Chandigarh, March 16
Om Prakash Chautala’s worst fears have come true. The fear of heckling by his adversaries had kept him away from the assembly for two years. He turned up at the ongoing budget session but has been forced to beat a temporary retreat. The INLD boss did not turn up in the assembly yesterday. He was absent today also.

Chautala, according to INLD deputy leader Sushil Indora, was on a visit to Mewat yesterday to find out the extent of damage caused to crops by the recent rain and hailstorm. “The atmosphere inside the assembly is also not conducive for him”, lamented Indora and his legislature party colleague Sita Ram.

On Monday, when the discussion on the budget proposals is slated to take off, the INLD supremo is expected to show up in the house again and likely to be greeted with a fresh attack.Tejinder Pal Singh Mann, Independent MLA from Pai, against whom a police case was filed during the last regime headed by Chautala, and Anand Singh Dangi, Chautala’s old foe from Meham, who was arrested by the INLD government in connection with an alleged land scam, stand out as those having a grudge against Chautala but have not been able to vent their anger against him as yet.

It was Karan Singh Dalal, Congress MLA from Palwal, and Randeep Singh Surjewala, Chautala’s electoral rival from the Narwana constituency, who were largely engaged in Chautala bashing when he was present in the house on Monday and Tuesday.

Both Dalal and Surjewala had a tough time under the Chautala regime as police cases - a la Chautala recipe for teaching a lesson to his rivals - were registered against them. Yesterday, Dalal, while a discussion on the electricity sector was going on in the house, said when in power the heat generated by Chautala’s arrogance could run a medium-sized turbine.

It is not known whether BJP legislature party leader Ram Kumar Gautam was also roughed up during the Chautala regime. Gautam, in any case, loves to have a go at Chautala. The Independent MLAs as well as the lone members of the BSP and the NCP have also shown a strong antipathy toward the former Haryana Chief Minister.

Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda is careful not to offend Chautala by making any uncharitable comment. He just kept smiling when his colleagues were pulling up the INLD boss mercilessly during the two days Chautala came to the house.

Speaker Raghubir Singh Kadiyan corrected Chautala’s pronunciation the other day, which made the latter lose his famous temper. “It is not chaupan (fifty-four), it is chau-an”, ruled the Speaker. Chautala snapped and snarled and finally left the house with his associates. The former Chief Minister had on many occasions hit his rivals below the belt in the last assembly. This time he is getting a dose of his own medicine from every nook and corner of the assembly.

Chandigarh, March 16
Ram Prakash, Haryana Congress working president and close associate of Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, is all set to be elected to the Rajya Sabha seat from the state left vacant by INLD member Sumitra Mahajan's death.

Ram Prakash, a former Fulbright scholar and Unesco Fellow, filed his nomination papers at the Haryana Assembly here today in the company of Chief Minister Hooda, parliamentary affairs minister Randeep Singh Surjewala and other Congress leaders.

Given the huge majority the Congress enjoys in the Haryana house, Ram Prakash's election is a foregone conclusion. Challenge to Ram Prakash's candidature from any other party is unlikely and he is expected to be declared elected unopposed on March 22, one day after the last date of withdrawal of nominations.

He will have a one-year term in the Rajya Sabha as Mahajan's tenure was to end next year. However, it is widely believed that Hooda will ensure that Ram Prakash is re-elected to the seat for a full six-year period.

Hooda, who presented a bouquet to Ram Prakash in the presence of presspersons, said Haryana as well as the country would gain from Ram Prakash's election to the Upper House.

Phool Chand Mullana, Education Minister, said the dalit and backward class population of Haryana would be indebted to Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and Chief Minister Hooda for choosing a backward class person for the Rajya Sabha seat.

The 10 MLAs who proposed Ram Prakash's name included the Chief Minister himself, parliamentary affairs minister Surjewala and Deputy Chief Minister Chander Mohan. 

Chandigarh, March 16
Marriage palaces, banquet halls and lawns used for holding marriages and other functions will now attract a cess in Haryana, which will be used to provide civic amenites.

This was announced by Haryana finance minister Birender Singh while presenting the Budget estimates for 2007-08 before the Assembly here today.

To encourage the conservation of power, Birender Singh said tax on compact fluorescent lamps (CFL) and other energy-saving devices would be reduced.

However,he did not elaborate the exact quantum of the cess on marriage palaces or that of relief in tax on energy-saving devices. He later told newsmen that the detailed proposals in this regard would be worked out later in consultation with an Empowered Committee of the Ministers.

Presenting his third Budget in a row, Birender Singh said the next year's Budget was likely to open with a deficit of Rs 33.48 crore and to close with a deficit of Rs 6.86 crore with the year's account surplus of Rs 26.62 crore.

He said the annual plan outlay was proposed at Rs 5,300 crore. Of this, the power sector would be allocated Rs 844 crore, irrigation Rs 718 crore, roads and transport Rs 505 crore and water supply and sanitation Rs 632 crore. For other social sector programmes, the allocation would be Rs 1,963 crore, including Rs 730 crore for education, industrial training, technical education; Rs 580 crore for social justice and empowerment; Rs 155 crore for women and child development; Rs 116 crore for health; and Rs 100 crore for the welfare of SCs and BCs.

He said the revenue receipts were estimated at Rs 17,917 crore while revenue expenditure was expected to be Rs 16,768.55 crore, showing a revenue surplus of Rs 1,148.80 crore during 2007-08.

Birender Singh said it had been decided to reduce the passenger tax from 60 per cent to 25 per cent.However, this would not reduce the cost of travelling in public transport because the basic fare would be increased proportionately. Hence , there would not be any change in the total fare payable by the passengers.

He said the neighbouring states had been objecting to the high incidence of passenger tax in Haryana.This was also acting as an obstacle in getting more inter-state operations for Haryana Roadways.

He said the growth rate on constant prices was a healthy 10.67 per cent. He said despite wide-ranging relief granted to various segments of the society,VAT collection had recorded an increase of 21 per cent up to January this year as compared to collections during the corresponding period last year.

He elaborated the initiatives which the state government was taking to meet the power shortage.

Birender Singh said as against the Budget of merely Rs 9,840 crore for 2003-04, the Budget estimates for 2007-08 amounted to Rs 17,917 crore, showing an increase of 50 per cent.

He said the contribution of the primary sector in the GSDP had become 23.3 per cent in 2005-06,whereas secondary and tertiary sectors contibuted 32.4 per cent and 44.3 per cent as against 31.9 per cent, 30 per cent and 38.1 per cent, respectively, in 1999-2000. He said the gradual increase in the share of the services sector was a healthy sign for the state's economy.

The finance minister said the plan allocation for 2006-07 had been enhanced by Rs 785 crore from Rs 3,300 crore. This had been possible due to better fiscal management, which had also been appreciated by the Planning Commission."Keeping in view our prudent fiscal management, the 11th Plan for the state had been approved at Rs 35,000 crore, which was more than the combined outlay of all seven Five-Year Plans implemented since the formation of Haryana in 1966.

When asked why he had not made any provision to compensate the loss of the Local Area Development Tax(LADT),which had been quashed by the Punjab and Haryana High Court, Birender Singh clarified that the case was referred back by the Supreme Court to the High Court.Now the matter would again go to the apex court and meanwhile the collection of LADT would continue.