Akalis allege Congress distributing money to woo voters

Kapurthala, Feb 12 (UNI) More than 300 Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) workers today staged a 'dharna' outside Sadar police station and blocked vehicular traffic on the Kapurhala-Sultanpur Lodhi road for more than one hour to protest against the alleged failure of the police to arrest Congress activists who were distributing money to woo the voters in the villages.

The 'dharna' was lifted following assurance given by SP (Headquarter) Charanjit Kumar that the police would register cases against those responsible for distribution of money.

SAD candidate Raghbir Singh from the Kapurthala assembly constituency, who also sat on 'dharna', alleged that the police was not taking action against the Congress workers due to the alleged pressure exerted by Jalandhar Congress MP Rana Gurjit Singh, whose wife Rajbans Kaur is the ruling party candidate from the constituency.

The SAD candidate also alleged that Akali workers were being threatened by the Congress workers.

SSP Rajiv Ahir when contacted said police would investigate the allegations levelled by the Akalis and take action wherever necessary.

Meanwhile, the police arrested four people on grounds that they were not voters in the Kapurthala constituency. The arrests follow the Election Commission instructions to deal strictly with outsiders.

District Electoral Officer-cum-Deputy Commissioner Raminder Singh admitted that he had received many complaints regarding the distribution of money in the villages and said that the guilty would not be spared.

UNI