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Saturday,
August 3, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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CM-BKU meeting
ends in stalemate NEWS ANALYSIS
HIGH COURT Doctor
held for taking bribe |
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CM-BKU meeting
ends in stalemate Chandigarh, August 2 According to official sources, the BKU team led by Mr Ghasiram Nain, President of the outfit, insisted that the arrears pending against the farmers must be written off by the state government. The Chief Minister, however, reportedly refused to entertain the BKU demand, saying that the union should accept settling of the arrears under the 75 per cent waiver scheme which could be re-notified for this purpose. The BKU team reportedly argued that under the 75 per cent waiver scheme a discount was being offered only on the penalty and surcharges while no cut was offered on the principal amount. The state government representatives, however, pointed out that this was not the case and asked the BKU delegation to evolve a formula for settling the electricity bill arrears. As the deadlock could not be resolved, it was decided that the two sides would meet once again on the issue. Mr Sampat Singh, Finance Minister of Haryana, who is understood to have played a key role in today’s discussions, told TNS that no date was decided for the next round of dialogue. The issue of the ruling INLD giving compensation to the families of six agitators, who died in police firing, also figured at the meeting. The BKU stuck to its stand that nine persons had died in police action and demanded that Rs 5 lakh each should be given to the three remaining families as well. However, the state government representatives said that the assistance of Rs 5 lakh was offered on the basis of postmortem reports of the killed agitators. They reportedly said that while no autopsy was carried out in the case of two persons, alleged to have been killed in police action, the post-mortem report in the case of the third victim said that he had not died in firing. On the BKU’s demand for compensation to the persons rendered handicapped or seriously injured in police firing, the state government team reportedly said that medical reports from government or private institutions would be considered as evidence for offering relief. The BKU team was asked to prepare a list of such persons and hand it over to the Deputy Commissioner concerned. The BKU team reportedly also raised the issue of drought relief to the affected farmers. They were reportedly told that the issue of drought in the state would be taken up at the all-party meeting scheduled to take place at Chandigarh on August 14. |
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NEWS ANALYSIS Chandigarh, August 2 Over the years, Mr Bhajan Lal has somehow projected himself successfully as the leader of non-Jat communities in the state. Even his critics concede that his elevation as the party President has generated a high degree of enthusiasm among these communities. For the past two days, his phone lines, both at Panchkula and Delhi, have been virtually jammed by his admirers. Not surprisingly, many of the callers are members of the Indian Administrative Service and state services. Now it is up to him how long Mr Bhajan Lal is able to keep up this enthusiasm. The non-Jat communities, particularly living in the urban areas, feel cheated by the INLD Government, which took a politically incorrect decision when it imposed several new taxes and levies at the very first meeting of the Cabinet after the 2000 Assembly elections. Their fears about the INLD’s alleged bias against the urbanites, allayed to a large extent by Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala during the first six months of his rule, resurfaced. The unprecedented increase in house tax and the introduction of certain measures like sales tax form No. 38 and the local area development tax only strengthened these fears. To be fair to Mr Chautala, he did climb down twice on the issue of house tax, and that too, not because of the Opposition. But the damage had already been done. Under the circumstances, the non-Jat communities, by and large, were clamouring for Mr Bhajan Lal. There was also a general impression that a divided Congress, though having 20 MLAs, was not an effective check on the government. There was also a feeling that AICC President Sonia Gandhi did not like Mr Bhajan Lal, who was once very close to the then Prime Minister, Mr P.V. Narasimha Rao. With his appointment as the party President, Mr Bhajan Lal has been able to erase that impression. Political observers feel that if Mr Bhajan Lal is able to maintain the initial enthusiasm among the non-Jat communities, his elevation will have an adverse impact on the parties like the HVP and the BJP in Haryana. As far as the INLD is concerned, it may be a little far-fetched to say that Mr Bhajan Lal, despite his reputation of winning over MLAs of other parties, can pose any threat to the Chautala Government in near future. Of course, the INLD leadership will have to work hard to keep the non-Jat communities in good humour till the next Assembly elections due in 2005. The presence of Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, a former Haryana Congress President, as the Leader of the Congress Legislature Party, and in that capacity, as the Leader of Opposition, can be a sop to those Jats who may be in a mood to move away from the INLD because of the anti-incumbancy factor. The Jats in Haryana find it hard to forgive Mr Bhajan Lal for the “sin” he committed by being instrumental in the fall of the Devi Lal Government, considered to be the first “true” Jat Government, in 1979. He further compounded the “sin” when, the Jats feel, he “wrongfully” snatched the post of Chief Minister from Mr Devi Lal again in 1982. Though the Devi Lal-led Lok Dal-BJP alliance had won more seats in the 1982 Assembly elections than the Congress, Mr Bhajan Lal, with the help of Mrs Indira Gandhi, was able to persuade the then Governor, Mr G.D. Tapase, to administer him the oath of office as Chief Minister being the leader of the single-largest party in the Vidhan Sabha. Once in the saddle, it was a child’s play for Mr Bhajan Lal to engineer a majority for the Congress. Having successfully installed Mr Chautala as the Chief Minister in 2000, and with Mr Devi Lal no more on the scene, a sizeable section of the Jats may not be as averse to the Congress as they used to be earlier. |
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Separate gurdwara panel promised Chandigarh, August 2 Supporting their demand for a separate or independent status for Haryana on the pattern of Delhi, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Maharashtra, Mr Badungar told a deputation of Haryana Sikhs at Panjakhra Sahib, near Ambala, that Haryana should have got indepedent status but for a technical mistake. The proposal to form a separate Sikh gurdwaras management committee for Haryana was left out by mistake last time when the draft Bill was prepared under the presidentship of Sant Chanan Singh. “The mistake will be rectified by approving a separate committee for Haryana,” Mr Badungar said. Accordng to Jathedar Kartar Singh Takkar, organising secretary, all-India Shiromani Akali Dal, a memorandum passed at a meeting of Sikhs of Haryana held at Panjakhra Sahib yesterday was also given to Mr Badungar. A special congregation was held at Panjakhra Sahib gurdwara today to mark the birth anniversary of Guru Harkrishan Sahib. A deputation led by Jathedar Kartar Singh Takkar had long discussions with the SGPC chief over the representation to Haryana as a separate state in the all-India body. Jathedar Takkar said a deputation of Haryana Sikhs had met the Home Secretary of Haryana who reportedly agreed to forward a proposal to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs for a separate gurdwaras parbandhak committee for Haryana. The SGPC chief announced a special grant of Rs 11 lakh for Khalsa College, Panjakhra Sahib. |
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HIGH COURT Chandigarh, August 2 In their petition taken up by the Bench, comprising Mr Justice
H.S. Bedi and Mr Justice Viney Mittal, Raj Kumar and other petitioners with M.Phil and Ph.D qualifications had sought the quashing of an advertisement for filling 150 posts as clearing NET had been made compulsory. |
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Doctor held for
taking bribe Karnal, August 2 Bureau sources said Jeetendra Kumar Gulati, an orthopaedic surgeon, was caught while taking Rs 1,000 as bribe from Jaipal of Baragaon for continuing the treatment his father Gurdayal who was admitted in the hospital for 12 days due to a leg injury.
UNI |
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ISD facility withdrawn Chandigarh, August 2 Only the DGP and the DIG (CID) would be allowed to have the ISD facility. |
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