Akal Takht jathedar’s son in fray from Muktsar

Muktsar:manjinder Singh Bittu, son of Akal Takht jathedar Giani Gurbachan Singh, filed his nomination papers for zila panchayat and panchayat samiti elections on a Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) ticket from Udekaran zone in Muktsar. There are 13 zila parishad seats and 98 samiti seats in Muktsar. Friday was the last date to file nomination. For zila parishad seats, 70 nominations have been filed.

Across the state, 354 members will be elected to 22 zila parishads and 2,900 members to 150 panchayat samitis. Interestingly, Bittu’s wife, Lakhveer Kaur, has also filed nomination from the same zone. She is now likely to withdraw.

In the last polls, she had been elected the vice-chairperson of the zila parishad. Bittu was recently removed from the post of the president of SAD Muktsar (rural) and had campaigned for Muktsar MLA Kanwarjit Singh Rozy Barkandi in the assembly polls. He is also a former chairman of Market Committee, Bariwala.

He told HT over phone, “Last year, my wife was elected with a huge margin from the Harike zone. Voters of the area love us.” On whether the sacrilege issue was a setback to the SAD, Bittu said, “The ruling party has failed to deliver on its promises. All this is nothing, but an attempt to defame the SAD, as the ruling party fears losing the election.” Parmjeet Kaur, the wife of Bucho Congress MLA, Pritam Singh Kotbhai, also filed nomination on Friday.

AAP PROTESTS IN BATHINDA

BATHINDA: Amid protests from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) over a party candidate reportedly not being allowed to file nomination, Bathinda district has received 630 nominations for 148 seats across nine panchayat samitis. For 16 seats of zila parishad, 69 candidates have filed nomination.

AAP district president Navdeep Singh Jeeda claimed that party nominee Shavinder Kaur was not allowed to file papers on the pretext of reporting late.

“Shavinder entered the building for filing her papers, five minutes before the deadline. Congress workers deliberately stopped her from reaching the office of the Returning Officer (RO) to file nomination papers. When she reached there, she was denied entry,” he said.

A delegation of AAP leaders also met district election officer– cum–bathinda deputy commissioner Praneet in this regard. “The returning officer Dr Rishipal Singh has told me that the woman had come late and was, thus, not allowed to file her nomination papers. I have sought a written comment from the RO,” the DC said.

MANJINDER SINGH BITTU, SON OF GIANI GURBACHAN SINGH, FILED HIS NOMINATION PAPERS FROM UDEKARAN IN MUKTSAR ON FRIDAY