A tense situation prevailed in the border town of Bhikhiwind on Friday night after a clash allegedly broke out between supporters of rival candidates during campaigning for the nagar panchayat elections.
According to the police, around 80 armed persons, allegedly led by Gurjant Singh, reached the residence of Sarabjit Singh in Ward No. 12 and raised slogans while campaigning for the civic body elections was under way. Elections to the Bhikhiwind nagar panchayat are being held for 13 wards.
The incident reportedly occurred when senior SAD leader Gaurav Deep Singh Valtoha, son of former SAD MLA Virsa Singh Valtoha, was present at Sarabjit Singh’s residence to canvass support for SAD candidates.
Manjit Kaur, wife of Sarabjit Singh, is contesting the election from Ward No. 12 as the SAD candidate. Gurjant Singh, who was earlier associated with the SAD and had reportedly sought the party ticket for his mother, Balwinder Kaur, later joined the BJP after being denied candidature. Balwinder Kaur is now contesting from the same ward as the BJP nominee.
The police said the accused allegedly arrived armed with sharp-edged weapons, damaged the gate of the house and vandalised a motorcycle parked outside. Apart from Gurjant Singh, those booked include Rajbir Singh, alias Raju, Sajan Singh, Nihal Singh, Jashandeep Singh, Gurpreet Singh, alias Gopi, Gopal Singh, alias Gopala, Gurpreet Singh and Balwinder Kaur, besides around 70 unidentified persons. A case has been registered under Sections 126(2), 324, 351(2), 351(3), 191(3) and 190 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). However, leaders of both the BJP and the SAD later intervened to defuse tensions. Sarabjit Singh and Gurjant Singh said the matter had been amicably resolved and that an affidavit regarding the compromise had been submitted to the police. Meanwhile, the AAP candidate from Ward No. 2 has already been elected unopposed after the nomination papers of other candidates were rejected during scrutiny.
