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H A R Y A N A |  |
 Saturday, August 14, 1999 |
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HVP(D) to merge with Lok Dal CHANDIGARH, Aug 13 — In a move to provide stability to the Chautala Government which has been badly shaken by the resignation of the Agriculture Minister, Mr Jagan Nath, serious efforts are on for securing the merger of the HVP (D) with the Indian National Lok Dal. Delay in nominations may hurt Cong KARNAL, August 13 — The belated start of campaigning by Congress nominees in Haryana is likely to prove disadvantageous in the coming poll as almost every party has not only announced its nominees but started campaigning much earlier. |
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Inder Singh INLD nominee for Rohtak ROHTAK, Aug 13 — The Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) has decided to field Capt Inder Singh (retd) from the Rohtak parliamentary constituency. Minister's quitting has
‘shaken’ Chautala 207
sensitive polling booths in Panipat CM
pays tributes to martyrs NDA
candidate files nomination One
sentenced to 7 years’ RI for rape |
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HVP(D) to merge with Lok Dal CHANDIGARH, Aug 13 — In a move to provide stability to the Chautala Government which has been badly shaken by the resignation of the Agriculture Minister, Mr Jagan Nath, serious efforts are on for securing the merger of the HVP (D) with the Indian National Lok Dal. While no senior INLD leader was available here for confirmation, the HVP(D) President, Mr Kartar Singh Bhadana, has indirectly confirmed the move. When contacted on his mobile, Mr Bhadana said: "What is the harm. Roj roj ka jhanjhat khatam ho jayega (daily bickerings will be over)". According to informed sources, if all goes well the formal announcement will be made in a day or two. Mr Bhadana, who was speaking from Delhi, said he would come to Chandigarh either tomorrow evening or day after. However, as an after-thought Mr Bhadana added that the proposal was under active consideration and nothing was yet finalised. As soon as a final decision was arrived at, the press would be informed. It is believed that if the HVP(D) merges with the INLD, two HVP(D) MLAs, Mr Jagan Nath and Dr Dharambir Singh Yadav who have already revolted against Mr Chautala, may be expelled from the party. Legally speaking, if any HVP(D) MLA does not want to join the INLD, he could remain within the parent party without inviting any action under the anti-defection law, even if the number of the MLAs who decide to remain in the parent party is less than one-third of the total strength of the party. At present the HVP(D) has the strength of 17. The sources say that INLD crisis managers feel that if 15 HVP(D) MLAs (excluding Mr Jagan Nath and Dr Yadav) join the Lok Dal, the INLD would not remain dependent on the BJP, which is reluctant to join the Chautala ministry at least not before the Lok Sabha elections. The INLD has 32 members in the Vidhan Sabha having an effective strength of 89. Once the HVP(D) merges (presuming its 15 MLAs take a collective decision) with the INLD, Mr Chautala's party would have an absolute majority with 47 members. The sources say the INLD does not entertain any notion of parting company with the BJP, at least not in the foreseeable future. But an absolute majority of its own will definitely free the INLD from the BJP sword hanging over its head. The sources say Mr Brij Mohan Singla, Mr Narbir Singh, Mr Jaswant Singh Bawal, Mr Raj Kumar Saini (all HVP-D representatives in the Chautala Ministry) and Mr Ramesh Kaushik, Mr Ram Bhaj, Mr Sat Narain Lather, Mr Vinod Marya and Mr Charan Dass Shorewala, have already signed the affidavits and other documents necessary to complete the merger process. The documents, the sources say, were signed at a luncheon meeting held in the Chief Minister's residence today. INLD sources claimed that five "Ks" — Mr Kartar Singh Bhadana, Mr Karan Singh Dalal, Mrs Krishna Gahlawat and Mrs Kanta Devi, besides Mr Azad Mohd and Mr Jaswant Singh Narnaund, too have agreed to the merger proposal. Once the INLD has a majority of its own in the Assembly the bargaining power of the BJP, vis a vis, INLD within the state will definitely lessen. The sources say the INLD had to concede the Sonepat parliamentary seat to the BJP because the former is now dependent on the latter's support to sustain its government in Haryana. It was only with a heavy heart that the INLD leadership had to disappoint its sitting MP from Sonepat, Mr Krishan Singh Sangwan, after some tough talk by certain BJP leaders, including Mr Kushabhau Thakre and Mr L.K. Advani, who, otherwise also are not believed to be favourably inclined towards Mr Chautala. The sources say these two senior party leaders practically shoot down any proposal brought by the Leader of the Haryana BJP Legislature Party, Mr Ram Bilas Sharma, who is perceived by them as Mr Chautala's man. The HVP(D) merger with
the INLD will take care of all these worries of Mr
Chautala, who also has the support of six Independent
MLAs. |
Delay in nominations may hurt
Cong KARNAL, August 13 — The belated start of campaigning by Congress nominees in Haryana is likely to prove disadvantageous in the coming Parliamentary poll as almost every party has not only announced its nominees but started campaigning much earlier. The Congress is still to announce its candidates for the ten Lok Sabha seats and controversies on the nominations for Kurukshetra and Hisar are still raging. The INLD announced its candidates for four seats, Sirsa, Kurukshetra, Hisar and Sonepat well in advance though its nominee for Sonepat was withdrawn after the seat was allotted to the BJP as part of its poll understanding with that party. INLD supremo Om Parkash Chautala had given instructions to all the INLD candidates to start campaigning and its nominees in Kurukshetra, Sirsa and Hisar have already covered much ground. The nominee from Kurukshetra, Ms Kailasho Saini, is reported to have visited a majority of villages in the constituency. The Congress is yet to finalise its nominee for Kurukshetra with the choice oscillating between Mr Harpal Singh, a former Minister and Mr O.P. Jindal an industrialist. Mr Jindal, had even brought in paraphernalia from Hisar to start his campaign. But he had not got the green signal, and his disappointed supporters are marking time. In the mean time, Mr Harpal Singh is reported to have got the nod from some members of the party high command and has started visiting villages in the Kurukshetra parliamentary constituency over the part few days. But his campaign has also not picked up as the party high command is yet to announce his candidature. Similarly in Karnal, from where Congress stalwart and former Chief Minister, Bhajan Lal is in the race against Mr I.D. Swami of the BJP. The BJP leadership had given the go ahead to Mr Swami over a month back. He therefore, started visiting the countryside and contacting voters. He told TNS that he had already covered 3/4 of the villages of the constituency. On the other hand, Mr Bhajan Lal has got then active only in the past week. But much to his chagrin, he is being asked why he did not nurture his constituency properly during the past 15 months and has had to publicly admit that he could not do this because of ‘numerous constraints.’ However, he has taken a good first step by buying a house in the model town area of the city where he can be approached by the public whenever he is in town. It is a different matter that the flunkeys surrounding him restrict his contacts to a few individuals as even today, the local Congress is faction-ridden. The district Congress Committee Chief, Mr Kuldip Sharma, does not see eye to eye with Mr Bhajan Lal and his group has not started taking an interest in the Congress campaign. In Sirsa, the INLD's sitting M.P., Mr Sushil Kumar Indora started campaigning long before the announcement of his name by the INLD leadership. He has advantage in that Sirsa is the home district of the Haryana Chief Minister and the family has a number of devoted workers at its disposal. The Congress nominee, Ms Selja has to face heavy odds as the state Congress leadership is not fully behind her and the Bhajan Lal faction will only back her after their leader gives them the nod. Likewise in Bhiwani, the INLD candidate, Mr Ajay Chautala and son of the Chief Minister of Haryana, Mr Om Prakash Chautala has been preparing for the elections since a long time. After his defeat in the last LS poll at the hands of Mr Surender Singh, Mr Ajay Chautala did not desert his constituents. Although, the Congress nominee, Mr Dharambir belongs to Tosham, which is an Assembly segment of the Bhiwani seat and is well-known, his belated nomination will create problems in his covering the entire constituency. In Hisar, while the INLD
nominee, Mr Surender Singh Barwala has already covered
much of his constituency, the Congress is yet to formally
announce its candidate. |
Rao Inderjit files
nomination REWARI, Aug 13 — The Congress nominee from Mahendergarh parliamentary seat, Rao Inderjit Singh, today filed his nomination papers accompanied by his supporters. Those who accompanied Rao Inderjit on the occasion included the Vice-President of the Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee (HPCC), Rao Dharam Pal, local MLA, Capt Ajay Singh, MLA from Gurgaon, Mr Dharamvir Gabba, Chairman of Zila Parishad (Gurgaon), Rao Srikishan, former minister of Haryana, Mrs Shakuntala Bhagwaria, Mr Daan Singh and Rao Narender. The filing of the nomination papers was preceded by speeches of the Congress leaders at the local Ahir College. Addressing a gathering, Rao Inderjit cautioned his supporters not to let down their guard during electioneering. Mr Gabba criticised the BJP and its allies, like the ruling Indian National Lok Dal in Haryana and the AIADMK for forcing mid term elections on the country. The Congress was the only party which could ensure stability in the country, he added. Incidentally, Rao Inderjit is a sitting Congress MP from Mahendergarh. However, Capt Ajay Singh, Mrs Shakuntala Bhagwaria and Rao Narender Singh were conspicuously absent during the speeches. They were to be present in the town on the occasion. They were seen only at the time when their party nominee filed his nomination papers. Their absence during the time of the speeches once again fuelled speculations about factionalism within the Haryana unit of the Congress. Earlier, Rao Inderjit
led a motorcade of carrying Congress leaders and party
workers from Gurgaon to Rewari. |
Inder Singh INLD nominee for
Rohtak ROHTAK, Aug 13 — The Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) has decided to field Capt Inder Singh (retd) from the Rohtak parliamentary constituency. The announcement which was made by the INLD chief, Mr Om Parkash Chautala, while addressing party workers at Jhajjar, however, ev-oked a sharp reaction among the workers who started raising slogans in favour of Mr Balwan Singh Sehag, an aspirant for the ticket. When the workers did not stop raising slogans, Mr Chautala reportedly ended his speech and left the meeting. He put the seal of finality when he announced at a shradhanjli function here that Capt Inder Singh would be his party’s candidate for the Rohtak Lok Sabha constituency. The nomination has surprised political circles. After his retirement from the Army, Capt Inder Singh, had worked as Secretary, District Soldier Board, in Haryana and retired a few years ago. At present, he is a general secretary of the Ex-servicemen’s League, Haryana. Political observers
believe that as secretary of the District Soldier Board,
Capt Inder Singh was known for his integrity. But outside
ex-servicemen’s families, he was unknown to voters
and activists of the INLD. |
Minister's quitting has
‘shaken’ Chautala CHANDIGARH, Aug 13 — Dr Ram Parkash, ex-minister and general secretary of the Haryana Pradesh Congress (I) Committee, today said Mr Om Prakash Chautala, Chief Minister, Haryana had been shaken badly by the resignation of Mr Jagan Nath and the statement of Dr Dharmabir Yadav, MLA. He feared that his days in office were numbered. It was because of this nervousness that he announced an expansion of his Cabinet to avoid further revolt by the MLAs. against him, he added. Mr Chautala would be wise to understand that he repeated expansion of the Cabinet could not help keep Mr Bansi Lal in power. If Mr Chautala were to adopt the same tactics to keep the legislators in good humour, the result would not be different. Mr Chautala had been criticising Mr Bansi Lal till yesterday for expanding the Cabinet but now he had chosen to follow the same course of action. It was not in the interest of the state that he should cling to power through such tactics without the mandate of the people. Mr Chautala should understand that every legislator could not be purchased. There were definitely some who would not appreciate his ( Mr Chautala's) policies and the style of functioning. The Congress party, he
said urged the Election Commission not to allow the
expansion of the Cabinet after the declaration of the
poll schedule particularly "when not even an
ordinary employee can be transferred these days. This is
a cheap way of influencing the outcome of the
election", he averred. |
207 sensitive polling booths in Panipat PANIPAT: In order to ensure free and fair polling, the district administration has identified 207 polling booths as sensitive, including 110 booths as hyper sensitive in 54 villages and 11 urban localities of the district. According to the SP, Mr Manoj Yadav, all owners of licenced arms have been asked to deposit their arms and so far about 200 arms have been deposited. Besides, a list of such elements was being prepared who might disturbing the polling process so that timely action could be taken against them. He said at least 10 platoons of additional police force would be deployed in the district. All three Assembly constituencies of this district, namely Panipat, Naultha and Samalkha are part of the Karnal parliamentary constituency. As per the directions of the Election Commission, electronic voting machines would be used in the Karnal Lok Sabha seat. SONEPAT: The district administration has finalised the arrangements for the elections to the Sonepat Lok Sabha seat which goes to the polls on September 5. According to official sources, the Sonepat Lok Sabha constituency is spread over nine Assembly segments. Six of them which fall in Sonepat district are: Baroda (Reserve), Gohana, Kailana, Sonepat, Rai and Rohat. Two fall in Jind district (Julana and Safidon) and one in Jhajjar district (Bahadurgarh). The Sonepat
parliamentary constituency will have 1,512 polling booths
in 510 villages and towns. Police arrangements are being
planned for sensitive booths which will be manned by
1,091 presiding officers and 3,347 polling officers. As
many as 50 supervisors and 35 duty magistrates will
remain on poll duty. |
CM pays tributes to martyrs ROHTAK, Aug 13 — Paying tributes to martyrs of Operation Vijay, the Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, complimented the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, for tactfully handling the Kargil issue. He said on the request of the Haryana Government, the Centre had agreed to allot kerosene agencies to the dependants of the martyrs and disabled persons. Mr Chautala said service would be provided on priority basis to the wards of the martyrs, he said. He further said the government had provided financial assistance of Rs 10 lakh to the family of each martyr to be (equally divided between the widow and his parents) and an assistance ranging between Rs 6 lakh to rehabilitate the disabled soldiers. The families of the martyrs would be entitled to free medical treatment and free travel in buses, besides free education to their children. The Chief Minister honoured the families of 76 martyrs from the state with shawls and mementoes. He also appreciated people's response to the war heroes relief funds. Earlier welcoming the
Chief Minister, the Vice-Chancellor, Maharshi Dayanand
University, Lt Gen. O.P. Kaushik (retd), highlighted the
glorious traditions of the armed forces. |
NDA candidate files
nomination SIRSA, Aug 13 — With the filing of nomination papers by the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) candidate, Dr Sushil Indora (INLD), election activities began here. He is the first and the lone candidate to have filed the nomination papers from the Sirsa (Reserved) parliamentary constituency this afternoon. Dr Indora was
accompanied by the Finance Minister of Haryana, Prof
Sampat Singh and former minister Ganeshi Lal (BJP), among
others. |
One sentenced to 7
years’ RI for rape REWARI, Aug 13 — Mr M.M. Sharma, Additional Sessions Judge, here has sentenced Lalit Saini, a young student of Azad Chowk Colony here to rigorous imprisonment for seven years, on charges of raping a minor girl. The judge has also imposed a fine of Rs 500 on him failing which he will further undergo an imprisonment for two months. According to the prosecution, on June 29, 1997, at 4-30 p.m. the victim visited Lalit’s house to meet her friend, Asha, who was residing there as a tenant along with her mother. But Asha was not present there at that time. Finding the victim alone the accused caught, hold of her hand and took her inside a room and did the crime. When she tried to raise an alarm, the accused threatened her not to disclose this to anybody. Later she narrated the incident to her father and who took her to the police station where on her complaint a case was registered against the accused under Section 376, IPC. The accused was arrested
and was found guilty. |
HVP dist leader quits, joins
Cong HISAR, Aug 13 — Ms
Krishna Yadav, General Secretary of the Hisar district
unit of the Haryana Vikas Party (HVP) resigned from the
party and joined the Congress along with her supporters.
She announced her decision at a meeting in Tibba Danasher
here yesterday in the presence of Mr Hari Singh Saini, a
former Minister of Haryana. Several activists of the HVP
including Raj Kapoor Bamal, Subhash Bishnoi, Jagmal
Yadav, Pramod Soni, Gurdev Singh, Kavita Yadav, Om
Parkash Verma, Santosh Yadav, Sant Lal Bishnoi, Zile
Singh, Ram Singh and Dharampal also joined the Congress.
Mr Saini welcomed them in the Congress party. |
Mine workers flay contract
system FARIDABAD, Aug 13 — The Haryana Mine Workers and Officials Welfare Association has alleged that a "back-door" contract system had been revived in the mines, resulting in a loss of revenue worth lakhs of rupees to the state government. A spokesman for the association said senior officials had named the new system as "labour contract" which was nothing but the old procedure. At least 10 trucks laden with slate come out of the Mahu mine daily without paying any royalty or octroi to the government. He claimed that the Haryana Minerals Ltd had suffered a loss of crores of rupees due to a number of scandals during the past few years. This was the reason why it could not deposit Rs 50 lakh in the provident fund account of employees and failed to implement the recommendations of the Fifth Pay Commission. He alleged that some officials were also engaged in "benami" export of slate. The association appealed
to Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala to intervene into
the matter. |
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