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BJP
betrayed INLD, says CM
INLD
cell defends DGP Bansi
Lal resorts to ‘nukkad’ rallies |
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Congress
neglected people, says HVP candidate Poll
fever fails to grip farmers Nirmal
dismissive of regional parties Citizens’
bodies defend parties on hoardings NDRI
to adopt Peont village Hospital
staff protest against employees’ sack
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BJP betrayed INLD, says CM Sonepat, March 21 “People would not spare the BJP for its ungreatfulness and betrayal”, Chautala said addressing an election meeting here. He said the Congress was a party more interested in fighting against each other for their selfish interests. “I hope people are not misled by empty slogans and false promises of the Congress during the elections. Chautala claimed that his government had provided stability to the state which had facilitated the development process in the state. The government, he said, had successfully completed large number of development and welfare schemes in the state. Rejecting the charge of the opposition parties regarding the neglect of farmers, Chautala said farmers in the state were getting the highest remunerative price for sugarcane in the country.
— PTI |
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Sugar mills not paying MSP to be taken over, Yamunanagar, March 21 Mr Chautala said the prosperity of the country depended on its farmers. He said his government was committed to provide remunerative prices for agricultural products so that purchasing power of people living in rural areas increases leading to an all-round progress of the Indian economy. He said the government was trying to increase the generation of power and complete the SYL so that Haryana could get more water for irrigation. He also recounted his government’s achievements in various sectors. The Chief Minister said he had managed to bring the state at the second place in the supply of software and had visited several foreign countries to invite investors to give further boost to information technology. He said the government had introduced English from Class I and computer education from Class VI. He said 4420 km new roads had been built and 20,000 km roads repaired during the past few years. Later addressing mediapersons, Mr Chautala said there was no question of forming a third front before elections. A coalition government would be formed in which regional parties would play a vital role, he said. He said the Congress was responsible for a mess in the country and Ms Sonia Gandhi, being of foreign origin, could not salvage the party. Mr Chautala said the BJP in Haryana could not win any seat without the support of other parties as it had won only two Assembly seats in the 1991 elections, which it had fought alone. Regarding distribution of tickets, he said 33 per cent seats would be given to women and other sections of society would also get the representation. He also announced the candidature of Mr Harmohan Dhawan as the likely INLD candidate from Chandigarh. Later he also addressed a meeting at Radaur. |
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INLD cell defends DGP Chandigarh, March 21 Dr Malik is beleaguered by the opposition allegations that the police was helping his wife in the elections. The BJP and the Congress have demanded that he should proceed on leave. In a statement issued here, four office-bearers of the cell, Mr Aman Deep Singh, Mr Vishal Gupta, Mr Sudhir Sharma and Mr Gurkirat Singh, took strong exception to what they called “unwarranted controversy and propaganda” being carried by the Opposition in the media against Dr Malik and his wife. They said despite the allegations being contradicted by official spokesmen and also the INLD, the BJP and the Congress had neither been able to identify any police official campaigning for Mrs Malik nor could they give any specific instance of misuse of official power by the DGP. Though Mrs Malik had been named as its candidate by the INLD, yet legally she could not be treated as the candidate till the Election Commission of India notified the elections and the party symbol was allotted to her. They claimed that Dr Malik did not visit the Sonepat constituency after the INLD announced the candidature of his wife, though there was no legal bar on him to visit any area of the state for maintenance of law and order and to ensure free and fair elections. The statement said that as per the provisions of the People’s Representation Act, it was the fundamental right of every eligible citizen to contest the elections, irrespective of his or her relationship with any high dignitary. Attacking the BJP, the cell said no such allegations were being levelled against the Deputy Prime Minister, Mr L.K. Advani, or the Union Minister of State for Home Affairs, Mr I.D. Swami, who had under their command more than 300 battalions of the paramilitary forces, besides all the DGPs and other top bureaucrats. They said it was also a fact that in the past several close relatives of serving bureaucrats placed in high positions had contested the elections but no such allegations were levelled against them. It was also a fact that once the election process started, all the forces and other government staff, including the DGPs, were automatically placed under the Election Commission and the control of the state government on them seizes during this period. |
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Bansi Lal resorts to ‘nukkad’ rallies Karnal, March 21 After organising a massive state-level rally in Jind on February 29, he has now adopted traditional methods of campaigning by organising “nukkad” rallies of 15 to 20 villages in each Assembly segment projecting himself as a better alternative to the Congress, the Indian Lok Dal (INLD) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He addressed four rallies at Nagla Megha village in the Gharaunda Assembly segment, Gheer, in the Karnal Assembly segment, Nigdu in the Nilokheri Assembly segment and Jyotisar in the Kurukshetra Assembly segment on March 17. Interestingly, it has been observed that middle-aged and old people comprise the majority of his supporters who attend his rallies. In a typical Haryanvi tongue, he reminds the people, “Dekho bhaiyo, ye jo sarak gaon ko aai hai, ye maine banai thi. Yeh jo bijli aaj har gaon mein hai, ye bhi meri mehnat rang lai hai. Kya Chautala ya Bhajan Lal ne aapko yeh sab kucch diya hai? Voh to aapse sarkon par chalne ka bhi tax vasool karten hain aur bijli ke meter bhi lagwa diye”. And the public starts raising slogans “Bansi Lal, zindabad”. This is how he is trying to rebuild the emotional linkages with the people of his generation. Nowhere, he touches the topic of his mistake of declaring Haryana a “dry state” that has put his political career at stake. He is trying ro recover from the debacle in the last Assembly elections and is hopeful of coming back with a thumping majority under the prevailing political environment where a four-cornered fight among the INLD, the Congress the BJP and HVP seems to be certain. As far as the promises are concerned, he ensures the public that if voted to power the slab system for power tariff will be
introduced in the rural area. He also promises to expose the misdeeds of Mr Om Prakash Chautala, stop the contract system in infrastructure development and review all taxes introduced by the INLD government to rationalise the system. When he realises that the audience may be getting bored, he satirically comments upon his political rivals. “Haryana main gundon ka raaj hai. Har jageh par, har theke ka kaam par Chautala ke aadmin baithe hain. Aapko yaad hoga mainne kabhi bhi dhanchagat vikas ke liye kaam theke par nahin diya tha. Sara kaam sarkari karmchari karte the. Ab to har jageh par loot machi”. he tries to convince the people of bringing back a corruption-free society.
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Congress neglected people, says HVP candidate Sonepat, March 21 Addressing a series of election meetings in the constituency yesterday he alleged that the people had suffered under the rule of Chief Minister Om Parkash Chautala and his sons. He also said that the time had come to take into account all these and vote for the HVP led by Mr Bansi Lal to pave the way for development. He reminded the people that HVP chief Bansi Lal was well-known for fulfilling promises. The people, he said, were fed up with the “anti-farmer policies” of the BJP led NDA government at the Centre as well as the “anti-people policies” of the INLD government in Haryana.
— PTI |
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Poll fever fails to grip farmers Ambala, March 21 Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala has addressed a number of election rallies recently in Ambala cantonment, Naggal, Mulana, Naraingarh and Kalka, the assembly segments of the Ambala parliamentary seat. The Congress, INLD and the HVP have not announced its candidates so far whereas the Ekta Shakti and BSP have already done so. The parliamentary constituency is spread over Ambala and Panchkula districts and Sadhora, Chichroli and Jagadhri assembly segments of Yamunanagar district. Of around 12 lakh electorate, two-thirds belong to rural areas. Mulana, Naraingarh, Sadhora, Naggal and Chichroli are the rural Assembly segments, whereas Ambala cantonment is the sole urban Assembly constituency. Ambala City, Jagadhri and Panchkula also come under the category of urban seats but a large number of villages are attached with those constituencies. Farmers and agriculture labour will be busy throughout April in harvesting the bumper rabi crops and it would not be easy for them to spare time to attend rallies in those days. Moreover, they have to take their produce to the mandis for sale. The trailers which are generally used to transport the rural crowd for rallies will also be used in the fields and grain markets in April. About two weeks ago, the BJP had organised a rally of a senior leader, Mr Pramod Mahajan, in the city. The BJP workers made efforts to bring more and more people from villages to the rally but the response was not as per expectations. The rallies of the Chief Minister held in Naggal and Mulana were impressive but the enthusiasm generally witnessed in the rural audience during election time was not there. It seemed that farmers were more concerned about their crops which are to be harvested from next week. At the rally of HVP supremo Bansi Lal, organised in Naggal two days ago, only a few hundred people participated. The temperature in this region is also expected to rise by the mid of next month and the people would avoid attend the rallies during the day time. The candidates would also get less time to contact the electorate in the hot days. They have to visit the rural areas either early in the morning or in the evening for canvassing. Harbans Lal, a resident of a village in the Naggal constituency, said in April, no farmer could spare even an hour as it would be the peak time of harvesting and selling the produce. He said harvesting crops was more important than the elections. Surjit Singh, a farmer of Mulana, said it was not the right time for the general elections. Most of the farmers would not be able to play an active role in the elections, he added. |
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Nirmal dismissive of regional parties Ambala, March 21 Criticising BJP leaders he said that they had been misguiding people claiming that the country had stepped forward in their regime. He said it was the Congress which played an important role in the independence of the country and later build it up. He said the BJP had again started raising the Ram temple issue just to get political benefit. Referring the BJP slogan ‘feel good’ he said the common man had nothing to do with it. Mr Singh said that the HVP supremo had repeatedly been raising the foreign origin issue. He said it was the Congress which had made him the Chief Minister and Union Minister and later saved the HVP government when the BJP withdrew its support from his government in 1999. He said that Sonia is a true Indian and the people would prove it in the elections. He said that the INLD would not be able to get even a single parliamentary seat in Haryana. He claimed that the Congress would get unexpected victory in this Lok Sabha elections. He also indirectly criticised the Bhajan Lal supporters who had organised a rally against him in Naggal last month. He disclosed that the Ambala Congress had invited the former Union Minister, Ms Selja to contest from the Ambala reserve seat this time. He said that a number of resolutions had also been sent to party high command in this regard. The senior leaders of Ambala Congress, Mr Balwant Gupta, Ms Kiran Bala Jain, Balwinder Singh Tej Prakash Singh, Himat Singh, Brahm Pal Rana and Naib Singh also addressed the rally. The supporters of Bhajan Lal were not present in the rally. |
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Citizens’ bodies defend parties on hoardings Chandigarh, March 21 Various organisations of Ambala cantonment have opposed the commission’s directive on the plea that the removal of these hoardings would lead to wastage of public money. In a joint statement issued here yesterday, these organisations said the hoardings, which number in thousands, were put up much before the announcement of the elections at a cost varying from Rs 25,000 each to Rs 8 lakh each. Since after the elections the ruling parties would again install the hoardings, the burden in removing and reinstalling the hoardings would be on the public exchequer. They said the governments were well within their rights to educate the people about various schemes and programmes launched for the public. Among the signatories to the statement were senior vice-president of the Haryana Chamber of Commerce and Industry, N.C. Jain, the general secretary and the joint secretary of the Ambala Cantonment Citizens Council, Mr Ajay Jain and Mr K.L. Sehgal, the President of the Ambala Cantonment General Merchant Association, Mr R.P. Gupta, the president of the Saudagar Bazar Association, Mr Vishav Parkash Walia, the former president of the Electrical Dealers Association, Mr Raj Kumar Gupta, and the president of the Scientific Apparatus Manufacturers Association, Mr G.C. Aggarwal. |
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Govt hoardings removed Fatehabad, March 21 The Deputy Commissioner-cum-District Election Officer, Mr Mahtab Singh Sehrawat, here yesterday issued instructions to heads of various departments in the district, asking them to remove all hoardings and report its compliance immediately. The official machinery of the district remained busy in removing or covering the hoardings highlighting the achievements of the government. Many hoardings have been removed while some have been covered. |
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NDRI to adopt Peont village Peont (Karnal), March 21 He said farmers should come forward to form a commune for the collection, storage and marketing of milk. Cooperative milk federations and societies were facing a financial crunch with the advent of the open market system. He said farmers could follow the commune system on the pattern of Gujarat milk producers. He asked dairy scientists to create an interest among the farmers particularly the small and marginal farmers, to adopt cows and buffaloes of good breed. He promised to provide all technical help through the experts of the institute for upgrading the existing breed of dairy animals with the farmers. Dr Sharma said the economic position of small and marginal farmers engaged in dairying was not improving in spite of the fact that India was the highest milk producing country in the world. “There is a need for balanced development in the field of agriculture and dairying to break the cycle of wheat-paddy rotation that can uplift the economic position of the farmers.” Dr Ram Chand, head of the dairy extension division of the institute, lauded the contribution of the dairy scientists of the NDRI to enhance the milk production. He said there was a need for a regular feedback from farmers. Hundreds of farmers from Peont and other nearby villages participated in the dairy mela and brought their herd of animals along with them. A competition was also organised by the institute for different categories of dairy animals. The institute gave away prizes to at least 30 farmers for keeping best breeds of cows and buffaloes in various categories. An exhibition was also organised, wherein, several divisions and sections of the institute exhibited their technologies in the form of posters. An interaction-cum-discussion between dairy scientists and farmers was also held. Dr T.K. Walli, principal scientist of the cattle nutrition division, delivered a lecture on “by-pass protein technology for feeding high-yielding animals”. He has developed the technique after hard efforts of more than two decades. The technique has recently been approved and accepted for extension by the National Dairy Development Board. Later, a team of scientists along with the Director and Joint Director of the NDRI went to the farmhouse of a progressive farmer, Gurdial Singh Sandhu, and visited the diversified crop fields and open shed cattle yard developed by him. |
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Hospital staff protest against employees’ sack Sirsa, March 21 The agitating employees upheld a demonstration against the office-bearers of the trust and other employees of the hospital. A few days ago three of the employees including an electrician, had been without any notice. According to the medical superintendent of the hospital Dr Sushil Singla the post of electrician had been abolished and the hospital didn’t need these employees. But elections Subhash alleged that if they didn’t need an electrician why did they appoint another employee on a contract basis for the same post. The protesting employees alleged that the trust is firing the employees and was also not providing facilities and increase in the salaries. President of the employees union of the hospital Munish, said that out of over 50 employees many had been serving in the hospital for over 10 years. These employees had also constituted a Sangarsh Samiti under the leadership of Munish to press for their demands. The employees also threatened to intensify their agitation if the retrenched employees were not taken back. |
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