Plea against Amarinder's election

chandigarh: the election of punjab chief minister amarinder singh from the patiala assembly constituency in elections held on february 13 this year was challenged in the punjab and haryana high court on grounds of alleged corrupt practices, on wednesday. it was the last date for filing of such petitions and the one against the chief minister was filed in the closing moments before the election branch closed for public dealing.in all, a record number of 26 petitions, majority of these against the victorious candidates of the ousted shiromani akali dal (badal)-bharatiya janata party alliance, were filed. after the 1997 elections, only 19 petitions had been filed. amarinder’s election has been challenged by a voter harkirat singh, resident of ghas mandi area topkhana chowk in patiala, alleging that the election expenses incurred by the present chief minister were far in excess of the prescribed limit. also, some officials too came to be utilised for furtherance of poll prospects of amarinder. till tuesday, a total of 15 election petitions had been filed and the rest were submitted on wednesday. a former punjab state electricity board administrative member baldev singh mann of the shiromani akali dal (badal) has challenged the election of victorious independent candidate surjit singh dhiman from dirba constituency in sangrur district. he has alleged that support of officials including ex-pseb administrative member gurbachan singh bachi had been taken for furtherance of electoral prospects of the victorious candidate. in addition to an election petition filed two days ago by manpreet singh of sad (amritsar), another was filed on wednesday by the defeated congress candidate sheelam sohi against kanwaljit singh of sad from banur constituency, alleging making statements which amounted to character assassination. in addition, kanwaljit has been accused of taking help of various government officials and getting executed 24 land registration deeds in zirakpur notified area committee (nac) on price ranging from rs 125 to rs 250 per square yards against the prevailing market price of more than rs 2,500 per square yards. a former minister avtar singh brar has challenged the election of kushaldeep singh dhillon of the shiromani akali dal (badal), alleging distribution of liquor to promote election prospects. he has sought setting aside of the election of dhillon also on the ground that voters’ lists were based on 1999 revision and only supplementary lists were attached. the defeated congress candidate surinder kaur has challenged the election of balvir singh ghunas of the sad(b) from bhadaur (reserved) constituency on the ground that the sad candidate was ineligible as he did not belong to a scheduled caste. in addition to the election petition filed against gurpreet singh kangar, the independent candidate who won from rampura phul constituency of bathinda district, another was filed on wednesday by a voter surinder pal alleging making wrong statements during public rallies and a cultural programme. the defeated congress candidate brij bhupinder singh has challenged the election of victorious sad candidate ajit singh kohar from lohian constituency in jalandhar district, alleging bribery to influence voters. he has also alleged religious appeals including from gurdwaras, besides getting help of government officials being a minister at that time. the former punjab vidhan sabha speaker harnam dass johar’s election from ludhiana west constituency too has been challenged by ravinder singh sohil (sad), alleging corrupt practices among others. the prominent constituencies where the outcome has been contested include the key constituency of patiala involving chief minister amarinder singh, muktsar involving former chief minister harcharan singh brar, ludhiana west involving former speaker harnam dass johar, banur involving former finance minister kanwaljit singh, naushehra pannuan where former co-operation minister ranjit singh brahmpura of sad is the respondent and moga involving tota singh of sad.