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H A R Y A N A |  |
 Sunday, June 27, 1999 |
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New equations on
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Salesman
robbed of Rs 50,000, shot dead 4 dead as jeep, truck collide A channel of hope! Water crisis in Sonepat 4 unnatural deaths reported |
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New equations on threshold CHANDIGARH, June 26 — The Haryana Vikas Party's merger with the Congress is one clear possibility that has emerged after the Chief Minister, Mr Bansi Lal, come out victorious with the Congress support during the confidence vote yesterday. He kept his flock of 35 MLAs together, had the support of eight Independents besides the en block support of 12 Congress legislators. Enough indications towards this are available in both HVP and Congress circles. The possibility of a coalition government with the Congress or the HVP surviving on the Congress party's outside support are much less. So when Mr Bansi Lal meets the Congress president, Mrs Sonia Gandhi, sometime next week, talks are expected to centre around this. "Whenever doctors permit me to travel, I would take the first opportunity to visit Delhi and meet Mrs Gandhi and thank her for the support", Mr Bansi Lal said here today. He would not like to speculate on the future course of action for him and his party, but asserted that the HVP would take a unanimous decision on any issue. He would consult all his colleagues and decide. He ruled out any disunity among the HVP MLAs on any issue and said: "You have all seen their unity yesterday. Some of them were under tremendous pressure of all kinds from any quarters". There is also a view shared by certain Congress leaders that once the vote of confidence has been taken, the Chief Minister should be advised to seek dissolution of the House. Let there be simultaneous elections for the Lok Sabha and the Assembly. This view was articulated by Mr Birender Singh yesterday. This section opposes any merger of the Congress and with the HVP. The Congress should not carry any liability and since it was not a party in the government. The idea was to stop the formation of an INLD-BJP government coming into existence and the aim should be limited to that. These people would impress upon the Central leaders this idea. There were many kinds of reports available yesterday and today. One, of course, was about the possible merger and then a re-election of the leader. While HVP leaders asserted that the leader would not be changed, Congress leaders like Mr Bhajan Lal would wish a Congressman leading the new arrangement. In any case that would depend how Mr Bansi Lal plays his cards and how Mrs Gandhi reacts to the moves. As Mr Bansi Lal's son and former MP from Bhiwani has been playing a crucial role in garnering Congress support for the beleaguered HVP, he too would have a say in these matters. If the merger takes place it would have a far reaching impact on the state's politics. One, a regional party with a strong bias for Haryana and its development would end its existence to give voice to regional aspiration, only the Indian National Lok Dal of Mr Chautala would be there. But since his closeness to Mr Parkash Singh Badal, Akali Chief Minister of Punjab, is too well known, he would not be able to raise those contentious issues about river waters and territory. Yet he would be the voice to be heard around. Second, this would mean the Congress vs INLD-BJP alliance in the next general election. Almost straight fights except at one or two places where the Bahujan Samaj Party has some say, a highly polarised two-party system, the BJP shall have to play a second fiddle to aggressive INLD leaders. Inside the Congress too, new equations would emerge. Mr Bansi Lal is close to the group led by the state Congress chief, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, and that would get strengthened. But it shall have opposition from the group led by Mr Bhajan Lal. Old rivalries would be at play. The Congress shall have to carry on with the good as well as the bad points of the present government. Similarly, the BJP which parted company for not high principles except that some leaders thought. It would not help to have Mr Bansi Lal as an ally at this juncture, shall have to answer a lot of questions. The party was terribly divided at the national and state levels on this issue. It could not just absolve itself of the fact that it was a partner for three years and it suddenly found Mr Bansi Lal a dictator and the government too bad. All in all, new
equations would provide their own kind of flavour to the
murky politics of Haryana. |
News analysis CHANDIGARH, June 26 — The week-long hectic political activity aimed at dislodging the Bansi Lal Government in the state has ended in a fiasco. Finally, it was the Congress whip which worked the magic and turned the tables in favour of the HVP. However, the final verdict of the Assembly giving a huge victory margin to the Haryana Vikas Party, led by Mr Bansi Lal, in reality meant a face-saving for some of the ruling party men, loss of face among the so-called rebels and a feeling of having been cheated by their own leaders among some of the Congressmen. It was clear from the impression given by certain state Congress leaders that they had been embarrassed beyond words by their party high command as if they had been forced to do something which they had been hating to do for the past three years. Only a fortnight ago, the Haryana Pradesh Congress President, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, accompanied by Mr Satyanarayana Rao, AICC observer for the Lok Sabha and organisational elections in Haryana had repeatedly affirmed before newsmen that his party would prefer to go it alone and that it had decided to maintain a equidistance from the three major parties of the state, including the HVP, the BJP and the Indian National Lok Dal's Haryana unit of Mr Om Prakash Chautala. No wonder, Mr Rao has given up his tour programme of Haryana which was scheduled to commence from June 28. The two visible rebels Rao Narbir Singh and Mr Brij Mohan Singla who remained in a woeful minority were actually misled by several ministers/ MLAs who kept on weighing the pros and cons of both loyalty and disloyalty to Mr Bansi Lal. They were, perhaps, neither with the loyalists nor with the rebels but only with themselves, thinking of their personal gains at each given point of time. This is why the Haryana Chief Minister dismissed some of them, picked them up at will whenever required, exercising the Chief Minister's right to keep anyone in or outside the Cabinet. At least it was clear that none of the rebels had public concern in mind. Mr Jagan Nath, a senior leader of the scheduled castes, who had been credited with loud thinking aimed at wresting the Chief Minister's chair with the support of rebels, the BJP and the Independents found a poor excuse in the Assembly when a leader of the INLD ridiculed the plight of rebels who were frequently dropped from and inducted into the Bansi Lal ministry. In fact, Mr Jagan Nath's other colleague Dr Dharamvir, in almost a similar situation said in an embarrassing tone that it was the Chief Minister's prerogative to throw out or retain anyone in the ministry. The Chief Minister, they echoed, had sent them on "leave" after they had worked for the government for long. It was quite surprising that even after having blundered out of the alliance with the HVP, at a wrong time, BJP members gave a clear picture of their "disunity among the group" when only Mr Ram Bilas Sharma, the former Education Minister and former spokesman of the coalition government appeared to have taken courage to defend the party decision to part ways because of what he described as the 'dictatorial style of the functioning of Mr Bansi Lal and the humiliation that the BJP members had to suffer during the three-year period." Other members did not apepar to lend him the desired support in his defence of the party decision. However, they realised the cost of delay caused by the BJP's central leadership, that they had to pay by staying out of the ruling group. The delay in implementing the decision to withdraw the support perhaps much earlier than its announcement gave Mr Bansi Lal enough time and opportunity to find out another ally for the time being to retain his party in power. Mr Bansi Lal successfully managed the whip from the Congress high command for the Haryana Congress MLAs to force them to stay with him in the hour of voting on the confidence motion. Perhaps, Congressmen made it clear, the situation would have been different if there was no whip. Mr Birender Singh (Cong) made no secret of his party's intentions behind the support. He had no soft corner for the HVP Government and made it clear that his party favoured Assembly elections along with those of the Lok Sabha. However, as reports suggest, Mr Bansi Lal may have to prepare all party members for merger it to the Congress. Meanwhile, Mr Chautala has criticised the Congress for, what he described as, "unprincipled stand in supporting HVP-led government "when Mr Bansi Lal was seeking a vote of confidence in the House as per the orders of the Haryana Governor, Mr Mahabir Prasad. After all the Governor has been witnessing the dismissal and reinduction of ministers against whom serious charges of corruption were levelled, and cases registered. Mr Chautala said the Congress had come out in support of a party which it had been criticising all through for its alleged failure on all fronts, and had even been demanding Mr Bansi Lal's resignation on moral grounds. The Congress support to Mr Bansi Lal had exposed Mr Hooda and vindicated his stand that both the Haryana Congress chief and Mr Bansi Lal had a secret understanding. He declared that the HVP would now merge with the Congress. Mr Chautala said his INLD had not yet entered into any alliance or seat adjustments with the BJP for the coming Lok Sabha elections. At the same time, he added, he would not rule the possibility of such adjustments. The INLD leader said his
party supported the Vajpayee Government at the Centre
only to ensure that a foreign-born Sonia Gandhi should
not become Prime Minister. His party would retain its
identity and contest the Lok Sabha poll in Uttar Pradesh,
Madhya Pradesh and Delhi, besides Haryana. |
Bhajan rules out merger HISAR, June 26 — Senior Congress leader and former Chief Minister Bhajan Lal today ruled out the merger of the Haryana Vikas Party with the Congress, saying it would not be in the interest of the party. He told TNS over the telephone here, he was still opposed to Mr Bansi Lal but had to abide by the orders of Mrs Sonia Gandhi. Senior HVP leader and Home Minister Mani Ram Godara also said as of now there was no move or proposal to merge the party with the Congress. He said, it would be a majority and not an individual decision. The Congress leader pointed out that given the image of the Chief Minister and his government with the masses, it would be dangerous for the party to allow the merger of the party with the Congress. He claimed the Congress was well-placed to face the forthcoming elections on its own. At the same time, senior Congress leaders disclosed that the party leadership favoured mid-term poll to the state Assembly along with the Lok Sabha elections. They claimed the present arrangement was of a temporary nature "to prevent opportunists, communal and casteist forces from grabbing power." Reacting to the recent developments , another senior leader and former PCC President Shamsher Singh Surjewala, claimed the Congress had to "swallow a bitter pill" to prevent the communal BJP and the casteist INLD from grabbing power in the state. He said it was a "continuous political process" and the Congress had nothing to lose. Bharatiya Janata Party leader Ram Bilas Sharma was critical of the Chief Minister, claiming "he can go to any extent for power." The BJP leader pointed out Mr Bansi Lal had "even left Congress sycophants far behind in praising the leadership of Mrs Sonia Gandhi." He criticised the Chief Minister for allegedly going back on his promises. Mr Sharma alleged Mr Bansi Lal had been hobnobbing with the Congress since April 17 in order to remain in power. Welcoming the Congress support to the HVP government, the Home Minister, Mr Godara, said the Congress had stepped in at the right time to prevent casteist and communal forces from coming to power. He accused the BJP of being communal. Former MP O.P.Jindal, who only last year parted ways with Mr Bansi Lal and joined the Congress, also welcomed the move of the high command to save the HVP government. Earlier, Mr Jindal had opposed any move to bail out Mr Bansi Lal. The executive member of the PCC, Ms Shalini Atri, opposed the Congress support to the Bansi Lal government, saying it may harm the party's interests in the elections. The Excise and Taxation
Minister in the Bansi Lal Cabinet, Mr Om Prakash Mahajan,
claimed that winning the vote of confidence by the
government proved that all legislators were behind the
Chief Minister. |
Salesman robbed of Rs 50,000,
shot dead PANIPAT, June 26 — Three unidentified youths shot dead Nand Kishore Sharma in the local Jain Mohalla near the Paras Nath road last evening and decamped with a bag containing Rs 50,000. Nand Kishore Sharma died on the spot. He was working with a cigarette dealer and carrying the day’s sale proceeds. When he reached in the Jain Mohalla he was stopped by two youths and another youth was waiting on a motor cycle. One of them took out a pistol and threatened Nand Kishore to hand over the bag. When he resisted the attempts to snatch the bag, he was shot at and killed on the spot. When they tried to flee, their motor cycle collided with a rickshaw. But they escaped leaving their motor cycle behind and a pair of shoes. The assailants are reported to be in 22-25 age group. The body of Nand Kishore was handed over to his family members after a postmortem examination. Nand Kishore was a resident of local Tehsil Camp. This is the third day light robbery in the town during 15 days besides looting of two patrol stations and a liquor shop. A week ago three motor cycle-borne persons looted Rs 15 lakh in broad day light from Manoj Kumar of local Virat Nagar. Incidents of loot and robbery has shaken the faith of the residents of this five-lakh population town. Residents blame that the police had failed to curb the criminal acts. In another incident of robbery, four Maruti car-borne criminals struck at Shweta Milk Agency on the local Sanoli road near Sanjay Chowk today morning and looted Rs 23000 in cash from the agency's cash box. According to information the owner of agency, Mr Manjeet Singh, was waiting outside his shop near the agency's milk tanker and another person was sitting in the shop near the cash box, when a Maruti car (HP-05/AP 8117) stopped in front of the shop and four youths of 23-24 age group came out of it. Three of them reached the shop and the fourth one stopped near Mr Manjet Singh. Reaching the shop, three assailants took out pistols and looted the cash. Fourth criminal also threatened Manjeet Singh not to move from his place. After looting the cash, the criminals sped away in the car. On receiving the information, the Deputy Commissioner, Mr Anurag Rastogi, the Superintendent of Police, Mr Manoj Yadav, along with police force reached the the spot. The police has registered a case. Agitated over robberies in the town, traders and residents blocked the national highway no 1 near Lal Batti Chowk today evening for an hour. They were protesting against the failure of the police to curb crime and nab those involved in robberies and murders. Due to traffic jam, long
queues of vehicles were seen on the national highway,
Assandh road, Rohtak-Panipat state highway,
Panipat-Shamli road and other link roads of the town.
Deputy Commissioner, Anurag Rastogi and Superintendent of
Police, Manoj Yadav came to the agitationists and assured
that the criminals would be arrested with in one week.
The processionists agreed to lift the blockade. |
4 dead as jeep, truck
collide ROHTAK, June 26 — Four persons including a woman, were killed in a head-on collision between a jeep and a Canter truck, near Kharawar village on the National Highway No. 10, about 15 km from here last night. As many as 11 passengers were injured in the mishap. They have been admitted to the PGIMS hospital here. According to information the accident took place at about 9.30 p.m. last night when a passenger jeep (HR-45 A- 3668) going from Rohtak towards Bahadurgarh town collided with a Canter truck coming from the opposite direction. Four of the passengers travelling in the jeep died on the spot and the vehicle was badly damaged. The deceased have been identified as Rajkumar, son of Khusi Ram, a resident of Ismaila village, Mahender, son of Rameshar of the same village, Mrs Sunita, w/o Ram Singh of Premnagar colony of Rohtak, and another one could not be identified. The injured include Prem Singh, Suresh Rathi, Kharaiti Lal, Ramchander, Ramesh, Jaipal, Satish, Jaikrishan, Kali Ram, Kamla and Angoori. Condition of the majority of the injured is stated to be stable. In another incident the
police has registered a case in connection with a firing
incident in which a resident doctor of the Pt. B.D.
Sharma Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences
(PGIMS) was found injured in his room in the doctors
hostel early this morning. Two bullet injuries were
received by the victim, it is not known whether he was
attacked or attempted suicide. The police is
investigating. The victim is recovering in the hospital
of the institute. |
A channel of hope! SIRSA, June 26 — "This new canal has changed our routine and life. I don’t have to go to Rajasthan to bring drinking water. I can now have a proper bath and washing." These are the views of many in Kaluana, the last village linked by this new "Kaluana Link Channel". Until now the people of these and six other villages had only dreamt of easy availability of drinking water and irrigation water. Arrival of water through this canal is a dream come true for them. This project, assisted by NABARD has three parts — first, an 11-km link channel; second, remodelling of a 5 km stretch and an extension of the existing minor by 8 km. The canal was constructed at the cost of Rs 3.55 crore, which includes the compensation given to farmers for 85.12 acres of land acquired for the purpose. The foundation stone of this project was laid in February, 1996, and completed in December, 1998. The villages benefited by this project are Lambi, Modi, Ganga, Darewala, Godikan, Bacher and Kaluana. The Kaluana channel will irrigate 10145 acres of land in these seven villages which are the remotest in Haryana, bordering Rajasthan. Earlier these villagers had to travel two to three km to fetch potable water. This correspondent found a new hope among the residents because of the availability of water for drinking as well as irrigation. The sarpanch of Godikan village said that this canal had given people a dream of a green revolution. The expectation of tilling fertile land is now going to be fulfilled. According to Bhoop
Singh, Krishan Kumar and others of Kaluana added that the
construction of this canal had increased the value of the
available land manyfold. People of this area hope that
the desert area will soon be converted into green land. |
Water crisis in Sonepat SONEPAT, June 26 — The entire city of Sonepat with a population of over 2 lakh remained waterless last evening following the disruption in the drinking water supply system. Women were seen fetching water from distant places. Many people alleged drinking water supply had been erratic since the onset of the summer season and taps often went dry. Similarly, pressure had been low. Representatives of
various political parties, social and voluntary
organisations and trade unions have urged the state
government to transfer the officials concerned
responsible for the water crisis in the city. They
alleged the authorities have no control over keymen and
tubewell operators and this was the main cause of the
water crisis. |
4 unnatural deaths
reported ROHTAK, June 26 — The police found the body of a pregnant woman from near Tilyar Tourist complex here. The body has not been identified sofar. In yet another incident, three youths committed suicide by consuming some poisonous substance in the district within past 24 hours. According to police sources, Sukhbir of Sanghi and Ramdas and Krishan of Jassia villages were admitted to the PGIMS after their condition deteriorated but they could not survive. The bodies have been
handed over to the respective families after a
post-mortem examination. |
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