M A I N   N E W S

INLD promises free scooty for girls, loan waiver & more houses
Geetanjali Gayatri
Tribune News service

Chandigarh, August 2
In a bid to score over other political parties in poll-bound Haryana, the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) today unveiled its please-all election manifesto.

Promising something for everyone, the INLD poll document offers a loan waiver of up to Rs 2 lakh to farmers, a free scooty to all college-going girls from the rural belt, a housing scheme for the poor and landless and hike in old-age pension to Rs 1,200 among many other things.

The manifesto was released by senior INLD leader and Ellenabad MLA Abhay Chautala and state unit president Ashok Arora. Asked why the manifesto was silent on the issue of the Haryana Gurdwara Sikh Management Committee (HSGMC) and the Satluj-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal, Chautala said: “We have already announced that the INLD will scrap the separate Sikh management Committee Bill. We stand by that. On the SYL, too, our stand is very clear.”

“Our party had raised the SYL issue in the last session of the Haryana Assembly which resulted into an all-party resolution recommending Centre’s intervention in the entire matter,” he said.

Chautala said an inquiry would be conducted into how funds from the government treasury were frittered away by the present government.

He said the land dealings involving Congress president Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law Robert Vadra would be looked into. The manifesto released by the INLD has a picture of party stalwart and former Deputy PM Devi Lal and former Chief Minister and party chief Om Prakash Chautala. Asked who would be the chief ministerial candidate, Abhay Chautala said: “We have only one leader and that is Om Prakash Chautala. We will fight the elections projecting him as the Chief Minister. The Congress has lost the mandate of the people and the BJP has no standing when it comes to state elections. All eyes are on the INLD.” The INLD promised to set up a traders’ commission, a farmers’ panel as also a separate department to facilitate travel to Pakistan for Sikhs, Hindus and Muslim, offering free travel to 1.25 lakh pilgrims annually. Essentially a party with a rural base, the INLD promised an enhancement in crop damage compensation from existing Rs 10,000 per acre to Rs 25,000 per acre.