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BJP seeks vote for change
Lok Dal looking beyond caste lines for first time
Cong, BJP in touch with BSP: gen secy
BJP lodges complaint against INLD to EC
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The CPM leaders, Mr Sita Ram Yechury, Mr Hannan Maula, Mr Inderjit, Mr Prithvi Singh Gorakhpuria and others, at a state-level rally in Hisar on Sunday.
— Photo by Mehta
Ticket aspirants turn to khadi
Dyeing units to bargain with political parties
INLD, Congress ‘trying to woo BSP’
Haryana gives Rs 5 cr for relief operations
2 youths killed in road mishap
Priest remanded in police custody
NSUI to pursue 5 Assembly seats
Congress woos Ambala residents
Vikas Parishad holds meeting
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BJP seeks vote for change
Narnaund (Hisar), December 26 Mr Ram Kumar Gautam, a member of the national council of the BJP, who had organised the rally, was announced as the party candidate for the Narnaund Assembly segment on the occasion. Talking to The Tribune, Prof Ganeshi Lal said the Central Parliamentary Committee of the BJP would announce the candidates for the state assembly elections on January 4. He said the overwhelming response of the villagers indicated that the party now had a solid base in the rural areas. Prof Ganeshi Lal maintained that the BJP could field any party member for the coming assembly elections in Haryana. He asserted that the people were desperate for change and the BJP could provide them with a good alternative. BJP general secretary and in charge of Haryana affairs Shivraj Singh Chauhan began his speech on a spiritual note. He pointed out that in the past, the BJP “soldiers” used to fight under some outside “commander” in Haryana. This was for the first time that the army as well as the commander would be from the party, he said. Accusing Mr Chautala of indulging in corruption, he alleged that the INLD regime had ruined the state and was a failure on all fronts. He said as far as a pre-poll alliance was concerned, the INLD was “untouchable” to them. The BJP leader promised to change the face and fate of Haryana in five years if the people handed over the power to the party. Mr Chauhan related several humorous anecdotes during his speech. Lone BJP MP from Haryana and party’s national vice-president Kishan Singh Sangwan observed that three families of Lals had been ruling over the state ever since it came into being. The people were now fed up with the vicious circle and wanted a change, he said. Mr Sangwan remarked that in the recent Lok Sabha elections in the state, it was not Congress wave but the anti-incumbency factor which played a role in the poll outcome. The Congress had betrayed the people after coming to power, he added. BJP leaders Sarvadanand Arya and Capt Abhimanyu also addressed the gathering. At the end of his speech, Mr Chauhan invited the comments from the people on fielding Mr Gautam from
Narnaund. On getting a rousing response, he announced the grant of party ticket to Mr Gautam. |
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Lok Dal looking beyond caste lines for first time
Karnal, December 23 Interestingly, it is for the first time that the Lok Dal is trying to look beyond the caste-lines of the Jat and the Punjabi vote bank keeping in view of the hazy political situation in which many smaller political outfits have also emerged, though broadly restricted to certain pockets only. It seems that the INLD is in a tight spot to retain not only its very presence but also the very existence of regional parties in the state keeping in view the outcome of the last Lok Sabha elections in which the ruling party failed to get even a single seat, possibly because of the break-up of an alliance with the BJP and the anti-incumbency factor that overruled all other political issues. No matter, it is still being mentioned in political circles that the row between the INLD and the BJP may be resolved with the intervention of former Punjab Chief Minister and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Prakash Singh Badal. But well-informed sources in the state leadership of the BJP assert that the situation has gone beyond intervention. Therefore, the chances of a re-alliance seem to be remote, considering the state BJP leadership’s stand to go it alone in the polls. Even if things do settle down, Mr Chautala may not be in a position to provide them a big share in the allocation of seats as the BJP leaders say they are prepared to fight all the 90 Assembly seats on their own. However, political observers are of the strong view that the BJP may be the loser and would not be able to cross a single digit if they go it alone in the polls. Considering the BJP’s unresponsive approach, the only hope for the INLD lies from the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) that has an average mass base of around six per cent in the state. Talks have already begun with BSP president Mayawati. However, it seems to be a big task for both the parties to come to an understanding on seat sharing. The BSP may claim 30 to 35 seats, having realised that the INLD has almost lost its base and is almost struggling for its very existence in the state politics. Under such circumstances, Mr Chautala may have to give up before the BSP for a face- save to at least put up a fight in the ensuing Assembly elections. As far as SAD is concerned, Mr Badal had almost lost his presence among the Sikh vote bank in the last Shiromani Gurdwara Parbhandak Committee (SGPC) elections. Seven out of the nine elected members of the SGPC won the elections on the sole plank of criticising both Badal and Chautala for ignoring the interest of the minority Sikh community in the state. Therefore, it appears to be that unlike the last Assembly elections, Badal may not be in a position to extend much help to Mr Chautala as the Sikh vote bank has already
been divided into many groups. Keeping in view this situation, sources close to Mr Chautala have revealed that the INLD was looking for Sikh candidates to field in the community’s majority areas on INLD’s banner. For example, in district Karnal Mr Chautala is looking for four Sikh candidates to be fielded from Karnal, Jundla, Assandh and Nilokheri Assembly constituencies, where the Sikh votes vary from 25,000 to 35,000. However, at present he has only one Sikh candidate, Bakhsish Singh, in the Nilokheri constituency, who lost the last Assembly elections but polled more than 22,000 votes. In Karnal constituency, in which, there are at least 35,000 Sikh votes, Mr Chautala may offer the ticket either on the INLD or SAD banner to the nominated SGPC member, Raghujit Singh Virk, who is popular in the Sikh masses. The other two Sikh dominated constituencies--Jundla and Assandh--are both reserved and it may not be easy to find Sikh candidates, but if Sikh candidates are fielded from here, the balance may tilt in favour of the INLD. |
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Cong, BJP in touch with BSP: gen secy
Yamunanagar, December 26 Mr Narinder Kashyap, general secretary and in charge of northern states of the BSP, claimed this while talking to The Tribune here on Friday. When asked about the alliance with Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), Mr Kashyap said, “The matter has been discussed with Mr Om Parkash Chautala”. He refused to divulge the details of the talks between his party and the INLD. Talks had been held between the national president of the BSP, Ms Mayawati and the Congress President, Ms Sonia Gandhi, regarding the elections in the state. When asked about the BJP, Mr Kashyap said the talks had been held with the state leaders. Earlier, in the day while addressing a press conference, Mr Kashyap said that if the BSP was voted power, the unutilised government land would be given on lease to landless labourers for farming. He also said under a special scheme all the backlog in the reserved category posts in government would be filled in a period of one year. The BSP leader informed that the selection process of the candidates for the 90 seats was in progress. |
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BJP lodges complaint against INLD to EC
Jhajjar, December 26 Informing this, Capt Abhimanyu, chairperson of the Election Conduct Committee of the state BJP, said he had lodged a formal complaint on Friday by sending a fax to the Election Commission. He said many hoardings carrying the picture of the INLD supremo, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, could be seen in Rohtak city and elsewhere defying the election code. While talking to the mediapersons in Chhara village, here today, the BJP leader claimed that an anti-incumbency wave was sweeping the entire state, especially in the rural areas. He maintained that the electorate was desperate to dislodge the present INLD government. Another BJP leader and former MP from Faridabad, Mr Ramchandar Bainda, said the party was in a steady position. He said the skyrocketing prices of the essential commodities would cost the Congress heavily. |
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Yechury rules out alliance with Cong in Haryana
Hisar, December 26 Talking to mediapersons prior to the state-level “Jan Adhikar” rally organised by the CPM here today, Mr Yechury asserted that since the party was supporting the UPA government from outside, it was able to persuade the Centre to rollback LPG price hike. A delegation of the Sarv Karamchari Sangh submitted a charter of demands to Mr Yechury. He assured the delegation that he would make efforts for the reinstatement of the sacked government employees in Haryana. The CPM leader maintained that the party had been opposing various moves of the Union Government, including the steep hike in the prices of essential commodities. He lamented that despite tall claims of development, the condition of farmers was pitiable in the state. Without naming the Haryana Chief Minister, a CPM MP, Mr Hannan Maula, remarked that while the farmers were forced to commit suicide in Haryana, the head of the government, who claimed to be a farmer’s son, was busy minting money. The CPM state secretary, Mr Inderjit, expressed concern over the falling sex ratio in the state. |
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Ticket aspirants turn to khadi
Yamunanagar, December 26 There are over 90 ticket aspirants for the Yamuna-nagar Assembly seat in the Congress and about 300 more for the remaining four seats of the district. And it is not only the aspirants who are buying the white cloth but also their followers. A Khadi Gram Udyog shop of Kurukshetra division here has sold 20 length of white khadi till date. The sale of two other khadi shops have also picked up. The shops are giving special ‘election’ discount of 20 per cent. Normally, these shopkeepers do not have too many customers visiting their shops, but these days they are busy. During the last Lok Sabha elections the sale was not good but this time the shopkeepers were hopeful of a profitable new year. A Congress ticket aspirant for the Sadhoura Assembly seat, Mr Rajesh Kataria, has just got four pairs of white pyjama kurta stitched. “I got stitched pairs of new pyjama kurta as I have to address several public meetings and also to participate in the rallies addressed by senior Congress leaders”, said Mr Kataria. On the other hand, BJP leaders, besides the white ‘election dress’, are also buying other types of clothes like safari suits and trousers. “I have bought three pair of new kurta pyjama, a safari suit and a pair of trousers”, said Mr Ram Lal Mehrampur, a Dalit BJP leader, who has applied for Sadhoura and Jagadhri seats. Mr G.C. Aggarwal, a former Chief Engineer from the HPGCL, who has applied for the Congress ticket from Jagadhri, was of the opinion that it’s not necessary that all leaders should wear white pyjama kurta. “It is the image of the person that matters. I just urge Ms Sonia Gandhi, Mr Manmohan Singh and Mr Bhajan Lal to allocate ticket to only those leaders who are educated and bear a clean image”, said Mr Aggarwal, who will be wearing the normal clothes during campaigning. Meanwhile, most of the leaders have started addressing public meetings and some of them are addressing five to 10 meetings a day. However, the dilemma is that they could not ask for votes for themselves as any effort to project them as the official candidates of their respective parties beforehand could spoil their chance of ticket. These ticket aspirants, besides visiting the houses of their political bosses, are also visiting and making telephone calls to mediapersons to know about the public opinion. |
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Dyeing units to bargain with political parties
Panipat, December 26 The president of the Panipat Dyeing Industries Association, Mr Yash Pal Malik, told The Tribune that whichever party assured them that they would not be forced to shift their units without providing enough basic facilities, all dyeing units would support that party in the assembly polls irrespective of their individual political affiliations. Mr Malik said they had been forced to shift their existing units from different parts of the city to Sector 29 HUDA, being specially developed for dyeing units, for past three years but the administration failed to provide required facilities. He said no proper
arrangements of water and power supply had been made which were the basic requirements to run dyeing units. Besides, no required water disposal system was installed there, and only two and a half feet sewerage pipes had been laid in Sector 29 which were much less than the capacity required for carrying out water used by the units daily. No common treatment plant was also installed at the proposed site, he added. The president of the association said that they had been forced by different departments to shift their units in the absence of all these facilities. He reiterated that they would not remove their units at any cost until they were provided proper
facilities. In reply to a question, he said they were ready to shift their units for getting rid of pollution but at the same time required facilities should be provided to them prior to shifting. They would prefer to close their units instead of shifting to HUDA Sector 29 without basic facilities, he added. Around 500 dyeing units are scattered in different parts of the city. A plan was made to provide a common place for them to get rid of the pollution caused by them in the thickly populated residential areas. |
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INLD, Congress ‘trying to woo BSP’
Hisar, December 26 This was claimed by Mr Shamsher Singh Malik, secretary of the Haryana unit of the BSP, while addressing a press conference here yesterday. He said a panel of names of 24 candidates for the Assembly segments in the district had been sent to the party high command. On being asked whether the presence of the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) would have any impact over the poll prospects of the BSP, Mr Malik maintained that the LJP had no mass base in Haryana. Citing the example of Maharashtra, where the LJP had failed miserably, he said the Congress as well as the BJP had been using LJP chief Ram Vilas Paswan to further their own political interests. The BSP leader condemned INLD MLA Abhey Chautala’s recent statement that jobs were being given and this would continue. He asserted this showed that the ruling party in Haryana had little respect for democratic principles and no fear of even the Election Commission. |
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Haryana gives Rs 5 cr for relief operations
Chandigarh, December 26 In a message issued here today, Mr Chautala also offered all necessary medical aid and essential commodities for the affected people. Mr Chautala also condoled the death of a large number of people who died today because of the tidal waves. He said the people of the state and the State Government had always helped those in crisis. The people of the state had helped the affected people of Orissa when they suffered a massive devastation due to the cyclone and the people of Gujarat when they were hit by an earthquake. |
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2 youths killed in road mishap
Sonepat, December 26 According to a report, the deceased were identified as Karamvir, son of Mr Jagdish of Haar village, and another Karamvir, son of Mr Dayanand of Enchara village. The injured was Narinder of Enchara village. He was rushed to the community health centre at Gohana where from he was shifted to the PGIMS at Rohtak for further treatment. The police has registered a case. According to another report, one person was killed and three others were injured when a three-wheelers collided with a Canter on the GT Road, near Kundli village, about 25 km from here. The deceased was identified as Pushkar of Bhaira Baqipur village. |
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Priest remanded in police custody
Ambala , December 26 The police filed an application in the court today morning and requested the court to grant the police remand of Pankaj as the police had to recover the weapon being used in the murder of Usha and her daughter. Meanwhile, the police sources said after committing the crime Pankaj spent about a month in Haridwar and Rishikesh. The Ambala police had raided several places in search of Pankaj . On Saturday, when the police received an information that he was in Ambala, he was nabbed. It is to be mentioned that Pankaj had disclosed during the police interrogation that he had murdered Usha and her daughter by stabbing them on neck. A police officer said some other important facts could be revealed during the interrogation of Pankaj. |
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NSUI to pursue 5 Assembly seats
Ambala , December 26 The president of the Haryana unit of the NSUI, Mr Virender Kaushik, while talking to mediapersons said here today that he would raise this issue in the meeting of Haryana election committee, being organised at Chandigarh, on December 27. He said earlier also he had raised this issue with Mr Janardan Diwedi , in charge of the Haryana Congress. He said if the NSUI was ignored he would approach the party president Ms Sonia Gandhi in this regard. When asked if the party high command too denied to allot any ticket to the NSUI in Haryana, he said Ms Sonia Gandhi had been encouraging youths in the party, she would definitely oblige the NSUI in this regard. He said even if the NSUI did not get any ticket in this elections its leaders and members would work wholeheartedly to ensure the victory of the Congress candidate in the state . He said the Haryana NSUI had chalked out a detailed campaign programme for the Assembly elections. He added the NSUI would organise rallies in all the Assembly segments which would be addressed by their national president and other senior leaders. He alleged that the Chautala government had ignored the youths. Commenting on the unemployment allowance initiated by the state government recently, he said it was a political stunt. |
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Congress woos Ambala residents
Ambala, December 26 Mr Malik, who is a contender for the Congress ticket, said formation of Ambala Cantt subdivision needed to be addressed. “A judicial complex is required at the earliest in the city and there was also an urgent need for a mini secretariat,” he said. Talking to mediapersons, Mr Om Prakash Malik said this was the last time he was going to apply for the Congress ticket. “I am 71-year-old and I have decided that I will not apply for the Congress ticket in the future,” he said. Meanwhile, the HPCC deputy spokesperson, Dr Pradeep Chauhan, visited some areas of Ambala Sadar. Residents of Machli market, Nepali Mohalla spoke about their problems. Dr Chauhan said people were forced to lead a difficult life in unhygienic condition. Dr Chauhan said the Ambala Cantt MLA, during his complete tenure, only spoke about Gudgudia nullah and the incomplete work at the nullah was causing major concern to the local populace. He said the cleaning operation of the nullah was less than satisfactory. |
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Vikas Parishad holds meeting
Ambala, December 26 |
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