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Anxiety in Congress; BSP likely to contest all Assembly seats
Factionalism hits Cong image
BJP committed to solve SYL issue: Verma
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BJP tries to quell infighting
BSP releases list of 24 candidates
Over 22,000 new voters enrolled
Denying ticket to Hooda may upset Jats
Inside Babudom
Record HVPN power supply
A.K. Singh
new DPR
Armed robbers strike at two farmhouses
Woman dead, in-laws booked
Two killed in road accidents
Army exhibition concludes
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Chautala releases second list of 25 candidates
Chandigarh, January 11 The MLAs who have been denied the ticket are Mr Rambir Singh (Pataudi), Dr Ram Kumar Saini (Gohana), Mr Ramesh Khatak (Baroda), Mr Ram Kumar Katwal (Rajaund), Mr Amar Singh Dhande (Guhla), Mr Bhagwan Sahay Rawat (Hathin), Mr Balbir Singh (Meham) and Mr Banta Ram (Radaur). A sitting BSP MLA, Mr Bishan
Singh Saini, has also been given the INLD ticket from Jagadhari. Earlier the party had announced 47 candidates, denying ticket to five MLAs. Mr Chatuala said the remaining candidates along with the party manifesto would be released very soon. He claimed that the INLD list of candidates gave adequate representation to all sections of society, including the Dalits and women. Till now five members belonging to the Sikh community had been chosen to contest on the INLD ticket. In all 14 new faces have been fielded by the party. The following candidates have been given the INLD ticket today: Mr Padam Jain (Sirsa), Ms Vidya Beniwal (Darba), Mr Bahadur Singh (Loharu), Mr Ganga Ram (Pataudi), Mr Anant Ram Tanwar (Sohna), Mr Prem Singh Malik (Gohana), Mr Ramphal Chirana (Baroda), Mr Mewa Singh Fauji (Kalanaur), Mr Om Singh Ahlawat (Beri), Mr Ramphal Kundu (Safidon), Mr Balraj Singh Nagura (Rajaund), Mr Buta Singh (Guhla), Mr Akram Khan (Chhachhrauli), Mr Bishan Lal Saini (Jagadhari), Mr Surjit Singh Saunda (Ambala City), Mr Nafe Singh Balmiki (Jundla), Ms Saroj Mor (Narnaund), Mr Mohd. Azmat Khan (Hathin), Mr Subhash Katyal (Palwal), Mr Raghbir Singh Ranga (Bawani Khera), Mr Rajbir Singh Samen (Meham), Mr M.L. Ranga (Bawal), Mr Narender Sharma (Pundri), Mr Ishwar Singh Palaka (Radaur) and Mr Rajender Singh Thekedar (Rewari). Mr Chautala said the INLD had not given the ticket to the Speaker of the 10th Vidhan Sabha, Mr Satbir Singh Kadian, from Naultha because he had resigned from the party in accordance with the parliamentary traditions after his elevation as Speaker. He appealed to all political parties to once again revive the old and laudable parliamentary tradition of unanimously re-electing the Speaker from his chosen constituency. Mr Chautala ridiculed the BJP for declaring that it would safeguard the interests of farmers. He said he was happy that at last those people who had long exploited the farming community were also talking about safeguarding its interests. Mr Chautala mocked at the assertion of the BJP that VAT would be revoked after it came to power. He reminded that it was on the initiative of the BJP that the NDA Government had mooted the plan to implement this system of taxation. At that time a number of the BJP and Congress Governments in the states had agreed to implement it. However, when the time to implement it came all of them developed cold feet. It was only the INLD Government of Haryana, which had mustered courage to implement it. Today, inspired by the success of INLD, the Central government, too, had decided to implement it from the new financial year. He claimed that the manufacturers and the consumers had a lot to gain from the VAT system. It was only being opposed by those who thrived on the evasion of taxes. Mr Chautala said he would file his nomination papers from the Narwana constituency on January 14. |
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Anxiety in Congress; BSP likely to contest all
Gurgaon, January 11 The BSP is toying with the idea of fielding its nominees in all 90 Assembly segments. The anxiety in the Congress circles is said to be on account of its arch rivals, the ruling INLD and the BJP, stealing a march over it on this front. Both the INLD and the BJP have announced majority of its nominees, enabling the candidates to have head start over the Congress’ prospective candidates with regard to the election campaign in respective constituencies. In a related development, former Haryana Home Minister from Subhash Batra and Congress leader has written a letter to party president Sonia Gandhi, pointing out that the prospect of the Congress bouncing back to power in the state has tempted unscrupulous elements, criminals, known supporters of the INLD supremo and Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala to sneak into the party. According to sources, Mr Batra, who is seeking Congress ticket, has raised objection in the letter to the possible formula of re-nominating the sitting MLAs saying that the move is a devious attempt by senior leaders of the state to retain their loyalty towards them.He cautioned that some of the sitting MLAs, if renominated, are bound to lose in the election on account of strong anti-incumbency factor against them in their constituencies. He has alleged that some state leaders of the party were working less for the party’s growth and more for the top position in the possible Congress government in the state. He was also unsparing in his criticism of senior leaders in the central organisation of the party and charged them of being biased in favour of factional leaders in the state. On the other hand, the BSP, sources say, will train the archlight on Haryana from January 15, the day party boss and former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati will celebrate her birthday in the Capital. Although there is no documentary evidence for obvious reason, sources say BSP leaders are planning to gather more than Rs 10 crore from the states going to Assembly elections. |
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Factionalism hits Cong image
Karnal, January 11 The ruling INLD and the BJP had an edge in poll campaign by announcing most of their candidates taking advantage of the weaknesses of the Congress in delaying the party tickets. Sources in the Congress revealed that there were differences among members of the selection committee following pressure from top leaders of the state, including Mr Bhajan Lal, Chaudhary Birender Singh, Chaudhary Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Mr Shamsher Singh Surjewala, to accommodate their supporters. A huge number of nominations filed from each constituency indicates that these leaders had asked their followers to file their applications individually. Later, they pushed their recommendations to the selection committee, posing problems for the high command to take any decision on selecting the candidates. Problems, surfaced due to factionalism in the state Congress, were so deep-rooted that these could not be solved out even after the interference of the party President, Ms Sonia Gandhi, at the initial stage. Further, the rumours of “brokers” involved in the allotment of tickets affected the image of the party among the public. The situation within the Congress was so peculiar that the rival parties had publicly started criticising it on this issue in a bid to woo the electorate. Political observers feel that the delay in the announcement of the list of candidates will undoubtedly come in the way of the wave that was earlier predicted in favour of the Congress, keeping in view the results of the last Lok Sabha elections in which the party won nine out of the 10 seats. However, when asked about the delay in the announcement, Mr Moti Lal Vohra, Chairman of the selection committee, told The Tribune on the telephone that the list had been finalised and required the final approval of the party President. Since, Ms Gandhi was busy with her already fixed schedules and the political developments that surfaced in Bihar, it was not possible to discuss the issue with her, he said.
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BJP committed to solve SYL issue: Verma
Kaithal, January 11 He was talking to The Tribune after addressing a public gathering organised jointly in favour of party candidates Ravi Bhushan Garg from Kaithal and Chaudhary Nar Singh Dhanda from Pai assembly constituencies here, today. He said the Congress did not have the vision to take along the partners of the UPA that was quite evident from the bickering among them regarding the seat sharing issue in the ensuing Assembly elections in Bihar, Jharkhand and Haryana. He said most of the partners were fed up from the Congress in just seven months of the formation of the government. He did not rule out the possibility of a break-up of the alliance paving the way for the BJP to form the government at the Centre. He said the BJP was committed to solve the Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal issue and bring in waters to Haryana. Lambasting the Congress for doing injustice to Haryana, he said the Congress was protecting the Captain Amarinder Singh government in Punjab even after the unilateral annulment of all inter-state water agreements. It had no place for Haryana farmers in their policies and programmes. “It is a shame for the Congress”, he said. He also threatened that the BJP might go in for an extreme step of launching an agitation against the Congress on the SYL issue and stop all inter-state communication links to exert pressure to solve the issue. Earlier, addressing the gathering, he also criticised Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala and said the people of Haryana had already made up their mind to throw him away from power. Expressing concern over the rise in the crime graph in the state, he said the people were now looking for a change in the political atmosphere. He claimed the BJP was the best alternate to the Congress and the INLD and hoped that the people would vote in favour of its candidates to form the next government. He said the BJP had taken an edge in the poll campaign as compared to all other parties by announcing most of its candidates. It would certainly benefit their party candidates. The BJP leader also said there was anti-incumbency against both the Union and the state government. The sudden rise in the prices of essential commodities like sugar, petrol, diesel, cooking gas etc and the deteriorating law and order situation in the state would go against both parties. Other senior state BJP leaders, Mr Bharat Bhushan Bharti, Captain Abhimanyu Singh, Mr Shashi Pal Mehta were also addressed the gathering. Interestingly, state general secretary of the Ekta Shakti party Mahipal Rana, party candidate of the last Lok Sabha elections from Karnal Raj Kumar Sharma and secretary Dharam Pal Gondhar joined the BJP, along with their followers, in the presence of Mr Verma. Later, Mr Sahib Singh Verma also addressed a similar rally at Pundri in favour of his party nominee, Randhir Singh Golan. |
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BJP tries to quell infighting
Ambala, January 11 A team of leaders led by the state unit President, Prof Ganeshi Lal, met the dissidents of Ambala city unit and heard their grievances. A series of meetings were held and they continued till late night. While a senior BJP leader claimed that the meeting was successful, a dissident leader claimed that their position with regard to change of candidature of Ms Veena Chibber remains unchanged. “The decision to allocate ticket to former MLA, Ms Veena Chibber has been taken by the Parliamentary Board and the state leadership cannot change the candidature. We have heard the grievances of the dissidents and their sentiments would be conveyed to the party high command,” a senior leader said. The BJP dissidents of Naggal constituency today said the party high command has failed to honour the sentiments of the local leaders. “Apparently, the decision to allot ticket to Mr Pavitar Bajwa seems to be incorrect. The chances of victory are remote if a decision based on merit is not taken,” a BJP leader in Naggal said. Dissidence among the BJP cadre is likely to spread to Mullana reserved constituency after Mr Mange Ram Panjail was denied the party ticket and the ticket instead was given to Mr Arun. The supporters of Mr Panjail are reportedly upset with the decision and a group of supporters has left for Delhi to meet the party high command over this aspect.
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BSP releases list of 24 candidates
Chandigarh, January 11 The BSP general secretary, Mr Narendra Kumar Kashyap, said here there was a possibility for an alliance with any of the main parties, including the Congress, the BJP and the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD). He said he could not comment on the alliance issue at this juncture. The BSP president, Ms Mayawati, would soon announce the alliance, if any. When asked about reports that the BSP and the INLD leaders had held talks for an alliance in Haryana last night in Delhi, he said he was not aware of any such talks. The 24 candidates announced by the BSP today are Pawan Randhawa (Kalka), Satya Pal Saini (Naraingarh), Jarnail Singh (Mullana), Jai Bhagwan Jangra (Nilokheri), Ram Prasad Kashyap (Gharaunda), Surinder Ror (Naultha), Atar Singh (Radaur), Pal Singh Kashyap (Thanesar), Kulwant Singh Labana (Pehowa), Devindra (Rai), Sant Lal (Badli), Telu Ram Joggi (Kailana), Nand Kishore Goyal (Rajaund), Kailash Gupta (Hathin), Haji Asgar (Nuh), Nihal Singh Dhariwal (Taoru), Rao Manjit Singh (Rewari), Subhash Verma (Tusham), Krishna (Bawani Khera), Inder Singh Verma (Bhattu Kalan), Rajendra Kumar (Ratiya), Ram Lal Sharma (Darba Kalan), Commandant Balbir Yadav (Jatusana) and Ved Prakash (Ateli). Out of these, three candidates belonged to the Jat community. |
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Over 22,000 new voters enrolled
Sonepat, January 11 According to official sources, the new voters include about 18,000 youth who are now entitled to cast their vote in the forthcoming Assembly elections in the state. The maximum number of new voters are in the Sonepat Assembly segment. There were 1,55,724 electorate in this constituency and now 9,645 new voters have been added in it. Similarly, there were 99,073 electorate in the Baroda (R) constituency and now 1,912 voters have been added by it. In the Gohana Assembly segment, there were 1,25,076 voters and now 3,304 new voters have been added. There were 1,24,401 electorate in the Kailana Assembly constituency and the number of new voters is 3,692. Similarly, as many as 2,354 new voters have been added in the Rai Assembly constituency. In the past there were 1,33,423 electorate in this constituency. In the Rohat Assembly constituency, there were 1,11,919 electorate in the past and now 1,215 new voters have been added. The emergence of new residential colonies and the migration of rural people are the main cause of the increase of new voters in the Sonepat Assembly constituency. The District Electoral Officer-cum-Deputy Commissioner, Mr Vidya Dhar, told mediapersons here today that the voters’ list was available in the offices of the Deputy Commissioner, at the election office, the SDM’s office, the tehsil office, the “patwar kharas”, the panchayat ghar, the post offices and the Public Relations Department offices in the district for inspection.
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Denying ticket to Hooda may upset Jats
Chandigarh, January 11 This is the general feeling among Congressmen, who say that already two Jat leaders, Mr Birender Singh, a former Haryana Congress President, and Mr Randeep Singh
Surjewala, Working President of the party, have not been given the due share in the party ticket by the screening committee. If another Jat leader, Mr
Hooda, too is not given the ticket to contest the Assembly elections, the community will get the impression that the Congress would repeat its Rajasthan experiment of making a
non-Jat leader the Chief Minister in Haryana also. This impression, which will be exploited to the hilt by the INLD President, Mr Om Prakash
Chautala, during the election campaign and may turn the community, which is otherwise also not favourably disposed towards the Congress, against the party with a vengeance. The farming community, which has been disenchanted with the ruling INLD because of the police firing on the BKU activists at Kandela in Jind district, turned towards the Congress when Mr Hooda and later Mr Surjewala came to the support of the
BKU. Mr Hooda had taken out a padyatra in support of the BKU. Later, Mr Surjewala helped the BKU President, Mr Ghasi Ram
Nain, in obtaining a bail from the Apex Court. Recently, by organising a massive rally of farmers in
Rohtak, supporters of Mr Hooda were able to prove that the farming community has shifted its loyalty from the INLD to the Congress. Supporters of this theory say the final selection of the Chief Minister rests with the AICC President, Mrs Sonia Gandhi. Merely fielding of Mr Hooda in the Assembly elections does not mean his automatic elevation as the Chief Minister. But his presence in the election arena would convince the
Jats, who have been playing an important role during the elections in Haryana, that the race for the top post was open in the Haryana Congress. Meanwhile, it is learnt that the Congress may finalise its list of candidates tomorrow. |
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Poll code hits development work, alleges INLD
Hisar, January 11 Giving specific instances, Mr Dabra said the commissioning of the eighth unit of the Panipat Thermal Power Plant, besides several projects for the construction of roads, waterworks and sewerage lines had been delayed due to the model code. The INLD leader remarked that the Congress was making false complaints to the Election Commission against the INLD government. The commission was being used as a tool by the Congress for its political interests, he added. Mr Dabra claimed that Rs 135 crore had been spent on various development works in the Ghirai Assembly constituency during the tenure of the Chautala government. He said rising prices would be a major issue in the Assembly poll. Meanwhile, the Haryana Finance Minister, Prof Sampat Singh, said today that the Election Commission had created history by enforcing the model code of conduct three months before the elections. He, however, maintained that the Haryana Government would respect the directions of the Election Commission. |
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Confine speeches to freedom movement: EC
Chandigarh, January 11 A spokesman of the Haryana Election Department said here today that the Election Commission of India had informed that under no circumstances the ministers should make the Republic Day function a platform of political campaign. He said neither the Chief Minister nor any other minister or political functionary in the state would do the honours at the Republic Day function in their home district or constituency or from where he or she was contesting or intending to contest. The spokesman said the commission had no objection to holding of kavi sammelans, mushairas or other cultural functions organised in connection with the Republic Day celebrations. He said that utmost care would be taken to ensure that no political speeches were made on the occasion. He said the investiture ceremonies at the national and state-level and distribution of Tamra Patras to freedom fighters will be done according to the existing convention. |
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Contempt notice to Haryana CS, FC
Chandigarh, January 11 Taking up the petition filed by Mr S.D. Saini, president, Haryana Town and Country Planning Employees' Association, the Bench of Mrs Justice Nirmal Yadav asked the officers to explain why contempt of court proceedings not be initiated against them. In his petition, Mr Saini has stated that on August 12, 2004, the Bench of Mr Justice G.S. Singhvi and Mr Justice Mehtab Singh Gill had directed the Haryana Government to pass a speaking order within three months on the representation of the employees for removal of pay anomaly. However, despite the passage of over six months, no such action has been initiated. Notice to AG The Punjab and Haryana High Court today issued notice to the Attorney General of India for February 14 in the ongoing writs challenging the amendment to the Panchayati Raj Act by the Haryana Assembly. During hearing in the petitions filed by Mr Harbhajan Singh Rana and others, the Bench of Mr Justice S.S. Nijjar and Mr Justice Uma Nath Singh said that since the matter relates to the Constitution of India, the Attorney General be issued notice. The Bench also gave liberty to all the parties to file applications/affidavits in the matter. PIL on encroachments The Division Bench of Chief Justice, Mr Justice B.K. Roy, and Mr Justice Rajive Bhalla today issued notice for February 15 on a PIL filed by a Karnal resident, seeking removal of encroachment on land given to Dalits in village Ghir. In his petition, Mr Mam Chand has stated that influential persons have encroached upon land meant for Dalits by constructing houses and erecting walls around the lands. He has claimed that despite repeated requests to the district police and civil administration, no action has been initiated. He has also claimed that unless effective steps are taken, the issues could turn into a law and order problem. He has prayed that directions be issued to the respondents to get the encroachments removed and restore the land back to Dalits. After hearing his counsel, the Bench issued notice for February 15.
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10 file papers for poll
Chandigarh, January 11 Among those who filed their papers today were one candidate of INLD, two of BJP, six Independents and one candidate of Socialist Unity Centre of India (SUCI). INLD candidate Pardeep Chaudhary, former member of the Haryana Public Service Commission, filed a set of four nomination papers from the Kalka Assembly constituency. Two candidates of the BJP, Nar Singh and Anand Sharma filed their nomination papers from Pai and Ballabgarh Assembly constituencies respectively. Raj Kumar of Socialist Unity Centre of India (SUCI) filed two nomination papers from Bhiwani Assembly constituency. Rajinder Singh, an Independent candidate, filed two nomination papers from Bhattu Kalan Assembly constituency. Other candidates who also filed their nomination papers as Independent candidates were Pardeep Kumar from Jagadhri, Ms Balbiro from Shahbad, Ram Pal from Pundri, Rajesh from Jind and Gogi Ram from Ghirai. |
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Vij seeks votes on basis of his work
Ambala, January 11 Unlike political parties preparing elaborate manifestoes containing numerous poll promises, Mr Vij, who is seeking a fourth term as an MLA, has prepared a brochure of the work done by him during his tenure. The brochure called ‘Sapna Nahin Hakikat Hai’ was released this afternoon. Talking to mediapersons, Mr Vij said political parties made tall promises during election and then forgot about it. “However, I have worked hard for the people and this brochure is an indicator of the work undertaken by me for the welfare of the residents of Ambala Cantt,” he said. “We have used photographs in the brochure so that people know that the work has actually been done on the ground. We have always believed in ‘Kaam Kiya Hai Kaam Karenge’. We are going to the people and telling them that the work done by us for everybody to see,”
he said. He stated the major achievement of this tenure has been the establishment of the Netaji Subhash Park. “We managed to save the land from land mafia and a sum of Rs 2 crore has been spent on the beautification of the park. John Sahab Ki Diggi is today a beautiful park,” he said. He said 45 colonies had been regularised. “The power situation has improved. Also, the town has been beautified. Roads have been laid through the Sarkar Apke Dwar
programme,” he said. |
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Chaudhary files papers from Kalka
Panchkula, January 11 He also declared assets owned by him and his family worth over Rs 2.20 crore. The declaration of assets, attached with the nomination form of Mr Chaudhary, also shows that he has taken bank loans worth Rs 16 lakh and has two insurance policies of Rs 25 lakh each. Mr Chaudhary and his family have Rs 69,900 cash at home and Rs 7,69,260 in various bank accounts; and 44 tolas of gold (valued Rs 3. 20 lakh). His family owns three cars/ jeeps, and two half bodied trucks and a JCB machine, besides over 25 acres of agricultural land (valued Rs 1.18 crore), and non-agricultural land valued Rs 85 lakh. Meanwhile, Mr Chaudhary came to the office of the Returning Officer, Mr Verender Dahiya, in a procession. He was accompanied by the district President of the INLD, Mr Ram Gopal Mehta, the State Secretary of the INLD, Mr Amardeep Chaudhary, the MC President, Ms Seema Chaudhary, besides several councillors of the party. Those who proposed Mr Chaudhary’s candidature were Mr Jeewan Lal, Mr Deepak, Mr Ravinder Bataur and Mr Ram Gopal Mehta. Other than this, the BJP candidate, Mr Sham Lal Bansal, today visited various villages in the Barwala block. He organised meetings and asked people to vote for him for further development of the area.
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Chautala should not return to power: brother
Kaithal, January 11 He said the situation in Haryana was even worse than the Emergency of 1975. Mr Partap Singh said though the Chief Minister was leaving no stone unturned to win this election but an anti-Chautala wave was blowing in the state due his autocratic style of functioning. The Congress will form the next government in the state. Mr Bhajan Lal will be the next Chief Minister, he added. When asked which party he would support in the coming Assembly elections in Haryana, he said he might support those candidates who had a clean public image and enjoyed good reputation among the masses. |
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EC upsets Malik's applecart
Shubhadeep Choudhury Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, January 11 Among the civil and police officers considered close to the Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala, Harbaksh Singh, an IAS officer and K P Singh, a police officer, were two most important. However, Mr Chautala disposed of both the officers one after the other. K P Singh was removed from the important office of IG, CID, and then given the totally sidelined posting of Deputy Director of vigilance wing of the power utilities' transmission network (HVPN). Harbaksh Singh was stripped of the post of MD, Haryana State Industrial Development Corporation, and suddenly he appeared devoid of the clout he used to wield when he was in the good book of the CM. Mr Malik had never suffered from such vicissitudes. He escaped unscathed even after the election debacle of the ruling Indian National Lok Dal in the Lok Sabha polls in May. K P Singh was removed soon after the defeat. K P Singh's transfer was also a favourable development for Mr Malik in terms of power struggle inside the officer cadre of the police. Before his elevation as DGP, Mr Malik was holding the post of Director, State Vigilance Bureau (SVB), a job considered immensely important in view of Mr Chautala's policy of setting the vigilance bureau against rival politicians and unfriendly bureaucrats. Nevertheless, Mr Chautala initially showed some hesitation in appointing Mr Malik as the DGP (when protest against the controversial DGP S P S Rathore had reached a crescendo, forcing Mr Chautala to look for Mr Rathore's successor). Mr Malik had the advantage of having good equation with Mr Chautala's younger son, Abhey, through their companionship in the Haryana Olympic Association. But he is a Jat, and the Chief Minister - himself being a Jat - was fearful that high position might be used by Mr Malik to become a political heavyweight in the state one day having following among the Jats. The resistance was finally overcome by Mr Chautala and Mr Malik became the DGP while retaining his post in the SVB as well. He was briefly posted out from the SVB once and G S Malhi became his successor who was later replaced by K Koshy. But Mr Malik was soon back at the saddle at the SVB as Mr Malhi and Mr Koshy failed to impress Mr Chautala. Arrest of Rao Narbir Singh of the HVP, arrest of Jai Parkash, at that time a Congress MLA, and arrest of bureaucrat Mr A Saran were among the sensational police/SVB actions that had taken place during Mr Malik's tenure. Instead of Mr Malik taking plunge in the politics, it is his better half, Krishna Malik, who became a candidate in the Lok Sabha elections in May. That she was a candidate of the ruling Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) was a pointer that Mr Chautala was no more worried about Mr Malik encroaching in his political space. Ms Malik's candidature, however, was received by members of the bureaucracy with a mixture of shock and amusement. Meanwhile, the EC was not amused at all by this bizarre development and sent Mr Malik packing on leave. With yesterday's order Mr Malik was removed twice by the EC at the time of elections on the ground that the DGP was collaborating with the ruling party's electoral objective.
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Record HVPN power supply
Panchkula, January 11 Increasing demand for power, especially in the rural sector, thus forcing the Haryana Power Utilities (HPU) to buy power at penal rates, non- payment of dues to the Utilities by various categories of consumers and increasing losses due to power theft in the state is costing dear to the Utilities. During the summer months, right from June to September. Power Utilities was spending an additional Rs 1. 20 crore to Rs 2 crore every day for overdrawing power from the Northern Grid, and buying power through bilateral arrangements with other power corporations. For the past one month, since December, 2004, HVPN is spending an additional Rs 2. 5 crore to Rs 3 crore daily in order meet the growing demand for power. The reason, say senior officials in HVPN, is that the power consumption in rural sector in Haryana has seen an unprecedented hike of over 40 per cent this year, thus putting additional pressure on HPU. With the growing shift on tubewells for irrigation (mainly because of the minimal inflow of water in the canal distribution system), and a large number of tubewell connections released during this year (13,800 new connections), HPU is forced to meet up with the growing demand. HPU added 298 MW to its power generation capacity, with the additional of the seventh unit at Tau Devi Lal Thermal Plant, Panipat, and through hydrogeneration at Tajewala. But for almost nine months - from June to September in year 2004, and four months from December, 2004, to March 2005. HPU has had to overdraw power at penal rates from the Northern Grid, or buy through bilateral arrangements with other states. The Utilities also has dues worth Rs 1770 crore pending from differentcategories of consumers. Till October, 2004, arrears worth almost Rs 1250 crore were pending from rural sector (domestic and non-domestic consumers), Rs 270 crore from urban consumers; Rs 89 crore from various government offices, and about RS 160 crore from industrial consumers. Though recovery of dues was initiated from all categories of consumers, except for the rural sector, the recovery has been almost minimal during the past two months.While consumer indexing in Panipat was successfully initiated last year to legalise drawing of power, no recovery scheme was initiated for the rural consumers. Power theft, too, accounts for almost 25 per cent losses in transmission. Officials say that as against 40 per cent transmission losses, 25 per cent of this loss, amounting to Rs 125 - 150 crore a month, is lost to theft. The power authorities have now initiated High Voltage Distribution System (HVDS) of supply as a pilot project in Yamunanagar and Ambala area to control power theft. |
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A.K. Singh
new DPR
Chandigarh, January 11 He was, however, stripped of the post of the Director, Employment Department, and this charge was given to Mr O. P. Sheoran. Mr A K Singh's posting as the DPR follows the removal of Mr Rajesh K Khullar from the post today following an Election Commission's directive. Mr Vijay Singh, OSD to the Chief Minister, was given the additional charge of the Director, Food and Supplies Department, in place of Mr S. K. Joshi. Mr Joshi has been made the State Transport Controller in place of Mr Yudhvir Singh who will retain the charge of Additional Excise and Taxation Commissioner. |
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Armed robbers strike at two farmhouses
Jhajjar, January 11 The robbers, all in masks confined the occupants of two houses, located in a guava orchard in separate rooms. According to the police, seven youths carrying pistols and knives barged into the orchard at midnight, waking up the families of Deen Dayal and Deshraj. They consumed liquor and decamped with the cash and jewellery in two hours. Deen Dayal told the police that he was preparing to marry off his daughter for which he had brought gold ornaments. The robbers reportedly shot a fire in the air before leaving. The police reached the spot in the morning. In another incident, residents of Machhroli village blocked the Rewari road in protest against the increasing incident of theft in their shops. They alleged that an organised gang was operating in their region for the past one month and the police had failed to nab the accused. Later, a police team led by Mr Teeka Ram, DSP reached there and pacified the villagers.
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Woman dead, in-laws booked
Panipat, January 11 She received multiple injuries as she had been allegedly beaten by her in-laws on December 25. According to her relatives, her in-laws had been demanding more dowry from her since her marriage about one-and-a-half year ago with a Jind resident Darshan. The matter was also taken up more than twice in the panchayat, they added. Meanwhile, an FIR was registered against her husband and her other in-laws under relevant Sections. |
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Two killed in road accidents
Yamunanagar, January 11 As per police sources, Sushil Bansal (52) of Meerut who was going to Hisar from Dehra Dun in his car was killed when the vehicle was hit by a truck near Dusani village on the Saharanpur-Kurukshetra national highway here. The driver of the car, Chhatar Singh (60), also died on the spot. In the second incident, Rajkumar (60) of Sector 18, HUDA, Jagadhri, who was going to a fuel station on his moped was hit by an unidentified truck near the bus stand here. |
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Army exhibition concludes
Ambala, January 11 A number of schoolchildren were present
on the occasion. The exhibition received good response from people on all
three days. They enquired about the effectiveness of the equipment on display. Many school children wanted to know about career opportunities in the armed forces. |
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