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BJP declares candidate for Mundhal
BJP ready to go it alone, says Sushma
BJP to shortlist names by December 31
“Paniwala Baba” seeks Cong ticket
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Nominate 16 members of Aggarwal community, Cong told
NCP to contest all 90 seats
Govt staff told to remain impartial
Parties told to follow code of conduct
HAU’s move to transfer land draws flak
Haryana FCI goes hi-tech
2 murders in 24 hours
Priest held
in double murder case
Life term for two
School cultural competition held
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BJP declares candidate for Mundhal
Bhiwani, December 25 Overwhelmed by the well-attended rally and denying an alliance with any other party, Mr Chauhan said the party would contest all 90 seats on its own. He said the Haryana BJP had formulated a tie-up with the Indian National Lok Dal in the last elections, but Mr O.P. Chautala intentionally sidelined the BJP and enforced “anti-people” policies in the state. Making a dig at the UPA and the state governments on the issue of the SYL canal, he said Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh had cancelled all water settlements with Haryana on the directions of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and AICC President Sonia Gandhi. Haryana could have had its share in the SYL canal if the UPA government had wished so. “The Congress is betraying the people of Haryana by adopting a deceitful policy on the SYL issue”, he observed. State Vice-President and MP Kishan Singh Sangwan said the state had been under the rule of three Lals and they considered this state as their own “jagir”. They had filled their own houses instead of doing any noble deed for common welfare. He said free electricity would be provided to farmers with five acres and penalty and surcharge would be waived on their electricity bills. Poor Dalits would be given free electricity and several other public welfare policies implemented. He promised Rs 3,000 per quintal for cotton. He further promised that unauthorised colonies would be regularised and student elections held. BJP state President Prof Ganeshi Lal cautioned that voters would have to be alert against false promises of the Congress. Prof Ram Bilas Sharma, state Vice-President Ram Chander Jangra, ex-servicemen cell president Col Brahmanand and district president Tara Chand Agarwal were among those who spoke. |
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BJP ready to go it alone, says Sushma
Ambala, December 25 Talking to mediapersons during her brief stopover at Ambala Cantt before leaving for the Shaheedi Jor Mela, Ms Swaraj observed that the BJP was likely to contest in Haryana alone. “The first list of party candidates will be declared by January 4,” she said. She said the party was not planning to project a chief ministerial candidate for the elections. “We are well-prepared to contest the elections alone. The party machinery is set for the Assembly elections,” she said. Ms Swaraj said the main issues in the elections would be failures of the Chautala regime. “Issues like corruption and the poor state of law and order will be taken up,” she said. To a query, Ms Swaraj said the attempt being made by the UPA government to re-open the case against Mr L.K. Advani was a threat to democracy. “The UPA government is interfering with the functioning of investigative agencies. We will again take up this issue in Parliament as well as at an appropriate forum outside it,” she said. She said the UPA government was ignoring the cases against the Union Minister, Mr Laloo Prasad Yadav. |
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BJP to shortlist names by December 31
Gurgaon, December 25 In a significant development, Mr Ramchander Yadav, a prominent leader of the erstwhile HVP headed by Mr Bansi Lal today announced joining the BJP. While announcing joining the BJP, Mr Yadav, who unsuccessfully contested election from Sohna Assembly segement in Gurgaon district twice, said that he was never reconciled to HVP’s merger with the Congress. In another development, the BJP national president, Mr L.K. Advani, will visit Haryana on January 2 to give a boost to the BJP’s electioneering. In fact, he will sound the BJP’s war-cry for the election from the historic city of Panipat where he is scheduled to address a public meeting. He will be addressing a public meeting in Faridabad on January 5. The BJP Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh will visit Rewari in Ahirwal belt in South Haryana on January 2. The Central Parliamentary Board of the BJP will meet on January 4 at the national headquarters of the party for final selection of the names of candidates in Haryana. According to BJP insiders, candidates’ names for majority of the 90 Assembly seats in the state will be finalised by the BJP’s Parliamentary Board in its very next meeting. As a matter of strategy the party would hold back from announcing names for some Assembly segments till the last moment to have a good look at the candidates fielded by its opponents. The BJP hopes that there will be a number of dissident leaders in the Congress after having being denied party ticket. According to many, there would be no surprises if the BJP takes these probable disgruntled leaders in its wings and adjust them by making them its nominees. The party received a boost in the Ahirwal belt on account of Mr Ramchander Yadav joining its ranks. The party was on the look out to expand its base in the Ahirwal belt-the core of which consists of Gurgaon, Rewari, Mahendergarh districts. The importance of Mr Yadav joining the BJP was also publicly accepted by the BJP leaders, including stalwarts like Mr Sitaram Singla and Mrs Sudha Yadav, who were present on the occasion. According to Mr Sitaram Singla, a state leader of the BJP, his party was optimistic of turning the tables on the Congress in the election. He asserted that although the Congress put up a good show in the last
parliamentary election in the state by bagging nine out 10 parliamentary seats, the party in power at the Centre has actually nothing to show even after more than six months of its rule. |
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“Paniwala Baba” seeks Cong ticket
Chandigarh, December 25 However, the situation seems to have changed this time. According to party sources, a number of Congressmen have applied for the party ticket from Kalka this time, posing a challenge of sorts to Mr Chander Mohan. The most prominent challenger to Mr Chander Mohan is the old horse of Kalka politics, Mr Lachhman Singh. Popularly known as “Pani wala Baba”, Mr Lachhman Singh had been thrice MLA from the Kalka area and had been thrice a minister. As the Public Health Minister, he was responsible for providing tapped water supply to far-flung villages in the area, which earned him the nickname. When Mr Chander Mohan first entered the political arena in 1993 from Kalka, Mr Lachhman Singh was in the forefront of campaigning for him. He was rewarded by Mr Bhajan Lal with a seat in the Rajya Sabha. He used the a major portion of the grant at his disposal under the MP, Local Area Development Fund, for launching several welfare schemes in the Kalka area, which made him popular among the people.
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Nominate 16 members of Aggarwal
Chandigarh, December 25 In a memorandum submitted to the Haryana Congress president, Mr Bhajan Lal, here yesterday, the organisation representing the youth of the community said Mr Ashok Buwaniwala should be given the party ticket from Bhiwani, while Mr Arun Garg should be nominated from Ambala city. The mahasammelan said the Congress tickets should be given to Mr Bajrang Dass Garg (Kaithal), Mr Mange Ram Gupta (Jind), Mr Om Prakash Jindal
(HIsar), Mr Pawan Garg (Thanesar), Mr Jai Prakash Gupta or Mr Suresh Gupta from Karnal, Mr Umesh Aggarwal (Gurgaon), Mr Ashok Gupta (Bahadurgarh), Mr Satish Pansari (Rohtak), Mr Anil Goyal (Yamunanagar), Mr Lakhan Pal Singla (Mewla
Maharajpur), Mr Vijay Bansal (Naraingarh), Mr Prakash Bansal (Samalkha), Mr Sohan Lal Aggarwal
(Gharaunda) and Mr Manish Mittal (Narnaul). Mr Bhajan Lal assured a delegation of the Mahasammelan which met him here today that the Congress would give due representation to all communities. |
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NCP to contest all 90 seats
Chandigarh, December 25 In a statement issued here today Mr Ved Pal said the party would contest all the 90 seats. Meanwhile, a great-grandson of the highly respected farmer leader of Haryana, Sir Chhotu Ram, Mr Mahendra Singh, today joined the NCP along with his large number of supporters. Mr Mahendra Singh is a grandson of a former Haryana Speaker, Mr Shri Chand. |
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Govt staff told to remain impartial
Chandigarh, December 25 She said here yesterday that the employees should, in fact, not only be impartial, but also appear to be impartial. They should so conduct themselves as to inspire confidence in the public in regard to their impartiality. For instance, they should not take part in any election campaign or canvassing and should exercise scrupulous care not to lend their names, official position or authority to assist one group or individual against any other. Her instructions further pointed out that no person like the Returning Officer, Assistant Returning Officers, Presiding Officers and Polling Officers was permitted, in the conduct or the management of the elections, to do any act other than the giving of his own vote for influencing voters. The contravention of these provisions was punishable with imprisonment which might extend to six months or with fine or with both. Again, if any person was, without reasonable cause, guilty of any act or omission in breach of his official duty connected with elections, he was punishable with fine upto Rs.500. |
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Parties told to follow code of conduct
Ambala, December 25 Mr Gupta said strict action would be taken against any person who was found to be violating the model code of conduct. He said the model code of conduct came in force following the announcement of the Assembly elections made by the Election Commission on December 17, a press statement said. He said permission of the building owner would be required if a political party wanted to write a poll slogan, tie a party flag, paste a notice or print a party symbol. |
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HAU’s move to transfer land draws flak
Hisar, December 25 The Management Board of the university is scheduled to meet in Chandigarh on December 28. According to informed sources in the university, the said piece of farmland is part of the 179-acre Gangwa Block of the university. According to information gathered by The Tribune, a meeting of senior functionaries of the Haryana Government was held in Chandigarh on December 17, 2003. The purpose of the meeting was to review the overall layout plan of Hisar. The meeting approved to shift the Central Jail here from its present location to the new one on the university premises. After the meeting, the Hisar Deputy Commissioner asked the university authorities to work out the modalities in this regard. Following this exercise, the university authorities completed the necessary formalities and the final proposal was being presented at the Board meeting for its approval. The sources said since the land was originally transferred to the university by the state government, there was little scope of any funds being generated for the university by way of transferring university land back to the government. Dr M.S. Narwal, president of the HAU Teachers Association (HAUTA), when contacted, confirmed that there was a move to transfer university land for the construction of Central Jail. He asserted that the HAUTA would oppose the move as it was against the interest of the university. According to the sources, the HAU authorities had made a move to sell university land to private parties to strengthen its financial position in the past as well. While one such move was stayed by the court in Gurgaon, some HAU land at Rohtak was sold. The sources even allege that some influential persons having links with the ruling party had been eyeing some prime land of the university. |
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Haryana FCI goes hi-tech
Chandigarh, December 25 The Senior Regional Manager, Haryana, FCI, Mr T.C. Gupta, claimed here yesterday that the Haryana regional office was the best of the 23 regional offices of the corporation. He said the computerised central diary management system would ensure that no employee of the corporation would be able to delay action on any official document unnecessary. Senior officers would be able to see what action had been taken on a particular file at the click of the mouse. Similarly, he said, after the launch of the website, no public man would have to pay under the table to unscrupulous persons to know the stock position of foodgrains with the corporation. Any public man would be able to know not only the total stock position with the corporation but would also know it depot-wise. The Haryana office has also introduced the “computerised biometric reader attendance machine” to mark the attendance of its employees in the head office. The machine has inculcated the habit of punctuality among the employees as they have to mark their attendance by keeping their finger tip on a small machine installed at the entrance of the office. Their time of arrival and departure is immediately logged in a computer. Mr Gupta said similar steps would be taken in the field offices of the corporation also. He said under the voluntary retirement scheme, the number of employees in the head office of the Haryana FCI had been reduced from 225 to 157. The corporation was also saving about Rs 13 crore every month by relocating its labour force. |
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2 murders in 24 hours
Panipat, December 25 While a housewife was killed by unidentified robbers in Thermal Colony in broad daylight on Friday, the body of a male was found in the bushes besides the National Highway 1 in Siwah village on Saturday morning. Shakuntala (40) may have been done to death while fighting the robbers. She was hit on her head. She died on the spot. She was found in a pool of blood by her husband who came in the afternoon. The police has called for forensic experts from Karnal to get some clue about the robbers. The case has been handed over to the CIA. In yet another incident, residents of Siwah noticed a body lying in bushes at Siwah village. The body has been sent to Bhim Sen Sachar Hospital for a postmortem. |
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Priest held in double murder case Ambala, December 25 Pankaj Sharma told investigators that Usha had considerable faith on him and used to frequently consult him before any work in the house. He said the family was going through a tumultuous period and Usha was keen to tide over the problem by using black magic. A police official said the priest used to live in a rented accommodation in Lyallpur Basti and on November 18, he had called Usha and her daughter Arti to his residence. He had promised to conduct black magic at his home. While Usha had gone to his home, Arti had waited outside. Apparently, Pankaj had told Usha that a few drops of blood from her neck were needed to appease a goddess. After Usha agreed, Pankaj used a sharp-edged knife to draw blood from her neck. Blood began to ooze out as soon as the gash was made in the neck. On seeing the deteriorating condition of Usha, he took her inside a storeroom, where she is believed to have died. Thereafter, he called Usha's daughter Arti inside and allegedly killed her so that the truth did not emerge. Pankaj Sharma put Usha's body in one sack and Arti's in another. He then cycled to Labbowala Talab and dumped Usha's body there. He then partially undressed Usha's daughter before dumping her in Laboowala Talab to mislead investigators.
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Life term for two
Ambala, December 25 According to prosecution, two years ago Darshan Singh, a resident of nearby Bhari village was shot dead by two unidentified scooter-borne persons. The case was solved when hardcore criminal Harjit Singh Kala was held after a short encounter near the cantonment. During interrogation Kala disclosed his involvement in murder of Darshan Singh. |
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School cultural competition held Ambala, December 25 The first prize in the solo singing category was bagged by Surbhi Kamboj of the Major R.N. Kapoor DAV Public School. The second prize was won by Sugandha of the DAV School, Ambala City, and Shaina Khan of the DAV School,
Barara. Surbhi Sharma of the DAV School, Naraingarh, won the consolation prize. In the solo dance competition, Swati and Pearl stood first, Mayuri and Gagandeep stood second while Bhavya got the consolation prize. In the group dance competition, Bharti and party won the first prize while Sunaina and party got the second prize.
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Kisan samaroh organised Ambala, December 25 Thirtytwo farmers were sanctioned kisan credit cards with limits of Rs 45 lakh on the spot.
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