Declare entire Moga assembly as sensitive; Amarinder to EC

Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh said Election Commission should declare Moga constituency, where bypoll is on February 23, as sensitive and deploy central forces at all polling booths.

Moga: Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh on Saturday said Election Commission should declare entire Moga constituency, where bypoll is scheduled for February 23, as sensitive and deploy central forces at all polling booths.
Voters in Moga are apprehending threats from the ruling party to vote in favour of SAD candidate Joginderpal Jain, he alleged while addressing series of rallies in favour of party nominee Vijay Kumar Sathi.

He urged Election Commission to send more paramilitary forces to be deployed in Moga.

Paramilitary forces yesterday staged a flag march in several areas of the constituency to instill confidence among the electorates.

The district administration had declared 47 polling booths as sensitive, 27 booths as hyper-sensitive and 19 as non-sensitive out of 93 polling booths in the constituency.

The sensitive and hyper-sensitive booths would be put under the supervision of paramilitary forces, officials said.

He alleged the ruling party workers even warned people of consequences if they did not support SAD candidate Joginderpal Jain who is seeking re-election by switching sides.

With top leaders from ruling SAD and opposition Congress making all out efforts, the campaigning has reached a feverish pitch.

The Punjab Congress has put up a united front, and it appears the bypoll would not be a cakewalk for the Akali candidate as is being predicted by SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal, political pundits said.

Political warhorses from both the camps, including Amarinder Singh, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, Sukhbir and CLP leader Sunil Kumar Jakhar are campaigning in the constituency and seeking votes for their party nominees.

A strong under current prevailed to teach SAD nominee Joginder Pal Jain a lesson for "betraying the electorates" who elected him twice from Congress and defeated former Director General Police P S Gill who contested on SAD ticket during February 2012 election.

Earlier in 2002, Jain had defeated Akali stalwart Tota Singh.

In December last, Jain, had returned to Shiromani Akali Dal after spending about seven years in the Congress.

The seat is set to witness a triangular contest as Jain is pitted against Sathi of Congress and Ravinder Singh Dhaliwal of Sanjha Morcha among seven other candidates.

PTI

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