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No violations, even after polling day, will be allowed, says CEC
Kill Cong with button, not gun: Chautala
Vajpayee fails to turn up for rally
Dissidents will have little impact, says Bishnoi
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Candidates show their weight in coins
Cong candidate
garners support
Akali leader seeks votes for INLD candidate
Unrecognised schools back Congress
Development of cantt area key issue, says Sehgal
Students urged to
restore scientific glory
We will open account in Haryana: SP
Ex-Hisar DC moves court
Copycats to enter books of infamy
Police Medals for two IPS officers
1 killed, 3 hurt in accidents
Haryana DG to visit all district HQs
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No violations, even after polling day, will be allowed, says CEC
Chandigarh, January 25 This clarification was given by the Chief Election Commissioner, Mr T.S. Krishna Murthi, at a press conference here today after the full commission met senior officers of the Haryana Government, district officers and representatives of the political parties. Mr Krishna Murthi was responding to a question about the possibility of appointing people by the INLD Government after the polling day. He said : “We will now allow this.” Mr Krishna Murthi also announced relaxation in the commission’s earlier order that no flags could be displayed atop even those private buildings whose owners had no objection. He said after receiving representations from certain political parties in this regard, the commission had now decided to allow display of flags atop those private buildings where the owners had no objection. The relaxation would be subject to restrictions imposed under local laws. He said under the Defacement of Public Property Act, the display of flags was not permitted even with the consent of the owner of the building. The decision to relax the restrictions, he said, was taken after some political parties pointed out that this rule was not being properly enforced at the ground level and complained about its selective enforcement. Mr Krishna Murti said while in certain districts the work of apprehending parole-jumpers was satisfactory, in other districts there was need to do more. The deployment of the para-military forces during the Assembly elections would be more than that at the time of the last Lok Sabha elections. Each range IG would be assisted by a DIG to keep a check on sensitive areas. He refused to be provoked when a newsman pointed that the Haryana Finance Minister, Mr Sampat Singh, had stated that the commission work within its constitutional limits. He said Mr Sampat Singh was entitled to have his views and the commission had to right to have its own views. “If there is any difference between the two views, the issue could be decided by courts,” he added. Earlier, a delegation of the Congressmen led by a former Advocate-General of Haryana, Mr Mohan Jain, met the commission and demanded that the entire Narwana constituency, from where the Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, was pitted against the working president of the party, Mr Randeep Singh Surjewala, should be declared sensitive. Demanding the transfer of the DSP, Narwana, Mr Jain said the pickets of the paramilitary forces should be set up in villages and the forces should be asked to stage flag-marches in infuse confidence among the people. Another Congress representative, Mr Ravinder Rawal, demanded that those persons who were voters in Haryana but worked outside the state should be granted a special casual leave to cast their vote. The INLD delegation, led by its general secretary, Mr Amardeep Choudhary, said the elections under the state government would be free and fair. The BJP demanded the transfer of the Fatehabad SP. It accused both INLD and the Congress of violating the code of conduct. It also alleged that the district administration was not giving permission to the helicopters carrying senior BJP leaders, which was hampering the party’s campaign. |
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Kill Cong with button, not gun: Chautala
Khanda Kheri (Hisar), January 25 The scene changes suddenly as the Chief Minister’s convoy arrives amid the sound of sirens and the usual drill of Black Cat commandos and other security personnel. The “Vijay Rath” comes to a halt on the narrow village road and is immediately surrounded by people. And then comes the stylish moment tailored to have an impact. The spellbound villagers gape in astonishment as the Chief Minister, standing on a small elevator, emerges on the rooftop of the minibus. He is accompanied by Ms Saroj Mor, INLD candidate for Narnaund constituency. “The Congress is a pro-industrialist and anti-farmer party. So, you must teach it a lesson in the Assembly poll,” Mr Chautala exhorts the gathering. “Aur inko marne ke liye bandook uthane ki bhi zaroorat nahin. Ye to button dabane se hi mar jayenge (There’s no need to lift a gun to kill the Congressmen. They can be killed merely by pressing a button),” he tells the people. The vehicle leaves for Petwad village in the same constituency, while the Chief Minister chats with The Tribune on various issues. On the question of the Congress manifesto declaring to nail the corrupt leaders of the INLD, he alleges that the approach of the Congress has always been negative. “We are getting a good response in the entire state,” he claims, adding that the electorate of Khanda Kheri village, who has been against the INLD till now, had come close to the party for the first time. “But the Congress men are claiming that there is a wave in their favour.” To this, the Chief Minister maintains: “People of the state have seen the Congress rule at the Centre for the past few months. The rising prices of essential commodities and agricultural goods has exposed the Congress’ tall claims.” “If you happen to get elected from Narwana as well as Rori constituency, which seat will you retain?” Mr Chautala shots back an answer: “Did you say if ? The word ‘if’ is not in my dictionary.” Then, he maintains that he would obey the party’s command in this regard. On being asked to comment on the allegations that power was centralised in the INLD, he asserts that the INLD was a democratic party. “The allegations of the power being centralised are baseless. Rather we have taken the government to the doorstep of the people, which in itself speaks volumes about the decentralisation of power in the party,” says the party president. With this, the “Vijay Rath” reaches Petwad and the Chief Minister asks an assistant, “How many villages we have to visit more?” “Thirtyfour,” comes the reply. Mr Chautala nods and moves towards the elevator, preparing himself for the road show. |
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Vajpayee fails to turn up for rally
Jagadhri, January 25 The Haryana unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party has lodged a complaint with the Election Commission alleging foul play and demanded a high-level enquiry into the matter. The state unit of the BJP has alleged that even Ms Vasundera Raje Scindia, Chief Minister of Rajsthan, who was to address rallies in Haryana today, was prevented from reaching the state. National general secretary of the BJP and in charge of the state unit of the party Shiv Raj Chauhan told The Tribune that Mr Vajpayee kept on waiting at the airport for more than two-and-half hours. “Mr Vajpayee had reached the airport at 12 noon. He kept waiting for clearance but he was told that the plane could not take off because of bad weather”, informed Mr Chauhan. He confirmed that a formal complaint with the Election Commission had been lodged. Mr Chauhan alleged that for the past three days air movement of the party leaders was being hindered on one pretext or the other. “Okay, even if we accept the plea that the weather was not good, what is the explanation for a similar experience with us two days ago," said Mr Chauhan. According to him, he, along Prof Ganeshi Lal, Haryana unit president, and Mr Kisan Singh Sanghwan, MP from Sonepat, were allowed to fly in a chopper till Hisar but were refused permission for the onward journey. He urged the Election Commission to intervene and ensure free movement of leaders of all political parties. Earlier, BJP supporters reached the New Grain Market to listen to Mr Vajapyee, who was scheduled to reach there at 1 pm. Various BJP leaders, including Prof Ganeshi Lal, Mr Chauhan, Mr Ratan Lal Kataria and candidates contesting from the five seats of the district were able to hold the crowd till 3.30 pm. It was Mr Chauhan who finally told the crowd that Mr Vajpayee could not come as he had been denied permission to fly. Within minutes of the announcement, the crowd dispersed. Addressing the gathering, Prof Ganeshi Lal launched a scathing attack on the Congress and INLD. Prof Lal said both the Congress and INLD had encouraged nepotism. He also criticised the Congress for what he called double standards on the SYL Canal issue. Mr Chauhan attacked the Manmohan Singh-led UPA Government for its failure to keep a check on rising prices. However, it was Mr Rattan Lal Kataria, former state president of the BJP, who drew applause with his song on price rise. |
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Dissidents will have
little impact, says Bishnoi
Barara (Ambala), January 25
“First, there is anti-incumbency as Mr Om Prakash Chautala has failed to fulfil the electoral promises. Secondly, ever since Mr Bhajan Lal took over as state Congress president, outreach programmes have been carried out. People clearly want the Congress to come to power,” he said. Mr Bishnoi is on tour of state for votes for Congress candidates in different Assembly constituencies. He has covered Adampur,
Ellenabad, Sirsa, Bhiwani Khera and Bhiwani. “We will win at least 75 seats in Haryana,” he said. Mr Bishnoi opined that dissidents will have little impact on the victory prospects of the Congress candidates. “People will vote for the Congress and even if there is a rebel candidate, the official Congress candidate will win,” he said. He said that unemployment is a major issue which is being considered by the Congress. “Employment generation will be accorded priority by the Congress after we form the government,” he said. Mr Bishnoi said that the Congress will carry out the survey of the old age people who have been denied old age pension since they believe in the Congress. He said that the Congress is keen on bringing about improvement in the villages. Mr Bishnoi said that the law and order situation in Haryana had deteriorated under the INLD rule. |
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Candidates show their weight in coins
Yamunanagar, January 25 Independent candidates also have followers who are weighing them against coins. Besides coins, the candidates are also being weighed against ladoos, which are later distributed among the supporters. As per reports, candidates and their supporters had collected coins in advance. Most of the candidates had deputed their nominees for collecting coins. The nominees reportedly collected coins from gurdwaras, temples, and shopkeepers. There are reports that some of the candidates (or their nominee) also visited various banks for coins. On Monday last, candidates who were weighed against coins included Ms Krishna Pandit, Mr Ramji Lal, both of the Congress, Mr Balwant Singh and Mr Akram Khan of the INLD and Mr Datta Rama and Mr Ghan Shyam Dass of the BJP. As per a survey, average weight of the candidates in terms of coins is between Rs 10,000 and Rs 15,000. However, the President of Rastriya Shakti Party, Mr Mahinder Gupta, who is contesting as an independent was weighed against coins a few days ago. His weight was equal to Rs 25,000 in coins. Mr Deep Chand, the rebel Congress candidate who is contesting the elections from Sadhaoura and Mr Akram Khan of the INLD, have been weighed for more than a dozen times. And those who could not arrange coins weigh their favourite leaders against ladoos. A sweet-seller in Jagadhri claimed that he had sold motichoor ladoos to supporters of all candidates contesting from the Jagadhri constituency. |
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Cong candidate
garners support
Ambala, January 25 INLD leader Satpal today extended support to Mr Venod Sharma. At a meeting organised by Mr Devender Bajaj, Mr Vig sought support for Mr Sharma. BJP leader G.D. Mal also extended support to Mr Sharma. Mr Y.K. Gambhir of All-India Punjabi Sabha appealed to the electorate to vote for Mr Sharma. He said former MLA Veena Chibber had failed to look after the interests of Punjabis. A siropa was presented to Mr Sharma by the Gurdwara Prabhandhak Committee at Model Town gurdwara. Among others, Mr Rajender Singh, Mr Harnam Singh, Mr Jagmohan Singh, Mr Jaspal Singh, Mr Manjit Singh and Mr Preetam Singh were present on the occasion.
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Akali leader seeks votes for INLD candidate
Ambala, January 25 He said the people must vote for the INLD so that Haryana can prosper. He said a large number of development projects have been undertaken by the INLD government in the villages for the welfare of the people. INLD candidate Jasbir Mallour said a large number of meritorious youths in Naggal have got jobs. He said the development work in the past five years is more than what has taken place over the past five decades.
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Unrecognised schools back Congress
Ambala, January 25 Mr Kulbhushan Sharma, president of the federation, said the school employees of the unrecognised schools would support the Congress in Haryana. Mr Sharma the Congress had promised to give a new direction to the education policy. Ambala city Congress candidate Venod Sharma said in keeping with the promise made in the Congress manifesto, he would make all efforts to help unrecognised schools. Another meeting was held at Minerva Complex, where the federation office-bearers assured support to the Ambala cantt Congress candidate, Mr Devender Bansal. DCC president Ashok Jain strongly criticised the INLD government for
misgovernance. He said the policies of the Chautala government were anti-people. Prof
A.S. Mahajan (retd) condemned the repressive policies of the Chautala government and the support to the INLD policies by Ambala Cantt sitting MLA Mr Anil Vij.
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Development of cantt area key issue, says Sehgal
Ambala, January 25 Former BJP state president Ratan Lal Kataria said the Congress manifesto had been released to mislead the people. He said promises were far removed from the ground realities. He said during the Lok Sabha poll, the Congress President, Ms Sonia Gandhi had made tall promises. “Now, in eight month’s time, their false promises have been exposed. People have to bear the sharp increase in prices and these have up set monthly budgets of people,” he said.
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Students urged to
restore scientific glory
Kurukshetra, January 25 Dr Joshi said Kurukshetra was the birthplace of Gita, which had been given due recognition even renowned scientists . Naming a foreign scientist, who made the first atomic bomb, Dr Joshi said he recited a particular shloka from Gita at the time of his first atomic bomb blast. Similarly, about 1,000 years ago, zero was invented in India. He said about 2,500 years ago we had been exporting alloy, which did not catch rust and the pillar of that alloy which is the Kutubminar in Delhi was a testimony to this. Later, while addressing the press conference, Dr Joshi condemned the action taken by the HRD Minister, Mr Arjun Singh against Mr J.S. Rajput, former director, NCERT. |
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We will open account in Haryana: SP
Faridabad, January 25 The general secretary of the Haryana unit of the party, Mr Surender Singh Bhati, claimed here today that the election campaign so far by his party had revealed that the voters were not interested in any promise or slogan, but had been asking the parties and the candidates to prove how will their victory change their lives and the standard of living. He said this mood had brightened up the party’s prospects and claimed that its candidate Shailender Singh would be able to wrest the Faridabad (NIT) seat from the Congress and the BJP. While Mr Bhatia and the Congree nominee, Mr A.C Chaudhary, who had won in 1982 and 1991, consider each other rivals, the SP candidate claims that he would be a dark horse this time and would be able to dethrone both main rivals. The party has fielded as many 18 candidates in the state. |
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High Court Our High Court Correspondent
Chandigarh, January 25 In his petition, Mr Malik, who had been removed for his alleged partisan conduct, which amounted to violation of the model code of conduct, has challenged the power of the EC in ordering his transfer after the model code of conduct came into force. Mr Malik had been removed following complaints from some political parties about his alleged discrimination against the Opposition parties with respect to various activities related to elections. Mr Malik was the Deputy Principal Secretary to Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala before being given the prized posting of DC. After the EC directive, Mr Arun Kumar Gupta, then MD of the Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam, had been posted as DC, Hisar. The petitioner has claimed that by ordering his transfer when the model code of conduct is in force, the EC has breached the code. Mr Malik has also alleged that his transfer was the handiwork of EC observer K.G. Rao, who, he alleged, was not favourably disposed towards him. He has prayed that the EC order be quashed. After hearing his counsel, the Division Bench of Mr Justice J.S. Khehar and Mr Justice Tapan Sen issued notice of motion to the respondents for February 22. The Bench did not stay the order. Notice of motion in murder case: The High Court has issued notice of motion for February 14 on a petition seeking handing over investigation in the alleged murder of Charan Dass of Thambar village in Ambala district to an independent agency, preferably the CBI.The notice was issued on the petition filed by Mr Harpal Singh, the deceased’s brother. In his petition Mr Harpal has stated that though his brother was killed by some persons, allegedly close to a minister in the present INLD Government, the Barara police changed the cause of the death to injuries in road accident. Expressing doubts over the impartiality of the police probe, the petitioner has prayed that the investigation be handed over to the CBI.
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Copycats to enter books of infamy
Panipat, January 25 Mr Gupta said the names and other concerned information about 9000 such students would be contained in the book that would be sent to all the educational institutions of the state. He said apart from disqualifying such students to sit in any exam for some years, the decision of publishing the book had been taken to build social pressure against such type of students so that menace of copying could be curtailed. However, in reply to a question, he said names of teachers, who were caught while helping the students in copying, would not be included in the book. Giving reasons, he said such type of teachers had already been dealt with sternly. Mr Gupta said elaborate arrangements to conduct copying-free examination and provide congenial atmosphere at the examination centres would be made. Examinations for the middle class would be held between February 16 and 23, whereas the examinations of the tenth and twelfth classes would be held between March 16 and April 4. |
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Police Medals for two IPS officers
Chandigarh, January 25 Mr K.K. Sindhu, DIG, State Vigilance Bureau, Gurgaon, and Mr K.K. Sharma, DIG, Training, Panchkula, are the IPS officers. The awardees are Mr Bijender Singh and Mr Ram Kumar, DSP, Jagadhri and Meham, respectively; Inspectors Ved Prakash and Prem Singh, Sub-Inspector Ram Dhari, ASIs Raj Pal, Deepak Kumar and Manohar Lal, and Head Constable Pawan Kumar. Mr K.K. Sharma is presently posted as DIG, Training, Human Rights & Litigation, at the Haryana Police Headquarters. He is 1986 batch IPS officer, an alumni of Kurukshetra University. He started his career with Indian Forest Service before joining IPS. |
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1 killed, 3 hurt in accidents
Sonepat, January 25 A case has been registered in this connection. The driver of the jeep has fled. According to another report, two policemen were seriously injured when their motorcycle was hit by a vehicle near Mallaha Majra village, about 15 km from here, last night. The injured policemen were rushed to the local civil hospital. They were later referred to the PGIMS, Rohtak. In another incident, a person was seriously injured in a road accident near here last night. |
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2 killed in road mishap
Rohtak, January 25 |
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Haryana DG to visit all district HQs
Chandigarh, January 25 A spokesman of the Police Department said that Mr. Bhatotia had already briefed police officers of the rank of Inspector and above at all the four police range headquarters and issued necessary directives. As many as 53,000 police personnel and home guards as well as 95 companies of para-military forces would be deployed in the state. |
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