H A R Y A N A

MUL workers rope in ex-PM
GURGAON,Oct 27 — Workers of Maruti Udyog Ltd, who have been on the warpath for the past several days under the leadership of the Maruti Udyog Employees Union, have roped in former premier V.P. Singh to their cause.

Probe begins into attack by army men
AMBALA, Oct 27 — The Army has launched investigation into an attack by a group of armymen on a marriage party in Ambala Cantonment that left at least 14 persons injured, including serving senior Army officers.

Congress back to old ways
CHANDIGARH, Oct 27—Despite loud protestations by the high command and the Central Election Authority in the past on holding organisational elections in a fair and transparent manner this time, the Congress is back to its old ways.

Gohana villages in grip of viral fever
SONEPAT, Oct 27 — At least three persons are reported to have died on account of a viral fever in the villages of Shamri, Chidana and Mundlana of Gohana subdivision in the district.

Chautala sanctions 202 schemes
SONEPAT, Oct 27 — The Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, has sanctioned 202 development schemes costing Rs 4.55 crore while interacting with representatives of 74 gram panchayats.

Sushma Swaraj's visit put off
AMBALA, Oct 27 — Union Minister Sushma Swaraj's proposed visit to Ambala after becoming a member of the Union Cabinet has been postponed again.

Villagers block traffic over youth’s death
FARIDABAD, Oct 27 — Three persons have been killed in different accidents in this district.

Factory gutted in fire
AMBALA, Oct 27 — A cracker is suspected to have set off a major fire in a factory in Naraingarh on Divali night.

Leopard creates panic, kills calves
YAMUNANAGAR, Oct 27 — A leopard has created panic in a number of villages here. It has killed three calves and a dog at Uncha Chandna and Gundiyana villages, 30 km from here.

MUL workers rope in ex-PM
Tribune News Service

GURGAON,Oct 27 — Workers of Maruti Udyog Ltd (MUL), who have been on the warpath for the past several days under the leadership of the Maruti Udyog Employees Union (MUEU), have roped in former premier V.P. Singh to their cause.

This move comes in the wake of the management’s insistence in talks held on Tuesday that it would not give in to the demand for discussions on the Incentive Scheme as it had already been notified. It, however, made it clear that it was ready for discussion on other pending issues, provided normalcy was restored on the factory premises.

The General Secretary of MUEU, Mr Mathew Abraham, today said that Mr Singh will address the workers at a gate meeting tomorrow. A Delhi-based organisation called Centre for Communications and Education,will also organise a seminar tomorrow in the national capital to discuss on the demands and the agitation, Mr Mathew added.

The union gets its main support from the Left parties.

Mr Mathew further said that workers in the joint venture plants of MUL have also resorted to a tools down strike from today in favour of workers of the company.

In the last round of meeting with the management authorities of the MUL the union leaders urged for withdrawal of dismissal and suspension cases. It also demanded that workmen be allowed to enter the factory without signing “good conduct undertaking”.

The management’s response was that the suspensions and dismissals were because of certain acts of omission and commission and the law should take its own course. On the issue of signing of the good conduct undertaking, it said in view of certain incidents that occurred during the past six weeks such an assurance from the workmen was necessary.

In a letter to all the employees the Managing Director of MUL, Mr Jagdish Khattar, gave details of the points raised by the leaders of the union in the latest round of talks and the response of the management to them.

Mr Khattar appealed to the employees to do some introspection and use their own judgement on the issue. The company’s track record, in looking after the interest of all its members, should be enough of a proof and give all concerned confidence that it would not be any different in future. Any further delay in bringing the operation back to normal will only be helping MUL’s competitors, he added.

Probe begins into attack by army men
From Rahul Das
Tribune News Service

AMBALA, Oct 27 — The Army has launched investigation into an attack by a group of armymen on a marriage party in Ambala Cantonment that left at least 14 persons injured, including serving senior Army officers.

The attack by the Army personnel on the marriage party took place on the night of October 7 when, armed with mosquito net rods, hockey sticks and belts, the group pounced upon the unsuspecting baraatis, who were about to enter the marriage venue at a local hotel.

Too stunned to react at first, pandemonium broke out among the marriage party even as the faujis rained blows on them. The armymen were hitting at random which led to injuries to serving and retired Army officers, civilians, including two women, who had come to attend the marriage of the son of a retired Army officer, Col Joshi.

The incident barely lasted a few minutes. The attacking men then realised that one of the persons injured in the attack was a senior officer from their own brigade, and they left the site immediately.

While one serving Colonel posted at Ambala Cantonment sustained injury on his arm, another person was injured on the head. Some of the injured have gone back to the places from where they had come after attending the marriage.

A person who is aware of the incident said that the reason for the attack lay in an altercation over the parking of a vehicle. “Three Army officers, including two Captains, who had come to attend the marriage had parked their vehicle in front of a shop located near the main bus stand. The shop-owner objected to the parking of the vehicle right in front of the shop,” he said.

“The driver of the vehicle was about to ‘reverse’ the vehicle when an Army officer said that there is no need to do so. This led to an altercation between the shop-owner and the Army officers. In the meantime, the shop-owner managed to call a few of his acquaintances who assaulted the officers,” he added.

“I believe that the driver of the vehicle managed to inform his colleagues when the officers were being assaulted. In the meantime, an Army patrol vehicle reached the spot on learning about the attack on officers,” he said.

A little later, an Army vehicle carrying armymen dressed in civilian clothes arrived at the spot. These armymen were armed with rods and sticks and they started beating up those present at the marriage party, little realising that senior Army officers are present at the function, which was taking place, across the road, away from the shop where the Army officers had been beaten up earlier.

Mr Mandeep Singh, who was present at the marriage, said that the attack by the armymen was totally unexpected and uncalled for. “It was about 10.30 pm when the ‘milani’ was taking place. Suddenly, I felt that something had hit me on my side. I didn’t bother about it when another much stronger blow hit me. Then I realised that something was grossly wrong as the armymen continued to attack us,” he said.

“The armymen were armed and they were using foul language. It is sad that they are considered to be our protectors and they are the ones who attacked us. I just hope that justice prevails,” he said.

Confirming the incident, a senior Army officer said that the incident did take place. “The Army has taken a very serious note of the incident and investigations are taking place,” he said. “Such an incident should not have taken place but now that it has happened, the Army is going to complete the investigations soon,” he said.

Another Army officer, referring to the incident, said that the Army is a well-disciplined force. “However, whenever mistakes are committed, we definitely take action. Our effort is always to maintain an excellent rapport with the people,” he said.

Congress back to old ways
By Yoginder Gupta
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Oct 27—Despite loud protestations by the high command and the Central Election Authority in the past on holding organisational elections in a fair and transparent manner this time, the Congress is back to its old ways.

The election process, which has extended beyond a year, has ultimately been reduced to the old quota system, which has been adopted almost for all the State units of the party. Haryana is no exception.

According to informed sources, despite the appointment of the District Returning Officers(DROs) and the Block Returning Officers(BROs), the “elections” to the primary units have already been held in the confines of the AICC headquarters. Anyone who is somebody in the Haryana Congress has been given the quota of delegates for the Pradesh Congress Committee. These delegates are part of the electoral college for the president of the state unit.

In the process, the President, Haryana Congress, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, and his supporters have walked away with the largest quota. The sources say Mr Hooda and his men have been able to corner over 90 out of the total 135 PCC delegates. The former Chief Minister and Leader of Opposition in the Haryana Assembly, Mr Bhajan Lal, has been given the quota of 10 delegates. His son, Mr Chander Mohan, has been elected to the PCC from the Legislature Party. The other important leaders, who could have been a challenge to Mr Hooda, too have been given 10 or less posts of delegates.

The sources say so far 128 posts of the delegates have been filled. Mr Bhajan Lal is yet to submit the names of his seven delegates. The quotas have been fixed as per the enrolement done by each faction.

The eight MLAs who have been elected from the Legislature Party are Capt Ajay Yadav, Deputy Leader of the CLP; Mr Chander Mohan(Kalka), Mr Jai Prakash(Barwala), Dr J.P. Sharma(Yamanunanagar), Mr Sher Singh(Julana), Mr Lachhman Dass Arora(Sirsa), Mrs Anita Yadav, president of the Haryana Mahila Congress; and Mr Zakir Husain(Taoru). The sources say the remaining 13 MLAs too have been elected as PCC delegates either from their respective blocks or in their capacity as the former president of the party. The electroal college will also include 29 presidents of the District Congress Committees and seven former party presidents. The president of the All-India Indian Youth Congress, Mr Randeep Singh Surjewala, has made it to the PCC from Narwana, the Assembly constituency of the Surjewalas. The senior Surjewala, Mr Shamsher Singh, is in the PCC as a former party president.

It is learnt that the wife of the former party president and a senior party leader, Mr Birendra Singh, has been elected from Jind district.

On paper, the sources say, the process to “elect” the PCC delegates was completed from October 21 to October 24, when the block presidents were also elected. The delegates from these blocks to the district units will elect the district presidents.

The election process of the PCC delegates in all the states has been speeded up because these delegates will elect the president of the All-India Congress Committee also. The sources say Mrs Sonia Gandhi will file her nomination paper for the post of president tomorrow. The date for electing the president is yet to be announced. The president of the Haryana Congress will be elected on November 11 next.

The sources say if the strength of respective factions in the PCC is any indication, Mr Hooda should not face any difficulty in his re-election as the party president. But no one can be sure how the Congress high command will ultimately act to culminate the farce known as the party organisational elections. 

Gohana villages in grip of viral fever
From Our Correspondent

SONEPAT, Oct 27 — At least three persons are reported to have died on account of a viral fever in the villages of Shamri, Chidana and Mundlana of Gohana subdivision in the district.

According to official sources, two of them died at Medical College Hospital in Rohtak. They were Sunil (22), son of Mr Raghbir Singh, former Sarpanch of Shamri village, and Hukam Chand (60) of the same village. Another victim, an 18-month-old girl Jyoti, died at Chidana village from the viral fever.

The sources also reveal that as many as 144 persons reported to be suffering from the fever which has assumed in the form of an epidemic at Chidana village. Residents of the village say hundreds of people are suffering from fever and the authorities of the Health Department have failed to take effective steps to control it.

At Mundlana village, at least 20 members of the family of Mr Ram Diya are in the grip of the fever and awaiting medical aid.

On a directive from the state government, the Health Department has set up special camps in the villages, but people are not satisfied with the medical aid available there.

Dr Rukmani Garg, Civil Surgeon, told this correspondent here today that three medical teams and eight para-medical teams equipped with specialists and costly medicines were camping in the village. They were distributing costly medicines, including chloroquine and para-setamol tablets, among the patients.

This, she claimed, had led to a fall in the number of people suffering from the viral fever during the past three days.

She also disclosed that fogging machines had been pressed into service to destroy mosquitoes in the affected villages.

Chautala sanctions 202 schemes
From Our Correspondent

SONEPAT, Oct 27 — The Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, has sanctioned 202 development schemes costing Rs 4.55 crore while interacting with representatives of 74 gram panchayats. The panchayats presented their charter of demands during the second phase of the “sarkar apke dwar” programme at Rai, 13 km from here, yesterday.

He also sanctioned the upgradation of schools at Nahri, Kundli, Akbarpur Barota and Garh Mirakhpur villages. He sanctioned a JBT centre for Nahra village and also sought a proposal for establishing an agricultural college at Murthal. He also announced the setting up of an ITI and a veterinary hospital at Jatheri village.

The Chief Minister directed the officers concerned to redress the grievances of people on the spot. He also sanctioned the construction of 12 new link roads.

Mr Suraj Mal Antil, Mr Padam Singh Dahiya, Mr Ramesh Khatak, all MLAs, Mr Ved Singh Malik, former minister, and Mr Ranbir Dahiya, president of the district unit of the INLD, were among those who were present at the darbar.

Sushma Swaraj's visit put off
Tribune News Service

AMBALA, Oct 27 — Union Minister Sushma Swaraj's proposed visit to Ambala after becoming a member of the Union Cabinet has been postponed again.

Mrs Swaraj was expected to arrive here this evening. However, she had to change her plans following the swearing-in ceremony of the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister.

A local BJP leader, expressing disappointment over Mrs Swaraj's unexpected change of plans, pointed out that this was the second time her plan to visit Ambala had been changed.

Villagers block traffic over youth’s death
From Our Correspondent

FARIDABAD, Oct 27 — Three persons have been killed in different accidents in this district.

The road connecting Gurgaon to Faridabad was blocked by residents of Bhadkhal village for a few houre in protest against the death of a youth in a road mishap near the village this morning. The Haryana Roadways bus involved in the accident was damaged by the protesters.

According to police sources, Liaqat Ali (30) of Bhadkhal village was hit by the bus. The youth succumbed to his injuries a little later. Agitated over the incident the villagers blocked the traffic for about three hours, demanding the arrest of the driver. The blockade was lifted after the intervention of police officials.

Factory gutted in fire
Tribune News Service

AMBALA, Oct 27 — A cracker is suspected to have set off a major fire in a factory in Naraingarh on Divali night.

The fire broke out in Shri Nanak Woods and Wools located on the Nahan road late last night and the fire engine was immediately informed.

Two fire engines were called from Ambala cantonment which brought the blaze under control by morning.

Meanwhile, a few fire incidents were reported from Ambala cantonment. While a fire incident took place near the GPO, another small incident was reported from Bengali Mohalla.

Leopard creates panic, kills calves
From Our Correspondent

YAMUNANAGAR, Oct 27 — A leopard has created panic in a number of villages here. It has killed three calves and a dog at Uncha Chandna and Gundiyana villages, 30 km from here.

Forest officials have failed to nab it.

It is reported that last night the bigcat attacked a calf at Uncha Chandna village but when a dog came to its rescue, the leopard left the calf and took the dog instead.

A sub-inspector of the Forest Department, alongwith six other employees, have been on duty round the clock but have not been able to catch the leopard.