Chandigarh: The ruling Congress on Tuesday won Punjab's cash-rich Ludhiana Municipal Corporation polls with an absolute majority by winning 62 out of 95 wards.
The Shiromani Akali Dal won 11 seats, while the Bharatiya Janata Party got 10 seats. The Lok Insaaf Party won seven seats and its ally Aam Aadmi Party got just one seat. Independent candidates won four wards.
Opposition Shiromani Akali Dal and Aam Aadmi Party leaders had accused the ruling Congress of malpractices in the municipal elections.
Chief Minister Amarinder Singh hailed the civic body results, saying they were a clear vindication of the government's policies in the past one year.
The Congress, which has been at the helm in Punjab since March 2017, had earlier won the municipal corporation elections of Amritsar, Jalandhar and Patiala in December. It had also emerged victorious in 20 out of 29 Municipal Councils and Nagar Panchayats.
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Kalaburagi: Members of the Karnataka Prantha Raitha Sangha (KPRS) and the Taluk Raitha Hitarakshana Samiti protested outside the Siddasiri Ethanol Power Unit in Chincholi, demanding appropriate minimum support price (MSP) to sugarcane farmers in Chincholi.
Pointing out that it was decided at the meeting chaired by District In-charge Minister Priyank Kharge on November 15 to provide farmers an MSP of Rs 2,950 per tonne of sugarcane with an additional Rs 50 as support price from sugar factory owners, the protesting farmers also demanded that the decision be implemented.
“The Siddasiri sugar factory owner has violated the agreement by paying each farmer only Rs 2,550,” the farmers have alleged.
President of the KPRS Kalaburagi District Unit Sharanabasappa Mamashetti said, “When he opened the factory, legislator Basanagouda Patil Yatnal had assured that the factory would pay farmers in Kalaburagi an additional Rs 100, but has failed to live up to the word.”
The protesting farmers have demanded that the authorities concerned give priority to sugarcane farmers of Chincholi and Kalagi taluks to support the sugarcane crop. “Also, the factories should employ local youngsters and due measures should be taken to ensure the safety of the drivers of sugarcane transport vehicles,” they said.
They also handed their memorandum to Tahsildar Subbanna Jamakhandi and Power Ethanol Unit General Manager Dayananda Banagara.
The Tahsildar has assured that a meeting with the sugar factory owners would be held to discuss the issues raised by the farmers.
