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Chautala upset, wants later date for elections
Sachin Pilot kickstarts Congress
poll campaign
Parties get into poll mould
Farmers resent new regulation
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Haryana turns down CBI plea on HAFED chief
Inter-state gang of robbers busted, 5 held
Fog disrupts rail, road traffic
2 killed in accident
“Eight darbars”,
yet problem unsolved
One sentenced to life for murder Demand to set up waste management plant DGP inaugurates Police Lines Traffic jam on highway Singer with a zest
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Chautala upset, wants later date for elections
Chandigarh, December 18 Mr Chautala said it was the prerogative of the EC to decide the date of elections and he had nothing against the EC for fixing February 3 as the date of polling. “But the counting of votes of Haryana is going to take place along with other states. That means that after casting their votes, the voters of Haryana will have to wait for more than three weeks to know the election results. Since it is a single day poll in Haryana, the EC could have fixed a later date,” Mr Chautala said. The announcement yesterday regarding polling in Haryana on February 3 had upset a lot of Mr Chautala’s foundation stone laying and inauguration functions which were supposed to take place today and in the days to follow. Mr Chautala, who was responding to queries of reporters here today, himself admitted that about 15 such functions were supposed to take place on Saturday which had to be cancelled. He, however, claimed that the functions should not be seen as having been organised in view of the proximity of Assembly elections. He claimed that throughout his tenure as Chief Minister he had been laying foundation stones and inaugurating new projects. On the notification regarding creation of the new district of Satyamevpuram, the CM apparently took a different line than the official version which claimed that the notification was issued yesterday before the announcement of the Assembly election date. “The notification was in the pipeline and we have issued it in due course”, Mr Chautala said and added that the Delimitation Commission, which was raising objections, saying the creation of the district would hamper its exercise, had itself accepted that its work in Haryana had been suspended. “Therefore we have decided to issue the notification”, Mr Chautala said. On the question of whether the notification had violated the model code of conduct, the Chief Minister said all the ongoing works could not be held up in view of the EC’s announcement. “ I am going to make a lot of promises to the people in our election manifesto. Will the EC be able to stop it ?”, he asked. Asked about the Punjab and Haryana High Court’s decision to stay holding of panchayat elections in Haryana, Mr Chautala said the government was in touch with legal experts regarding the case. “ We are trying to find out whether the High Court order amounted to the judiciary encroaching into the powers of the legislature”, Mr Chautala said. The Chief Minister said Mr Parkash Singh Badal, former Punjab Chief Minister, had never spoken to him about the INLD having an electoral alliance with the BJP in Haryana. “ I respect Mr Badal because like me he too is a pro-farmer politician. In Punjab, more than 100 farmers had committed suicides in Sangrur district alone after the Congress came to power in the state. Perhaps Mr Badal does not want similar things to happen in Haryana and that is why he is keen on an anti-Congress front in the state”, Mr Chautala said. He said while the INLD did not consider the BJP untouchable, the onus was on the BJP to approach the INLD for an alliance if it was interested in coming to power in Haryana. Mr Chautala made similar conditions for the Bahujan Samaj Party. The Chief Minister said he would certainly contest from Narwana constituency where his rival from the Congress party would be HPCC working president, Mr Randeep Singh Surjewala. The Chief Minister said all the sitting MLAs of the party might not get tickets for contesting the polls. The party’s election strategy would be discussed at a meeting of top INLD functionaries at Kurukshetra on December 22, Mr Chautala said. |
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Chautala seeks divine
intervention
Panchkula, December 18
The CM first paid obeisance at the 12 kudaliya havan
shala, created outside the temple in Sector 9, and then participated in the sant vani samagam. He was there for almost half an hour, and listened to religious sermons of Swami Arjun Puri and other saints. Saints appreciated the efforts made by the Chautala government in promoting Sanskrit language. Swami Arjun Puri appreciated Mr Chautala for opening a Sanskrit Academy at Mansa Devi shrine here, and said that it was a gift to the Vedic scriptures, written in Sanskrit. Mr Chautala refused to talk to the mediapersons, saying that he was here for a religious purpose. |
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Sachin Pilot kickstarts Congress
poll campaign
Julana (Jind), December 18 Interestingly, at this rally too the Lok Sabha member from Rohtak and former President of the state Congress, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, was projected the Chief Minister in the presence of Union Minister of State Kumari Selja and MLA Om Prakash Jindal and MP Jai Prakash. The rally that was earlier called ‘gaurav rally’ was turned into an election rally with the Election Commission announcing the schedule for elections to the state Assembly yesterday. Making a star appearance in this remote Assembly constituency of Julana in Jind, Mr Sachin Pilot appealed to the people to throw out politicians trying to divide them on communal lines for vested interests. He said the youth of the state, that comprised more than 50 per cent of the total electorate, should utilise their vote power positively and change the “corrupt” political set-up in the state. He said proper socio-economic development of the state was possible only by electing clean politicians. He lashed out at Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala for adopting unfair and corrupt practices to stay in power. Mr Selja said with the announcement of elections, the people of Haryana had a chance to rid themselves of the ‘autocratic and corrupt’ rule of Mr Chautala. Mr Hooda said the Congress was becoming stronger by the day. He said none could now stop the wave of Congress in the state. He was hopeful that Congress President Sonia Gandhi would bring in an honest man as the new CM. He appealed to all honest Congressmen to unite and fight against corrupt leaders. He announced that the Congress would organise a kisan mazdoor mahakumbh on coming January 3 at Rohtak in an effort to unite the farming community and landless labourers against the “corrupt” regime of Chautala. Senior Congress leaders Jai Prakash, Om Prakash Jindal, Raghubir Singh Kadiyan, Dharamvir, Daryao Singh Rajoura (all MLAs), Anand Singh Dangi, Krishan Hooda, Kartari Devi, Subash Chaudhary, Ram Prakash (all former ministers and Karam Veer Saini, Rajinder Singh Ballah and Lalit Buttana also addressed the gathering. |
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Parties get into poll mould
Panipat, December 18 While the BJP has changed the earlier programme of its President Lal Krishan Advani of mere addressing a select gathering of farmers of the state on the concluding day of national executive meeting of the Bhartiya Kisan Morcha (BKM) in Panipat on January 2, the youth wing of the ruling INLD has also chalked out a detailed programme to train its workers for the poll by organising special camps in different parts of the state. Changing its earlier programme within a day, the BJP has now decided to organise a state-level rally during Mr Advani’s visit in Panipat on January 2. The rally would be addressed by Mr Advani and several other national and state leaders of the party, said Mr Hukam Chand Mehta, a media adviser of the BJP. According to the earlier programme, the BJP President was to address a select gathering of farmers only but with the declaration of poll date, the state unit of the BJP had requested him to provide some more time for addressing the state level rally, for which he had given his green light. The president of the Haryana unit of the BJP Prof Ganeshi Lal, was himself looking after the arrangements of the rally and he would come to Panipat to take stock of the arrangements on Monday. Similarly, the national general secretary of the BKM, Mr OM Praksh Dhankhar, would also come to Panipat on Tuesday to look after the arrangements of its national executive meeting. In the same way, the youth wing of the INLD would organise four training programmes for its workers in different parts of the state for the elections, said Mr Ranbir Singh Dhaka, an INLD leader. Mr Dhaka said that training camps would be organised in Kurukshetra, Rohtak, Gurgaon and Hisar zones on December 20, 21, 25 and 26, respectively. The party workers from all parts of the state would be trained about electioneering and other relevant aspects about the poll. The Chief Minister and INLD supremo, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, the state president of the INLD, Mr Ashok Arora, and other INLD leaders would prepare them for the elections through their experiences during the training camps, Mr Dhaka added. Mr Dhaka said that at least 200 workers from each Assembly constituency and at least one worker from each booth would take part in these training programmes. |
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Farmers resent new regulation
Yamunanagar, December 18 As per the new regulations (825-6, November 6, 2004), the two channels (Ditch and Rafting) supplying irrigation water to the block have been put in rotation under the Anta Group and the area would be getting water for eight out of the total 32 rotation days. The farmers claim that they have enjoyed special rights of regular supply ever since the canal was constructed in 1872. The irrigation department had stopped the supply on December 8 (as per the new regulations) but the farmers forced open the gates of the channels and released water in their fields. The Irrigation Department, for the time being, has stopped the implementation of the new regulation and the farmers are getting regular water supply. Mr Dalbir Singh, Superintending Engineer of the department said, “as it was a matter of law and order, the issue had been referred to the District Administration and also to the government. Mr Santokh Singh, a farmer from Malikpur-Khadar village, said the Irrigation Department officials had not given them the copies of the new regulation. He also claimed that the officials of the department were lying about the level of water in the Yamuna. Another farmer, Mr Vinod Nambardar from Khezrabad, informed that it was not feasible to sink tubewells in the area and the canal water was the only source of irrigation available to farmer. In 1942, a British Irrigation Department officer had in a letter (7979 – 407/6 W, dated May 4, 1942) had written to the Punjab Irrigation Department about the special ‘consumer rights’ enjoyed by the farmers of the area. In the letter (3 rd paragraph) it had been mentioned that the farmers of the area were entitled to 24-hour water supply in lieu of the free land and labour (for the construction of the canal in 1872) that the farmers had provided. On the other hand, officials in the Irrigation Department claim that the water flow in these two channels is about five to six times more than that in other channels in the state. These channels were running regularly without rotation, whereas other channels were running in rotation. Water in the Yamuna is inadequate to meet even the demand of drinking water during winter season. It is not possible to supplement the supply from Bhakra system to Yamuna command area for drinking purpose, though there is a demand for drinking water in southern parts of Haryana, said an official of the department. A major part of the available water in Yamuna is being diverted to Delhi Jal Board for drinking purposes as per the orders of the Supreme Court. An official said as per a memorandum of agreement for the distribution of Yamuna water between Punjab and Uttar Pradesh in 1951 it had been agreed that the channels off taking from the WYC would not draw any discharge when the supply in the canal would be less than 2,500 cusecs. It is being claimed that the farmers of the block were satisfied with the agreement till the hydel channel stage — I was constructed. |
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Haryana turns down CBI plea on HAFED chief
Chandigarh, December 18 On November 2, 2001, when Mr Devender Singh was the Deputy Commissioner of Karnal, his residence was raided by the CBI in connection with a racket to issue gun licenses to non-existent people. The CBI also raided the houses of one Mr Amar Nath, who was SDM of Jind, and Mr Powaria, former SDM of Palwal, in connection with the racket. Sources said as per the FIR registered by the CBI on July 25, 2001, in Delhi, a case was registered under Section 120-B read with Sections 420-466, 468, 471 of the IPC and Section 5(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act and Section 12(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988. |
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Inter-state gang of robbers busted, 5 held
Sonepat, December 18 According to the police, the arrested persons had been identified as Ajay, alias Gajjak, a resident of West Ram Nagar; Amit, alias. Deva, a resident of Silana village; Pawan, a resident of Arya Nagar; Ashok, a resident of Khanda village and Balraj a resident of Mehlana village. The police also seized two stolen motorcycles, two unlicensed loaded pistols, two knives, one sword and three live cartridges from their possession. Giving details of the arrest, a spokesman of the police told mediapersons here today that the special police staff received information about these persons who were sitting in a deserted dharamshala near Bhatgaon village and were allegedly planning to commit a dacoity at a petrol pump near Farmana village. The police, he said, immediately swung into action and carried out a surprise raid on the dharmashala. The miscreants tried to escape on their motorcycle but they were chased and arrested. |
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Fog disrupts rail, road traffic
Sonepat, December 18 The Amritsar-bound Barauni Express passed through Sonepat about eight hours behind schedule whereas the Ambala-bound Unchahar Express was late by six hours. Similarly, the Amritsar-bound Flying Mail was running at least 16 hours behind schedule. A large number of passengers were stranded at Sonepat and nearby railway stations. The daily commuters were the worst sufferers. The movement of traffic on National Highway-1 and other state highways was also disrupted as poor visibility forced the drivers to move at a snail’s pace. |
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2 killed in accident
Jhajjar, December 18 When they tried to overtake each other near Dadanpur village, both vehicles rammed into the canter coming from the opposite direction. While Ranjan died on the spot, Ravinder succumbed to injuries on way to hospital. Two others on the pillion were injured seriously and admitted to the PGIMS at Rohtak. A case has been registered against the driver of the canter. |
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“Eight darbars”,
yet problem unsolved
Sonepat, December 18 Each time she was assured of immediate action but so far her grievance has not been redressed. As many as 26 complaints were received at the darbar. The SDM directed the officers concerned to take necessary action. |
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One sentenced to life for murder Ambala , December 18 Ms Hanso had alleged in the complaint that Pala Ram had filed a complaint against Kiran Pal in the Shahjadpur police station a few months before the murder. Kiran Pal had rivalry with Pal Ram and he had threatened him. On the day of incident Kiran Pal came to the residence of Pala Ram. He was carrying a gun. When Pala Ram came out from his house, Kiran Pal fired at him. Pala Ram received serious injuries and died.
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Demand to set up waste management plant Ambala, December 18 The residents demanded that solid waste management plant should be installed at the earliest. They observed that the overall sanitation is in poor condition due to non-performance of the supervisory staff. “Gudgudia nullah has a lot of garbage and polybags which hampers flow, specially during the rainy season,” they said. Members of the Green Circle, an organisation working for better environment, said the sale of polybags should be banned and urinals must be repaired. Encroachments in whole of the Sadar Bazar area should be removed and the menace of stray animals needs to be checked. “For smooth flow of traffic, one-way traffic system should be introduced,” they said. A demand was also made that the land ranging from 5 feet to 10 feet behind the Rai and Randhawa market shops in the Sadar area should be allotted to shopkeepers. The DC, said that he would look into the demands.
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DGP inaugurates Police Lines Panchkula, December 18 He said that in the first phase, barracks for the cops, a mess and administrative offices had been constructed, and the Panchkula police could now take over the building. Till now, the makeshift Police Lines was in Old Panchkula. Area acquired for the Lines is 62 acres. The construction of quarters for the police personnel, grounds for sports and parade ground, and an administration block will be taken up in the second stage. The Haryana Police Housing Corporation was entrusted with the construction. Mr Malik asked Deputy Commissioner, Ms Neelam P
Kasni, and Superintendent of Police, Ms Mamta Singh, to ensure that the police lines in Old Panchkula was vacated, so that this building could be handed over to the newly created the Haryana State Industrial Police Force. Senior police officers posted at Police Headquarters, and senior officials of the local police and district administration, were present on the occasion.
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Traffic jam on highway Ambala, December 18 The police had to divert some of the traffic coming from Delhi side through Barara to ease the jam. Police personnel monitored both sides of the stretch of road which is being repaired.
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Singer with a zest Ambala, December
18 He was the star singer in DAV College, Ambala City where he did his graduation. He won the best playback singer award of Kurukshetra University in 1999, 2000 and 2001. He has been honoured by the then Haryana minister, Mr Munni Lal has also won the best actor and singer award at zonal youth festival at government college, Kalka. He considers Hans Raj Hans as his role model. Currently, studying at Punjab University, his dream is to reach the top in folk singing, he said.
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Cultural
extravaganza by juniors Ambala, December 18
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