm and polling booths were suddenly flooded with voters.