Chandigarh, September 4
The decision of the Punjab and Haryana High Court to cancel the allotment 350-acre prime land in Wazirabad(Gurgaon) to DLF has provided fresh ammunition to the Opposition to target the Hooda Government in the run-up to the Assembly elections.

The INLD, which had prominently highlighted the Wazirabad land ‘scam’ in its ‘chargesheet’ submitted to the Haryana Governor recently, was quick to demand Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda’s resignation on ‘moral grounds’ after the High Court order. “The High Court verdict has vindicated our stand that the Hooda Government allotted prime land to DLF for a song. In fact, undue favours to big builders at the cost of farmers is one of the main elections issues of our party,” senior INLD leader Abhay Chautala said here today. The land, acquired for “public purpose”, was transferred to DLF, which was developing air-conditioned apartments and villas and an 18-hole golf course there.

INLD MP Dushyant Chautala also demanded the CM’s resignation on moral grounds. “On several political stages, Hooda has offered to quit politics if the charge of giving even an inch of government land to favour private players is established. I exhort Hooda to follow what he said,” the MP said.

The BJP is also set to embarrass the Hooda-led government on the issue of alleged taking away of farmers’ fertile land and favours to big builders in its proposed ‘chargesheet’ against the government .

The controversy behind the project dates back to October, 2012, when AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal alleged how terms and conditions were changed to favour DLF in the allotment of 350 acres. However, the government had been denying all along that any conditions were changed to favour a particular builder. Even DLF claimed that “it secured the project on merits by fulfilling the eligibility criteria through a competitive bidding process”.

YS Malik, Additional Chief Secretary (Industries), today presented a fact-sheet on the case which claimed the land allotment was as per rules. 

Bahadurgarh, September 4
This city, known as the gateway to Haryana due to is location on the Delhi border, has never elected a non-Jat candidate in the past 11 Assembly polls.

Though the Congress has been retaining the seat for two consecutive terms, but its dismal performance in the Lok Sabha elections indicate that the Assembly elections are not going to be a cakewalk for the party anymore.

A pointer to this being: this was the lone Assembly segment in Haryana and Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda’s pocketborough, comprising Rohtak and Jhajjar districts, from where his MP son Deepender Hooda trailed in the vote count.

Absentee MLA

Like other parts of the state, the impact of Modi wave was evident here, but political pundits believe that the absence of Congress MLA Rajender Joon in the constituency is a major factor responsible for the people’s anger against the Congress in the Lok Sabha elections.

Joon resides in Delhi and used to come to Bahadurgarh on alternate days every week. He disagrees with the opinion and said he always tried his best to spend maximum time among people. Consequently, the people have showered their blessings on him during two consecutive terms.

People here say that ‘Chaudhar ka naara’ given by Hooda in the 2009 Assembly elections helped Joon retain his seat with a margin of 19,350 votes.

Matter of concern

Several colonies in Bahadurgarh city and the surrounding villages are still crying for drinking water and adequate power supply in spite of the state government spending a huge amount to resolve these issues. Chronic sewerage problem is also haunting the residents for the past several years.

Though a bypass has been constructed to ease the traffic flow in the city, it persists owing to the mismanagement on the part of authorities in the wake of the ongoing construction of the Metro. Overhead high-tension electricity wires in residential areas is the another matter of concern.

Locals have been demanding their removal as several people are killed every year on this count.

The MLA, Joon, said a 100-bed hospital, a trauma centre, a new building of the women’s college, a filtration plant were the main development works on which he would be seeking votes.

Main issues
Lack of drinking water, erratic power supply, inadequate medical facilities, traffic chaos, poor educational facilities, overhead high-tension in residential areas. 

Segment scan
It is a semi-urban segment, comprising 30 villages and 31 municipal wards. There 4,000 small and big industries and a large number of them manufacture footwear items. Jats hold the key to victory with 94,000 votes followed by Brahmins with 15,000 votes. There are 13, 000 Punjabis, 12,000 Baniyas, 35,000 Scheduled Castes and 22,000 members of Backward Class.

Legislatorspeak

Development will be the main poll issue. During my tenure, the Metro was extended from Mundka (Delhi) to Saankhol. Besides, a footwear park and Driving and Traffic Research Institute were set up. The Bahadurgarh bypass, a railway overbridge, a town park in Sector 11, a sports stadium with ultra-modern facilities came up due to my efforts
—Rajender Joon, congress mla

Oppositionspeak

Rajender Joon has failed to live up to the expectations of the people. The problems of drinking water scarcity and erratic power supply are yet to be addressed. Corruption is rampant in government offices, especially in the Municipal Council. The crime graph is rising. Not a single prestigious education institute has been set up here
—Nafe Singh, inld

New Delhi, September 4
Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda has asserted that the Congress would come out with flying colours in the Assembly elections and form the government for the third consecutive term.

During an interface with the public organised by a news channel under the theme “Ghosnapatra” today, Hooda rebutted charges of corruption levelled against him, his family and associates by Opposition. “The Congress is prepared to go polls on the plank of development and good governance.”

“During the past 10 years of the Congress rule, the state attained the number one position in several development indices, especially per capita income. The state was ranked 14th when the Congress formed the government under my charge in 2005, but catapulted to the pole position,” Hooda claimed.

He singled out the BJP government in Gujarat to make sector-wise comparison with Haryana. His strategy was obvious to the audience: to be upfront in comparing his government’s model of development with the one which has been hailed as a “paragon of excellence” by the resurgent BJP. The Gujarat government was headed by Narendra Modi.

On the allegation of running a coterie of politicians that compelled senior Congress leaders, including Birender Singh and Avtar Singh Bhadana, to quit the party, the Chief Minister said such leaders had no base. “Those who cannot win elections cannot help others win,” he said in obvious reference to Birender and Bhadana who lost the Uchana Kalan Assembly seat and Faridabad Lok Sabha seat, respectively.

With regard to the Punjab and High Court order cancelling land allotted to DLF, Hooda said the decision to favour the company was taken by the previous INLD government.

Fatehabad, September 4
Political connotations are being attached to Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda’s visit to Samain tomorrow, where he will “inaugurate” an already functional 220-kV powerhouse. Samain is the largest Jat-dominated village of the Tohana Assembly segment of Fatehabad.

Sources said Hooda would inaugurate the powerhouse and address a public meeting in the village.

“The actual purpose of the visit is not to inaugurate the powerhouse, which is functional for eight months, but to woo Jat voters,” said a party functionary.

He said some prominent Jat leaders were expected to cross over to the Congress on the occasion tomorrow.

The Tohana Assembly segment is currently represented in the State Assembly by Agriculture Minister Paramvir Singh, who is looking forward to scoring a hat trick after winning this seat in 2005 and 2009.

However, he is facing tough challenge from an Independent, Devender Singh Babli.

The Jat leader has made deep inroads into the Congress support base through his social activities; Nishan Singh, district president of the INLD, and also from the BJP, which is yet to declare its candidate.

The sources said the main purpose of Chief Minister’s visit was to consolidate Paramvir Singh’s position in the Jat belt of the constituency, where Babli’s ancestral village and mass base is situated.

Babli hails from Badhai Khera village is situated 6 km from Samain and holds a lot of importance among Jats.

Similarly, Subhash Barala, who contested from Tohana on the BJP ticket in 2009, is also a Jat, and Nishan Singh’s party, INLD, also wields influence over the community. 

Gurgaon, September 4
The BJP’s announcement of candidates is likely to spark a rebellion among the party. The BJP, which had been sporting confidence of repeating its LS success in the Assembly elections, is now afraid of dissidence among members and has thus been urging them to stand by party’s decision.

The most speculated name continues to be of Rao Narbir Singh.

Rao Narbir, who was also a strong contender for the Lok Sabha ticket, had to face disappointment last time when ticket was given to Rao Inderjit Singh. He was then promised a ticket in the Assembly elections.

The ‘promise’ has made him a strong contender this season. BJP secretary and former Gurgaon MP Sudha Yadav, who was also reportedly ‘left out’ in the Lok Sabha elections, is also vouching for ticket and is open to fighting it out from Rewari, Gurgaon or Baadshahpur. These two candidates have an advantage of being able to draw Ahir votes.

On the other side, state BJP president Ram Bilas Sharma was also being considered for Gurgaon, though he never officialy spoke about it.

These three people stand to compete with GL Sharma, a close aid of Rao Inderjit Singh, and Umesh Aggarwal.

“The ticket can only be given to one, but that doesn’t diminish your role in the party. If the BJP wins, we all will get our due for sure,” said a BJP leader. 

Karnal, September 4
The BJP’s good show in the Karnal parliamentary constituency notwithstanding, the party has to work hard to regain its lost ground in all five Assembly segments of this district, says a party veteran. At present, the BJP has no representation in the Assembly from this district.

The INLD won three seats — Gharaunda, Nilokehri and Indri — in the 2009 Assembly elections, while the Congress pocketed two seats — Karnal and Assandh. Though Assandh legislator Zile Ram Sharma was elected on the HJC ticket, he later defected to the Congress.

BJP’s Karnal MP Ashwini Chopra won by a huge margin in the Lok Sabha elections from here and secured a lead from all Assembly seats of this district.

“The BJP has to act carefully to maintain the momentum. The Lok Sabha and Assembly elections are fought on different issues. Caste plays a major role in the Assembly elections,” the part leader said, requesting anonymity.

According to Election Commission’s data, the BJP has been struggling to win the Karnal Assembly segment since 2000. The last time its candidate won from here was in 1996. Shashipal Mehta had won the seat then.

The BJP had won from here in 1987, while the Bharatiya Jan Sangh had won the seat twice in 1967 and 1972. The Janata Party had won from here in 1977.

In the last elections, Sumita Singh of the Congress retained the seat by defeating former minister Jai Parkash Gupta (then in the HJC) in a close contest. The BJP candidate, Chander Parkash Kathuria, polled the third highest votes then.

As for Gharaunda, the BJP had last won the seat in 1996. Ramesh Kashyap was the party’s nominee then. The Bharatiya Jan Sangh’s candidate had won from here in 1968 and the Janata Party’s in 1977.

In the last Assembly elections, Narinder Sangwan of the INLD had won the seat by defeating Virinder Rathore of the Congress in a close contest.

The BJP is yet to open its account at Indri, Nilokehri and Assandh. The Janata Party had won these seats in 1977 and 1991. The candidate of the Bharatiya Jan Sangh had won from Nilokehri in 1967 and 1972. 

Sirsa, September 4
Five girls were injured, two of them seriously, when the police resorted to lathi charge on students of Government National Postgraduate College today. The students were staging a dharna outside the DC’s residence to demand early construction of a building of their college, as announced by Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda.

Two of the injured girls, Harjit Kaur and Daya Wanti, both students of BA (second year), have been admitted to the local General Hospital. The girls alleged that a pregnant student was also beaten up by the police but her family members took her away for treatment.

Ellenabad MLA Abhay Singh Chautala, who was in Sirsa in connection with his campaign in Rania Assembly segment today, condemned the police action. He said it was shameful that peacefully demonstrating girls, who only wanted a new building instead of their 80-year-old unsafe structure, had been beaten up.

Shilpa Verma, president of NGO Parivartan, who visited the injured girls in the hospital, said it was unfortunate that the girls had not got their new building despite the CM’s announcement.

The police have also booked 60 to 70 girls under the National Highway Act for blocking NH-10 yesterday. However, the girls continued to block the highway for the second consecutive day today.

The police have also taken into custody nine boys, including the state convener of the All-India Students Federation (AISF), Roshan Suchan, who were supporting the girls’ agitation.

Denying use of force by the police, Suresh Pal, SHO of the Sirsa City Police Station, said the girls were injured in a mêlée over the arrest of some outsiders who were trying to vitiate the atmosphere.

The incident occurred when Suchan allegedly had a heated argument with DC Anshaj Singh, who had come out of his camp office to listen to the girls’ demands. The girls alleged that the DC went inside after the conversation and the police started using force to disperse them.

Efforts to contact Anshaj Singh proved futile as his phone was answered by some other official who said the DC was busy.

Chandigarh, September 4
A month after BJP-appointee Kaptan Singh Solanki took over as the Haryana Governor, the Congress government is awaiting clearance for the new members of the Haryana Public Service Commission (HPSC) recommended by it.

The government is learnt to have sent the names of Rajinder Ballah, currently a member of the Haryana Police Recruitment Board, and Saurabh Singh, son of Congress leader Sampat Singh, to the Governor for approval nearly three weeks back. The file was sent to the Governor initially in July with two other names, which were withdrawn.

Sources said the Governor is holding on to the file with the recommendations since confusion prevails over the appointments to be made. According to information available, the government has forwarded Ballah’s name from the service category as he was employed in a cooperative, while Saurabh’s name has been forwarded from the “public persons” category though he is currently working with the HSIIDC.

As per rules, only an employee with 10 years government service can be appointed from the services category. Ballah has 18 years of experience while Saurabh will complete 10 years this December.

As per HPSC rules, six posts will be equally divided between members nominated from the government service sector and those from the public. This excludes the chairman. Sources said there is only one member in the HPSC from government service while three have been nominated from the public.

The bone of contention between the government and the Governor seems the ambiguity over who can fill up the two vacant slots in the commission. The government is of the opinion that the names were sent after due consideration and fulfill all rules and criteria.

Sources in the Raj Bhawan, however, said the Governor does not want to be party to any wrong decision and is taking his time to verify the facts and the position from various sources. “He is unlikely to clear it (the appointments) in a hurry. He will take opinion from all quarters before signing the recommendations,” sources said, though the delay in approval has not gone down well with the government. 

Jind, September 4
With the police making no progress in the week-old kidnapping case of a minor girl, Maid Sunar Sabha, along with other NGOs, organised a protest march in the city today. The protesters submitted a memorandum to the Deputy Commissioner (DC) and demanded early recovery of the girl.

Copies of the memorandum have also been sent to the President, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Haryana Governor Kaptan Singh Solanki and Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda.

The protest was led by sabha’s district president Phull Singh Verma. Before the march, a meeting was held at Nehru garden in which the local police and its officers were criticised for not cooperating with the family of the missing girl. They also decided to launch a state-level agitation in the coming days.

“We would start an indefinite hunger strike from September 6 in front of the DC office if police fail to recover the kidnapped girl in 24 hours,” Ram Mehar, general sectary of the sabha, said.

Jind SP Anil Dhawan and DC Ashok Kumar Meena did not attend to repeated calls made to them. Last Friday, around 5 am, accused Anil, from Shyam Nagar of Jind, entered the house of the girl, dragged her out and bundled her in his car. When her mother Suman and brother Deepak tried to stop him, Anil ran the car over both. Suman died on way to PGI, Rohtak, while Deepak suffered injuries. 

Gurgaon, September 4
Thousands of students in Mewat may not watch the live telecast of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Teachers’ Day speech tomorrow for want of equipment.

Except for one government girls’ high school, Edusat systems of all 50 schools in the district are either out of order or defunct. The Gurgaon administration has made it mandatory for all government, private and aided schools in the district to follow the time schedule of the PM’s speech and ensure presence of entire staff.

The DEO office had asked all schools to ensure the speech was telecast uninterrupted, but school authorities are clueless on how to make it happen. “The Edusat system has been defunct for a year. We got orders to call all students and teachers to school and make them hear the speech, but how do we do so? We got to know that the principal of a school in a neighboring village asked a student to get the TV to school, but it’s not possible here,” said the principal of a Government High School in Nuh block.

When contacted District Education Officer (DEO) Dinesh Shatri said, “We have issued instructions. I can’t say much about it.”

Around 50 madrassas in the district will also not telecast the speech. Majority of the aided ones pleaded lack of infrastructure, while others claimed they were not bound to do so. 

Chandigarh, September 4
The Haryana Education Department has cancelled the interviews conducted for the post of assistant professor (political science) by Maharaja Aggarsain College, Jagadhri, on August 22.

Acting on a complaint of certain candidates, who were reportedly barred from appearing in the interview on the plea that they possessed postgraduate degrees in public administration, the Director General Higher Education (DGHE), in a communication dated September 1, cancelled the interviews.

The candidates, including Uday Bhan Singh (Yamunanagar), Sunita (Hisar), Mamta Sharma (Jagadhri), Sureshpal (Ambala) and Vijayveer Singh (Jind), had complained to the DGHE alleging “gross violation of the orders of the state government and contempt of court by certain public functionaries/individuals to settle personal scores”.

It was argued in their representation that after a Supreme Court verdict the state government had decided to consider candidates holding PhD/NET in public administration for the post of assistant professor in political science.

“According to the Supreme Court, the subjects of political science and public administration are inter-changeable and inter-related. A candidate who possesses a master’s degree in public administration is eligible to be appointed assistant professor of political science,” Uday Bhan Singh had claimed.

On August 22, candidates with a master’s degree in either political science or public administration were called for the interview by the college. However, at the 11th hour, the candidates possessing postgraduate degrees in public administration were reportedly told by members of the selection committee that they could not appear in the interview as it was for political science subject.

Meanwhile, the candidates have decided to meet the Haryana Governor to seek action against the members of the selection committee, who deprived them of the chance to appear in the interview.

Sonepat, September 4
Bhakt Hans Raj, founder of the Shri Ram Sharnam Ashrams and a religious preacher, died today at his Gohana ashram at the age of 98. His cremation will be held in Gohana at 11 am tomorrow.

Born on October 2, 1916, at Chinyot Mandi in Jhang district of Pakistan, Bhakt Hans Raj migrated to India after Partition and settled at Gohana. The government allotted 80 acres to set up a Shri Ram Sharnam Ashram, a naturopathy hospital and other free of cost facilities at Gohana.

Survived by his son Krishan Vij and daughter-in-law Rekha Vij and known as “pitaji” among his followers, he was worshipped as a saint in the society throughout his life. The family has donated his eyes.

He is credited with setting up 61 Shri Ram Sharnam Ashrams in the country as well as nations such as Canada, England, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Nigeria. — OC

Fatehabad, September 4
A woman has alleged that four policemen entered her house in Azad Nagar locality of the town on Tuesday night and beat her up.

The woman, Jaswinder Kaur, has approached SP Charan Attri with a complaint and demanded action against the erring policemen.

The SP said the policemen were from the Guru Nanak Pura police post and they had told him that they had gone to the woman’s house to look for her husband, who had a criminal record. He denied that the policemen had beaten up the woman.

Jaswinder alleged that she was sleeping alone in her room as her husband was away to Ludhiana, Punjab, when four policemen entered her house after scaling a wall and started beating her up.

There was no policewoman with them. Her mother-in-law and neighbours came to Jaswinder’s rescue when she raised the alarm. At this, the policemen fled in their gypsy.

Jhajjar, September 4
At least 10 girl students of the Government Senior Secondary School in Jhajjar’s Dulhera village fell ill today after consuming albendazole tablets, prescribed for a variety of parasitic worm infestations.

The medicine was administered by a team of doctors under a Health Department programme. Anita, a teacher, said a team of doctors came to the school in the morning and administered the tablets to around 400 students of various ages.

Soon after, some students complained of a severe headache and stomachache and were admitted to the Jhajjar General Hospital. “Ten students told teachers they had severe pain in the abdomen and head. They were rushed to the hospital,” Anita said. The students were discharged after being observed for over three hours.

Hospital senior medical officer Dr Satyender Vashisth said all the girls were fine and there was no reason to worry. “These tablets sometimes cause gastritis if taken on an empty stomach. As the remaining 390 students did not complain of any symptoms, there is no need to get the tablets checked,” he added. 

Sonepat, September 4
The 12-day impasse between students of both Hindu Boys and Girls Colleges and the college management committee ended last evening after the intervention of the district and police administration.

At a meeting with Sonepat SDM Amit Khatri and DSP Ajit Singh, the management representatives, led by chairman Arun Aggarwal, agreed to concede most of the students’ demands, including revoking suspension of five students.

The management also agreed to form a committee to consider the demand for withdrawing the hike in the college fee. — OC