Solving drinking water problem my priority

The Tribune

A newspaper hawker, who became an MP eight years ago, is set to try his luck once again at the hustings in Chandigarh. Mr Satya Pal Jain (52), a member of the National Executive of the BJP, who has again been fielded as the party nominee for the Chandigarh parliamentary seat, makes no secret of his humble beginning as a footpath worker from the nearby township of Kharar.

"I used to help my father, the late Roop Lal Jain, in his wayside shop of a newspaper agent at Kharar", said Mr Jain in an interview with TNS.
Born on June 15, 1952, Mr Jain did his schooling from Christian High School, Kharar, before passing his B.A. (Honours) in political science from Government College, Chandigarh, and MA in the same subject from Panjab University, Chandigarh. He was jailed during the Emergency and spent a year in Burail Jail. Later, he obtained his degree in law from DAV College, Dehra Dun.
Mr Jain fought his first parliamentary elections from Chandigarh in 1991, but lost to a former Union Law Minister, Mr Jagannath Kaushal (Congress), by about 15,000 votes. He, however, was elected to the Lok Sabha five years later after defeating Mr Pawan Kumar Bansal of the Congress by about 25,000 votes. In the Lok Sabha, he was made the chief whip of the BJP for all states of northern India, in charge of Punjab affairs and was also appointed as convener of the legal committee of the BJP parliamentary party. He was a member of the Consultative and Parliamentary Standing Committee.
He was re-elected in 1998 to the Lok Sabha by defeating Mr Bansal by about 10, 000 votes when he was again entrusted with a number of parliamentary assignments.
...
Q. The problem of drinking water is becoming acute in Chandigarh with each passing year. How do you plan to solve it? A. A dam should be built across the Ghaggar to solve the water problem of Chandigarh and the surrounding townships. That is the only long-term solution to the problem. The Kajauli waterworks and underground tubewells can at best be only stop-gap measures.
....
Q. How to ease the increasing congestion on the roads of the UT?
A. Construction of flyovers alone will ease the increasing traffic congestion in the city's major roads. The Administration should start planning for a metro otherwise the traffic problem will become serious within a few years. I also want that the airport and the railway station should be upgraded. A dental college should also be established in the city. ...

Tohra pledges SAD support to Satya Pal Jain

The Times of India
CHANDIGARH: Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee chief and senior SAD leader Gurcharan Singh Tohra today pledged his party's support to BJP candidate for the Chandigarh Lok Sabha seat, Satya Pal Jain, thereby putting an end to speculation that his party might support the INLD if it contested the UT seat.
Tohra, who visited the Chandigarh BJP unit's office in Sector 33 here, also participated in a well-attended Yuva Matdata Sammelan organised by the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha.
Tohra said the SAD would continue to extend its unflinching support to Prime Minister A B Vajpayee and the Chandigarh unit of his party would support the candidate, who would strengthen the hands of the Prime Minister. There no better candidate than Satya Pal Jain to perform the task, the senior SAD leader added. Jain said the BJP-SAD alliance would strengthen the unity among the different sections of society and would not follow the divide and rule policy of the Congress. ...

Akalis are with BJP: Tohra

The Tribune
THE SWORD UNSHEATHED: Mr Gurcharan Singh Tohra, SGPC President, and Mr Satya Pal Jain, BJP candidate from Chandigarh, are all smiles during a rally at the BJP office in Sector 33, Chandigarh, on Sunday, while Mr Yashpal Mahajan (extreme right), president of the city BJP unit, looks on. [Image Courtesy: The Tribune]

Chandigarh, March 21
The Akalis are committed to the Bharatiya Janata Party. This is evident from the election speeches in various parts of Punjab where the alliance is contesting.
This was stated by Mr Gurcharan Singh Tohra, president of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, while talking to mediapersons at the party office of the BJP in Sector 33 here today.
Mr Tohra, a senior member of the SAD, said there was no confusion about the election pact.
He said a formal announcement to re-confirm the alliance would be made shortly by the party high command. Addressing the rally of the Bhartiya Janata Yuva Morcha, Mr Tohra said the voter should cast his or her vote after seeing the potential of each candidate. Mr Satya Pal Jain was the most suitable candidate from the city, he said. The BJP had ensured a remarkable development in different fields during its tenure and it should be given another chance, he added...

Jain camp upbeat, sure of victory

Times of India
15 Mar 2004, CHANDIGARH: The BJP on Sunday decided on former MP Satya Pal Jain, an advocate, as its candidate for the prestigious Chandigarh Lok Sabha constituency. With Jain's name figuring in the list of candidates cleared by the BJP Central leadership, the suspense over the party's choice for the seat is over now. This sets up an interesting contest between Jain and traditional Congress rival Pawan Kumar Bansal, an advocate himself, for the seat from the Union Territory.
Jain shares the distinction of having won the Chandigarh seat twice in the previous Lok Sabha elections. Bansal was Congress MP from the UT seat in 1991 and 1999, while the former got elected on the BJP ticket in 1996 and 1998. ...
...Jain had lost the polls to Bansal when he contested the seat for the first time in 1991. However, he took revenge for the defeat on Bansal when he won the seat for the BJP in 1996 and 1998. In 1999, the BJP overlooked the several local claimants to the seat including that of Satya Pal Jain and brought in its veteran leader B L Sharma, relatively an outsider, to contest the polls, which he eventually lost to Bansal.
Jain has a two-one score over Bansal in electoral contests and the coming Lok Sabha polls would witness a clash of the titans over issues ranging from development to their individual performance as peoples' representatives.

Gulal time at Kamlam

Chandigarh Newsline
CHANDIGARH, March 6: HOLI Milan Samaroh was organised today at the BJP office, Kamlam. The party workers including the BJP chief Yash Pal Mahajan and former MP Satya Pal Jain celebrated Holi by applying gulal on each other.
Addressing the party workers, Jain said, "Holi is a festival of gulal and it spread the message of brotherhood. The city unit of National Students Union under the leadership of Naveen Goyal also celebrated Holi with the residents of Senior Citizens Home, Sector 15.
The NSU activists also applied gulal on senior citizens and danced on peppy numbers. Sweets were distributed in both the functions.