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| Monday, January 24, 2000, Chandigarh, India  
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INLD
list leaked to pressurise BJP? Punjabis seek 30 seats from
Congress Mahapanchayat endorses Hooda's
candidature Gupta to contest Panipat seat Haven for drug traffickers Eco-friendly proposals await govt
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INLD to launch website Candidate opens election office Netaji remembered Teacher kidnapped for ransom HUDA staff to protest on Jan 26 Haryana powermen back UP stir
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INLD list leaked to
pressurise BJP? CHANDIGARH, Jan 23 — In response to the INLD’s list of candidates for nearly 50 Assembly constituencies, selectively leaked to a section of the press, the Haryana BJP too has finalised its list of candidates for nearly 65 constituencies. Though the INLD list was not attributed to any authorised party official, it is presumed that it was leaked by party managers to test the waters. While one purpose of making the list "unofficially" public seemed to put pressure on the BJP, the other aim was to judge the public reaction to particular candidates. In case of an adverse reaction, the party could easily change the offending candidate(s) under the plea that it never released the list. The General Secretary (Organisation) of the Haryana BJP, Mr Manohar Lal Khattar, told TNS that the party had shortlisted candidates for about 65 constituencies. The Parliamentary Board of the BJP will meet again on January 27 when the Haryana unit of the party would submit the entire list of candidates for the 90 constituencies, provided the INLD-BJP alliance is not clinched by then. Lok Dal sources say the Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, met Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, last evening. They say it has been decided by Mr Vajpayee and Mr Chautala to have another round of talks between the two parties on the issue of seat sharing, which has already created a lot of bad blood between the two alliance partners. The INLD sources say since Mr Chautala will reach Delhi only tomorrow evening after his Narwana visit, the talks between the INLD and the Haryana BJP leaders would be held either tomorrow night or the day after. Mr Khattar, however, had no information about the meeting between Mr Chautala and Mr Vajpayee. Nor was he aware of another round of talks between the leaders of the two parties. He said the parliamentary board had authorised two senior party leaders, Mr Murli Manohar Joshi and Mr K. Govindacharya, to inform Mr Chautala that the BJP would contest 35 seats as agreed by the leaders of the two parties earlier. Mr Khattar said Mr Chautala had told the two senior BJP leaders that he would talk to the Prime Minister on the issue after his return from the tour of North-East. He added that it was not in his knowledge whether Mr Chautala had met Mr Vajpayee or not. The delay in the
finalisation of the alliance between the BJP and the INLD
has affected the morale of workers of both parties. The
party workers feel that even if the two parties now reach
an amicable settlement after raking so much muck, the
alliance would not be as effective as it was during the
Lok Sabha poll. The controversy has shorn the alliance of
its credibility before the voter. |
Punjabis seek 30 seats from
Congress GURGAON, Jan 23 — Congress men belonging to the Punjabi community are demanding Assembly ticket from the party high command in proportion to community's population in Haryana for the ensuing Vidhan Sabha election. A delegation led by the President of the Haryana Punjabi Sabha, Mr A.C. Chaudhary met the Congress President Sonia Gandhi recently to convey its point of view. In a 45 minute meeting the delegation pointed out that the Punjabis played a vital role in the freedom struggle of the country, but tilted towards the then Jan Sangh, the parent party of the present BJP, after Partition. Later, efforts of Jawaharlal Nehru largely wooed the community back to the Congress party. After coming into existence of the state of Haryana, the community again felt alienated as it perceived the Congress as trying to appease the Jat community at Punjabis expense, added the delegation. It was pointed out that it was only during the tenure of Mr Bhajan Lal as Chief Minister that a majority of the Punjabis again felt represented by the Congress. Members of the Punjabi Sabha claimed that it was due to the resentment of the Punjabis in the last parliamentary elections, in which no leader from the community was given party ticket, that there was a complete rout of the Congress in Haryana. Congress men contesting this election lost with significant margins of over 1.5 lakh votes. They warned that if the community was not given adequate representation this time in the Assembly elections, the Congress would be alienating the Punjabis at its own cost, while the BJP and the INLD Chief O.P. Chautala were going to great lengths to woo the community. Considering that the Punjabis had 35 per cent presence in the state, the delegation demanded that at least 30 of the 90 Assembly tickets be allotted to Congress men hailing from the community to garner support of the Punjabis, who could be crucial in deciding the outcome of elections in the state. According to Mr A.C. Chaudhary, a former Haryana Congress minister, Mrs Gandhi assured the delegation that she would take care of the community's interests and see to it that it got due representation in the party. The delegation then met and apprised other Congress leaders, including General Secretary AICC Ambika Soni, Dr Manmohan Singh as well as members of the Haryana candidate selection committee Mr Motilal Vohra, Mr Madhavrao Scindia and Mr Narayanaswamy of their assessment of the Punjabi sentiments in Haryana. As of now, among the 17 tickets cleared by the Congress high command, two have been allotted to Punjabi leaders, the sitting MLA from Gurgaon Dharambir Guaba and Mr Harpal Singh from Tohana. Meanwhile, it is learnt
that the recommendations of the 22-member Haryana Pradesh
Congress Committee (HPCC), have been superseded and
instead a fresh panel of likely candidates is being drawn
up by the three-member Haryana candidate selection
committee, assisted by Mr Bhajan Lal and Mr Bhupinder
Singh Hooda. The committee is likely to finalise 50 per
cent of the seats by next Monday evening and remaining
the next two days, before sending the recommendations to
Mrs Sonia Gandhi. |
Mahapanchayat endorses Hooda's candidature ROHTAK, Jan 23 (FOC) — The mahapanchayat of Kiloi Assembly segment held here today urged the Indian National Lok Dal supremo, Mr Om Prakash Chautala to allocate the party ticket to a former minister, Mr Krishan Murti Hooda, who represented this constituency as a Congress nominee from 1991 to 1996. Villagers attending the mahapanchayat resolved by a show of hands that Mr Hooda should contest either as an INLD nominee or as an independent candidate if he was not given the party ticket. The panchayat had an impressive gathering including several sarpanches, panches, former sarpanches and former panches and a considerable number of women. Mr Ram Mehar Hooda, a senior lawyer presided over the meeting and Mr Naresh Jangra, a leader of backward classes conducted the stage. The speakers appreciated the development work carried out by the former minister in his tenure in the constituency. The Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee chief, Mr Bhupender Singh Hooda was the main target of criticism by the speakers who said he had always criticised the functioning of three Lals in the state but extended support to Mr Bansi Lal. At present, he was a hand in glove with Mr Bhajan Lal, a former Chief Minister. They said the 'dual' standard had hurt the sentiments of the people. Besides, they said Kiloi constituency was discriminated against during the three tenures of Mr B.S. Hooda as M.P. They challenged the HPCC chief to make public the amount spent on the development in Kiloi from his MP quota so far. Addressing the
gathering, Mr Krishan Murti Hooda said his 30 years in
the Congress had proved futile and his party membership
was cancelled under a conspiracy. |
Gupta to contest Panipat seat PANIPAT, Jan 23 — The city president of the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), Mr Dharam Pal Gupta today announced that he will file his nomination from the Panipat Vidhan Sabha constituency on February 1 as an Independent candidate if he does not get the party ticket. Mr Gupta, who has been on a padyatra since January 9, made this announcement at the HUDA colony here today. Later, Mr Gupta told TNS that he was keeping his options open and will contest on the INLD ticket if he gets it. "I have been receiving good response from the public and I have finally made up my mind that I will definitely contest the elections from Panipat as an Independent candidate," Mr Gupta added. It is probable that being an urban constituency, the Panipat Assembly seat will go to the BJP once the sharing of the seats is finalised. This has created a piquant situation for Mr Gupta as the seat is held by Tourism Minister Om Prakash Jain. He will contest this time too as an Independent candidate. Mr Gupta’s announcement is bound to create bitterness with the BJP at a time when relations between the two allies were already sour over the issue of seat sharing. That Mr Gupta was keen on contesting the Vidhan Sabha elections from Panipat was evident in December itself when he first started lobbying for the party ticket. Mr Gupta had even conveyed this to Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala when he visited Panipat last month. To strengthen his argument, Mr Gupta had told the INLD supremo that since the BJP candidates had lost the past three Vidhan Sabha elections from Panipat, the seat should be given to an INLD candidate. The INLD city president
had also conveyed that INLD workers were not willing to
back the candidature of Mr Jain, who will also contest as
an Independent. |
Haven for drug traffickers RATTIA (Fatehabad), Jan 23 — This newly announced subdivision of this district is fast becoming a haven for drug traffickers. Trafficking of opium, poppy husk and other psychotropic substances is on the rise in this area, situated on the border of Punjab. Political patronage to drug traffickers has added new dimensions to the menace in the recent past. The trafficking of opium, poppy husk and other psychotropic substance is not new to the area, but it has assumed new proportion recently due to the alleged involvement of some influential politician. A brother and driver of a minister were arrested in connection with the trafficking of poppy husk during the HVP's tenure last year. But while the minister got off scotfree and even became a minister again in the INLD government after defecting from the HVP, the police officer who ordered the arrest of the politician's kin was immediately transferred by the Bansi Lal government. According to knowledgeable sources, poppy husk has always been in great demand in the Rattia, Tohana and Jakhal areas of this district and adjoining Sangrur and Mansa districts of Punjab. A majority of truck drivers, taxi drivers, farmers and farm labourers are drug addicts in these areas. Poppy husk being the cheapest of all drugs has always been in great demand in the area. The consignments of poppy husk are brought to Rattia from Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh in trucks. On paper, the traffickers show the husk as animal feed. A bag of poppy husk which costs around Rs 600 in Rajasthan or Madhya Pradesh can be sold for Rs 8000 in this area or neighbouring districts of Punjab. A truckload of the contraband fetches a profit of around Rs 4 lakh to the trafficker. The involvement of
well-connected persons has given an impetus to the
illegal trade. |
Eco-friendly proposals await
govt nod PANIPAT, Jan 23 — Proposals for conducting survey of the textile industry in Panipat to study its impact on the environment and of existing energy consumption in industry to suggest measures for improving energy efficiency are still awaiting clearance by the Haryana govenment. These surveys were to be conducted by the Nothern India Textile Research Association (NITRA), a Central Government organisation run by the Ministry of Textiles. Though NITRA had submitted both proposals to the state government in May last year, the government is to sanction financial assistance for carrying out these vital surveys. Talking to The Tribune, in charge of the NITRA's textile testing laboratory and powerloom service centre, Dr K. Dhawan, said that the growing industrialisation in Panipat has hit environment. Textile industry which was various kinds of chemical contribute a lot towards increasing water pollution in the city. In certain areas, the hand pump water has been found to be contaminated due to the chemicals used in dyeing and printing units. Effluents from the textile process houses like the unused dye stuffs, salts, surfactants, finishing agents were highly contaminated and gradually spoil the quality of soil and water wherever these were discharged. Thus, there was a great need to undertake a detailed study to assess the impact on the environment. This would then help us in formulating necessary remedial measures. Dr Dhawan said that database collected during the project work would go a long way in formulating effective policies and measures to be adopted by the State Pollution Control Board to protect Panipat from the adverse effect of the industrial growth. The project proposal titled — A drive towards clean technology for Panipat Textile Industries — will take about 15 months to get completed. It would include survey of textile industries and their classification as per the environmental management, evolving steps to pursue clean technology and the impact of clean technology on production cost and environment. NITRA's second proposed survey of energy consumption in the industry here is for suggesting measures to improve energy efficiency levels by way of better operation, and improvement in process and technology levels. The objective is to devise ways for saving electrical power and petroleum fuels. Since industries here are consuming a large amount of electrical power, petroleum and other fuels it is imperative to assess actual performance levels of various machines and equipments and recommend measures for improvement, said Dr Dhawan. Under this project, NITRA will undertake a detailed study on the type of fuels, condition of the machines and equipments and technology levels, analysis of the collected data regarding consumption, efficiency, losses and deficiencies and preparing a report on the technology status, performance levels and techno-economic feasibility of bridging the technology gap. The suggestions will be for both short-term and medium and long term basis. The short term will not involve much investment and the stress will be on improving housekeeping, cleanliness, lubrication, work practices, training and minor technical modifications. The medium and long term will involve modifications for conserving energy and increasing productivity. NITRA believes that
there is potential of saving 10 to 20 per cent of the
energy depending upon the type of set up and if
implemented properly on national scale it can lead to
enormous saving of oil, coal and electricity. |
INLD to launch website HISAR, Jan 23 — The Indian National Lok Dal is going hi tech. A party that is mostly identified with farmers and rural masses has taken a big stride forward into the most modern hi tech world of Internet. Senior INLD leaders assisted by bureaucrats in the Chief Minister’s office are busy developing a website for the party, which is likely to be launched by the Chief Minister by the end of this month. Besides, the Chief Minister’s advisers have also suggested creating at least two e-mail addresses so that he is easily accessible to the common man. The e-mail addresses may also be released at the time of Mr Chautala’s launching of the website. Sources close to the Chief Minister said the idea of developing a website of the INLD was pending with the Chief Minister for quite a long time. Due to his preoccupations elsewhere the idea could not materialise until now. Probably taking inspiration from Mr Chandrababu Naidu, Mr Chautala is said to be himself keen on introducing information technology in different sections of the government. Since it was the best time for the party to launch its website in view of the scheduled February 22 elections, the job of developing the website was assigned to a senior party leader. The Chief Minister may also release the party manifesto on the web. The site contains all the information about the party. It has broadly been marked under heads such as the ideology, history, background and leaders’ profile. The site is said to be containing all the information of the recent "achievements" of the party during its brief rule of about six months. The details have been substantiated with all the statistical data. INLD sources claimed, there was too much of disinformation being spread about the party and its leaders amongst the country’s intelligentsia. The net accessibility of the party may help in clearing such wrong impression, they said. The e-mail addresses of the Chief Minister are being created for providing "direct and easy access to common people" with the Chief Minister. Each communication addressed to the Chief Minister will be duly acknowledged and followed up. The Indian National Lok
Dal is the only political party in the State which is
launching its own website. While the Bharatiya Janata
Party has its own site, but that mainly concerns the
national organisation only. Not much is available about
the State BJP. Similarly the State Congress does not have
any website. |
Candidate opens election office AMBALA, Jan 23 — Independent candidate and former MLA from the Ambala Cantonment Assembly segment Anil Vij today sought the support of the people for a second consecutive term, while promising to fulfil the tasks which were left incomplete due to the announcement of poll before schedule. Speaking at the inauguration of his election office on Nicholson Road here, Mr Vij said that only after his election as MLA, various efforts for the welfare of the people were launched. "Earlier, progress had taken a backseat in Ambala," he claimed. "The leaders who have contested and won from this seat have somehow failed to look after the interest of the constituency and its people. I have been constantly striving to improve the conditions here," he said. Mr Vij said that, besides trying to beautify the city, he had been attempting to find solutions to various issues confronting the people, including water, electricity, roads and health. He said that the
highlights of his tenure had been the setting up of
Government College and the starting of MA classes. |
Netaji remembered SIRSA, Jan 23 — "We expected Ram Raj after Independence, but got Ravan Raj", said the freedom fighter and the Vice-President of the District Swatantarta Sainani Sangthan, Mr Ram Swarup Kagdana. He was speaking at a function organised to celebrate the 102nd birth anniversary of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. He urged youths to follow the principles of Netaji. The function, annually organised by ‘Tarun Sangh’ was chaired by Mr Amit Jha, Deputy Commissioner. He urged youths to fight against consumerism and corruption, poverty and injustice. Children presented songs
and poems on the occasion. |
Teacher kidnapped for ransom ROHTAK, Jan 23 — The kidnapping of Anand Garg, a 23-year old school teacher, has sent shock-waves at Sampla, a small town situated 25-km from here. Mr Anand Garg was reportedly kidnapped on Friday evening when he had gone to a flour mill in the mandi area. When he did not return home, his family members searched for him at every possible place. After they failed to trace him, they lodged a missing report with the Sampla police on Saturday morning. The alleged kidnappers yesterday telephoned the family and demanded a ransom of Rs 5 lakh for freeing Anand Garg. The kidnappers, reportedly scaled down the demand to Rs 2 lakh when Anand Garg's father, Mr Jawala Parsad, pleaded inability in arranging Rs 5 lakh. The SSP, Mr P.K. Aggarwal, told The Tribune that the kidnappers had asked Mr Jawala Parsad to deliver the ransom amount at a place near the Tilyar tourist complex. While Mr Jawala Parsad waited with the ransom amount at the given place, the kidnappers did not turn up. Interestingly Mr Anand Garg belong to a middle-class family. While Mr Anand Garg is employed as a teacher with a private school one of his elder brothers is employed as a 'munim' with a Delhi-based firm. Mr Jawala Parsad, the
father of the victim had retired as Junior Engineer in
1978 and is unemployed for the past four to five years.
Another elder brother of Anand Garg is working as a
'broker' at Delhi. Except the house, where the family
lives, Mr Jawala Parsad or his sons have no other landed
property. |
HUDA staff to protest on Jan
26 SONEPAT, Jan 23 — The Joint Action Committee of the HUDA Karamchari Union has decided to observe January 26 and "black day" in protest against the negative attitude of HUDA authorities and non-acceptance of the demands by them as well as the State Government. The union also announced that they would gherao the Deputy Commissioner’s office in Panchkula and submit a charter of demand to him. The union warned that employees would tour the Assembly constituency of Mr Dhir Pal, Minister for Town and Country Planning, and mobilise the electorate against him if the State Government and HUDA authorities failed to fulfil the demands of the agitating employees. Meanwhile, the indefinite relay fast started in front of the HUDA office entered the 27th day here today. The rally was addressed, among others, by Mr R.K. Nagar, president of the state unit of the union. They also extended their support to striking employees of Uttar Pradesh and other places. They urged the respective State Government to accept their demands. Later, HUDA employees
took out a procession in support of their demands and
reached the Fazilpur power house where they joined the
rally held in support of striking power and employees of
Uttar Pradesh. |
Haryana powermen back UP stir ROHTAK, Jan 23 — The Haryana State Electricity Board Workers Union, affiliated to the Haryana Karamchari Mahsangh, has extended support to the strike by employees of the Uttar Pradesh Electricity Board. The union has described it just and has appealed to the Union Government to accept their demands. In a statement here,
senior leaders, including Mr Dhara Singh, Mr Amrik Singh
and Mr Inder Dutt Sharma said the privatisation policy of
the state governments had been the main cause. They said
the division of the board into different corporation was
not proper and it was only to terrorise the employees,
who were not ‘responsible’ for losses to the
boards. They said the interest of the employees were at
‘stake’ due to the privatisation policy. |
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