After various ups & downs, after trailing for a long time, atlast Sidhu manages the hat trick in Amritsar. At one stage it was announced that position of Sidhu was very bad in the elections. But making a comeback, he won the prestigious Amritsar Lok Sabha seat. Our heartiest congratulations to Mr. Sidhu.
SikhsIndia
www.sohnijodi.com
Saturday, May 16, 2009
£50,000 reward offered to catch Sikh temple arsonists
By Gemma Collins
SHOCKED members of London’s Sikh community who watched their temple go up in flames in a suspected arson in March have pledged today fight for justice with a £50,000 reward to track the culprits.
The committee of East London’s Gudwara Sikh Sangat at Harley Grove in Bow are treating the attack as “murder” because their holy books were destroyed.
The community’s 14 Saroops, the Sikhs’ holy books, were lost as 40ft flames swept through the building and broke through the roof.
Committee members holding a news conference this-afternoon in a tent in the small park opposite claimed police could be doing more to catch those responsible.
ATTACK ON RELIGION
Temple trustee Jagmohan Singh said: “This is more than just an arson attack on the building. It was an attack on the Sikh religion itself.
“Police could be doing more—so we have to assist them with the reward. The community won’t sleep until the intruder is caught and brought to justice.”
The community pledged to rebuild the temple which could cost an estimated £4 million.
They also plan a march on May 24 to show the attack “will not be tolerated.”
A police investigation began after eye-witnesses reported an intruder in the temple moments before the blaze on March 16, but no arrests have been made.
Detectives are appealing to anyone with information to contact Limehouse CID on 020-7275 4750, or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800-555111.
with thanks : source : http://www.eastlondonadvertiser.co.uk/content/towerhamlets/advertiser/news/story.aspx?brand=ELAOnline&category=news&tBrand=northlondon24&tCategory=newsela&itemid=WeED15%20May%202009%2016%3A46%3A39%3A387
sikhsindia
www.sohnijodi.com
Singh is king again
UPA has won the elections 2009 and obtained almost 250 plus seats i.e. just a few less than the magic number 272. Therefore, it's now sure that Dr. Manmohan Singh will be the Prime Minister again. We hereby congratulate Dr. Manmohan Singh on this great victory of UPA.
SikhsIndia
www.sohnijodi.com
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Sikh Wins Hoboken Council Seat - North America
Ravinder Singh Bhalla was elected today to be a councilman-at-large for Hoboken, N.J., which gives him the national distinction of holding the highest elected office as a Sikh.
According to the Hudson County clerk's office, Ravinder Singh won nearly 14 percent of the 25,988 votes, statistically tying Carol Marsh for the most votes. He now holds one of three at-large seats, for a four-year term.
Ravinder Singh was part of the slate for mayoral candidate Dawn Zimmer, who won with 36 percent of the 9,986 votes. This election also made Zimmer the first woman and the first Jewish mayor of Hoboken.
Zimmer and her two biggest challengers, Peter Cammarano and Beth Mason, were all council members who oversaw a very unpopular property tax increase last year. She and Ravinder Singh were hoping that voters were not angry with all elected officials, just ones that contributed to the tax increase. Solving the tax and budget crisis became the top campaign issue for Zimmer and Ravinder Singh.
A win for the mayoral candidate usually means a win for the entire slate. But not only did Ravinder Singh win his first election, he won big.
with thanks : source : sikhnn.com
sikhsindia
www.sohnijodi.com
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Cancer treatment in Delhi
Just read the news item Leaving Punjab on the Cancer Train, on Mr Sikhnet Posted by Sundari in Health, which says about A recent story on NPR discussed the “cancer train” in Punjab. The train is so named as it routinely carries about 60 patients and their families from Bathinda to the town of Bikaner in order to get treatment at the government’s regional cancer center.
Please note that the cancer patients can get absolutely free treatment at the DELHI STATE CANCER INSTITUTE. Free Chemotherapy, Free Radiation, Free routine checkup everything on the first come first served basis. They had to open the in house Admission with all the rest of facilities alongwith the private wards. This hospital, fully airconditioned was started by Mrs. Shiela Dixit, Chief minister Delhi.The detailed address, Tel number can be checked from http://www.sohnijodi.com/sohnijodi%20punjab%20related%20news.htm
SikhsIndia
www.sohnijodi.com
Manmohan as mascot
Sarabjit Pandher
Congress plays the ‘Sikh card’
The Congress appears to have broken new ground in this election by using the “Sikh card” to woo the community, estranged since “Operation Bluestar” in 1984 and the anti-Sikh violence following the assassination of Indira Gandhi.
It is hard to imagine that Manmohan Singh is not surprised by the fact that he has become the poster boy of the Congress in its campaign to win over the Sikhs.
The Congress was put on the defensive, when its nomination of Jagdish Tytler and Sajjan Kumar, who were alleged to have fanned violence against the Sikhs in November 1984, met with widespread protests — including a shoe thrown at Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram — from the Sikh community and the party was forced to withdraw their nominations. The party quickly went into damage control mode and reminded the Punjabis, especially the Sikhs, that it was the “first” party to have a “Sikh” as Prime Minister.
The tactic seemed to have worked, as it not only calmed the Sikhs but also put the combative Akalis on the back foot, with the party finding it hard to launch a full scale broadside against a Sikh.
The Akali leadership was almost knocked off its feet, when Sikhs reacted sharply to a Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee statement that Dr. Singh was not a Sikh. Put on the defensive, the Akali Dal failed to project Dr. Singh as “just another” Congress Prime Minister. Eventually, the Akali Dal had to resort to a no-holds-barred offensive against the former Chief Minister, Amarinder Singh.
Now, with Dr. Singh as the mascot, Capt. Amarinder, who has been getting a good response from the public, has emerged as the spearhead of the Congress campaign in Punjab.
For a change, the roles of the Congress and the Akali Dal appear to be swapped with the former using the “Sikh card” and the latter focusing on the development plank, say analysts.
However, this tactic is fraught with danger: it could conceivably lead to communal polarisation once again, say observers. They point out that the Congress used the “Sikh card” in the 1970s, which ultimately provided the fuel for the subsequent Sikh extremism.
with thanks : source : http://www.hindu.com/2009/05/12/stories/2009051250031200.htm
sikhsindia
www.sohnijodi.com
Drug addiction spreads - in Punjab
Drug addiction spreads
by Gobind Thukral
Three decades ago we visited the inner Malwa area of Punjab to find out the level of drug addiction. We heard shocking tales of how youth were getting hooked to opium, bhuki and narcotics. Worse, pharmaceutical combinations meant to treat diseases were being consumed for a high.
At Bathinda’s Red Cross de-addiction centre, some well-built youth hailing from rich land-owning families looked pale and forlorn. Some were even married and had children. Doctors and relatives were working hard to wean them from the deadly habit but with limited success.
Parents cursed their fate as wives and sisters prayed to the Almighty to help their husbands and brothers recover. Farm labourers were more miserable as not many had relatives and friends to help them get out of the killer habit. In all, it was a miserable story of hopelessness.
Those were then the sad tales from the Malwa of Punjab. Now drug addiction has spread to all corners of Punjab and Chandigarh. In many villages, towns and cities, not a single family is spared. Haggard youth, locally called “smackia”, greet you at bus terminals, in street corners, close to chemist shops and liquor vends. At marriages and other social gatherings they form separate groups.
Elders advise you to steer clear of these louts. Many parents and elders wish them either dead or move to some foreign lands with the hope that work would reform them.
A senior doctor at Chandigarh’s PGI has estimated the number of drug addicts at several lakhs in Punjab. He also revealed shocking tales of ingenuity like roasting of lizards or even consuming pain killers and tranquillisers of various forms. Narcotic powder and heroin seized in Punjab in the last three years is sufficient as a single dose for over 50 lakh people.
Once hooked, young men soon graduate to cough syrups and then move on to a lethal diet of opium, charas, ganja, mandrax, smack and heroin. Those who cannot afford these take a deep breath of petrol or spread Iodex on bread to get a momentary thrill.
Studies by PGI doctors over the years have found peer pressure, thrill-seeking and even curiosity about drugs as the main factors that make youth take to drugs. Lack of any purpose in life was another key reason.
Myths related to sexual potency, thrill-seeking and punitive attitude of elders and lack of support during periods of stress were other reasons for drug addiction. This widespread consumption of intoxicants gives a false sense of coming-of-age status for youth.
The Punjab Department of Social Security Development of Women and Children conducted a survey in 2005 and found 67 per cent of the rural households in Punjab having one drug addict each. The report that covered Jalandhar, Kapurthala, Hoshiarpur, Amritsar, Ferozepur, Ludhiana, Muktsar and Gurdaspur found narcotics were the most common form of addiction.
Dr Ravinder Singh Sandhu, Professor, Department of Sociology, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, found more than 73 per cent of drug addicts belong to the age group of 16-35 years. There are numerous studies to warn political and social leaders of the dangerous situation where Punjab has landed in. Intriguingly, the excise policy followed by the successive governments is liberal and aims at getting more and more taxes through more and more liquor vends.
Currently, the revenue is around Rs 1,728 crore as opposed to Rs 1,656 crore in 2007-08.
There were 6,902 liquor vends in Punjab. In Chandigarh there are more liquor vends than government primary schools. Now add to this illicit distillation, almost two times and the sixth river of Punjab is full of intoxicants.
There is a well-knit nexus that makes the supply and sale of drugs a smooth lucrative business and it puts to shame the government’s lethargic corrupt functioning. The smuggler-police-politician nexus, aided by a chain of retail outlets, works smoothly. Interestingly, politicians and law-enforcement agents blame each other for the mess. We all know how politicians use smugglers for money and musclemen.
Chemists along with quacks, drug peddlers and truck drivers have been identified as the main supply sources of drugs in Punjab. Chemists provide drugs to addicts without a prescription. Even many of the so-called de-addiction centres are actually proving to be addiction centres. These are, in fact, supplying drugs to the inmates. The number of chemist shops and de-addiction centres has increased at an unbelievable rate. Private de-addiction centres lack basic facilities but earn a quick buck.
Now during the election time, the supply is maintained by political leaders to please voters. Several thousand new drug addicts have been added during the present elections.
The problem has assumed epidemic proportions in the rural areas where the education level is low and unemployment rampant. Not a single village is without scores of drug addicts.
Is this not the time for leaders like Mr Parkash Singh Badal and Capt Amarinder Singh to at least instruct their candidates and cadres not to supply drugs to voters?
with thanks : source : http://www.tribuneindia.com/2009/20090509/edit.htm#7
sikhsindia
www.sohnijodi.com
by Gobind Thukral
Three decades ago we visited the inner Malwa area of Punjab to find out the level of drug addiction. We heard shocking tales of how youth were getting hooked to opium, bhuki and narcotics. Worse, pharmaceutical combinations meant to treat diseases were being consumed for a high.
At Bathinda’s Red Cross de-addiction centre, some well-built youth hailing from rich land-owning families looked pale and forlorn. Some were even married and had children. Doctors and relatives were working hard to wean them from the deadly habit but with limited success.
Parents cursed their fate as wives and sisters prayed to the Almighty to help their husbands and brothers recover. Farm labourers were more miserable as not many had relatives and friends to help them get out of the killer habit. In all, it was a miserable story of hopelessness.
Those were then the sad tales from the Malwa of Punjab. Now drug addiction has spread to all corners of Punjab and Chandigarh. In many villages, towns and cities, not a single family is spared. Haggard youth, locally called “smackia”, greet you at bus terminals, in street corners, close to chemist shops and liquor vends. At marriages and other social gatherings they form separate groups.
Elders advise you to steer clear of these louts. Many parents and elders wish them either dead or move to some foreign lands with the hope that work would reform them.
A senior doctor at Chandigarh’s PGI has estimated the number of drug addicts at several lakhs in Punjab. He also revealed shocking tales of ingenuity like roasting of lizards or even consuming pain killers and tranquillisers of various forms. Narcotic powder and heroin seized in Punjab in the last three years is sufficient as a single dose for over 50 lakh people.
Once hooked, young men soon graduate to cough syrups and then move on to a lethal diet of opium, charas, ganja, mandrax, smack and heroin. Those who cannot afford these take a deep breath of petrol or spread Iodex on bread to get a momentary thrill.
Studies by PGI doctors over the years have found peer pressure, thrill-seeking and even curiosity about drugs as the main factors that make youth take to drugs. Lack of any purpose in life was another key reason.
Myths related to sexual potency, thrill-seeking and punitive attitude of elders and lack of support during periods of stress were other reasons for drug addiction. This widespread consumption of intoxicants gives a false sense of coming-of-age status for youth.
The Punjab Department of Social Security Development of Women and Children conducted a survey in 2005 and found 67 per cent of the rural households in Punjab having one drug addict each. The report that covered Jalandhar, Kapurthala, Hoshiarpur, Amritsar, Ferozepur, Ludhiana, Muktsar and Gurdaspur found narcotics were the most common form of addiction.
Dr Ravinder Singh Sandhu, Professor, Department of Sociology, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, found more than 73 per cent of drug addicts belong to the age group of 16-35 years. There are numerous studies to warn political and social leaders of the dangerous situation where Punjab has landed in. Intriguingly, the excise policy followed by the successive governments is liberal and aims at getting more and more taxes through more and more liquor vends.
Currently, the revenue is around Rs 1,728 crore as opposed to Rs 1,656 crore in 2007-08.
There were 6,902 liquor vends in Punjab. In Chandigarh there are more liquor vends than government primary schools. Now add to this illicit distillation, almost two times and the sixth river of Punjab is full of intoxicants.
There is a well-knit nexus that makes the supply and sale of drugs a smooth lucrative business and it puts to shame the government’s lethargic corrupt functioning. The smuggler-police-politician nexus, aided by a chain of retail outlets, works smoothly. Interestingly, politicians and law-enforcement agents blame each other for the mess. We all know how politicians use smugglers for money and musclemen.
Chemists along with quacks, drug peddlers and truck drivers have been identified as the main supply sources of drugs in Punjab. Chemists provide drugs to addicts without a prescription. Even many of the so-called de-addiction centres are actually proving to be addiction centres. These are, in fact, supplying drugs to the inmates. The number of chemist shops and de-addiction centres has increased at an unbelievable rate. Private de-addiction centres lack basic facilities but earn a quick buck.
Now during the election time, the supply is maintained by political leaders to please voters. Several thousand new drug addicts have been added during the present elections.
The problem has assumed epidemic proportions in the rural areas where the education level is low and unemployment rampant. Not a single village is without scores of drug addicts.
Is this not the time for leaders like Mr Parkash Singh Badal and Capt Amarinder Singh to at least instruct their candidates and cadres not to supply drugs to voters?
with thanks : source : http://www.tribuneindia.com/2009/20090509/edit.htm#7
sikhsindia
www.sohnijodi.com
Monday, May 11, 2009
Sikh community seeks probe into Guru Granth Sahib ‘sacrilege’
Express News Service
Posted: May 11, 2009 at 0126 hrs IST
Mohali The Sikh community has sought a thorough probe into the alleged sacrilege of Guru Granth Sahib, recently reported from Takht Sri Kesgarh Sahib in Anandpur Sahib.
Addressing a press conference on Sunday, SGPC member Hardeep Singh said two distorted birs-Guru Granth Sahib and Dasam Granth-in one binding is being seen as a deep-rooted conspiracy.
“These birs contain 2830 and 2858 pages respectively, where as the authentic Guru Granth Sahib contains 1430 pages,” said Singh while adding that any addition or alteration in the holy book is considered as an act of sacrilege.
Terming it as “anti-Sikh” and intolerable, Singh has sent a representation to SGPC president, demanding a probe by Sikh scholars and SGPC members into the matter.
with thanks : source : http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/sikh-community-seeks-probe-into-guru-granth-sahib-sacrilege/457247/
sikhsindia
www.sohnijodi.com
Posted: May 11, 2009 at 0126 hrs IST
Mohali The Sikh community has sought a thorough probe into the alleged sacrilege of Guru Granth Sahib, recently reported from Takht Sri Kesgarh Sahib in Anandpur Sahib.
Addressing a press conference on Sunday, SGPC member Hardeep Singh said two distorted birs-Guru Granth Sahib and Dasam Granth-in one binding is being seen as a deep-rooted conspiracy.
“These birs contain 2830 and 2858 pages respectively, where as the authentic Guru Granth Sahib contains 1430 pages,” said Singh while adding that any addition or alteration in the holy book is considered as an act of sacrilege.
Terming it as “anti-Sikh” and intolerable, Singh has sent a representation to SGPC president, demanding a probe by Sikh scholars and SGPC members into the matter.
with thanks : source : http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/sikh-community-seeks-probe-into-guru-granth-sahib-sacrilege/457247/
sikhsindia
www.sohnijodi.com
Sikh "snub" on BBC angers Sikh organisation
May 10, 2009
The Network of Sikh Organisations (NSO) is crying foul again at the BBC. It said that Sikhs were allegedly snubbed during a discussion on a BBC Radio 4 show.
In a press release, NSO said, "On Sunday 5th April, this year, BBC Radio 4's 'Sunday' religious programme carried a lengthy discussion on 'leadership in different religions. The producers invited representatives from different branches of Christianity, Judaism, Islam and the Hindu faith and even a 'secularist' to contribute to the debate, but deliberately avoided inviting a Sikh."
The release further claimed that "no attempt was made to contact the NSO the largest grouping of Sikhs in the UK, nor as far as we are aware, any other Sikh organisation. Why?"
The organisation further attacked the public service broadcaster for not carrying any mentions of the important Sikh festival of Vasaikhi being celebrated by Sikhs throughout the world. It said, "The BBC’s own section on religion on the Internet acknowledges Vasaikhi as being 'one of the most important dates in the Sikh calendar'."
Last year, the media monitoring group said it was unhappy with the lack of coverage to the Sikh and Hindu faiths on BBC TV and radio.
A breakdown of programming from the BBC's Religion and Ethics department, revealed that since 2001, the BBC made forty-one faith programmes on Islam, compared with just five on Hinduism and one on Sikhism. This research and subsequent concern within both the Sikh and Hindu communities caused some furore and was widely reported in the press.
Dr. Indarjit Singh, the Director of the Network of Sikh Organisations is extremely concerned by these recent developments.
Asked to comment, he said, "I’m not really sure to what extent this lack of sensitivity to Sikhs is deliberate or simply due to ignorance. In any event, it is extremely serious and the BBC should take urgent steps to ensure fairness to all communities in its religious coverage."
At the time of filing this article, BizAsia.co.uk was awaiting a response from the BBC.
with thanks : source : BizAsia.co.uk
sikhsindia
www.sohnijodi.com
The Network of Sikh Organisations (NSO) is crying foul again at the BBC. It said that Sikhs were allegedly snubbed during a discussion on a BBC Radio 4 show.
In a press release, NSO said, "On Sunday 5th April, this year, BBC Radio 4's 'Sunday' religious programme carried a lengthy discussion on 'leadership in different religions. The producers invited representatives from different branches of Christianity, Judaism, Islam and the Hindu faith and even a 'secularist' to contribute to the debate, but deliberately avoided inviting a Sikh."
The release further claimed that "no attempt was made to contact the NSO the largest grouping of Sikhs in the UK, nor as far as we are aware, any other Sikh organisation. Why?"
The organisation further attacked the public service broadcaster for not carrying any mentions of the important Sikh festival of Vasaikhi being celebrated by Sikhs throughout the world. It said, "The BBC’s own section on religion on the Internet acknowledges Vasaikhi as being 'one of the most important dates in the Sikh calendar'."
Last year, the media monitoring group said it was unhappy with the lack of coverage to the Sikh and Hindu faiths on BBC TV and radio.
A breakdown of programming from the BBC's Religion and Ethics department, revealed that since 2001, the BBC made forty-one faith programmes on Islam, compared with just five on Hinduism and one on Sikhism. This research and subsequent concern within both the Sikh and Hindu communities caused some furore and was widely reported in the press.
Dr. Indarjit Singh, the Director of the Network of Sikh Organisations is extremely concerned by these recent developments.
Asked to comment, he said, "I’m not really sure to what extent this lack of sensitivity to Sikhs is deliberate or simply due to ignorance. In any event, it is extremely serious and the BBC should take urgent steps to ensure fairness to all communities in its religious coverage."
At the time of filing this article, BizAsia.co.uk was awaiting a response from the BBC.
with thanks : source : BizAsia.co.uk
sikhsindia
www.sohnijodi.com
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Why Punjab is Rahul's political lab
Punjab is Rahul Gandhi's political laboratory, where the Congress general secretary has chosen youthful candidates to take on the Akali Dal and BJP. Vicky Nanjappa reports from the state.
Rahul Gandhi's message to Congressmen and women across the country is clear: In future elections youth will get preference in the party. The Congress general secretary has chosen Punjab as the role model state to introduce youth into the fray.
Seeking to bring in a more democratic procedure, Rahul first ensured that elections were held in the Punjab Youth Congress party last year. This is the first time that the president of a Youth Congress unit was elected democratically.
After the PYC poll, Rahul personally monitored the selection of candidates for the Lok Sabha election from Punjab. He handpicked three candidates in their early 30s -- Ravneet Singh Bittu, the late chief minister Beant Singh's grandson and the first democratically-elected PYC president, from Anandpur Sahib; Sukhvinder Singh Danny, PYC vice-president, for Faridkot, and Vijay Inder Singla, former PYC president, for the Sangrur constituency.
Former chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh's 41-year-old son Raninder Singh is also in the fray from Bhatinda. Although senior Congress leaders initially kicked up a fuss about the induction of the new candidates, they have now fallen in line.
The dissent from former chief minister Rajinder Kaur Battal's faction was perhaps the most vocal. Members of Bhattal's group say their only problem with the youth nominees is that the selection was made in consultation with Captain Singh, Bhattal's bitter adversary.
Vijay Inder Singla, the candidate from Sangrur, told rediff.com that no political risk is involved in the selection and the nominees have been chosen with great care.
So why has Rahul chosen Punjab as his political lab and given youth preference over experienced leaders like Ashwani Kumar and Ambika Soni?
Party sources say two factors prompted Rahul to chose Punjab for his experiment. Youth comprise almost 50 per cent of the vote in Punjab and this generation, it is felt, prefers younger candidates who can address their issues better.
Moreover, Anandpur Sahib, Faridkot and Sangrur have been dominated by party old-timers who Rahul wanted to phase out. The Congress expects to do very well in Punjab where an anti-incumbency vote against Parkash Singh Badal's Akali Dal government is expected.
None of Rahul's candidates are contesting from their home constituencies. Despite this, Congress sources believe the party could have won with any candidate from Anandpur Sahib, Faridkot and Sangrur.
Singla says the moment for youth has never been better in Punjab and Rahul's experiment will boost the Congress's chances. The youth factor, he adds, will ensure a Congress victory in all 13 seats in the state.
with thanks : source : http://election.rediff.com/special/2009/may/06/loksabhapolls-inside-rahul-gandhis-youth-laboratory.htm
sikhsindia
www.sohnijodi.com
Rahul Gandhi's message to Congressmen and women across the country is clear: In future elections youth will get preference in the party. The Congress general secretary has chosen Punjab as the role model state to introduce youth into the fray.
Seeking to bring in a more democratic procedure, Rahul first ensured that elections were held in the Punjab Youth Congress party last year. This is the first time that the president of a Youth Congress unit was elected democratically.
After the PYC poll, Rahul personally monitored the selection of candidates for the Lok Sabha election from Punjab. He handpicked three candidates in their early 30s -- Ravneet Singh Bittu, the late chief minister Beant Singh's grandson and the first democratically-elected PYC president, from Anandpur Sahib; Sukhvinder Singh Danny, PYC vice-president, for Faridkot, and Vijay Inder Singla, former PYC president, for the Sangrur constituency.
Former chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh's 41-year-old son Raninder Singh is also in the fray from Bhatinda. Although senior Congress leaders initially kicked up a fuss about the induction of the new candidates, they have now fallen in line.
The dissent from former chief minister Rajinder Kaur Battal's faction was perhaps the most vocal. Members of Bhattal's group say their only problem with the youth nominees is that the selection was made in consultation with Captain Singh, Bhattal's bitter adversary.
Vijay Inder Singla, the candidate from Sangrur, told rediff.com that no political risk is involved in the selection and the nominees have been chosen with great care.
So why has Rahul chosen Punjab as his political lab and given youth preference over experienced leaders like Ashwani Kumar and Ambika Soni?
Party sources say two factors prompted Rahul to chose Punjab for his experiment. Youth comprise almost 50 per cent of the vote in Punjab and this generation, it is felt, prefers younger candidates who can address their issues better.
Moreover, Anandpur Sahib, Faridkot and Sangrur have been dominated by party old-timers who Rahul wanted to phase out. The Congress expects to do very well in Punjab where an anti-incumbency vote against Parkash Singh Badal's Akali Dal government is expected.
None of Rahul's candidates are contesting from their home constituencies. Despite this, Congress sources believe the party could have won with any candidate from Anandpur Sahib, Faridkot and Sangrur.
Singla says the moment for youth has never been better in Punjab and Rahul's experiment will boost the Congress's chances. The youth factor, he adds, will ensure a Congress victory in all 13 seats in the state.
with thanks : source : http://election.rediff.com/special/2009/may/06/loksabhapolls-inside-rahul-gandhis-youth-laboratory.htm
sikhsindia
www.sohnijodi.com
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