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Cong puts up united show at rally
Chautala shedding crocodile
tears, says Bishnoi
Interest in Chhotu Ram a ploy to win over farmers: Virender
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VHP, RSS men take to streets against seer’s arrest
‘Kos ke Kuen’ — Old wells of Ambala
Four of marriage
party die in mishap
Move against gotra khap panchayats
1 booked in murder case
1 dies as scooter, jeep collide
Power supply restored
Burnt transformers not replaced
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Cong puts up united show at rally
Karnal, November 15 Addressing a mismanaged public rally here today, Mr Janaradhan Dwivedi, General Secretary of the All-India Congress Committee and in charge of the political affairs of the party in the state, said the people of Haryana had dismissed the existence of Mr Chautala from the political scenario of the state, as was evident from the last Lok Sabha elections. Claiming that the Congress would come to power in the state with a thumping majority, he said the Assembly elections were just a formality for the people to show the door to the INLD from the state government and state politics. Referring to the memorandum given by the state unit of the Congress to the Governor, he supported the dismissal of the INLD government. He said the Congress would approach the Union Government and the President to press for the dismissal of the state government. He advocated that the elections should be held under President’s rule so that the people could vote freely and fearlessly. He apprehended that Mr Chautala might try to use official machinery and unfair means to influence the voters. He said with the merger of the Haryana Vikas Party in the Congress, the Congress had gained strength. He appealed to party workers to work jointly in order to pave the way for victory in the Assembly elections. Lashing out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), he alleged that during its rule at the Centre, it had failed to raise new infrastructure in the country and redress the grievances of the poor. Mr Dwivedi asserted that there was no factionalism within the Congress in Haryana and there was healthy competition among the top leadership in the race for the post of Chief Minister. He fell short of announcing that a former Chief Minister and President of the Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee (HPCC), Mr Bhajan Lal, was the undisputed Congress leader in the state, saying the elections would be fought under his leadership. Mr Bhajan Lal said the people of the state were fed up of the ‘misgoverned administration’ of Mr Chautala and were looking for a change of governance in the state. When he stood up to address the gathering, the audience raised slogans in his favour and clapped hands for at least 20 minutes before he could start his speech. Lashing out at the INLD and its former partner, the BJP, he said leaders of both parties, by and large, were corrupt and dishonest towards the welfare of the people. He alleged that the top leadership of the BJP, when in power at the Centre, and Mr Chautala and his two sons had amassed huge properties by unfair means, that required an independent inquiry. He promised to bring in various social welfare schemes touching every section of society, raise employment opportunities and take back employees dismissed by the Chautala government from various corporations and boards. He also promised to provide a clean administration if voted to power. Mr Birender Singh, former President of the HPCC, promised to raise employment opportunities for the unemployed youth in the state. He stressed the need to channelise the energy of the youth so that they could play a constructive role in nation building. He promised to rid farmers of the long-pending debts against them. The Union Minister of State for External Affairs, Mr Inderjit Singh, said the political situation was changing in Haryana and only those political leaders who were attached with the common people at the grassroots level could survive. The Lok Sabha MP from Rohtak, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, who mainly confined his address to praising the leadership qualities of Congress President Sonia Gandhi, said there was no factionalism within the party in the state. “We are all together under her leadership and will fight the elections unitedly”, he said. Mr Surendra Singh, son of former Chief Minister Bansi Lal, appealed to the people to remove the statues of Devi Lal from across the state when the Congress would come to power after the elections. Veteran Congress leader Shamsher Singh Surjewala said the Congress was committed to expose the misdeeds of the INLD and an inquiry into the illegal assets amassed by INLD leaders. Mr Harvinder Kalyan, secretary of the state unit of the party, alleged that the INLD government had failed to provide basic amenities to the people, besides terrorising various sections of society for their vested political interests. The state president of the Mahila Congress, Ms Sumita Singh, Dr Arvind Sharma, Ms Naveen Jindal, Mr Avtar Singh Bhadana, Mr Jai Prakash and Mr Avtar Singh Gill, MPs, Capt Ajay Singh, CLP leader in the Haryana Assembly, Mr Hukam Singh, former Chief Minister, Mr Suresh Gupta Mandiwala, state organising secretary of the party, and local MLA Jai Prakash Gupta also addressed the gathering. Union Minister of State Selja did not turn up. The gathering picked momentum only after the arrival of Mr Bhajan Lal and a few other senior leaders of the state. |
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Chautala shedding crocodile
tears, says Bishnoi
Chandigarh, November 15 In a statement issued here today, Mr Bishnoi said Mr Chautala was befooling the people by shedding crocodile tears over the proposal to reserve the Narwana constituency from where the INLD leader contested the election last time. The Congress MP said what to talk of contesting the next elections from Narwana, Mr Chautala would find the going tough even in his home district of Sirsa. Terming Mr Chautala as the “biggest liar of the world”, Mr Bishnoi said the people of the state would teach the INLD and its leaders a bitter lesson in the next elections as they wanted to avenge the excesses committed on them by the ruling party during the past five years. Reacting to Mr Chautala’s allegations against the Congress of being anti-farmer and anti-people, Mr Bishnoi said in fact the Chief Minister was highlighting the characteristics of his own party and government. He alleged that the INLD Government was not only anti-farmer, it had misled the farmers to vote for it by making false promises. When the prices of petroleum products and other essential
commodities were hiked by the NDA Government, Mr Chautala did not protest even for once. Mr Bishnoi also criticised Mr Chautala for describing the Haryana Congress President, Mr Bhajan Lal, as a liar. He said the people of the state were now aware who was telling lies and who misled them by making false promises. He said Mr Bhajan Lal had never practised the “politics of falsehood”. |
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Interest in Chhotu Ram a ploy to win over farmers: Virender
Chandigarh, November 15 Talking to TNS here the Congress leader said two other strategies employed by Mr Chautala after the drubbing his party received in the Lok Sabha elections in May were to build up passion on the issue of the SYL and advancing panchayat elections to create factions in rural areas before the Assembly elections. According to the Congress leader, both strategies had fizzled out. He claimed Mr Chautala’s design to politicise the SYL issue got exposed when the state government headed by Mr Chautala showed reluctance to challenge in the court the controversial Bill on Termination of Water Sharing Agreements passed by the Punjab Assembly. Mr Virender Singh added that the Bill on advancing panchayat elections in Haryana was also unlikely to be cleared quickly and thus the CM would fail to achieve his objective to win over a section of rural voters. Mr Chautala’s emphasis on the late Sir Chhotu Ram also would not have any impact on the masses, Mr Virender Singh claims. “If the Chief Minister has so much respect for Sir Chhotu Ram, why has he not displayed it during the five-odd years he has been in power in the state”, the Congress leader asked. He added that people were intelligent enough to understand that Mr Chautala had suddenly discovered the greatness of Sir Chhotu Ram to capitalise on the respect evoked by his name among the farmers. In the political culture of Haryana blood relations always count as far as passing on of a political legacy is concerned. If this essentially undemocratic practice is accepted, there does not seem to be anyone more suitable than Mr Virender Singh to carry on Sir Chhotu Ram’s legacy. He is in fact the only surviving descendent of the peasant leader. Sir Chhotu Ram had two daughters but no son. Mr Virender Singh is the only child of one of Sir Chhotu Ram’s daughters. The other daughter, who is no more, did not have any issue. Singh was raised by his grandmother, widow of Sir Chhotu Ram. The stories he heard about his illustrious grandfather from her gave him the impression that Sir Chhotu Ram was a resolute man and a strict disciplinarian. On November 24, when Mr Chautala would be participating in a function at Chhotu Ram’s ancestral village Garhi Sapla in Rohtak district where a museum and other paraphernalia was being constructed by the state government in memory of Sir Chhotu Ram, Mr Virender Singh would be attending a function away from the official festivities. The latter function was being organised by an outfit called Chhotu Ram Vichar Manch. The Congress leader, however, is not averse to handing over some of the things of Sir Chhotu Ram, which he has in his possession, to the museum being set up by the state government. “ I have some of his furniture and some rare photographs. I will give these to the museum once it takes shape”, he says. |
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VHP, RSS men take to streets against seer’s arrest
Sonepat, November 15 According to a report, carrying banners and placards and raising anti-government slogans, they marched through the main bazars of the city and reached the mini-secretariat where they held a demonstration in front of the Deputy Commissioner’s office and sat on a dharna there. Leaders of these organisations also submitted a memorandum to the DC decrying the arrest and police action against the Shankaracharya and demanded immediate his release. They also said the action against the Shankaracharya had hurt the sentiments of the Hindus in the country as well as abroad. They also blamed the UPA Government at the Centre, the Tamil Nadu Government and the DMK party for the arrest of the Shankaracharya which they said was a conspiracy by the anti-Hindu elements, particularly the Leftists parties. Activists of the Bajrang Dal, the Durga Vahini, the Sanatan Dharam Sabha and the Hindu Maha Sabha also joined the protest. Panipat: A large number of activists of the BJP, the VHP, the Bajrang Dal and other religious organisations today staged a dharna near Lal Batti chowk to protest the arrest of the Kanchi seer Jayendra Saraswati. State BJP vice-president Nitisen Bhatia lambasted the Central and Tamil Nadu governments for arresting the Shankaracharya and “hurting the sentiments of the millions of Hindus all over the world”. He warned that if the seer was not released, the Hindu organisations would launch nationwide agitation. |
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Leaf from History Rahul Das Ambala: Old wells located within Ambala district are believed to have been important source of water in the olden days but they have fallen into disuse now. Interestingly, there are a series of such wells in Ambala district which are equidistant from each other, and they are referred to as “Kos ke Kuen”. Kos was a unit of measurement used in the pre-Partition era. The exact number of “Kos ke Kuen is not known. These were basically meant for travellers to quench their thirst. While one of the wells is located close to Ambala Cantonment near the Industrial Area, another is in Samalkha village. There are two more such wells within Ambala district. A well is located at Khuddi village and another is between Bihta and Dhakola villages. There are said to be similar wells in neighbouring region of Chachrauli. Octogenarian Jai Singh, a resident of Samalkha village, explained that “Kos ke Kuen” were also useful for irrigating the fields. He said that over a period of time, “Kos ke Kuen” were not put to use and most of them were covered up. “The wells were made of small bricks and one could even enter the wells through steps. The construction material was lime and mortar which was in use in those days,” he said. Another senior citizen Ram Swaroop pointed out that “Kos ke Kuen” and “Kos Minars” have certain similarities. He said that like “Kos Minars”, the “Kos ke Kuen” were helpful in showing the general direction of the path to the traveller. “One can clearly see the importance of Ambala in olden days by the fact that not only do we have “Kos Minars”, we also have “Kos ke Kuen.” This means that travellers from different directions used to frequently pass through the area,” he stated.
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Four of marriage
party die in mishap
Yamunanagar, November 15 Deepak (23), son of Sarpanch of Laharpur village, Mr Surinder Kumar Jain, and his two cousins Praveen (25) and Munish (22) died in the accident. Another resident of the village, Manjeet (26) also died. Three other residents of the village — Gurpreet, Noni and one unidentified person are admitted at the PGI. Police sources said these seven persons along with others were returning to Laharpur village after attending a marriage in Ambala. Deepak was driving the car which he had received in dowry about six months ago. Sources said the car (HR61 2 HQ 495) was travelling at high speed when the accident took place. Raj Kumar of Nizampur village, who claimed to have witnessed the accident, has reportedly told the police that the car jumped over seven feet after colliding with the tree. Deepak and Munish reportedly died on the spot. Praveen succumbed to his injuries while on way to the PGI, while Manjeet was declared brought dead. It is pertinent to mention here that 30 persons, including three school children, lost their lives in different road accidents in the district in the past 45 days. The Saharanpur-Kurukshetra National Highway has become killer road in this part of the state. Another National Highway passing through the district, namely the Jagadhri-Paonta Sahib road, has witnessed 45 deaths in the past six months. The Sadhora-Kala Amb road on which several thousand trucks are plying everyday is fast becoming another killer stretch in the district. Meanwhile, Mr Satpal Kaushik, secretary, Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee, today demanded construction of a bypass from Kalanaur to Rakshak Vihar and Joriana to Kail (connecting Ambala-Jagadhri highway to Kurukshetra-Saharanpur highway) to check the increasing number of road accidents. |
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Move against gotra khap panchayats
Rohtak, November 15 Addressing a meeting here yesterday, Prof D.R. Chaudhary said social traditions must keep pace with the times otherwise these would produce distortions in society. He said there was a need to get the Haryanavi society rid of all social evils. Noted historian Prof Suraj Bhan detailed the background to the gotra system but said this was never meant to play with the lives of the common people through self-styled khap panchayats without any legal sanctity. Swami Agnivesh lauded the efforts of the Janwadi Mahila Samiti and said what the organisation was doing should have been primarily done by the Arya Samaj. Janwadi Mahila Samiti activist Jagmati Sangwan said these panchayats were directed not only against women but also against men. The samiti vice-president, Dr Shubha, said the recent incidents involving khap panchayats had tarnished the image of Haryana. |
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1 booked in murder case
Rewari, November 15 On the basis of a complaint made by Raghbar Meena, proprietor of the above nursery, the Bawal police has registered a case of murder under Section 302 of the IPC against Siya Ram of Kannauj district, Uttar Pradesh, who was working as a watchman at a flour mill which was under construction in the vicinity of the nursery. Krishan Kumar, of Bulandshahar district, Uttar Pradesh, was working as a keeper at the nursery which was being run by his cousin Raghbar. Both Krishan Kumar and Siya Ram had been residing in a room at the nursery for the past several weeks. Siya Ram has absconded, according to the police. |
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1 dies as scooter, jeep collide
Jhajjar, November 15 The cab driver fled. The police has registered a case against him on the complaint of the uncle of the deceased. In another incident, Jeetu (two), son of Mr Kuldeep Singh of Mata Gate, here was drowned in a water tank in his house yesterday. According to information, the child fell in the tank while playing. |
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Power supply restored
Fatehabad, November 15 The fire was identical to one that broke at 132 kv power substations at Fatehabad in September. Two employees of the HVPN had died in that mishap. Luckily, no one was working near the place where fire broke out on Saturday. Mr G.R. Mehta, Chief Engineer, Mr S. C. Aggarwal, Superintending Engineer, Mr. B. S. Pahuja and Executive Engineer supervised the repair operations. Mr Pahuja said power supply to 62 villages was restored by midnight on Saturday itself. The supply to two out of three city feeders of Rattia town was also restored by Sunday evening. He informed that nine panels of the OCBs had been damaged due to fire and the estimated loss due to fire was Rs 5 lakh. He said that the damaged OCBs were being replaced with air circuit brakers (ACBs) as the latter were safer and were not susceptible to catch fire like the OCBs. |
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Burnt transformers not replaced
Sonepat, November 15 Many residents alleged that their complaints to the authorities of the Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (UHBVN) in this regard had fallen on deaf ears. They also alleged that the authorities have failed to replace the burnt transformers. Residents held a meeting today to protest against the indifferent attitude of the UHBVN officials. |
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