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Cong leader protests to Sonia
Poll also a contest within
party: Hooda
NCP leaders desert party over ticket
Haryana Assembly Poll
State of Parties — BSP HARYANA AJNALA BYELECTION
LJP keen to open account in Haryana
First RJD lists out for Bihar, Jharkhand
People will throw RJD out, says Paswan
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Chautala brothers face to face in Rori
Sirsa, January 17 While two brothers will face each other in Rori, uncle and nephew have filed their nomination papers against each other from Ellanabad Assembly segment. Mr Partap Singh Chautala, the estranged brother of Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, today filed his nomination papers as an Independent from Rori constituency. On the last day of filing the nominations, both brothers filed their papers this morning. Mr Partap Singh Chautala, a former MLA, is better known for his shrewd revelations about his estranged brother and his family. He had earlier tried to join the Congress with his son, Mr Ravi Chautala but failed to do so. The Chief Minister also filed his nomination papers in the presence of his supporters and senior party leaders. Earlier, addressing a rally at Nehru Park, Mr Om Prakash Chautala criticised the Congress for encouraging family dynasty. He alleged that the officials heading the panel had ``charged ``money from the aspirants. Coming heavily upon the Congress, he said the party was trying to malign the INLD and Chautala family by levelling false allegations of corruption and amassing wealth. He termed the Congress as anti-farmer and said the party was more interested in the industrialists and not in the common man. He blamed the Central Government for hiking the prices of the household items, construction material, LPG, kerosene, cement, steel and others. Urging support, the CM asked the voters to forgive him for any mistake committed by his party MLAs. All four INLD candidates contesting the poll and other senior party leaders were present on the dais, but the sitting MLA from Bhagiram from Ellanabad, who is denied ticket this time was absent at the venue. The senior party leader, Mr Krishan Chand Saini, while speaking on the occasion, termed the Congress a communal party and urged the voters to defeat it.
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Congress, INLD dissidents file papers
Hisar, January 17 Dr Rajender Singh Malik, who was denied the ticket by the BJP, also filed his papers as the Samajwadi Party’s candidate on the last day of filing nominations today. On the other hand, two Congress dissidents — Dr Anant Ram Barwala from Barwala and Mr Vinod Bhyana from Hansi — filed their nominations as Independent candidates. INLD rebel Rajbir Sandhu filed his nomination papers for the Barwala constituency as an Independent candidate. Former Haryana minister and Congress candidate from the Ghirai Assembly constituency, Prof Chhattarpal Singh, filed his nomination papers. The BSP nominee for Ghirai, Mr Rajesh Kumar, also filed his papers. Congress nominee Ajay Chaudhary and INLD candidate Saroj Mor filed their papers for the Narnaund Assembly segment. The BSP’s Suresh Kumar and the Rashtriya Lok Dal’s Ramesh Kumar also filed their nominations for the same seat. Meanwhile, Haryana Home Secretary, Dharamvir Singh today reviewed the poll arrangements and directed the officials concerned to ensure the conduct of a free and fair election in the state. He presided over a meeting of the Deputy Commissioners, Superintendents of Police and other officials of the five districts under Hisar Division here today.
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Derecognise INLD, demands BJP
Chandigarh, January 17 In a statement issued here yesterday, a spokesman for the party, Mr Surinder Kaushik, alleged that the INLD president and Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, made derogatory remarks against the Aggarwal community in the Hassangarh Assembly constituency. He alleged that by doing so Mr Chautala wanted to cover up his misdeeds by creating communal disharmony in Haryana. Alleging that the remarks against the Aggarwal community were made by Mr Chautala in Hassangarh as part of a “well thought of conspiracy”, Mr Kaushik said the Chief Minister talked of being a well-wisher of the Jat community. He said history was a witness to the fact that Mr Chautala had always used the Jats for his political interests and had always victimised its community leaders. He said Mr Chautala harassed several Jat leaders like Master Hari Singh, Mr Kishan Singh Sangwan, Mr Jai Prakash Barwala, Mr Karan Singh Dalal, Master Hukam Singh, Mr Ghasi Ram Nain of the BKU and Mr Anand Singh Dangi, in the past. The denial of the INLD ticket to the Speaker, Mr Satbir Singh Kadian, was the latest example of how Mr Chautala used Jat leaders. Mr Kaushik said Mr Chautala’s derogatory remarks against the Aggarwals was a violation of the model code of conduct for which the Election Commission should derecognise the INLD.
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Cong leader protests to Sonia
Rewari, January 17 He has complained that through these four districts comprised 18 Vidhan Sabha seats, no Brahmin candidate had been fielded. The BJP had nominated three Brahmin candidates while the INLD had allotted one ticket to the community. He complained that he had reliably learnt that even the Narnaul seat in Mahendragarh district, where a dedicated Congress activist of the Brahmin community was among the top ticket aspirants, was given to Mr Chander Prakash, a candidate of the Gujjar community, much against the wishes of four senior members of the screening committee, Mr Moti Lal Vora, Mr Janardan Dwivedi, Mr Ram Niwas Mirdha and Mr Bhajan Lal. Mr Purohit has sought an early appointment to explain to the Congress President the circumstances which led to the denial of the party ticket to any Brahmin candidate in these four districts of south Haryana.
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Poll also a contest within
party: Hooda
Jhajjar, January 17 He said the corrupt had been getting advantage by cobbling together in the past, but now the people have decided to face such elements collectively in the interest of the common man. He was addressing an election meeting at Shri Ram Park here today on the occasion of filing of nomination papers by the Congress candidates from Jhajjar, Beri and Badli. He called upon all party activists vying for the party ticket to sink their differences and support the official nominees. He said none of the party loyalists would be discriminated against and appropriate respect would be given to those who could not get the ticket.
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NCP leaders desert party over ticket
Sonepat, January 17 in a signed press note issued here today, he alleged that the party leadership had sold the party tickets and collected huge money. He also blamed Mr Tariq Anwar, national general secretary of the party, and Mr Ved Pal, president of the state unit, for selling the party tickets. He also alleged that Mr Ved Pal had betrayed Mr Bansi Lal, a former Chief Minister and the supremo of the Haryana Vikas Party, and now he had betrayed workers of the NCP. He said he had worked hard for strengthening the party base in Haryana in the past five years but the leadership of the party had damaged it. He also said the party had now lost its ground and all candidates put up by the party for the Assembly elections would be defeated. He said the office-bearers of the party, who had reigned, along with him, included Mr Sadeep, president of the district unit, Mr Satpal, president of the district unit (rural), Mr Devinder Kadyan, general secretary, Mr Bijender Kadyan, president, halqa unit, Mr Mahesh Panwar, Mr Omvir Bajwan, Mr Virender Mudgil and Mr Sanjeev Bhardwaj. He announced that they would back Mr Rajiv Jain, a candidate of the Sarvjatiya Panchayat, who was contesting the election from
Sonepat seat.
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Haryana Assembly Poll
Rohtak, January 17 Talking to mediapersons here before leaving for Julana to accompany the SP nominee, Mr Sanjay Lather, to file his nomination, he said to his knowledge the issue of forging a poll alliance with the ruling Indian National Lok Dal in Haryana had never been discussed. The SP would contest on its own. This exercise was part of a plan to expand the party base in states neighbouring UP. He did not rule out the possibility of his party offering the ticket to rebels of other political parties. There was nothing wrong in doing so because this did not tantamount to defections, he said, adding that every political outfit had the right to try and expand its base. Mr Yadav said there was no proposal to field the Haryana SP chief, Ms Kanta Alaria, from any seat in Haryana. Asked if the party leadership was considering replacing her in view of the opposition to her by the rank and file he said any leadership change would only be considered after the poll. About critical remarks by Mrs Sonia Gandhi and Mr Rahul Gandhi on the law and order situation in UP, he said it would be better for the duo to leave the administration of UP to its government. They would do well to concentrate upon improving governance in the Congress-ruled states, he said.
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State of Parties — BSP HARYANA The BSP cut a sorry figure in Haryana in the wake of the flippant behaviour of some of its senior functionaries. Its only MLA in the current state Assembly has cooperated with the INLD despite the BSP officially claiming the position of the Opposition. It is no surprise that Mr Bishan Lal Saini, who won on a BSP ticket in the 2000 elections, is seeking re-election from Jagadhari this time as a nominee of the INLD. The party suffered another setback when its president left the party and after a brief dalliance with the Lok Janshakti Party, joined the INLD. Mr Ashok Sherwar, former BSP president, was also accused of swindling huge party funds. Loyalty to the party is, therefore, not an issue with the BSP functionaries. It is, however, ambitious enough to contest in all 90 seats of Haryana for the February 3 Assembly elections. In the number of seats being contested by it, the BSP is on a par with the Congress, INLD and BJP. Among the four parties, it is the BSP which is believed to be having the minimum preparation for mobilising voters. The BSP made a serious attempt to make inroads into Haryana when five Dalit men were lynched by a violent mob at Jhajjar on Dasehra. Ms Mayawati, party president and the then UP Chief Minister, landed in Haryana in the wake of the incident and gave cash relief to the families of the victims. Before this the party had been maintaining a low key and was unable to generate much momentum in the state’s political arena. The party does have a support base in the state which is why the INLD president Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, tried to rope in the BSP for an electoral alliance for the Assembly poll. Why the alliance did not materialise is unclear but the talk of a probable alliance confused the state BSP unit which apparently had no clue regarding the status of Though Mr Chautala failed in his endeavour to strike up an alliance with the BSP, he stands to gain politically from the mere participation by the party in the elections. The BSP’s presence gives an advantage to Mr Chautala because the votes pulled by the party from its core base of Dalit supporters will be at the cost of the Congress candidates.
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AJNALA
BYELECTION
Jalandhar, January 17 “We would be thankful to the BSP if it extended support to our party in the Ajnala byelection. We are in touch with the state unit of the BSP for forging an alliance with the latter,” he said while talking to The Tribune. Mr Badal, who was in the city to attend some functions, including a meeting of party MLAs and MPs and an-anti Congress government rally of the SAD, however, admitted that the SAD leadership had not talked to the BSP chief, Ms Mayawati, over the issue. “Parleys are on with some state BSP leaders,” Mr Badal said. Referring to the Ajnala byelection, Mr Badal said the party was gearing itself for the poll and the decision about the selection of candidate would be taken during the PAC meeting of the SAD in Amritsar on January 20. Asked when the SAD would release its chargesheet against the Amarinder Singh government, Mr Badal said a discussion was on with the party’s counsel. “We would release it soon and it would be centred around the alleged intranet scam involving the son of Capt Amarinder Singh,” he said. Opposing the state government’s reported plans to impose octroi all over the state, Mr Badal said his party was against the move and the previous SAD-BJP government had abolished octroi. Turning to Haryana and his party’s position in that state, Mr Badal said the SAD leadership had made effort to unite the INLD and the BJP but the objective could not be achieved. “We have no differences with the BJP at the national level. Differences in a state can be an exception and it is not going to harm our mutual relations at the national level. Moreover, Mr Chautala had got the support of the BJP in the past.”
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LJP keen to open account in Haryana
Panipat, January 17 Keeping an eye on nearly 18 per cent of Dalit votes in the state, the LJP is struggling for a base in Haryana. The LJP has not fielded its candidates in Haryana merely for contesting the elections but for winning at least some seats and becoming an alternative party in future elections, claimed its national executive member Raghumal Bhat. He said the LJP had contested the Assembly elections in different states other than Bihar for the first time and won several seats. The party had its three MLAs each in Himachal and Gujarat, seven in MP and two in UP where it had contested for the first time, he added. The president of the Haryana unit of the LJP, Mr Lalit Kumar Gautam, said his party had fielded its candidates on those 44 seats where it had already its organisational set-up. While it is contesting on almost all reserved 17 seats, it has allocated most of the ticket to members of the SCs and BCs. The LJP would raise issues, including handing over surplus government land to landless Dalits, filling the backlog of SC and BC candidates in government jobs and making provision of reservation in the private sector. The leaders said his party had decided to contest on its own in Bihar and Jharkhand despite being a constituent of the UPA as the politics in several states was different from that at the Centre. The LJP may harm the chances of Congress candidates as most of its supporters are Dalits which are also a major vote bank of the Congress.
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First RJD lists out for Bihar, Jharkhand
Patna, January 17 Releasing the list of his party candidates at a press conference on the last day for filing nominations, RJD president and Railway Minister Laloo Prasad Yadav said his party had put up 58 candidates, sparing a solitary Kahalgaon seat for the Congress, Dumraon, Gaya and Dhoraiya for the CPI and Buxar and Hisua for the CPM. Speaker of the outgoing Assembly Sadanand Singh is the Congress candidate for Kahalgaon. Mr Yadav, however, said his party would contest 16 other seats, except Kahalgaon, where the Congress had already declared its candidates. He said his party would not field its candidates in 11 other seats held by the Congress and two each by the CPI and the CPM in the last Assembly poll making it clear that the RJD would set up its candidates in the remaining around 220 seats and support the nominees of the Congress, Left and Independents of its choice at a few other places. The RJD has denied renomination to sitting MLAs Munilal Yadav (Jehanabad), Shiv Bachan Yadav (Kurtha), Shyamdeo Paswan (Fatehpur) and Jitan Ram Manjhi (Bodh Gaya). While Mr Paswan joined the LJP few days ago and was given ticket from Fatehpur, Mr Manjhi joined the JD(U) and was rewarded with party nomination. Mr Yadav released a separate first list of 21 candidates for Jharkhand. He claimed that his party would have a tie-up with the CPI, the CPM and the Marxist Coordination Committee (MCC). The name of former Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee president Sarfaraz Ahmed too figured in the list of candidates released by Mr Yadav for Jharkhand. The RJD president has nominated him from Gandey in Giridih district. Mr Yadav said he would soon announce the list of candidates for the seats going to the polls in the second, third and final phases in Bihar on February 15 and February 23. Significantly, no leader of the CPI, CPM and even the Congress was present at the press conference. Alleging that the LJP of Ram Vilas Paswan had entered into a secret poll tie-up with the BJP and the JD-U and was misleading the people about a pact with the Congress, Mr Laloo Prasad termed all the LJP candidates as “vote katua” (vote dividers) in the fray to benefit the communal forces. Among the notable candidates are Union Minister Kanti Singh’s husband, Keshav Prasad Singh (Piro), and Bihar Minister Shakil Ahmed Khan, Mr Jagdanand Singh, Mr Raghvendra Pratap Singh and Mr Mahabali Singh. Following is the list of RJD candidates for 58 of the 64 Assembly seats going to the polls in the first phase on February 3 in Bihar: Shobha Kant Mandal (Pirpainti), Parwez Khan (Nathnagar), Shambhu Dayal Khetan (Bhagalpur), Amit Rana (Gopalpur), Shailes Kumar, alias Vulo Mandal (Bihpur), Ganesh Paswan (Sultanganj (SC), Surendra Prasad Singh (Amarpur), Jawed Iqbal Ansari (Banka), Ramdeo Yadav (Belhar), Janardan Yadav (Katoria), Vijay Singh (Chakai), Rashid Ahmed (Jhajha), Vijay Prakash (Jamui), Prayag Chaudhary (Sikandra (SC), Vijendra Kumar Yadav (Sandesh), Raghwendra Pratap Singh (Barhara), Mohammed Nawaz Alam (Arrah), Shivanand Tiwari (Shahpur), Ajit chaudhary (Brahmpur) Chhedi Lal Ram (Rajpur (SC), Hari Narayan Singh (Jagdishpur), Keshaw Prasad Singh (Piro), Rambabu Paswan (Sahar (sc), Tulsi Singh (Karakat), Akhlaque Ahmad (Bikramganj), Ashok Kumar Gupta (Dinara), Jagadanand Singh (Ramgarh), Suresh Pasi (Mohania (SC ), Dr Pramod Kumar Singh (Bhabhua), Mahabali Singh (Chainpur), Dr Ashok Kumar (Sasaram), Mahendra Ram (Chenari (SC), Ramji Chaudhary (Nokha), Mohammed Iliyas Hussain (Dehri), Bhim Kumar Singh (Nabinagar), Suresh Paswan (Deo SC), Baijnath Mehta (Aurangabad), Mohammed Nehal Uddin (Rafiganj), Satya Narayan Singh (Obra), Kauleshwar Prasad Yadav (Goh), Veena Devi (Arwal), Mahesh Prasad Yadav (Kurtha), Bagi Kumar Verma (Makhdumpur), Sachchitanand Yadav (Jahanabad), Ajay Singh (Ghosi). Surendra Prasad Yadav (Belaganj), Mahesh Singh Yadav (Konch), Binod Kumar Yadvendu (Gaya Mufassil), Ramswarup Paswan (Imamganj (SC), Shakil Ahmad Khan (Gurua), Phulchand Manjhi (Bodh Gaya (SC), Vijay Kumar (Barachatti (SC), Ajay Paswan (Fatehpur (SC), Rajendra Prasad Yadav (Atri), Rajballabh Prasad (Nawada), Nand Kishor Chaudhar (Rajauli (SC), Gayatri Devi (Gobindpur), Ramashray Prasad (Warsaliganj). — PTI
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People will throw RJD out, says Paswan
Ranchi,
January16 "Laloo's political equations will not work this time as the people have come to know his tricks. Even two per cent of the population is not in favour of him," Mr Paswan told reporters here. He was replying to a question on a media opinion poll giving only Mr Yadav a chance to retain his fort. "The RJD has been isolated while the LJP and the Congress combined are heading towards electoral success," he added. Mr Paswan was here to seal an electoral understanding with the All -Jharkhand Students' Union. — PTI
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RJD may benefit from multiple contests
The Assembly elections in Bihar seem headed for multi-cornered contests
that will pit the divided opposition against Railway Minister Laloo
Prasad’s RJD and other parties. There are several players in the
electoral battle — the BJP, JD(U), LJP, Congress, CPI, CPM and
RJD. There are also smaller parties like the BSP and the Samajwadi Party. Mr Laloo Prasad Yadav has failed in his efforts to forge a seat-sharing
alliance with the Congress, although he has some kind of a tie-up with the
Left parties. At the same time, the BJP-JD (U) combine has failed to woo
the LJP into an anti-Laloo platform. The RJD wants to rope in the NCP and the Left but Mr Yadav has denied that there would be a front led by his party minus the Congress. The LJP has announced 56 candidates for the first phase of the poll, prompting Mr Yadav to accuse the party of betraying the Congress. He said Mr Ramvilas Paswan, LJP Chief, had fielded candidates in 19 of the 23 seats the Congress was contesting in the first phase. For Mr Yadav, the scenario is different from last year’s parliamentary elections when he successfully led the so-called secular front comprising the Congress, LJP, CPM and NCP against the BJP-led NDA. Political observers believe that the RJD stands to gain in a multi-cornered contest and divisions among anti-Laloo forces. In caste-ridden Bihar, Mr Yadav’s electoral performance has time and again proved his image as a champion of the downtrodden, despite claims to the contrary by his rivals. The underprivileged Yadav community, and Muslims
constitute over 30 per cent of Bihar’s 80.3 million people and form the
backbone of support for the RJD. The RJD believes anti-Laloo votes will be
divided among the BJP, JD(U), LJP and the Congress.
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RSS trying to broker unity in Bihar BJP
Patna, January 17 The state BJP leadership is in the line of fire from angry party workers who have not only questioned the selection of candidates but also have alleged that party vice-president Sushil Kumar Modi and state president Gopal Narain Singh are helping RJD supremo Laloo Prasad Yadav by selecting weak candidates. The irked workers say that they are fed up with Mr Modi, a leader without mass support and who they allege has played spoilsport in successive elections. “Modi is no match for Laloo or Paswan but the BJP leadership in New Delhi fails to take note of it and has given him a free hand to decide the fate of the party in Bihar,” said Deo Narayan Rajak, a former BJP legislator who was denied ticket. Worried by the increasing revolt by the cadres across the state, the RSS is trying to play peace-broker. “The RSS was unhappy with the open revolt by the party rank and file over the selection of candidates and is trying to work out a compromise,” a senior BJP leader, close to the RSS, said. He said the RSS leaders had asked some BJP leaders to hold a meeting and listen to the grievances of the party workers. A large number of BJP workers across the state have resigned from the party and announced their decision to contest against official candidates. Two former party legislators and several party workers were seen at the headquarters of the Lok Janshakti Party. The BJP has again joined hands with the JD(U) for the three-phase Assembly elections in Bihar and is contesting 105 of the 243 seats, leaving the rest to its ally. Besides Modi and Singh, central ministers Shahnawaz and Rajiv Pratap Rudy have also been the target of ire of party cadres. Besides Patna, reports of workers burning effigies of Modi have come in from Bhagalpur, Purnea, Madhubani, Champaran, Jehanabad, Gaya, Kishanganj and Sasaram over the past four days. — IANS
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Elusive RJD, JD (U) MLAs arrested
Patna, January 17 Acting on the recent directive of the Patna High Court to arrest those at large despite non-bailable arrest warrants and property attachment orders pending against them, the Naughachia police arrested Mandal when he turned up for filing nominations for the Bihpur assembly seat in Bhagalpur district, the police said. A Bhagalpur court had issued property attachment orders against the RJD MLA for not appearing before it despite summons in a case relating to assault of policemen at Parbatta in March, 2002. A few days ago, the MLA had acquired bail from Kotwali police station. Taking strong exception to the granting of bail to Mandal “illegally,” Bhagalpur DIG Kumar Ramesh Chandra had suspended the officers in charge of Barari and Parbatta police stations. JD(U) MLA from Piro, Sunil Pandey, who had been evading arrest in a criminal case in Balia district of UP in 1996, was taken in custody while filing nomination before SDM S. Khan. Pandey, who had served a jail sentence in connection with the kidnapping of a doctor of Hajipur last year, was later taken to Sasaram jail. — PTI
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Patna, January 17
