Tarn Taran Diary: Election results may pave way for change

The district has four Vidhan Sabha constituencies — Tarn Taran, Khadoor Sahib, Khemkaran and Patti and 46 candidates are in the fray from here. The results from Khadoor Sahib constituency, one of the hot seats, was being witnessed closely by the political observers as SAD stalwart Ranjit Singh Brahampura was contesting from here. His notable rivals are Ramanjit Singh Sikki of the Congress and Manjinder Singh Sidhu of the AAP. Brahampura is a four time MLA and one time MP. In the 2012 election, he lost to Ramanjit Singh Sikki. When Brahampura parted his way from the SAD and formed SAD (Taksali) in 2018 before the election of Lok Sabha of 2019, he made sharp political and personal attacks on SAD leadership particularly Badals. The 2022 election is a prestigious issue for Ranjit Singh Brahampura and Ramajit Singh Sikki. There were five other candidates from the constituency with their scattered influence. From Patti, SAD stalwart Adeshpartap Singh Kairon is in fray. Karion represented Patti constituency four times (1997, 2002, 2007 and 2012) but lost in 2017 election to Harminder Singh Gill. They are facing a tough challenge from Laljit Singh Bhullar who is the new face at this level. The results may astonish the political observers. From Tarn Taran constituency three time MLA Harmeet Singh Sandhu of the SAD was fighting against Dr. Dharambeer Agnihotri MLA of the Congress, Dr Kashmir Singh Sohal of the AAP and nine others. Virsa Singh Valtoha of SAD, Sukhpal Singh Bhullar present MLA of the Congress Party and Sarwan Singh Dhunn of the AAP were making the contest close from Khemkaran. There were eleven other candidates in the fray here too. It is the first time when three-cornered contests were being witnessed from the area. Residents here are facing problems such as unemployment, corruption, drugs menace, education, health, transportation, brain drain, border-related problems and issues of Mand area farmers. They hope the new government will address their issues after assuming power.        

Residents pin hopes  on next government 

Thousands residents of the Jodhpur road and surroundings villages have high hopes from the poll results. The link road is broken at several points and dotted with deep potholes. It is part of the Tarn Taran Municipal Council which falls in Ward No. 12. Jugraj Singh, Sandeep Singh, Gagan, Sajan, Beesa and other residents of the locality said at the time of the 2017 election they appealed to all candidates to address their problem. They said they had approached to the officials of the Municipal Council a number of times but to no avail. Even the sewerage system of the locality was also chocked. Foul smell had become to be part of their life. The residents said now they had hopes on the new rulers and were eagerly watching closely on the polling results to be declared on Thursday. In many other villages, the fate was of the same nature in the district the pond in Naurangabad village too was seen overflowing which had damaged the state highways. Residents of Dhotian village too were facing problem of the same nature.

Teachers unite to promote sports among peers

A group of teachers of the government elementary schools in the district have become an inspiration for their peers in terms of their love for sports. The group of teachers had been organising district-level volleyball tournament in the district every year since 2017. They were united under the guidance of Jaswinder Singh, Block Elementary Education Officer (BEEO), Naushehra Pannuan. The other teachers are Gurvinder Singh Babbu, Harpreet Singh Tanda, Harbhinder Singh Chack Mehar, Gurbir Singh Chamba Kalan, and Harwinder Singh Brahampura. Jaswinder Singh said the volleyball tournament this year was organised in GES, Brahampura. Nine teams participated in the tournament. The BEEO said a total number of 100 teachers were the volleyball players in the district. He added that the trend was creating mutual understanding among the teachers and officials. They had formed teams of the students in their respective schools too. It is the only example at the state level which deserves to be given recognition.   (Contributed by Gurbaxpuri)