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SAD begs support for INLD
SGPC President Bibi Jagir Kaur, SAD youth wing president Sukhbir Singh Badal and Minorities Commission Chairman and MP Tarlochan Singh at a meeting in Kurukshetra on Friday.
— Tribune photo by Neeraj Chopra
Kandela stir to hit INLD
State of Parties
HARYANA
Factors at Play
Poll first round
— Jhajjar
Panipat nominees promise moon
BJP promises to improve sex ratio imbalance
BYELECTIONS IN RAJASTHAN
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SAD begs support for INLD
Kurukshetra, January 21 A resolution in this regard was passed by the working committee of the state unit of the party and the SGPC members from Haryana affiliated to the SAD in the presence of Bibi Jagir Kaur, president of the SGPC, Mr Balwinder Singh
Bhundar, secretary-general and in charge of the party affairs of the state unit, Mr Sukhbir Singh Badal, president of the youth wing of the SAD, Mr Tarlochan Singh, Chairman of the Minorities Commission, and Mr Sher Singh
Barhshami, former president of the INLD and political secretary to the Haryana Chief Minister, at a meeting here today. Lashing out at the Congress, Bibi Jagir Kaur alleged that the Congress was responsible for the attack on Akal Takht during Operation Blue star and the “genocide” of Sikhs during Mr Bhajan Lal’s rule in Haryana. She appealed to the Sikhs of Haryana to cast their votes in favour of the INLD candidates. She said she would stay for 10 days in Haryana and campaign in favour of the INLD candidates in the 22 Sikh-dominated constituencies. Promising jobs in the SGPC-run institutes for unemployed Sikh youth of Haryana having engineering and medical degrees, she said the SGPC would also open modern schools in Sikh-dominated constituencies from where INLD candidates would win. Earlier, at a meeting with Sikh organisations at Kaithal, she also promised to set up a modern school in 12-acre there. Mr Tarlochan Singh said INLD chief Om Prakash Chautala was the only well-wisher of the Sikh community in Haryana. Mr Bhundar alleged that terrorism in the country was the creation of the Congress leadership who intended to segregate the minority communities by dividing them. Mr Badal said it was the right time for the Sikhs to take “revenge” from the Congress.
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The SAD and the INLD has violated the model code of conduct by holding a political meeting at a
gurdwara here.
Further, the promises of jobs in the SGPC-run institutes made by the SGPC President, Bibi Jagir Kaur, to unemployed Sikh youth of Haryana, besides the promise to open educational institutes in Sikh-dominated constituencies were also a clear violation of the poll code.
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Kandela stir to hit INLD
Kandela (Jind), January 21 They are not guarding against burglars but securing the village borders against the Haryana police. This is a ritual that they have followed since the days of the Kandela agitation in May 2002. The sound of shots fired by the police at protesting farmers that left six farmers dead are still rings loud in their minds. The subsequent police harassment, picking up of farmers from houses, fields and hospitals, and slapping of false cases against them, is a wound that is still raw. The nightmare at Kandela will cast a shadow on the elections with the largely anti-INLD mood in the village. While campaigning has gathered momentum in the state, this village in the Jind Assembly constituency is devoid of election frenzy. “The police had made life miserable for us after the agitation. We have now evolved our own security system through night vigils to guard against the police. This will continue till a new government assumes power. The INLD is responsible for the Kandela firing and the aftermath. It will pay in every election by not getting our votes,” states Mange Ram Lambardar. “The entire farming community was wronged by the INLD government which professed to be our well-wisher. The (BKU) chief, Mr Ghansi Ram Nain, has taken a decision to support the Congress at a mahapanchayat held in Narwana today,” says 70-year-old Nafe Singh, president of the Kandela unit of the BKU. With the village borders sealed to outsiders as darkness descends, the people are back in their homes. However, there is tension. It takes only a while to realise that it is because of the INLD flags atop a handful of houses in the village. “There are about 12 committed families of the INLD in the village. These families went and lodged a formal complaint against us for disturbing peace when we showed black flags to the government-organised Chhotu Ram yatra in November. Since then our relations have soured with them,” explains Hazoora Singh.
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Giridih SP transferred
Ranchi, January 21 The transfer was effected with permission of the Election Commission. Opposition parties, especially the CPI (ML), have demanded action against Mr Verma in connection with the killing of MLA Mahendra Pratap Singh by unidentified gunmen, alleging that it was a political murder in connivance with Mr Verma. Mr M.M. Ojah, Commandant of Seven JAP, has been transferred and posted as SP,
Giridih. — UNI
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State of Parties
HARYANA
Chandigarh, January 21 Thereafter the party contested the next two Assembly elections in 1996 and 2000 in alliance with the Haryana Vikas Party of Mr Bansi Lal and the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), respectively. During the 2000 Assembly election relations between the BJP and the INLD were strained. While the grievance of the BJP was that INLD supremo Om Prakash Chautala had worked against its candidates, the INLD leadership was unhappy over the BJP’s insistence on contesting 30 seat. In the next four years the two parties were unwilling partners in the marriage doomed from the day one. Ultimately, the divorce came before the last Lok Sabha elections. While the INLD drew a blank, the BJP had the consolation of winning one seat and finishing second in four constituencies. Despite the best efforts of common friends like Mr Prakash Singh Badal, a former Chief Minister of Punjab, the BJP did not agree to have a tie-up with the INLD in the Assembly elections. Though its leaders claim to be sure of winning a majority of their own in the Assembly elections, they would be too happy if the party is able to improve, even if marginally, its tally of six in the 2000 elections. And if the party is able to finish ahead of the INLD, it would be a celebration time for the BJP. BJP leaders admit in private that even if their party is not able to put up a good show in this year’s elections, their strategy of going alone would go a long way in establishing the party’s credibility with the electorate that it would not align with the INLD in future. They say because of their strategy of not having any truck with any party has resulted in the winding up of one regional outfit, the HVP. The BJP has fielded about 20 candidates belonging to the Jat community in a bid to reach the countryside. The party has given representation to certain other rural communities also like Sikhs, Yadavs and the Backward Classes, which have got the second largest chunk of the party ticket after the Jats. Unlike the Lok Sabha elections the BJP did not wait for leaders from other parties to come to its fold after their parties denied them the ticket. Only one sitting INLD MLA, Mr Bhagwan Sahay Rawat, who joined the BJP before the INLD announced its candidates, has been given the ticket. The party felt that it was used by certain leaders of the Congress to blackmail the leadership of the latter to nominate them for the Lok Sabha elections. The BJP did not want to be used again in the same manner now. The BJP plans look ambitious, but certainly the party has undertaken a bold experiment.
BJP aims at long-term gains.
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Factors at Play
Gurgaon, January 21 While Gurgaon is marketed as a “millennium city” before the international and domestic audiences, especially by the government agencies, contributing to a hike in price of land, the residents are not happy with the clear divide in terms of development between Old Gurgaon and the new city area. The new city area certainly acquired a distinct halo, what with glitzy malls, architectural marvel of corporate buildings and plush pockets of residential areas, especially in the past few years, on the other hand, Old Gurgaon has wallowed in stagnation with a majority of the colonies not even having proper drainage. According to Mr Harpal Singh, a resident of Old Gurgaon city, the government appears to have neglected the old city area. A drive through the old city areas would reveal that it is not different from any moffusil town, what with potholes, dirt and filth strewn across the road, pigs and stray cattle charging at you and a virtual bedlam on road. The irony of the situation is that residents of new city area are also not happy with the trajectory of development in their area. They are worked up by erratic supply of power and water as are their counterparts in the old city area. An other issue being widely discussed is the compensation provided to the farmers whose land is acquired to set up HUDA sectors or to be given to colonisers. The ruling INLD had made a poll promise to pay Rs 500 per sq yard to the farmers whose land was to be
acquired. The farmers allege that after coming to power the INLD Government backed out. At the time of the last Assembly elections, the farmers of about 17 villages in this constituency, including Gurgaon, Wazirabad, Silokhara, Haiderpur, Bindapore, Jharsa, Samaspur, Basai, Dhankot, Kadipur, Nathupur and Islampur, were on the warpath for a higher compensation. According to Mr Hansraj Vohra, a former sarpanch of Wazirabad village, the low compensation money of Rs 40-50/square yard paid by the Haryana government to farmers in Gurgaon stands out when compared to the rate of about Rs 500/square yard paid by the neighbouring Delhi Government. What rankles among the farmers is that while the government gives them peanuts as compensation money its agencies like HUDA and HSIDC charge whopping amounts from buyers of plots. Half of the voters in this Assembly segment falls in the city and the surrounding urban areas. According to many, the mood of the city-dwellers will play a major role in deciding the poll outcome. The residents of both the new and old city areas are apparently unhappy with the district administration’s attitude towards providing intra-city public transport system. In spite of the rapid increase in the city area along with fast-increasing population, the authorities have been adopting a lackluster approach to the issue. Haryana Roadways provided poor services from
Gurgaon to Dhaula Kuan. The high point is that the Delhi Transport Corporation provides more services than the Haryana Roadways. The demolitions in the city under INLD rule is another talking point. The residents allege that the INLD had made a poll promise to regulariese unauthorised colonies. But large-scale demolitions took place in colonies like Surya Vihar, Dundahera, Chakarpur, Lakhman Vihar, Basai Road etc.
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Poll first round
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Jhajjar
Jhajjar, January 21 The Indian National Lok Dal has fielded new candidates this time in Badli, Jhajjar, Sahlawas and Beri while retaining Mr Nafe Singh Rathi in Bahadurgarh. The Congress has also changed its candidates for Jhajjar, Badli and Bahadurgarh while it has fielded its two sitting legislators, Dr Raghbir Kadiyan and Ms Anita Yadav, from Beri and Sahlawas respectively. The BJP put up new faces in Sahlawas, Jhajjar, Badli and Bahadurgarh. In Beri it has fielded Ms Santosh Gochhi who had lost in the last elections. The Bahujan Samaj Party has given the ticket to new faces in four segments. These are Beri, Sahlawas, Badli and Bahadurgarh. Mr Nafe Singh Rathi (INLD) has represented the Bahadurgarh assembly seat twice. He first won in 1996 and repeated his feat in 2000. This time he is seeking to make it a hat-trick. Mr Rathi was sentenced in a murder case three years ago but was acquitted by the apex court. He is facing three new faces this time – Mr Rajinder Joon (Cong), Mr Rajinder Singh Dalal (BJP) and Mr Mahendra Kasaria (BSP). In Badli, sitting INLD legislator and Town and Country Planning Minister Dhirpal Singh has opted out of the race on health grounds. He first won this seat in 1982 and went on to repeat the feat in the 1987, 1991, 1996 and 2000 poll. In 1977 this seat had returned late Hardwari Lal. All four main contestants — Mr Kali Ram (INLD), Mr Chhattar Singh (Cong), Mr Lalit Sharma (BJP) and Mr Sant Lal (BSP) are new faces. Among the Independents, Mr Naresh Sharma and Mr Ramesh Dalal are Congress rebels. Mr Sharma had fought the last elections on the Congress ticket but lost. Mr Dalal was the Congress nominee from Bahadurgarh last time. Likewise, in the Jhajjar (Reserved) seat none of the four leading candidates has ever won an Assembly seat. In 2000, Mr Daryao Singh had won as an Independent but extended support to the Om Parkash Chautala Government. He parted ways with the INLD during the May, 2004, Lok Sabha poll and joined the Congress but lost the race for the ticket. The main rivals here are: Ms Kanta Devi (INLD), Mr Hari Ram (Cong), Mr Ramesh Kumar (BJP) and Mr Karamvir (BSP). In Sahlawas, sitting Congress MLA Anita Yadav faces Mr Zile Singh (INLD), Mr Laxman Yadav (BJP) and Mr Mohit Yadav (BSP). Since 1967 only Mr Ram Narain has won twice from this seat — in 1977 and 1987. If Ms Yadav wins this time also she will equal his record. Otherwise the constituency has a tendency to return new faces. Dr Raghbir Kadiyan, the sitting MLA of the Congress from Beri, is a Bhupinder Singh Hooda acolyte. He began his political career as a staunch supporter of late Devi Lal but he could not carry on with his successor, Mr Om Parkash Chautala, and ultimately joined the Congress. He won this seat in 1987 also. He is a former minister. He faces Ms Santosh Gochhi (BJP), Mr Om Ahlawat (INLD) and Mr Anup Ahlawat (BSP). This area has a large number of serving and retired army personnel. Though they come from different castes, they together constitute an influential group. All candidates are, therefore, taking care to include their welfare plans in the respective poll agenda.
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Panipat nominees promise moon
Panipat, January 21 Keeping a view on nearly one-third of the total votes of the Panipat segment, almost all contestants are promising to regularise unauthorised colonies situated on the outskirts of the city. Over five dozen slum colonies have come up in violation of the laws where at least 65,000 of the total nearly two lakh voters are staying at present. Some of these colonies are Wadhawa Colony, Desraj Colony, Hari Nagar and Ganga Colony. A former state minister for tourism and education, Mr Om Prakash Jain, who is retrying his luck for the fourth time as an Independent candidate, is paying attention to these colonies. Having his main base in the colonies, he is promising the residents that if elected, he would make efforts to regularise these colonies. He says that to ensure that his promise is fulfilled, he will support that party which will form the government after the results as he had done in 1996 after his victory as an Independent. Similarly, Congress candidate and former minister Balbir Pal Shah is also aware of the strength of the voters of these colonies in deciding the fate of the contestants. He is promising to work for better sanitation, besides assuring them of clean water and sewerage system in these colonies. Candidate of the BJP and president of the municipal council Sanjay Bhatia is also promising the residents that he will leave no stone unturned to regularise the colonies and provide basic facilities. INLD candidate and Improvement Trust Chairman Kasturi Lal Ahuja is also making promises pertaining to the overall development of these colonies. The residents of these colonies have already
constituted the Bahari Colony Sangrash Samiti in protest against the possible move of the administration to demolish the colonies.
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BJP promises to improve sex ratio imbalance
New Delhi, January 21 Since 1991, when the sex ratio in all districts of Haryana had declined to 900 girls as against1,000 boys, the situation has only worsened. As per a recent report by the National Commission for Women, women in Haryana continue to be discriminated whether in sex ratio, education, health participation or in the decision-making process. In terms of crime against women, Haryana is a high-risk state and is ranked higher than even Delhi. The women from the state have virtually remained unrepresented in Parliament and have a nominal representation in the state Assembly. The truth is that despite tall claims by various parties on giving adequate
representation to women in the Assembly, in politics winning is more important and none of the parties have really bothered to kept their promise. BJP general secretary Shivraj Chuhan and in charge of Haryana affairs says that the party has already taken note of the imbalance in population and will take initiative to bring about the much-needed balance in the sex ratio in the state. The party, he said, was worried about the issue, both at the national and state levels and was keen to ensure the social uplift of women.
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BYELECTIONS IN RAJASTHAN
Jaipur, January 21 Attempting to bank on the support of the dominant Bishnoi community and sympathy following the death of prominent Bishnoi leader and incumbent Congress MLA Ram Singh Bishnoi, the Congress has fielded his son, Mr Malkhan Singh Bishnoi. The senior Bishnoi was elected to the Assembly from Luni in Jodhpur district for a record seven times since 1972. The BJP opened its account from this seat only in 1993, when Mr Jaswant Singh Bishnoi defeated Mr Ram Singh Bishnoi. Since 1985 when Mr Bishnoi bagged about 83 per cent votes, his winning margin had been on the decline as he polled only 34 per cent votes in 2003, when he defeated Rajasthan Samajik Nyay Manch candidate Jogaram Patel by a thin margin of 1356 votes. The BJP has now fielded Mr Patel as its candidate to garner his sway among the 1.60 lakh electorate divided on caste lines. The manch has fielded Mr Karan Singh Uchiarda making the contest triangular.
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Kurukshetra, January 21
