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EC asks Haryana to transfer official Chandigarh, April 23 In the first incident of its kind in the state, the Election Commission has directed the Haryana Government to transfer an official of the Department of Transport posted at Hisar for allegedly violating the Model Code of Conduct.
Electoral office directives on voter’s
identity
Cong candidate from Sirsa opens
office
Cong nominee from Hisar files papers
Malik denies quitting Congress
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Rebel Cong leader files papers as
Independent
7 file papers for Ambala
seat Three candidates, Mr Sanjeev Gharu, Mr Sunil Kumar and Mr Hem Raj, at the office of Returning Officer for the Ambala Lok Sabha seat on Friday.
— Photo by Neeraj Chopra
237 candidates file
papers
Chautala promises 24-hour power supply
Abhey banks on
development
Undertrial files papers to defeat INLD candidate
Centre anti-farmer, claims
CM
Farmers’ dues likely to affect poll outcome More rain can damage wheat crop: directorate Karnal, April 23 The Directorate of Wheat Research today said the wheat crop could be damaged if the rain that lashed various parts of North India during the past two days continued. Mr Jag Sheoran, Project Director of the DWR, said adequate steps should be taken by the government to store the wheat procured. He said he toured various parts of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh in the past two days.
HIGH COURT
Farmer robbed of Rs 8
lakh
Killed by husband
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HC to the rescue of coop
societies
Chandigarh, April 23 The Haryana Town and Country Planning Department had decided a few years ago that such societies could construct houses on self-acquired land only in low-potential towns of the state. In the high-potential towns, the cooperative societies would have to get land from the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA). The Faridabad Ex-Sainik and Karamchari Cooperative House Building Society, Faridabad, had applied for a license to develop a residential colony in Sectors 88-89, Faridabad. Its application was rejected on the ground that according to the latest licensing policy of the department, a request for developing a colony on the self-acquired land could be considered only in the low-potential towns. The society moved the High Court through its counsel, Mr Rajesh Bindal, who contended that the so-called licensing policy had no legal sanction. Mr Bindal said there was no provision in the Haryana Development and Regulation of Urban Areas Act, 1975, and the Haryana Development and Regulation of Urban Areas Rules, 1976, under which the state government could frame a policy and restrict the grant of licence to the cooperative societies only to the low-potential towns. The judgement, delivered by Mr Justice G.S. Singhvi and Mr Justice Nirmal Singh, said: “The argument of Mr Bindal that the so-called policy could not be treated as a policy decision taken by the state government is well-founded. A cursory reading of that document shows that it does not contain anything except notings recorded by different officers and functionaries. These notings cannot be Coop societies-2 & last equated with the policy decision of the government...” The Judges quoted a Supreme Court judgement to hold that the notings could not be treated as an order of the government. The apex court had held that “before something amounts to an order... it has to be expressed in the name of the Governor and then it has to be communicated.” |
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EC asks Haryana to transfer
official
Chandigarh, April 23 According to sources, the commission has asked the state government to remove the District Traffic Manager, Mr Devi Lal Sihag, for allegedly addressing a public meeting in favour of the ruling party on March 18 at Adampur near Hisar. A complaint had been forwarded to the commission in this regard. A photograph was also attached to the complaint which reportedly showed the officer addressing a gathering. When the Commission came to Chandigarh earlier this month, it asked the Hisar Deputy Commissioner, Deepti Uma Shankar, to verify the facts contained in the complaint. Based on the DC’s report, the commission took its decision to ask the State Government to remove the officer from his post. |
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Electoral office directives on voter’s
identity
Chandigarh, April 23 Chief Electoral Officer of Haryana, Urvashi Gulati today said that the identity could be established by the voters through electoral photo identity card issued under the authority of the Election Commission or by producing alternative documents that established proof of their identity. Alternative documents which could be used by electors, included passports, driving licences, income tax PAN cards, service identity cards issued to employees by government organisations, private industrial houses, and bank or post office passbooks, the accounts of which had been opened on or before March 31, 2004. Voters could also establish their identity by producing student identity cards, issued by recognised institutions, property documents and ration cards, SC or ST or OBC certificates. All these documents should have been issued by competent authority on or before March 31, 2004. Pension documents such as ex-servicemen pension book or payment order, ex-servicemen widow or dependent certificates, old age pension order, widow pension order, railway identification cards, freedom fighter identity cards, arms licenses and certificate of physical handicap would also be accepted. Ms Gulati said the above mentioned documents could also be used by voters who had been issued electoral identity cards, but were not able to produce these. The documents issued to any member of the family could be used for the identification of other family members if it contained the relevant details. She added that presiding officers at polling booths would be directed to ignore minor discrepancies in the entries relating to voters’ particulars so long as his identity could be established by means of that card. |
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Cong candidate from Sirsa opens
office
Fatehabad, April 23 Addressing party workers, Mr Dura Ram claimed that there was a strong wave in favour of the Congress in the state. He said all sections of society were fed up with the autocratic attitude of the Haryana Chief Minister and members of his family. Mr Gill said though he belonged to a poor family and could not match his opponent in terms of resources, he had always believed in loyalty towards the party. He said he was indebted to Mr Bhajan Lal for giving him an opportunity to contest. Later, addressing mediapersons Mr Dura Ram and Mr Gill said the party would seek support of all Congressmen, irrespective of the faction they belonged to. They said the party would seek the support of the CPI and the CPM. Later, Mr Gill went to the local courts complex and sought support of lawyers. He met the advocates in their chambers and sought their votes. Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) directed its workers at the booth level to prepare lists of floating voters in their respective booths. Mr Bharat Bhushan Midha, president of the local unit of the BJP, told mediapersons at the election office of the party today that the BJP had prepared a strategy under which the party would concentrate on those voters who were not committed to any party. He said according to party surveys, at least 50 per cent of voters belonged to this category. Elsewhere, party candidate Mahavir Prasad campaigned in villages of the Tohana Assembly constituency today. Ms Swatantra Bala Chowdhary, INLD MLA from here, sought votes for INLD candidate Sushil Indora, in the Lajpat Nagar area. |
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Cong nominee from Hisar files papers
Hisar, April 23 Earlier, rally was organised at the old Government College ground here. Addressing the rally, Mr Parkash said people of Haryana had decided to vote against the INLD candidates in the coming parliament elections as the Chautala government could do nothing with regard to development of the state during the past four years. |
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Malik denies quitting Congress
Chandigarh, April 23 In a statement issued here today, Mr Malik said he was a supporter of Mr Kuldip Sharma, a rebel Congress candidate from the Karnal Lok Sabha constituency, but had not left the party. Mr Malik said he would work for Mr Sharma and would not mind if he was expelled from the party by the Haryana Congress President, Mr Bhajan Lal. However, he insisted that so far he had not quit the party. |
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Rebel Cong leader files papers as
Independent
Karnal, April 23 Interestingly, Mr Chiranji Lal Sharma, father of Mr Kuldip Sharma, had represented this prestigious constituency for the Congress in 1980, 1984, 1989 and 1991. Karnal is considered a stronghold of the Congress irrespective of the defeat of Mr Bhajan Lal and Mr Chiranji Lal Sharma during the 1999 and 1996 elections, respectively, at the hands of BJP leader I.D. Swami. Sources within the party revealed that senior party leaders had initiated efforts to pacify the Sharmas as they felt that this revolt would not only caste a shadow over the party prospects in Karnal but may also have a similar affect elsewhere in the state. While talking to The Tribune Mr Kuldip Sharma stated that the party was likely to suffer in the state due to the wrong distribution of ticket. With respect to the allotment of party ticket to Mr Arvind Sharma, he commented that “it is a power broker’s ticket”. He said it was essential for him to fight the elections for his political survival. When asked about any possibility of a compromise he said nothing less than withdrawal of Mr Arvind Sharma’s candidature could be acceptable to him. He also ruled out the possibility of leaving the Congress. Replying to reports of the senior INLD leadership contacting him for some kind of an understanding he revealed that Mr Abhay Chautala and Agriculture Minister Jaswinder Singh Sandhu had contacted him. However, he denied disclosing the options given to him. He also made it clear that he was ready to accept an outside support from any party without any terms and conditions. |
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7 file papers for Ambala
seat Ambala, April 23 The candidates who filed their nomination papers today are Mr Sanjeev Gharu of the Samata Party, Mr Hem Raj of the Lok Janshakti Party, Mr Suresh Kumar, of the All India Jai Hind Party, Mr Sunil Kumar Independent, Mr Jaswinder Singh Tita, Independent, and Mr Arvind Sonkar of the Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha. A woman candidate, Ms Jagwanti Devi also filed her nomination papers today. She is the covering candidate for the Lok Janshakti Party. The scrutiny of nomination papers will take place tomorrow. It is now clear that besides the three candidates belonging to the Congress, the Indian National Lok Dal and the BJP, there are 18 others who are contesting for the seat. The voting will take place on May 10. The process for filing of nomination had begun on April 16. On the first day, only one candidate, a former Head Constable of the Haryana police, Mr Ranbir Singh Bhumbak, filed his nomination papers. He is contesting as a nominee of Ekta Shakti. On April 17, Indian National Lok Dal candidate, Mr Balwant Singh, filed his nomination papers. The Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, addressed a rally at Gandhi Maidan before the filing of papers. Two candidates filed their nomination papers on April 20, Mr Ratan Lal Kataria of the BJP and Mr Raunaq Singh of the Shiromani Akali Dal, Haryana. On April 21, two more candidates, the Congress candidate, Kumari Selja, and the Haryana Vikas Party candidate, Mr Aman Kumar Nagra, filed their nomination papers at the office of the Returning Officer for the Ambala Lok Sabha seat. Seven candidates filed their nomination papers yesterday, the Bahujan Samaj Party candidate, Mr Chander Pal, Mr Ashok Sherwal, a covering candidate for the Indian National Lok Dal, Mr Jagdish Chand, an Independent, Mr Rajbir Singh Dheen, a covering candidate for the HVP, Mr Ram Swaroop, an Independent, Mr Naresh Kumar, a covering candidate for the BSP and Mr Nalin a covering candidate for the Congress. |
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237 candidates file
papers
Chandigarh, April 17 A spokesman of the Haryana Election Department said that seven candidates filed their nomination papers from Ambala (SC). They included Arvind Kumar Sonkar of Akhil Bharat Hindu Mahasabha, Hem Raj of Lok Jan Shakti, Sanjeev Gharu of Samata Party, Suresh Kumar of All India Jai Hind Party and three Independents, Jaswinder Singh, Jagwanti Devi and Sunil Kumar. Only four candidates from Sirsa, Des Raj and Vikramjeet, both independent, Ami Lal of Rashtriya Vikas Party and Savita Devi of the BJP filed their nomination papers. In Kurukshetra, nine candidates filed their papers. Besides Abhey Singh of the INLD, Visha of Samajwadi Party and Bharat Bhushan of the BJP, these included Jai Singh, Sunil Gupta, Roop Chand, Manohar Lal, Jagir Singh and Ram Kumar, all Independents. Eight candidates who filed their papers from Karnal included Surender Singh of Lok Jan Shakti Party, Angrej Singh, Rashtriya Garib Dal, Roshan Lal Bindal of Shiv Sena and five independents, Raj Kumar, Kuldeep Sharma, Mahinder Singh, Naresh and Duli Chand Malik. In Sonepat, 11 candidates filed their nominations. these are Telu Ram of the BSP, Stya Pal of Lok Jan Shakti, Kirpal Singh of Janta Dal (secular), Krishna Devi of the INLD, Jagbeer Singh Malik of HVP, Naveen Kumar of Jan Parishad and five Independents — Jagdish Rai, Brahm Singh, Satinder, Basant and Suresh Chander. In Rohtak, those who filed their nomination papers included Abhimanyu and Dev Suman, both of the BJP, Jai Mal of Rashtriya Sakar Party, Anoop Singh of Rashtriya Vikas Party, Satvir of BSP, Usha of HVP and three independents, Sajjan Singh, Mukkhtiar Singh and Hari Singh. In Faridabad,15 candidates who filed their papers included Abdul Malik and Abdul Razzak, both of the BSP, Lokender Singh of Shiv Sena, Mohammad Iliyas and Javed, both of the INLD, Ram Phali of the Congress, Ram Niwas of Lok Jan Shakti Party, Devinder and Inder Bhadana, both of the HVP, Aktar of Samajwadi Party, Prem Dutt of RPI and four independents, Kamal, Baldev Singh, Khush Dil and Aktar Husain. In Mahendragarh, six candidates filed their nomination papers. These were Inderjeet and Maneeta Devi, both of the Congress, Yogender Yadav of BJP, Ram Kishan of Bharatiya Republican Paksh Party and Ajay Kumar and Satbir Kundu, both of Rashtriya Vikas Party. In Bhiwani, as many as 17 candidates filed their nomination papers today. These included Raghubir Singh of HVP, Lajje Ram of BSP, Kaptann of Lok Jan Shakti Party, Mahender Singh of Samajwadi Party and 10 independents, Ravinder, Vinod Kumar, Satbir, Shamsher, Satesh Bagati, Devi Lal, Raj Devi Jangra, Virender, Surender, Attar Singh, Kuldeep, Subhash and Sarwan Singh. In Hisar, 12 candidates who filed their papers included Jai Prakash and Randhir, both of the Congress, Radhwanand of the BJP and nine independents, Aatam Prakash, Neeraj, Ajay Kumar, Kapoor, Shamsher, Naresh Kumar, Sukhjinder, Sunil and Rajesh Kumar. |
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Chautala promises 24-hour power supply
Hisar, April 23 “The people in Haryana will get uninterrupted supply of electricity from coming September. We will not claim success of our government if the supply is disturbed even for a second,’’ Mr Chautala said while addressing an election rally in favour of INLD nominee Surinder Singh Barwala. Mr Chautala lambasted the Congress and the BJP for “misleading the electorate by making false promises only to grab power”. He deceived Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani’s controversial statement that the people should vote for the Congress rather than the regional parties if they did not like the BJP.
— UNI |
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Abhey banks on
development
Kurukshetra, April 23 Mr Chautala, who filed nomination papers after the press conference, said that he would try to bring Kurukshetra on world map. He said that the Congress had no election issue, but were throwing mud on others. Mr Chautala alleged that the BJP had no candidate for fielding and a Haryana Minister had to be fielded from a constituency in Rajasthan. |
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Undertrial files papers to defeat INLD candidate
Gohana (Sonepat), April 23 It took about two hours for Deputy Commissioner, Sonepat, Mr M.R. Anand, to verify his documents and admit his nomination papers. Even heated arguments took place between Suresh’s counsel, Mr Nalini Mishra and Mr Anand when he pointed out discrepancy in the nomination papers, which were rectified. |
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Centre anti-farmer, claims
CM
Kurukshetra, April 23 Mr Chautala said there were 15 sugar mills in Haryana. Out of these, three were private sugar mills, which were not paying the MSP to sugarcane growers, he added. Terming the BJP as an anti-farmer party, Mr Chautala said the Centre did not extent any relief to farmers, labourers and small-sector employees while officers’ pay scales were enhanced and commodities used by them, including air-conditioners and mobile phone sets, were made cheaper. The cost of essential commodities used by the common man was increased, Mr Chautala alleged. |
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Farmers’ dues likely to affect poll outcome Ambala, April 23 The outstanding dues of sugarcane farmers from the Naraingarh sugar mill may affect the poll outcome. The candidates in the fray are aware of this. The payment issue of the Naraingarh sugar mill has been hanging fire for quite some time. Despite efforts by the Haryana Government, the issue has not been resolved. The affected farmers belong to Naraingarh, Kalka, Mullana, Sadhaura and parts of the Naggal Assembly segment. The sugarcane growers in villages located close to Ambala Cantt, including Samalkha, Kapoori, Sapera, Khuda, Muglai and Keshopur, have also been affected. While on the one hand the farmers are unhappy with the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), which is in power in the state, they also feel that the Congress did not “suitably raise this issue, despite being the main Opposition party”. Efforts were made by the Kisan Sangharsh Samiti, under the presidentship of freedom fighter and former Congress MLA, the late Sadhu Ram Saini, to sort out the matter. The Bharatiya Kisan Union also won the favour of the sugarcane growers after it organised a “chakka jam” in Naraingarh near the sugar mill. The BKU supremo, Mr Ghasi Ram Nain, was arrested after the BKU activists were forcibly removed by the police. Another factor which the farmers across the region resent is the slab system. The difference in rates of power supply for deep-bore tubewells is hurting the interest of farmers. There are instances of different power rates for adjoining fields. While the issues being faced in urban areas are similar to the ones faced in previous elections, the Ambala Cantt assembly segment residents are facing a different problem. Fortyfive colonies in the Mahesh Nagar area were regularised by the Haryana Government but subsequently, they were de-regularised. The residents of these colonies, who form a sizeable number of urban voters, are unhappy with the current situation in which they have to pay different taxes like house tax and fire tax, yet their colonies continue to be unauthorised. |
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More rain can damage wheat crop:
directorate
Karnal, April 23 Mr Jag Sheoran, Project Director of the DWR, said adequate steps should be taken by the government to store the wheat procured. He said he toured various parts of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh in the past two days. “No damage has been done to the standing wheat crop in Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh”, he said. The standing as well as harvested wheat crop still lying in the fields would be affected in western Uttar Pradesh and Bihar if there was another spell or two in the next few days as nearly 70 per cent of the wheat in these states was yet to be harvested, he said. Two more showers like the one which occurred on Thursday would lead to germination, rendering the crop unfit for consumption, he added. He said Punjab and Haryana were unaffected by the two spells of rain this week as nearly 75 per cent of the wheat had been harvested. He said adequate sunshine was essential during the coming week in North India so that excess moisture got soaked. He said the moisture content of wheat in Punjab and Haryana had not crossed the danger mark yet and was within the limits of 12 per cent. Even a day’s sunshine could further help reduce the moisture content, making it easy for procuring agencies to purchase the grain, he said. He pointed out that the wheat procured was lying exposed in the open in many parts of Haryana. The authorities concerned should take appropriate steps for proper storage to prevent any possible damage due to the weather conditions, he said. There had been reports of poor lifting probably due to rain. In most of the rural areas, roads leading to grain markets were in a poor shape. Certain parts of these roads were not motorable due to uneven surface and pits. Slush had accumulated on roads in the grain market complexes due to the rain. No official estimate of the loss caused by the rain was available. |
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HIGH COURT
Chandigarh, April 23 In his plea, Mr Bansi Lal, who is president of the Haryana Vikas Party, has sought Z category security for himself on the premise that he faces grave threat to his life. Mr Bansi Lal has claimed that since the son of Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala is facing his son in the Bhiwani Lok Sabha constituency, he is not sure if he would be protected properly during his visits to various parts of the state. He has also pointed out that the wife of Haryana Director-General of Police is also a nominee of the ruling party from the Sonepat seat. Case adjourned Taking up a petition filed by the Haryana Government, seeking the setting aside of the decision of the Additional Sessions Judge, Karnal, in which he has discharged former Haryana minister Ved Pal and others in a cheating case, the High Court adjourned the case for April 27. Mr Ved Pal and some of his relatives had been booked by the State Vigilance Bureau, Haryana, for their alleged role in a cheating case. However, the Additional Sessions Judge, Karnal, had on December 16, 2003, acquitted the accused. The State of Haryana preferred to file an appeal. Today, Mr Justice S.S. Grewal adjourned the case till April 23. |
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Farmer robbed of Rs 8
lakh
Kaithal, April 23 Mr Narain Singh, a farmer of Cheeka, had gone to a commission agent, Radha Kishan and Sons, in Cheeka mandi, to take cash from the firm. However, as the firm did not have sufficient cash, the partner of the firm issued a cheque for Rs 8 lakh drawn at the State Bank of Patiala. As the bank did not have sufficient cash, officials asked the ‘munim’ and the farmer to collect the amount from the cashier of Punjab National Bank. He paid them Rs 6 lakh and asked them to collect the balance amount from the State Bank of Patiala. After collecting Rs 8 lakh, the farmer asked the firm accountant to drop him at Bhuna village. When they reached near Jindal Rice Mill at the Kharoudi Road, they were stopped by two motor cycle-borne youths. They robbed them of the money at gunpoint and also took away keys of the motor cycle. They tried to chase the robbers on the vehicle of a motor cyclist who was passing by, but to no avail. Meanwhile, they came across Guhla MLA Amar Singh Dhandey and narrated the incident to him. The MLA immediately alerted the police but the culprits could not be apprehended so far. |
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Killed by husband
Sonepat, April 23 The alleged killer, escaped after the crime.
The police has registered a case. The alleged assailant found his wife with her paramour.
She leaves two children. The woman allegedly had illicit relations with a neighbour and her husband had come to know of it is said. —
PTI |
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Ambala, April 23
