A BSF jawan helps an old woman to cast her vote at the polling booth in Sathiala village in the Beas
constituency election on Sunday.
— Tribune photo by Rajiv Sharma |
Beas, March 11
Amid an atmosphere of high tension, Beas went to the polls, recording a turnout of about 77 per cent, despite inclement weather, surpassing the state average of 76, here today. Barring a few incidents of intimidations and minor clashes, the polling concluded peacefully.
Meanwhile, Returning Officer Kuldip Singh Chandi has issued notices to two Akali MLAs from Adampur and Khadoor Sahib Sarbjit Singh Makkar and Manjit Singh Manna, respectively, former BJP Minister Baldev Chawla and district congress president (rural) Sukhjinder Singh Lalli for staying in the constituency after the conclusion of the election campaign in violation of the model code of conduct. Interestingly, on the complaint of the manager of Makkar, Dimpa and 15 of his supporters
were booked on the charges of attempting to murder, trespassing, etc. In a complaint to the election observer, Dimpa had complained that the Akali candidate was “purchasing votes”. However, the police had booked some supporters of Dimpa on the charges of distributing money among voters.
At least four persons of both the Congress and the Akali Dal were injured in a clash at Sidhar Raj Putan village. However, the Congress candidate, in a complaint to the poll observer, alleged that a Congress activist was “kidnapped” by the ruling party.
The tension was high in this “highly sensitive constituency” where the election was postponed following the killing of an Akali activist on January 29. With the stakes high, the administration had to deploy heavy paramilitary forces at all the polling stations and booths. Congress candidate Dimpa, who was booked for engineering violence in two different cases, and his main contestant, Manjinder Singh Kang of the SAD were fearing rigging of poll and hence the administration remained on high alert till the completion of polling.
On the other hand, Additional Deputy Commissioner (Development) Ajmer Singh failed to conduct an inquiry into the incident in which the Congress candidate and his 15 supporters were booked. The ADC got himself admitted in a private hospital following “hypertension”. District election officer Kirandip Singh Bhullar had to hand over the inquiry to Ajnala SDM Pardeep Sabharwal.
The constituency has 1,42,089 votes, besides 1,472 service votes. Kang was defeated by Dimpa by more than 6,400 votes in the last assembly elections. The counting of votes would be held on March 14.
A heavy posse of paramilitary forces, BSF and police was deployed to thwart any untoward incident. The voting pattern remained mixed in early hours of the poll. Certain booths recorded about 50 per cent of voting within the first three and half hours, while in others it remained below 25 per cent. In Padda village about 340 out of the 771 votes were cast by 11.30 am, whereas nearby Liddar village, the ancestral village of Jasbir Singh Dimpa, recorded 388 out of total 1,333 votes by 11.50 am.
