CHANDIGARH: The Mohali office of party strategist Prashant Kishor was not less than a war room of the Congress during Punjab elections.

But as the party scripted a stunning victory in Punjab on Saturday, its poll strategist Prashant Kishor and his team, Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC), were missing from action.

Kishor was in New Delhi and his team was watching the results from Lucknow, where it has stationed itself after the elections ended.

As poll results started pouring in today, the Congress seemed invincible from the beginning itself.

Even though the Congress Bhawan in Chandigarh was silent, right after 11 am, the Punjab Congress chief Captain Amarinder Singh’s residence here became the centre of action.

The first to signal a change of guard was the entourage of Punjab officers including KBS Sidhu, Sanjiv Gupta, SK Sharma and Ashok Gupta.

It being Amarinder’s 75th birthday, well-wishers came with bouquets and cakes.

But Amarinder did not taking any chances this time and appeared only around 12 pm after a landslide victory seemed undisputed.

However, what followed was complete mayhem. As news channels made a beeline to get the best ‘bite’, there was pushing and shoving. Heavy security deployed at his residence struggled to tackle the crowd.

Amarinder was hardly audible in the melee. He even mocked the media, reminding them it was ‘politicians who shout’. Many of us made peace with just the photo-op — Amarinder addressing the media with newlywed grandson Nirvan and his wife, Mriganika, who offered him the victory ladoo.

Some more enterprising ones like us were able to make way to Amarinder’s residence but had to beat a hasty retreat as the staircase leading to his room on the first floor saw a stampede like situation and a domestic help was seen pleading surging masses to leave the wooden railing lest it came off.

The media team had vanished and all media persons who chose to stay back, to get ‘meatier’ quote and picture of Amarinder, saw him leaving for Patiala at 3pm for a victory procession.

Some aggrieved media persons could not help but compare the situation to last elections when Congress had made better arrangements for them.

Perhaps, one is more gracious in defeat than victory!

All the defence pensioners are entitled to Tax Relief under Section 89(1) for the arrears received on Delinking, OROP Instalments and 7 CPC due paid during the FY 2016-17.

In order to claim relief, everyone has to file Form 10E on line before filing ITR.  Without filing Form 10E, you cannot claim IT Relief.

The following details are required for filing For 10E.

1. Pension received for the Years from 2005-06 to 2016-17.

2. Financial year wise breakup of the following arrears.

1. OROP Installments.

2. Cir.547 Arrears.

3. Delinking arrears received in Dec 16/Jan 17.

4. 7 CPC arrears received.

Prepare Form 10E Annexure I and Table A and keep Ready for filing on line in April 2017.

The Break up for the Delinking arrears is available in our website.

We will be uploading the break up for the other arrears very soon. Form 10E also will be uploaded very soon.

Wait for more instructions on Income Tax filing.

All Defence pensioners must submit their PAN Number to the Bank immediately.  Collect Form 16 from Bank in April 2017.

If possible get pension statement from the bank from 1.1.2006 to 31.3.207.  If you are having pass book, copy down the entire pension and total year wise.

If you do not take interest in preparing the above documents, you will not get the IT Relief which will be around 20,000 to 30,000./////. (As received from a friend).

Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said terror remains the ‘most pervasive and serious challenge’ to international security. PTI file photo

New Delhi, March 6

India on Monday renewed its pitch for early adoption of a global convention by the UN (United Nations) to effectively combat terrorism, terming the menace the single biggest threat to international peace and security.

In an obvious reference to Pakistan, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said India has been a victim of “proxy war” for several decades and that there was a need for developing an Asian approach to push the global fight against terror networks.

Calling for early adoption of India-backed Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism (CCIT) by the UN, Parrikar said terror remains the “most pervasive and serious challenge” to international security and an united approach to deal with it was very important.

He was speaking at a conference on combating terrorism at the Institute of Defence Studies and Analysis.

Parrikar said there must be action against entities which fund terror groups, propagate their ideologies and provide safe havens to terror groups and added that India has been seeking inclusion of these provisions in the CCIT.

Talking about issues relating to global security, Parrikar also mentioned about challenges like global uncertainty, revival of populist movements, heightened nationalism, and backlash against globalisation and possible closing of borders by several countries.

The Union Minister said Asia has been victim of some of the most dreaded terrorist networks and a strong regional push from Asia will exert more pressure on rest of the world to adapt a cohesive framework to combat terror.

Without giving specific details, he said India experienced almost seven per cent of the total terror attacks globally.

“Terrorism remains the most pervasive and serious challenge to international security. Developing a serious and cognitive global response to it is very important but seemingly very difficult to achieve,” he said. — PTI

TNS and Agencies

New Delhi, February 28

Angered by “stifling of voices,” hundreds of university students and teachers today held a protest march  aimed at the ABVP as the controversy over free speech in the country gathered pace.Faced with alleged rape threats and a virulent social media backlash, the young woman at the centre of the storm, LSR first-year student Gurmehar Kaur, withdrew her protest against the ABVP, the ruling party-affiliated students’ group, which has been accused of browbeating those who support free speech.(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)The large-scale participation of Delhi University students, said to be largest in recent times, was remarkable given that the institution is not known for volatile student activism like Jawaharlal Nehru University.“The protest is essentially against stifling of voices on campuses across the country, including Delhi University. We want to reclaim the space to discuss and dissent,” said All-India Students Association leader in DU Kanwalpreet Kaur. Several students and teachers of Ramjas College  were last week beaten up allegedly by ABVP members for inviting JNU students Umar Khalid and Shela Rashid to a seminar on free speech, which was eventually cancelled.Gurmehar became the centre of a controversy after she launched a social media campaign against the ABVP, which immediately drew threats of rape, allegedly from ABVP members, and ridicule by a Union minister, a BJP MP and ex-cricketer Virender Sehwag.Union Minister Kiren Rijiju wondered who was polluting her mind. He later said his remark was aimed at Leftists and that Gurmehar was free to express her views. “I stand by my comments. Anybody who tweets on social media platform should be careful. But anyone with a contrary view should be allowed to speak. Gurmehar is a young girl and she should be allowed to speak her mind,” he told mediapersons.Gurmehar’s father Capt Mandeep Singh was killed in a militant attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kupwara district on August 6, 1999, four days after Pakistani troops withdrew from Kargil.Today, as the march made its way through the North Campus of Delhi University, with hundreds of students of JNU, DU and Jamia, she tweeted, “All my friends. Our lovely faculty! how I wish I was there.”In an earlier tweet, she urged people to join the march, which is “about students and not about me.” JNU student Kanhaiya Kumar, who is out on bail in a sedition case, also joined the anti-ABVP protest.  “You (ABVP) can’t enforce a particular ideology on anyone and their should be room for discussion,” he said while addressing the protesters.The Delhi University issue was vociferously raised by Opposition members at the meeting of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs headed by senior Congress leader P Chidambaram, amid protests by ruling BJP members. The MPs asked Commissioner of Delhi Police whether security had been provided to Gurmehar in view of the threats issued to her. Within an hour of his being quizzed, he conveyed to the MPs that an FIR had been registered against unknown persons following a complaint by the Delhi Commission for Women in connection with the rape threats issued to Gurmehar allegedly by ABVP workers.NHRC notice to Delhi PoliceNew Delhi: The NHRC on Tuesday sought a report from the Delhi Police over allegations that policemen attacked a female student and manhandled journalists during the February 22 clash at Delhi University’s Ramjas College. In a notice to Delhi Police Commissioner Amulya Kumar Patnaik, the NHRC said it had taken cognizance of complaints and media reports against the police and gave him four weeks to submit a detailed report. IANS

The deserted Lal Chowk in Srinagar on Wednesday. Tribune Photo

Ishfaq Tantry

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, March 29

The normal life in Kashmir was disrupted today due to a shutdown call by the separatists to protest the killings of three youths in Budgam district.Apprehending trouble, the authorities today imposed restrictions in parts of Srinagar city besides suspending the rail services on the Banihal-Baramulla route.To maintain law and order situation, the authorities had deployed additional forces in the volatile parts of the city and other major towns even as clashes were reported from Palhalan in north Kashmir and several parts of Srinagar city.The joint call for a “complete shutdown” was given by three separatist leaders — Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Muhammad Yasin Malik, who have also warned of mass protests if the “targeted killings of civilian protesters” near the encounter sites is not stopped by the authorities.Three youths — Zahid Rashid, Aamir Fayaz and Ishfaq Ahmad — were killed and more than 24 persons were injured when the security forces opened fire on protesters in the Chadoora area of Budgam in central Kashmir near an encounter site, which ended with the killing of a Hizb militant. The protesters, hurling stones, tried to move towards the encounter site to help the holed-up militant inside a three-storey house.Owing to the call for shutdown, shops, business establishments, banks and educational institutions remained closed in Srinagar even as public transport was also off the roads. The courts also remained closed as the lawyers boycotted the proceedings in protests.Early morning clashes between the protesting youths and security forces were witnessed in the Rawalpora area in uptown Srinagar as one of the three slain youths, Ishfaq Ahmad, hailed from the adjoining Rangreth locality.There were similar reports of complete shutdown from other district headquarters with inter-district transport services also getting disrupted.In north Kashmir, the security forces were deployed in the volatile Palhalan, Pattan and Sopore areas to maintain law and order situation.In the wake of the shutdown, the authorities also suspended the daily rail services between Banihal and Baramulla stations, as the railway line passes through several potential hotpots in the Valley.On the other hand, all examinations scheduled to be held today were postponed by Kashmir University, Central University, and the Islamic University of Science and Technology, Awantipora, in the wake of the shutdown.Militants attack police station in Kulgam  Srinagar: Militants on Wednesday opened fire on a police station in south Kashmir’s Kulgam district but no one was hurt in the attack, the police said. The gunmen fired five to six rounds towards the police station at Yaripora in the district at around 5.50 pm, a police official said. He said the militants fled from the spot, mingling with protesters who were demonstrating against the killing of three civilians in security forces’ firing in the Chadoora area of Budgam district on Tuesday. There were no reports of anyone getting hurt in the firing incident, he added. — PTI 

Hundreds attend slain ultra’s funeral

Suhail A Shah

Kulgam, March 29

Amid a complete shutdown over the civilian killings at Chadoora in Budgam district on Tuesday, hundreds attended the funeral prayers of slain Hizbul Mujahideen militant Tawseef Wagay in the Yaripora area of Kulgam district on Wednesday.Wagay was killed in a day-long encounter with security forces in Budgam on Tuesday. Three civilians were also shot dead allegedly by security forces as clashes erupted around the encounter site. The joint separatist leadership had called for a shutdown against the civilian killings.In the wake of a huge gathering, five separate, back-to-back, funeral prayers were held. Hurriyat Conference chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani addressed the gathering over the phone and urged people “to remain steadfast in our struggle to attain freedom”. “We, our children, our resources and our honour, nothing is secure unless we get freedom. Our youth should hold the freedom struggle dearer than anything else,” Geelani said in his telephonic address.Following the funerals and the burial, amid pro-freedom and anti-India sloganeering, intense clashes rocked the area and continued for most part of the day. Youth from the area threw stones at security personnel who used tear-smoke shells to quell protests. Several people were injured during the clashes. The rest of south Kashmir remained calm.

OATH­TAKING The joy on Day 1 was marked by warm hugs, handshakes, and the unmistakable festive colours of the ‘pagris’ sported by Sikh assembly members

CHANDIGARH: From an assembly awash with the Akali blue for 10 long years, the 15th Vidhan Sabha on Friday sprang up with all festive hues as the ‘Congress 77’ settled themselves on the treasury benches. Many dressed in spotless white kurtapyjama, the joy was marked by warm hugs, handshakes, and the unmistakable festive colours of the ‘pagris’ sported by the Sikh members.

PHOTOS: KESHAV SINGH/HT(From right) Punjab chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh with cabinet ministers Brahm Mohindra, Navjot Singh Sidhu and other Congress legislators occupying the treasury benches on the first day of the 15th Vidhan Sabha in Chandigarh on Friday.

Congress MLAs have long given up the tradition of wearing white ‘pagris’ and on Friday they had chosen more “sacred” colours for their headgear. Chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh wore a beige ‘pagri’, a shift from his favourite light pink or light blue. There were others who completed the palette — Sukhjinder Randhawa chose light peach, Rana Gurmeet Sodhi chose bright pink, Pargat Singh donned dark purple and Balbir Sidhu chose magenta. Charanjit Channi sported a red ‘pagri’ and some even wore orange.

Cabinet minister Navjot Singh Sidhu dressed to the tee in a suit, wore a rust shirt with a matching ‘pagri’. Manpreet Badal wore his blue blazer today (he is mostly seen in either a white one or a school uniform blue) over his shirt-pant combination sporting a white ‘pagri’. The most colourful of Congressmen, Rana Gurjeet Singh, was dressed as expected, white kurta-pyjama, yellow jacket and purple ‘pagri’

Most of the youngsters had chosen to don kurta-pyjama, giving the true politician look but some wanted to look more fashionable. Amrinder Singh Raja Warring looked strapping in a blue blazer-shirt-pant combination, and newbie AAP MLA from Barnala Meet Hayer following suit.

Most of the Sikh Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLAs chose to wear ‘Basanti’ (bright yellow) turbans, the party’s campaign colour, symbolic of revolution, with Sunam MLA Aman Arora having found a jacket of the same colour. Leader of opposition, HS Phoolka, stuck to his usual blue. Most of the Akali MLAs too stuck to blue or black (two of three colours emblematic of Sikhism), only Parminder Dhindsa wearing his favourite light yellow.

Acutely missing from the new assembly was the glam quotient visible in the last House, thanks to its women members. Ministers Aruna Chaudhry and Razia Sultana wore subtle shades of white and beige, not wanting to stand out, lending a graceful tinge to the treasury benches. All six women MLAs kept their heads covered with ‘dupattas’.

UNUSUAL BONHOMIE, HUMILITY MARKS DAY

Lok Insaaf Party’s Simarjeet Singh Bains, allied with the Aam Aadmi Party, shared a warm hug with Navjot Sidhu Sidhu, reliving the bonhomie of the Awaaz-e-Punjab days before the group split to support different parties.

Bikram Singh Majithia, the Congress’ and AAP’s bugbear, shook hands with chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh and leader of opposition HS Phoolka after taking oath. Many legislators also bent to touch the floor of the House on their way to taking oath.

Capt govt to push CPS bill on last day of assembly session

WILL CHALLENGE GOVERNMENT MOVE, STATE LAW CANNOT MAKE APPOINTMENTS LEGAL, SAYS FORMER PETITIONER

CHANDIGARH: A sleek nine-member cabinet may not be enough to meet the aspirations of the 77 Congress MLAs. Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh has hinted at expansion of his cabinet after the budget session in June. But his government is readying to push a legislation on the last day of the current session (March 29) to get the appointment of chief parliamentary secretaries (CPSes) passed by the House.

Government sources contend the appointment of CPS, per se, is not unconstitutional. “The Punjab and Haryana High Court had stuck down the appointments in Punjab, holding that there was no law to mandate it. Once the assembly ratifies a law, the appointments should not face any legal hurdle,” government sources added.

The previous SAD-BJP government had appointed 23 CPSes without passing any law in the state assembly. The Congress government is likely to ensure that it keeps the appointments on a par with the 15% ceiling on size of the cabinet. In the 117member Punjab assembly, the cabinet can have not more than 18 ministers. So, the number of CPSes to be appointed also would be restricted to the figure of 18 under the state legislation.

Other than Amarinder loyalists, young turks of Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi could be appointed as CPS to “groom” them for the future. Neighbouring Himachal, too, is bringing a law to appoint CPSes.

But advocate HC Arora, petitioner in the case before the Punjab and Haryana high court, said any new state legislation on the matter will be challenged. “The constitutional mandate is of appointing ministers, which should not be more than 15% of the total number of MLAs. A state legislation cannot make the appointments legal as it will be against the constitutional mandate,” he said.

“There can’t be anybody else between the minister and administrative secretary of the department, through whom files can be routed. If a CPS comes in between, the oath of secrecy by minister goes. The HC had also pointed out that they were acting like junior ministers, which is against the law,” Arora said. “We shall definitely challenge the government move. We won’t let go the battle, which we have won after years of efforts put in by a large number of people,” Arora said.

The HC had quashed all the CPS appointments made by the previous Parkash Singh Badal government on August 12, 2016, along with six others made later. The state government had moved the Supreme Court but it had refused to stay the high court order. The HC bench had decided the matter on two petitions filed in 2012.

‘Fine if CM keeps urban development ministry’

CHANDIGARH : Local bodies minister Navjot Singh Sidhu on Friday toned down his demand for housing and urban development ministry when he said it was fine with him if chief minister Amarinder Singh continues to hold the portfolio and he only wants to be involved in discussion and decision-making process.

“I have no problem if CM keeps the housing department,” said Sidhu while talking to a select group of journalists after taking oath as an MLA in the 15th Punjab Vidhan Sabha. His comments came a day after a clean chit from the government that he can continue to be a part of “The Kapil Sharma Show”.

Last week, Amarinder had raised apprehension that in case of conflict of interest, Sidhu’s portfolio (tourism and cultural affairs) could be changed. On Thursday, advocate general Atul Nanda made it clear that Sidhu “faces no legal bar in continuing with his work on the show”.

Sidhu had been demanding housing and urban development department along with the local bodies assigned to him saying all the issues related to urban development are in control of one department.

“My request is to call me periodically to discuss the issues, so there is coordination in all development works in state,” he said, reiterating that the development had to a joint effort of the two departments. Many programmes run by the Centre have involvement of both housing and urban development and local bodies department of the states, he said.

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 23

With the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) today rejecting the seats allocated to its MLAs and its ally, the Lok Insaaf Party (LIP), a confrontation seems inevitable on the opening day of the newly constituted 14th  Vidhan Sabha tomorrow.Pro tem Speaker Rana Kanwar Pal Singh will take a decision on the matter in consultation with Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh before the start of the session.   AAP will decide its course thereafter.(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)The conflict is regarding the 12 seats in the first row. AAP legislators are upset that no seat has been allocated to the Lok Insaaf Party in this row. The party has two MLAs — Balwinder Singh Bains and younger brother Simarjit Singh.The House has seating arrangements in three blocks — treasury benches on the Speaker’s right,  where the 77 Congress MLAs will be seated; the opposite block for the Opposition MLAs and the block facing the Speaker’s chair for other parties/Independents or members of the ruling party, in case there are not enough seats in the main block. AAP has 20 MLAs, the second highest, while the Akalis have 15. Both will get seats in the Opposition rows but AAP’s HS Phoolka, being the Leader of the Opposition, will be seated opposite the CM. AAP has been allotted five seats in the front row, the Akalis four and the BJP two. One seat is reserved for the Deputy Speaker. The LIP has been allotted two seats in the third block. The Bains brothers had occupied seats in this block as Independents in the last House as well.Phoolka told The Tribune he had rejected the seat arrangement. “The Lok Insaaf Party  had a pre-poll alliance with AAP as had the Akalis with the BJP.  If they can be seated together and their senior leaders allotted seats in the front row, why not AAP and LIP leaders?” he asked.Phoolka, contending that AAP and it ally would have a joint House strategy, said: “We have demanded that the Speaker allots the LIP seats to us.” Sources said in view of the Bains brothers’ tenacity to dominate House proceedings, AAP was keen on seeing at least one of them on the front seat.“We have allocated seats as per the party position. The seats are not allocated as per alliance or coalition,” explained Vidhan Sabha officials, who faced an unusual situation, having to accommodate the Leader of the SAD Legislature Party as also the former CM, the seniormost politician not only in Punjab, but the country too.

Parliamentary secys next on Capt agenda

Ministry expansion before June session

Rajmeet Singh

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 23

Barely a week after taking oath as Chief Minister and inducting nine ministers, Capt Amarinder Singh today not only announced the expansion of his ministry “before the Budget session in June”, but also said he would introduce a Bill in the Punjab Assembly to appoint MLAs as parliamentary secretaries, a clear indication that Congress MLAs have been lobbying hard with the high command for their elevation.The Punjab and Haryana High Court had in August last year quashed the appointment of 18 Chief Parliamentary Secretaries in the SAD-BJP government, ruling that they were acting as “junior ministers” in contravention of the Constitution’s intent to limit the Council of Ministers to 15 per cent of the strength of the legislature.(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)Capt Amarinder said he intended to attach parliamentary secretaries with various ministers to acquaint them with matters of governance. He said he would be happy to see his party appoint his successor in the last year of his tenure.Capt Amarinder said he would give due representation to all regions and communities. As of now, there is one minister from the Doaba region, three from Majha and six from Malwa, including the Chief Minister. The Congress has 77 Congress MLAs in the Assembly. There is room for eight more ministers in the Cabinet.Meanwhile, justifying the decision to retain Suresh Arora as the Punjab DGP, Capt Amarinder said he was a thoroughly professional officer while the Chief Secretary had to be changed because of his proximity to the previous SAD-BJP government.

Amarinder hails PM’s initiative on farm debt waiver

ribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 23

Reiterating his commitment to farm loan waiver, Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh today welcomed reports that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had instructed the Niti Aayog to make an assessment and formulate a plan for debt waiver.While the state government had already initiated the debt waiver process in the state, it was heartening to see the Central government also moving towards the waiver of the debts of the beleaguered farmers around the country, said Capt Amarinder.The CM, who had raised the farm debt waiver issue with the Prime Minister on Wednesday, said he had received an extremely warm response from both Modi and Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, whom he met in New Delhi.Cong finding excuses: Badal Former CM Parkash Singh Badal said by linking its loan waiver promise with the demand for a Central package, the government was finding escape routes to run away from its promise on loan waiver. “The demand for the financial package should be de-linked from the Congress poll promise as that promise was not made on behalf of the Prime Minister. The CM should have announced the loan waiver in a Cabinet decision before going to Delhi,” he said.

MCD: Cong banks on Capt

The Congress is banking on CM Capt Amarinder Singh to put up a strong show in the upcoming Assembly bypoll and the April 23 Municipal Corporation (MCD) elections.Capt Amarinder has consented to campaign and is likely to address a massive rally on March 30 in Rajouri Garden, where an Assembly bypoll is due on April 9.The seat fell vacant after AAP’s Jarnail Singh vacated it to take on former Punjab CM Parkash Singh Badal from Lambi constituency. — TNS

There’s discontent, especially due to ‘meatier’ portfolios given to Aruna Chaudhary, Razia

I have requested the CM that the urban development and local government are under one minister at the Centre and compliment each other. It should be the same in Punjab as well. NAVJOT SINGH SIDHU, local government minister

CHANDIGARH : It’s barely a week since the Captain Amarinder Singh-led Congress assumed power in Punjab, but the first rumblings are already audible in the corridors of power. Reason: While wings of some leaders have been clipped, others are “flying high”.

On March 16, when Amarinder took oath as CM along with nine ministers, former leader of opposition Charanjit Singh Channi was sworn in seventh in the pecking order as a cabinet minister. Even the portfolio allotted to the three-time MLA is technical education and industrial training.

In contrast, Aruna Chaudhary, a minister of state with independent charge, has been given the meatier department of school and higher education. Another minister of state with independent charge, Razia Sultana, has been allotted PWD (B&R) along with women and child development. Razia’s husband, Mohammad Mustafa, a DGP-rank officer in Punjab, is known to call the shots in her constituency and had lobbied for either being appointed as state DGP or a plum department for Razia.

Aruna’s husband, Ashok Chaudhary, is a retired bureaucrat and Congress leader. The Chaudharys courted a controversy on Wednesday after the husband was seen perusing department files sitting next to his wife. Some Congress leaders are already asking why both Razia and Aruna were given minister of state ranks with the high-profile departments and why Channi was given a cabinet rank and a “light-weight” department.

“In the previous government, the industry minister also had department of technical education was with the department of industry. It is for the first time that a cabinet minister has been just given technical education and industrial training department that too when there are just seven ministers with cabinet rank,” sources in the government said. Channi, when contacted, said it was the CM’s prerogative to divide departments and he has no complaints.

Navjot Singh Sidhu wanted the department of urban development along with local government. “I have requested the CM that the two departments are under one minister at the centre and compliment each other. It should be the same in Punjab,” Sidhu told HT. The urban development department is presently with the CM.

Amarinder as CM has kept the department of vigilance with himself. He is facing two highprofile cases being invetigated by the vigilance department — the Amritsar Improvement Trust case and the Ludhiana City Centre scam — that came to haunt Captain’s government during his first tenure as CM (2002-07).

SCRAMBLE FOR RANKS IN CORE TEAM

Even the allotment of posts among Amarinder’s aides and core team could take place after a bitter tug-of-war over positions that come with pay and perks of a cabinet minister or minister of state, the appointment of Raveen Thukral as media adviser was made only after his former media adviser Bharat Inder Singh Chahal was rehabilitated as adviser to the CM. Both will hold minister of state ranks.

Between his three other aides — Captain Sandeep Sandhu, Major Amardeep and Karanpal Sekhon — it was decided to appoint Sandhu as political secretary and the other two as protocol secretaries, which did not go down well with them. Amarinder had to finally appoint all three as political secretaries.

Amarinder’s old friend, Lt Gen Tajinder Singh Shergill (retd), who also co-authored a book, ‘The Monsoon War’, with him has been appointed as senior adviser to CM with a cabinet rank. After MP Singh, another five were on Wednesday appointed as OSDs to Amarinder. And those raising questions over the spree of political appointments in the CM’s office are also those from his own party. “All the government’s first moves have been about symbolism, from low-key swearing-in ceremony to removing red beacons from cars of VIPs. The coterie was kept out of frame during elections but it is back with a bang in the CMO. The first casualty will once again be the CM’s accessibility, which proved to be his bane in his last term,” a Congress leader said on condition of anonymity.

It takes two to tango in the new Punjab cabinet

CABINET MINISTERS HAVE COURTED CONTROVERSY AFTER THEIR SPOUSES WERE SEEN ATTENDING TO OFFICIAL MATTERS

CHANDIGARH: There are many “better halves” in the cabinet of Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh. And they are working in tandem within the government, for better or for worse.

On Monday, it was Navjot Singh Sidhu’s wife Navjot Kaur Sidhu, a former MLA who opted out of her Amritsar East seat for him, who courted a controversy by attending an official meeting of the local bodies department. She defended it saying that as a former legislator she knows civic problems and was just sitting and listening to officials while it was husband Sidhu who was chairing the meeting.

On Wednesday, it was minister of state Aruna Chaudhary who made headlines as a TV grab of her husband, Ashok Chaudhary, a former government officer and now Congress leader from Gurdaspur, perusing official files sitting next to the minister went viral. The only distinction in hierarchy was that the back of the minister’s chair was taller! Ashok Chaudhary later described it as ‘good couples do things together’.

Razia Sultana, also a minister of state with independent charge like Aruna, is anyway seen as a proxy of her husband Mohammad Mustafa, an officer of the rank of director general of police (DGP) known for his proximity to Amarinder.

Though Mustafa has not been seen in Razia’s public works department, according to Congress sources he had lobbied hard for getting the department for his wife. Mustafa was barred by the Election Commission from entering Sultana’s constituency, Malerkotla, during the elections.

As for the CM himself, Amarinder’s wife Preneet Kaur, who opted out of Patiala Urban for the husband but managed his entire campaign as he, as the Congress unit chief, campaigned across the state, is happy issuing specifications for the CM’s new official residence.

CAPT TO TELL ARUNA TO CHECK HUSBAND’S INTERFERENCE

CHANDIGARH: Punjab chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh said on Thursday he will talk to minister of state Aruna Chaudhary on her husband’s reported interference in her official functioning.

Aruna, who handles higher and school education in the newly constituted council of ministers, was in news after a picture of her husband, Ashok Chaudhary, a former government officer and, perusing official files sitting next to her in her office in the Punjab secretariat went viral.

In response to a question during a television interview, the chief minister agreed that such behaviour was not proper and could not be condoned.

Captain Amarinder said he will personally speak to Aruna and was confident the minister would be able to control any such interference in future.

Manpreet exhorts youth to shun drugs, help govt in nation-building

HUSSAINIWALA : Punjab finance minister Manpreet Singh Badal on Friday exhorted people, particular youths, to refrain from drugs and come forward to help the government in nation- building.

SANJEEV KUMAR/HTPunjab minister Manpreet Badal laying a wreath at the martyrs’ memorial in Hussainiwala on Thursday.

Manpreet was presiding over the state-level function to pay tributes to martyrs Shaheed-eAzam Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev on the 85th martyrdom day here, Manpreet reached Hussainiwala, 11 km from here, accompanied by local Congress MLAs Parminder Singh Pinki, Kulbir Singh Zira, Davinder Ghubaya and Satkar Kaur besides a battery of civil and police officials.

“There are challenges before Punjab and the country. These challenges can be met only if we work together, think together,” said Manpreet.

The finance minister announced a grant of ₹4 crore to further beautify the national memorial at Hussainiwala in response to a demand raised by Parminder Pinki.

“The government, led by chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh was committed to make the dreams of martyrs come true and put an end to corruption, unemployment, illiteracy and drugs,” said Manpreet, after paying floral tributes at the martyrs’ memorial.

He said that the state government would be organising a state-level function to commemorate Baisakhi at Jallianwala Bagh, Sri Amritsar Sahib on April 13.

“People of border districts have faced problems from the times of India’s struggle for freedom till today and the Punjab government was well aware of these problems,” he said.

He announced that industry will be set up in the border districts to provide means of livelihood and employment to the people here, which will also propel state’s economy.

Manpreet also honoured family members of the martyrs and freedom fighters.