Campaign in Beas assembly constituency ends this evening

Amritsar, Mar 9 (UNI) A security umberlla has been thrown in the Beas assembly constituency where campaigning comes to an end this evening.

The 1,42,089 voters will exercice their franchise march 11.

Elaborate security arrangements have been made for the polling day at all the 129 booths in this largely rural constituency. In addition to the local police, 20 companies of the Central Para Military Forces (CPMF) and state commandos have been deployed in the constituency.

There are 12 candidates in the fray, which include sitting MLA and Congress candidate Jasbir Singh Dimpa and Manjinder Singh Kang of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), which in alliance with the BJP captured power in Punjab in the February polls. The BSP has fielded Tarsem Singh, but the main contest is confined to the Congress and the SAD.

Counting of votes will be taken up on March 14. As in the rest of the state, EVMs will be used for voting in the constituency.

The elections in Beas were postponed to March 11 on the directions of the Election Commission (EC) which found the security arrangements made by the then state government 'not conducive for a free and fair poll'. Poll violence in the constituency claimed the life of an SAD supporter on January 29.

An FIR on the statement of SAD leaders was registered against Dimpa, his brothers, Rajan and Harman, an SP ranking officer in the Punjab Police and 13 others after the death of the Akali activist.

So far the police has arrested Rajan and five others including three Punjab Police personnel in the case.

Dimpa had made a number of pleas before the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Punjab, requesting the election in the constituency be held before February 27, the day the results for 116 assembly seats were declared. However the EC stuck to its stand and turned down all pleas of the Congress candidate, who maintained the poll could not be termed 'free and fair' after the declaration of results in 116 constituencies.

The campaign in Beas had started on a high pitched note much before the filing of papers started last month. However after the EC deferred the polls to March, the candidates and voters lost interest in the elections.

After the formation of the SAD-BJP government on March two, the campaign once again picked up with the new Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and other senior SAD and BJP leaders addressing a number of poll rallies in favour of Mr Kang. The SAD-BJP which had won 67 seats in the February polls wants to win this seat to increase their tally to 68.

On the other hand there seems to be little or no enthusiasm amongst the Congress leaders, after the loss in the assembly polls in which they won 44 seats and handed over the reins of power to the SAD-BJP. State Congress chief Shamsher Singh Dullo addressed election rallies in favour on Dimpa this week, but former chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh kept away from Beas after being dislodged from power and only came to the constituency today to address an election rally.

UNI