SAD, BJP demand re-polling in all 95 wards of Ludhiana

LUDHIANA: A day after polling in Ludhiana municipal corporation (MC), the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday demanded re-polling in all 95 wards, alleging misuse of government machinery and muscle power by the ruling Congress.

Addressing a press conference held here, former SAD minister Daljit Singh Cheema and former BJP state president Rajinder Bhandhari accused the Congress of capturing booths in 70 wards and facilitating bogus voting.

They said SAD-BJP alliance leaders will meet Punjab governor VP Singh Badnore on Monday to press for their demand. “We demand re-polling in all wards of Ludhiana in the presence of central forces,” Cheema said. The leaders also criticised the state election commissioner and said despite repeated complaints, the commissioner did not take any action to ensure free and fair elections.

Cheema said the announcement of re-polling in two booths of ward number 44, where son of MLA Kuldeep Singh Vaid is contesting, is enough to prove that the Congress has misused the government machinery and polled bogus votes. “They did the same in other wards of Ludhiana, by-elections in Patran and Budhlada. We have video evidence in this regard.”

Maheshinder Singh Grewal, political adviser to former chief minister Parkash Singh Badal, alleged gangs of local MP Ravneet Singh Bittu and MLA Bharat Bhushan Ashu solely responsible for all hooliganism there.

NO VIOLENCE REPORTED: POLICE COMMISSIONER Meanwhile, commissioner of police RN Dhoke said no major incident of violence was reported in the city during the MC polls on Saturday. He said there were minor clashes between workers of various parties which were resolved soon.