THE TRIBUNE SPECIALS
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TERCENTENARY CELEBRATIONS
H A R Y A N A

Who will replace Hooda as CLP Leader?
Chandigarh, May 15
Mrs Sonia Gandhi’s election as the Leader of the party in the Lok Sabha may be a smooth affair but the same may not be the case with the party’s legislative wing in Haryana. The post of the Leader of the Congress Legislature Party has fallen vacant following the incumbent, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda’s election to the Lok Sabha.
Newly elected MP from Bhiwani Kuldeep Bishnoi with father Bhajan Lal in front of the Parliament House in New Delhi on Saturday. — Tribune photo by Mukesh Aggarwal
Newly elected MP from Bhiwani Kuldeep Bishnoi with father Bhajan Lal in front of the Parliament House in New Delhi

INLD fared well in Mewat
Chandigarh, May 15
The ruling Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), which received a bashing in the Jat heartland, so far considered its stronghold, in the recent Lok Sabha elections, received support from an unexpected region of Haryana.

Chautala’s resignation sought
Ambala, May 15
Dr Pradeep Chauhan, deputy spokesperson of the Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee, today demanded the resignation of Mr Om Prakash Chautala on moral grounds.

Bangles for BJP leaders
Ambala, May 15
The local unit of the Mahila Congress, has decided to send bangles to the BJP leaders who have used unparliamentary language against the party President, Ms Sonia Gandhi, while campaigning for the Lok Sabha elections.


Stories from Haryana towns falling in the National Capital Region are put in NCR Tribune.

YOUR TOWN
Ambala
Bhiwani
Chandigarh
Karnal
Panchkula


EARLIER STORIES
 

Discrepancies in admn reports on vote share
Karnal, May 15
The district administration here had provided wrong information regarding the vote share obtained by important candidates to the local journalists through the media centre established at the local office of the Public Relations Department after the counting of votes was over on Thursday.

Jyoti Goyal tops in senior secondary exam
Bhiwani, May 15
The first three positions in humanities and commerce groups and first as well as third positions in the science group of the Senior Secondary (Annual) Examination conducted by the Haryana Board of School Education have been bagged by the girls. The result of the examination was declared today.

A large portion of the Jaguar engine lies unattended as a woman hunts for scrap pieces on Saturday at the site where the figthter plane Jaguar’s wreckage cleared
Ambala, May 15
The wreckage of the Jaguar fighter aircraft, which had crashed near Ambala City, has been cleared from the crash site.
A large portion of the Jaguar engine lies unattended as a woman hunts for scrap pieces on Saturday at the site where the figthter plane crashed in Ambala last week. — Tribune photo  by Neeraj Chopra

Kalka students shine in Class XII exam
Panchkula, May 15
Four students of Kalka bagged the top three positions in the district in the Class XII examination, conducted by the Haryana School Education Board (HSEB), Bhiwani. The HSEB today declared the results of Class XII for the academic session 2003-04.

11 SA Jain students in merit list
Ambala, May 15
SA Jain Senior Secondary School, Ambala City, bagged 11 merit positions in the senior secondary examination of the Haryana Education Board declared today. According to the Principal of the school, Mr Muni Lal Bansal, eight students of commerce group were placed in the merit list and all students of the group passed.

Consider posting husband, wife at one place, says HC
Chandigarh, May 15
The Punjab and Haryana High Court has asked Haryana's Director of Secondary Education and another respondent to "consider and decide" the transfer case of a teacher "in accordance with the policy framed by the government to keep the husband and wife at the same place as far as possible".

Man held for robbing passengers
Ambala, May 15
The Ambala police has nabbed a member of a gang who use to rob bus and train passengers by intoxicating them using sedatives in biscuits or other eatables. According to information, the police arrested Javed, a resident of Bulandshahar, in this regard.

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Who will replace Hooda as CLP Leader?
Shubhadeep Choudhury
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 15
Mrs Sonia Gandhi’s election as the Leader of the party in the Lok Sabha may be a smooth affair but the same may not be the case with the party’s legislative wing in Haryana.

The post of the Leader of the Congress Legislature Party has fallen vacant following the incumbent, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda’s election to the Lok Sabha.

Since the Congress is the biggest opposition party in the assembly, the CLP Leader is accorded the office of the Leader of the Opposition in the House. Though three Congress MLAs, Mr Hooda, Rao Inderjit Singh and Mr Jai Parkash, have been elected to the Lok Sabha from Haryana, the party has still remained the largest opposition party. Republican Party of India legislator, Karan Singh Dalal and Nationalist Congress Party MLA Jagjit Singh Sangwan have recently joined the party, as a result of which the party is having only one MLA less than what its strength had become after the Yamunanagar byelection.

Ordinarily, it is Mr Ajay Singh Yadav, the party’s Deputy Leader in the house, who looks the natural choice for the post of the CLP Leader. There is also at least one precedent of elevation of the party’s Deputy Leader to the post of Leader of the CLP in similar circumstances. In 1998, Ms Kartari Devi was made the CLP Leader when the incumbent, Mr Bhajan Lal, won the Lok Sabha elections from Karnal.

However, the situation now is different than it was in 1998. In 1998 the Congress was the second largest opposition party and it was the leader of the INLD who was the Leader of the Opposition in the House. Since this time the CLP leader will also become the Leader of the Opposition, which entails a lot of perk as well as prestige, there is expected to be a lot of competition among the Congress MLAs for the coveted position. Even in 2000, when the Haryana Assembly led by Mr Om Prakash Chautala came into being, the question as to who would be the Leader of the CLP was decided by holding an election which was won by Mr Bhajan Lal. Later Mr Bhajan Lal and Mr Hooda, who was HPCC chief, were asked by the party high command to swap their positions.

While Capt Yadav will stake his claim for elevation to the post of the CLP Leader, the other contenders for the post reportedly are Mr Mangeram Gupta, Mr Dharam Vir, Mr L D Arora and Mr Raghubir Singh Kadiyan. The aspirants are likely to become active after Ms Sonia Gandhi cobbles up a coalition government in Delhi.

The term of the Haryana Assembly will come to an end in February next year unless there is premature termination of the House. The next session of the assembly is likely to take place in Septrember. There will be, thus, considerable time for the Leader of the Opposition to enjoy the power and prestige of the office. The CLP Leader also has a role in deciding the ticket for candidates for the Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha elections.
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INLD fared well in Mewat
Yoginder Gupta
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 15
The ruling Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), which received a bashing in the Jat heartland, so far considered its stronghold, in the recent Lok Sabha elections, received support from an unexpected region of Haryana.

Mewat, which is dominated by Meo Muslims, went all out in support of the INLD from where its candidate, Mr Mohd Ilyas, led over his rivals, Mr Avtar Singh Bhadana of the Congress and Mr Ramchander Bainda of the BJP. Mr Ilyas led in all the four assembly segments constituting Mewat, which is part of the Faridabad Lok Sabha constituency.

It seems the Mewatis were in gratitude to Mr Om Parkash Chautala, president of the INLD, who regularly hosted Iftar parties during Ramzan every year in the region. He is the first Chief Minister to do so. Since Mr Ilyas was the lone Meo candidate put up by a major party, the Muslims seemed to have thrown their lot behind him. The BSP and the Samajwadi Party had also fielded Muslim candidates, Haji Abdul Malik and Choudhary Akhtar, but they did not seem to have caught the imagination of their community members. Mr Ilyas got 54,308 votes from the Nuh segment against 11,223 votes polled by Mr Bhadana. The BJP got 10,310 votes. The INLD polled 45,581 votes in Ferozepur-Jhirka against 26,781 votes polled by Mr Bhadana. Mr Bainda had to contend with merely 7,527 votes.

FromTaoru, Mr Ilyas received the support of 32,708 voters against 21,066 supporters of Mr Bhadana. Mr Bainda too got the support of 24,438 voters. In the fourth assembly segment of Mewat, Hathin 26,040 voters favoured the INLD, 21,340 Mr Bhadana and 11,330 Mr Bainda.

As compared to Mewat, the INLD’s performance in the other five assembly segments of the Faridabad constituency was dismal. It finished third behind the Congress and the BJP in these segments. Its candidate could secure only 6,344 votes against Mr Bhadana’s 62,874 votes and Mr Bainda’s 24,704 votes in the Faridabad segment. Mr Ilyas got 8,855 votes against 81,921 votes polled by Mr Bhadana in the Mewla Mahrajpur segment. The BJP got 44,358 votes here.

Similarly, in Ballabhgarh the INLD got just 7,565 votes against 53,446 votes polled by the Congress. Mr Bainda finished second with 22,314 votes. In Palwal, Mr Ilyas could get 12,815 votes against 45,027 votes polled by the former. Mr Bainda was ahead of the INLD nominee by mere three votes.
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Chautala’s resignation sought

Ambala, May 15
Dr Pradeep Chauhan, deputy spokesperson of the Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee, today demanded the resignation of Mr Om Prakash Chautala on moral grounds.

Dr Chauhan said Mr Chautala must honour the verdict of the people, which had given a clear mandate to the Congress in Haryana. He said in most of the Assembly segments, the INLD had fared badly.

The victory of the Congress candidates and the loss of the INLD candidates was a reflection of the disenchantment of the electorate with the Chautala government.

He said the Congress had always opposed the “anti-people” policies of the Chautala government. He stated that issues like house tax, water rates, power rates, retrenchment, irregularities in employment had proved expensive for the Chautala government. TNS
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Bangles for BJP leaders
Our Correspondent

Ambala, May 15
The local unit of the Mahila Congress, has decided to send bangles to the BJP leaders who have used unparliamentary language against the party President, Ms Sonia Gandhi, while campaigning for the Lok Sabha elections.

The president of the Ambala unit of then Mahila Congress, Ms Amarjit Kaur Sodhi, in a press statement, said yesterday the bangles would be sent to Mr Lal Krishan Advani, Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Mr Pramod Mahajan, Mr Vinay Katiyar, Mr Narendra Modi, Mr Ganeshi Lal and Mr Rattan Lal Kataria. 
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Discrepancies in admn reports on vote share
Tribune News Service

Karnal, May 15
The district administration here had provided wrong information regarding the vote share obtained by important candidates to the local journalists through the media centre established at the local office of the Public Relations Department after the counting of votes was over on Thursday.

The computerised report compiled by the department was contrary to the information forwarded to the Election Commission by the Returning Officer.

According to the brief computerised report provided to the local mediapersons by the department, the winning Congress candidate got 3,18,859 votes while the EC report put it at 3,18,948 votes. The runner-up candidate of the BJP, Mr ID Swami, according to the media centre report, secured 1,62,106 votes while the EC put his vote share at 1,54,186 votes. Similarly, the department had also shown a difference of 7,067 votes in the vote share of the INLD candidate, Mr Ashok Arora, as compared to the EC report.

When asked, a senior official of the district administration said the Returning Officer had asked the department to compile a detailed report. Heavy security was deployed outside the control room and it was locked from inside.

Further, the media centre was by and large ‘captured’ by officials of various intelligence agencies who were also not allowed to enter the control room in the last phase of the counting.

When the mediapersons asked the officials of the Public Relations Department why a wrong report was handed over to the journalists, a senior official of the department said, “The amended report was compiled late in the evening at 7 pm. Therefore, it couldn’t be dispatched to the journalists”. 
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Jyoti Goyal tops in senior secondary exam
Our Correspondent

Bhiwani, May 15
The first three positions in humanities and commerce groups and first as well as third positions in the science group of the Senior Secondary (Annual) Examination conducted by the Haryana Board of School Education have been bagged by the girls. The result of the examination was declared today.

While stating this today, the Secretary of the board, Mr Rakesh Gupta, said Jyoti Goyal (roll No. 308215) SSMSD Senior Secondary School, Uchana Kalan, Jind, had bagged first position in the humanities group by securing 457 marks out of 500 and Sonia Rani (roll No. 530160),Central Senior Secondary School, Sirsa, stood first in the science group by obtaining 457 marks. Kavita, (roll No. 303284), S.D. Senior Secondary School, Jind, secured first position in the commerce group by getting 451 marks out of 500. He said the only boy who ranked among the first three positions was Soni Kapoor of Government Senior Secondary School, Kalka. He secured 452 marks and stood second in the science group.

He said Kirti Goyal of Adarsh Senior Secondary School, Rohtak, stood second in the humanities group by securing 454 marks and the third position was bagged by Amita of Teeka Ram Girls Senior Secondary School, Sonepat, who got 449 marks.

In the commerce group, he said, both Neha Goyal of Hindu Girls Senior Secondary School, Sonepat, and Ritu Bhardwaj of DAV Senior Secondary School, Karnal, stood second by getting 446 marks each. Nitika Bansal of Jain Girls Senior Secondary School, Ambala Cantonment, stood third by securing 442 marks.

He said the number of students in the merit list had increased by 11 times as compared to that of the last year.

While the number of such students was 92 in 2003, it increased to 1,040 this year. As many as 177 candidates of government schools found their place in the merit list.

He said the educational reform programme initiated by the board would continue with the active cooperation of the Education Department.
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Jaguar’s wreckage cleared
Tribune News Service

Ambala, May 15
The wreckage of the Jaguar fighter aircraft, which had crashed near Ambala City, has been cleared from the crash site. Most of the wreckage was taken away to the Ambala Air Force station. Air Force personnel faced difficulty in carting away a large piece.

A Jaguar fighter aircraft had crashed in the fields near Ambala City, minutes after take off from the airbase.

The pilot Sqn Ldr Tamaskar had bailed out safely. This was the seventh fighter aircraft crash of the Ambala Cantonment Air Force station during the past two years.

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Kalka students shine in Class XII exam
Our Correspondent

Panchkula, May 15
Four students of Kalka bagged the top three positions in the district in the Class XII examination, conducted by the Haryana School Education Board (HSEB), Bhiwani. The HSEB today declared the results of Class XII for the academic session 2003-04.

Soni Kapur and Rahul Mittal, both students of Government Senior Secondary School, Kalka, stood first and second, respectively, while Pallavi Chhabra of Arya Girls Senior Secondary School, Kalka, and Charu Arora of Hindu Girls Senior Secondary School, Kalka stood third.

Soni Kapur secured 452 marks out of 500 and got the first position in the district. Rahul got the second position by securing 407 marks, while Pallavi and Charu secured 400 marks.

According to the HSEB authorities, 1,375 students appeared in Class XII examinations this year and only 676 were successful. Against last year’s result (42.38 per cent), government schools performed better this year.
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11 SA Jain students in merit list
Our Correspondent

Ambala, May 15
SA Jain Senior Secondary School, Ambala City, bagged 11 merit positions in the senior secondary examination of the Haryana Education Board declared today.
According to the Principal of the school, Mr Muni Lal Bansal, eight students of commerce group were placed in the merit list and all students of the group passed. Hitesh Kumar secured 425 marks out of 500, while Rohit Verma got 404 marks in the examination. Ravi Madan, Devender, Vipin Kumar, Jatin Kharbanda, Savinder Kumar and Manish Kumar were the others placed in the merit list.

In science group, Surender Kumar secured 77.2 per cent marks. In arts group Gagandeep achieved 77.6 per cent marks. As many as 119 students of the school got first division in the examination.

Mr Bansal said earlier too the student of the school had stood first in the district in middle standard examination.
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Consider posting husband, wife at one place, says HC
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 15
The Punjab and Haryana High Court has asked Haryana's Director of Secondary Education and another respondent to "consider and decide" the transfer case of a teacher "in accordance with the policy framed by the government to keep the husband and wife at the same place as far as possible".

Pronouncing the orders on a petition filed by teacher Ranjit Singh of Yamunanagar, a Division Bench of the High Court, comprising Mr Justice G.S. Singhvi and Mr Justice Nirmal Singh, also directed the Bench Secretary to give the order's copy to Haryana's Additional Advocate-General. "We hope he will persuade the authorities concerned to adjust the petitioner and his wife at one place so that they can serve their aged parents".

In his petition, Ranjit Singh had earlier sought the quashing of an order dated October 21, 2003, under which he was transferred and posted from Government Senior Secondary School at Bapoli to another school in Nizampur in Panipat district.

Arguing on his behalf, Mr Manjeet Singh Reen added that the petitioner's representation for staying with his wife should also be decided. After hearing the arguments and going through the record, the Judges directed: "Mr Manjeet Singh Reen should hand over four sets of paper book to Haryana's Additional Advocate-General for being forwarded to the authorities...."

In their detailed order, the Judges added: "In our opinion, ends of justice would be met by directing respondent, Director of Secondary Education and Panipat's District Education Officer to consider and decide the representation made by the petitioner for his posting at Yamunanagar or his wife's posting at Panipat in accordance with the policy framed by the government.... The needful be done within six weeks. The writ petition is disposed of."
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Man held for robbing passengers
Our Correspondent

Ambala, May 15
The Ambala police has nabbed a member of a gang who use to rob bus and train passengers by intoxicating them using sedatives in biscuits or other eatables. According to information, the police arrested Javed, a resident of Bulandshahar, in this regard. A resident of Chandigarh, Mr Anil Jain, was coming from Delhi to Chandigarh in a bus. Javed boarded the bus near Ambala and sat beside Mr Jain. He offered a biscuit to Mr Jain , who became sedated after consuming it.

Javed took cash from the pocket of Mr Jain and as soon as he alighted from the bus, the police nabbed him. During interrogation, he disclosed that Raju, one of the members of his gang, had robbed Rs 3,000 and a mobile phone from a bus passenger at Shahbad. A police team was later sent to Shahbad in search of Raju.
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Armed men loot patwari
Tribune News Service

Karnal, May 15
Three masked and armed persons today looted Rs 55,000 from a Patwari near Singhra village, 30 km from here.
The patwari of Singhra village, Mr Banwari Lal, was going on his motor-cycle with a cash of Rs 55,000, to be distributed among the old people as pension but he was intercepted by three masked persons. They snatched away the handbag from the patwari on gun point and escaped.

The police has registered the case. However, no arrest has been made.
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Murder case: Nepalese migrant untraceable
Tribune News Service

Karnal, May 15
The police was yet to nab a Nepalese migrant for allegedly killing his eight-month-old daughter on Thursday, following a dispute with his wife at Neval village, near here.

Sources in the police said an investigation team had been dispatched to Delhi to arrest Prem Kumar, however, he could not be traced.

He had come to his in-laws’ house at Neval village to persuade his wife to return with him. However, the negotiations failed.
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