Rohtak, February 26
The ‘Navyug Rally’ held at Sirsa yesterday is likely to impact intra-party politics in the Haryana Congress in several ways.

Firstly, the rebels led by former Chief Minister Bhajan Lal and his Lok Sabha member son Kuldeep Bishnoi have received unexpected jolt through party president Sonia Gandhi’s remarks in a speech. Mrs Gandhi had asked Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda to ignore his opponents and carry on with his mission. The remarks were aimed at Bhajan Lal and his supporters, who had boycotted the rally.

Mrs Gandhi’s stern attitude is certain to hasten the departure of Bhajan Lal and his followers from the Congress now that the indication has come in no uncertain terms right from the top. The Bhajan Lal camp had not expected Mrs Gandhi to make such remarks in her speech. The unexpected turn of events left the former Chief Minister’s diehard supporters aghast.

The father-son duo now have little time to finalise their next move as any further delay on their part would mean staying on in the Congress as much longer. The longer they stay put, the more the embarrassment.

Mrs Gandhi’s pat on Hooda’s back will also silence his critics within the party. Several ministers especially some senior Cabinet colleagues of the Chief Minister had been hoping that post-Punjab elections, the party may consider a change in leadership in Haryana. However, the kudos that came hours before the counting of votes in Punjab have dashed the hopes of Hooda’s rivals.

The dominance of Rohtak and Sonepat districts in the rally, again proved that the anti-incumbency factor in this politically most significant belt of Haryana has yet to erode Congress base there. Detractors of Hooda in the party had been hoping that the response from these two districts would be much less.

This factor is also likely to affect the morale of opposition parties in the state. The Indian National Lok Dal had been focusing its attention on the Rohtak area hoping that the anti-incumbency factor would be strongest there. However, the Congress has proved that it is still retaining the gains it had made in the 2005 Assembly elections.

The Bharatiya Janata Party too had been nursing similar hopes. But much to its chagrin, the response to the rally especially in the urban areas of these two districts has upset the party plans. So long as the party is unable to recapture its base in Rohtak, it cannot hope to find a foothold elsewhere.

The mood in the Hooda camp is expectedly upbeat. Hooda’s supporters now claim that their leader had emerged as the undisputed leader in Haryana and if any leader was hoping to upset their cart, he or she would have to go the Bhajan Lal way.

However, close friends and political associates of Hooda say Mrs Sonia’s appreciation had made the Chief Minister’s task administratively more difficult as he was now expected to deliver much more than he would have hoped to.

Chandigarh, February 26
While Congressmen are agog over yesterday's "highly successful" Sirsa rally, the main Opposition party in the state, the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), has criticised the silence of Congress president Sonia Gandhi on the construction of the SYL canal.

In a statement issued here today, working president of the Haryana Congress Ram Prakash said despite the large turnout at the rally, the crowd was disciplined and heard Sonia in pin-drop silence. The large turnout, he said, was an expression of approval of the policies of the Hooda government.

On the other hand, senior INLD leader Abhey Singh Chautala said it was unfortunate that no Congress leader, including Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, could raise the SYL issue in the presence of Sonia Gandhi when the apex court had already issued directions to the Central Government to complete the canal.

Abhey Singh said in its election manifesto, the Congress had promised to complete the construction of the SYL canal. After the last Assembly elections, Sonia had come twice to the state, but returned without giving anything to the the people of Haryana.

Describing the rally as "a complete flop show" the INLD leader said the Chief Minister had only repeated the old announcements and decisions of the INLD government. The Sirsa Railway overbridge was approved when Nitish Kumar was the railway minister and its foundation stone was also laid by the then Chief minister Om Prakash Chautala. The Rs 50-crore Ottu Bear plan and the Sirsa bypass plan were also approved by the Chautala government.

Panipat, February 26
The special investigation team (SIT), formed to look into the blasts on the Delhi-Attari Express, has failed to make a breakthrough even after one week of the blasts.

Even as SIT member Bharati Arora, SP (railway), denied any hurdles in the investigation, sources confirmed that the team had failed to make any headway in the case despite substantial material provided to it by the central intelligence agencies.

Senior police officials, working as well as retired, on the condition of anonymity, said the state police was not competent to deal the case of such magnitude.

“We have neither sources nor resources to handle such crimes”, asserted a police official.

Moreover, the case involves the international implications. It would have been a better decision to hand over the probe to an agency like the CBI, he added.

The state police has not been clear from the very first day of the incident from where to start. It formed SIT under the chairmanship of DIG, Crime, R. C. Mishra. However, within 24 hours Mishra was replaced by ADGP V. N. Rai.

At a press conference, DGP Ranjiv Dalal said 527 passengers were travelling by the train. Public relations officer, northern railway, in news reports said 604 passengers boarded the train from Delhi.

ADGP V. N. Rai refused to talk on the matter, saying that the SP, railway, should be contacted in that connection.

Sonepat, February 26
Azad Singh, a resident of Kami village under Sadar police station, Sonepat, strangulated his two sons, Akash (10) and Ashutosh (8), and committed suicide at his house on Sunday night.

After a post-mortem examination, the bodies have been handed over to the family members of the deceased and the police has registered a case of murder.

According to information, Azad Singh, a motor mechanic and reported to be a habitual drinker, was married to Sunita of Chauhan Joshi village and had two sons. But fed up of his bad habits, Sunita had committed suicide about four years back.

However, he was remarried with Poonam of Ghogha village in Delhi about three years back.

Poonam also reportedly left him about a week back and despite his all reports on Sunday, she did not return.

He came back from his in- law’s house in the evening and at night, he allegedly strangulated his two sons from his first wife and later committed suicide by hanging with a roof fan.

Chandigarh, February 26
The post-Sirsa confident Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda today made light of the absence of his bete noire Bhajan Lal and his son Kuldeep Bishnoi from the rally addressed by Congress president Sonia Gandhi yesterday.

Talking to newsmen here today Hooda said the activities of any of his opponents "deserves neither any attention nor reaction". He said Sonia Gandhi had advised him yesterday to do his work without bothering about what his opponents said or did. "I will follow the advice of my leader," he added.

Describing yesterday's Sirsa rally as "the biggest rally in the state since its inception in 1966, Hooda said the concessions announced by him at the rally would benefit the people of the state to the tune of about Rs 4,000 crore.

The increase of over Rs 1,000 in the minimum wages for unskilled, semi-skilled, skilled and highly skilled work force alone would account for about Rs 3,000 crore per annum. He said now the minimum wages in the state were the highest in the country. He pointed out that the minimum wages in the Left-ruled West Bengal was only Rs 1,966.66.

Hooda said the decision would benefit 27 lakh persons, besides about 1 lakh teachers of private schools, who had also been covered under the Minimum Wages Act.

The decision to waive off interest on Cooperative and Land Development Bank loans to defaulters, coupled with a rebate of 2 per cent in the interest rate charged from those who returned their loans regularly, would cost the state about Rs 830 crore. When former Chief Minister Devi Lal had waived off bank loans in 1987, the cost of relief was merely Rs 26.77 crore. The government and the banks would share the burden equally. The benefit would be admissible to only those who would pay the principal amount by June 30, 2007. About 9.5 lakh families would be benefited. 

Karnal, February 26
A local resident, Kamaljeet Singh, is reportedly missing for the past three days from his residence in Old Ramesh Nagar of the town.

Smelling some foul play behind the incident of his disappearance, his wife Sandeep Kaur lodged an FIR with the police this morning.

Kamaljeet (30) is a taxi driver and is reportedly missing since February 23.

His wife Sandeep Kaur on that night he had gone out in his Indica car (HR-05-6124).

Ambala, February 26
BJP leader Ratan Lal Kataria today criticised the Railway budget for “ignoring” Haryana.

Mr Kataria said not a single announcement had been made for the state and the common people here were deeply disappointed with the budget.

He said Union Minister and Ambala MP Kumari Selja had made tall promises of having a direct rail link between Yamunanagar and Chandigarh via Naraingarh, but nothing had been done about it.

Mr Kataria said the bomb blasts on the Samjhauta Express had caused fear among train passengers. He said the Railway budget had failed to effectively address the safety and security concerns.

He said all railway stations must have metal detectors and X-ray machines.