Rohtak, May 15
The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has decided to launch a multi-dimensional campaign against Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC) chief and suspended Bhiwani MP Kuldeep Bishnoi for his “irresponsible and defamatory” outbursts against the BSP leadership.

A decision to this effect was taken at a special meeting of the party’s state executive held here today.

The meeting was attended by BSP general secretary and in charge of party’s Haryana affairs Maan Singh Manheda, state president Prakash Bharti and state general secretaries Raj Kumar Sharma and Sanjeev Bhardwaj.

“As part of the campaign, BSP workers all over the state will burn Bishnoi’s effigies, besides making people aware about his propaganda,” said Sharma, BSP candidate for the Rohtak Lok Sabha seat, while talking to The Tribune after the meeting.

The BSP state leadership categorically stated at the meeting that the party had no pact with the HJC, nor was it desirous of having one.

The meeting condemned certain personal remarks reportedly made by Bishnoi about BSP chief Mayawati.

“Apart from these objectionable remarks, Bishnoi had also accused the BSP general secretary of selling party tickets,” said Sharma, adding that the HJC chief would be sued for defamation for levelling such unfounded allegations.

The meeting decided that BSP office-bearers in all 20 districts of Haryana will file defamation cases against Bishnoi.

It was also decided that BSP workers will go to all three assembly constituencies where byelections are to be held on May 22 to counter Bishnoi’s “misinformation campaign” about the party.

Sharma said Bishnoi was trying to give an impression at his poll meetings that he had some sort of agreement with the BSP.

“Our workers will go to the people of these constituencies and clarify that we have no pact with HJC,” he added.

Gohana, May 15
The Gohana assembly segment witnessed a clash of titans with Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and his predecessors Om Prakash Chautala and Bhajan Lal visiting the constituency to seek votes for their respective candidates.

While Hooda and Bhajan Lal campaigned in the constituency today, Chautala toured different villages falling under the segment yesterday.

Though Bhajan Lal confined his speech to gather people’s support in the bypoll, the other two made scathing attacks against each other.

Describing Chautala as the biggest liar, Hooda challenged him to disclose how much funds he got released for the development of the constituency during his six-year-long tenure.

Addressing election meetings at Kheri Damkan, Bidhal, Jasrana, Gumana, Katwal, Bali, Sikandarpur Majra, Bhainswan and Moi villages in favour of Congress nominee Jagbir Malik, the Chief Minister asserted that he had got Rs 157 crore released and sanctioned for several developmental schemes in the area during the past two years.

He said now, Chautala should tell how many schemes he had sanctioned for the development of Gohana area during six years of his tenure and how much funds were released for development.

Hooda urged the people to compare the developmental works undertaken during the past three years with the previous works.

“By making this comparison, you will get to know yourself who is your well-wisher and who is misleading you,” he maintained.

Hooda observed that Bhajan Lal was no less than Chautala in misleading the people and harming their interests.

“Both of them have done politics of loot and falsehood,” he alleged, adding that his regime had done much for the betterment of the farmers and weaker sections in particular and people in general.

On the other hand, Chautala said during his election tour that Hooda had been misleading people by making hollow claims of development.

Launching a pointed attack at the Chief Minister, he said only the INLD knew how to rein in the bureaucracy for efficient and effective implementation of government plans. He sought votes and support for his party candidate Dr K.C. Bangar.

Another former CM, Bhajan Lal, also addressed an electoral meeting at Gohana today, besides attending several tea parties at the houses of his supporters.

He, however, did not make any personal attacks on anybody and appealed to the people to support Haryana Janhit Congress candidate Dharmpal Malik in the bypoll.

Chandigarh, May 15
It’s vacation time in Haryana though the schools are yet to close. Polls are taking their toll on regular departmental working and bureaucrats are making hay while the election sun is shining in the state.

While the political bosses sweat and slug it out as they woo the voters in the byelections in Indri, Gohana and Adampur slated for May 22, the bureaucrats are chilling out in the comfort of their air-conditioned rooms or just dropping in for a few hours. Lunch breaks are happening early and ending late for the officers.

For them, everyday work boils down to clearing routine files, holding one-odd meeting and hopping from room to room to call on fellow colleagues to catch up on the latest.

“All this is only half a day’s work and everyday we can’t be holding meetings also. There are no major policy decisions or schemes in the offing in view of the model code. We can only do spade work and be ready for the post-election period,” an officer quipped.

Even after all this, there’s enough time to spare. So, they are using the opportunity to plan their summer vacation.

“We need to keep ourselves gainfully occupied during these lean weeks. A number of officers are away for election duty. There’s hardly anything happening around. We use the time to discuss the byelections. Instead of playing nine holes, golf-obsessed officers are doing 18 holes a day, some are watching movies and still others are spending quality time with families since such situations are few and far between,” an officer claims.

He justifies that since work is not suffering, they should be at least at liberty to decide their day even if it is outside their office rooms despite being during office hours.

The usually bustling-with-activity corridors of the Haryana secretariat, the dhoti-kurta-pagri clad visitors cooling their heels outside rooms of the powers that be are all conspicuous by their absence.

Since the Chief Minister and his ministers are all away, the number of people visiting the secretariat, too, has gone down.

Though the public has nothing to do with the officers occupying rooms in the secretariat, most of them visit the building only to meet the ministers from all over the state. However, with nobody available, they are down to a trickle, a employee remarked.

While the result of the byelections is still uncertain, their conclusion will certainly bring activity back to corridors of power.

Karnal, May 15
Rajya Sabha MP Tarlochan Singh today accused the Hooda government of adopting an “anti-Punjabi-speaking-community attitude” in the state.

Talking to The Tribune here today, he said the state government had failed to introduce Punjabi as the second language.

He said the previous Chautala government had passed a resolution in the assembly in this regard, but even after three years the present regime had preferred not to implement it. He was here to canvass for INLD candidate for the Indri bypoll Ashok Kashyap.

Tarlochan Singh said since the formation of Haryana in 1966, the Punjabi-speaking community had made a significant contribution to the development of the state, but it had always been ignored by the respective Congress governments.

He alleged that the Hooda government had intentionally ignored a novel scheme of the centre to popularise Punjabi and other languages.

He claimed that the centre offered 100 per cent grants for language teachers, but despite his repeated representations, the state government had failed to even apply for the same.

“Even in a state like Himachal Pradesh where there are few Punjabis, the government has appointed 100 Punjabi teachers and got the financial assistance. However, the Haryana government has ignored the issue due to petty political gains,” he added.

Having a dig at the Haryana government, he said it was a matter of concern that it had written to the centre to dissolve the Haryana Public Service Commission, which was a statutory body.

“Such a move should be opposed as it will set a wrong precedent of a legal body being dissolved at the whims of politicians,” he added.

Kaithal, May 15
Two persons were killed while two others were seriously injured in a clash between two groups on the Jind bypass here today.

The injured were taken to the local general hospital from where they were referred to the PGI, Chandigarh.

According to reports, the clash, in which firearms, swords and bricks were freely used, occurred over the issue of right to run a private computer centre located near Pehowa Chowk here.

There was an exchange of hot words following which one group dared the other to face it at the Jind bypass, where they got violent.

The crowd dispersed when the police reached the spot. One of the deceased, Anil Pahalwan, a resident of Manas village in the district, was a former president of the Kaithal district unit of the Indian National Students Organisation.

The other deceased has been identified as Vikram, alias Bikka, of Balu village. Those injured are Dilbagh of Sangatpura and Jitender of Kaithal.

SP Anil Kumar Rao said a case under sections 302, 307, 147 and 148 of the IPC had been registered and 15 persons had been rounded up so far for interrogation.

He said preliminary investigation showed that there was no rivalry in the past between the groups.

He said while the deceased were from opposite groups, both injured persons were from the same group. Rao refuted reports that it was a clash between two groups of students.

Yamunanagar, May 15
Small towns like Yamunanagar and Jagadhri are better places to work than rural areas. In towns, the living standards are better, more facilities are available and, of course, there is a chance to make some extra bucks by providing tuitions.

More than 200 teachers of government schools falling in rural areas of the district have applied to the local office of the education department for transfer to urban areas.

The government has extended the date of request of transfers to May 19 from May 10. Sources said teachers of rural areas wanted to shift as most of them were residents of towns. A posting in the town would save them from travelling to and fro to the school.

Another lure for urban posting is more allowance. Urban teachers get higher allowances than their rural counterparts. A teacher in a rural area gets half the HRA than those working in towns.

In fact, teachers’ unions are demanding allowances to rural teachers on the pattern of Punjab where teachers working in rural areas get higher allowances than their urban counterparts. Teachers said in Punjab rural teachers were getting 6 per cent more allowances.

Urban areas have another attraction - tuitions. Scores of teachers are providing tuitions after schools and earning handsome amounts each month. Some of the teachers who have requested for transfers to urban schools acknowledged that tuitions were one of the reasons for their request for urban postings.

During previous years, it was observed that teachers who were here on outstation postings had requested for going back to their home districts and the department had obliged about 200 of them. This time, only around 10 teachers have applied for transfer to their home districts.

However, sources said getting a transfer was not easy in view of strict transfer policy. Besides, guest teachers had been appointed and the department had assured the guest teachers that they would not be affected if regular teachers wanted their postings, said sources.

Jind, May 15
The district witnessed two traffic blockades today on different issues. The movement of traffic on the main road here came to an abrupt halt after hundreds of residents of Ghatuali village staged a sit-in protest outside the camp office of the deputy commissioner demanding immediate closure of the liquor vend in the village.

The villagers, who came to the spot in tractor-trolleys, alleged that the police had been shielding the persons who had assaulted and injured two residents of the village a few days ago.

The victims identified as Virender and Chander were allegedly beaten up by some goons hired by the local liquor contractor after they had opposed the sale of spurious liquor from there. The police, they claimed, had neither booked a proper case nor arrested any of the accused.

According to one of the protesters, the situation turned ugly after the villagers, who had come to apprise the deputy commissioner of the problem, were subject to misbehavior and ill-treatment by the staff posted at the camp office and they were forced to stage a dharna on the road to get the grievance redressed.

However, intervention by former minister and senior Congress leader Kulbir Singh Malik saved the authorities from further embarrassment, as his presence led to a peaceful end to the blockade after some time, said police sources.

The SP and SDM assured that all accused involved in the case would be arrested soon and the liquor vend would be closed down from tomorrow.

The villagers also sought the transfer or suspension of the SHO of Julana for his role in the matter. Malik supported this demand and asked the SP to take proper action.

The villagers threatened to block the national highway after two days if their demands were not met.

Meanwhile, activists of the left front organisations, including the CPM and Kisan Sabha, blocked the rail track at the city railway station here today in protest against the alleged failure of the government to check the price rise.

The protesters squatted on the railway track, which led to the delay in the arrival of 3 JPR passenger train connecting Jind with Panipat.

The blockade ended after the activists met the station master and submitted a memorandum addressed to the Prime Minister.

Rohtak, May 15
The Haryana Scheduled Castes (Block A) Forum has demanded that the recommendations of the Justice Usha Mehra Commission be implemented in the entire country.

The forum has maintained that in accordance with the Justice Mehra panel report submitted in context of Andhra Pradesh, the classification among the Scheduled Castes must be enforced in all other states of the country.

Talking to The Tribune here yesterday, secretary general-cum-spokesman of the forum M.L. Sarwan said a meeting of the SC-A Block was organised today under the chairmanship of Swami Dayanand.

“The meeting urged the Prime Minister, UPA chairperson and leader of the opposition in Lok Sabha to ensure the enforcement of classification among the Scheduled Castes,” he said.

The forum has further demanded that Article 341 of the Constitution be amended to make provision for classification among SCs so that the benefits of the reservation policy could reach the deserving persons.

“It is only thus that Article 16 (4) of the Constitution can be implemented in letter and spirit,” the forum added.

Pointing out that the national and state-level leaders belonging to the creamy layer had been opposing the government and court moves to keep the creamy layer out of reservation benefits, the forum warned such leaders against such tactics.

“Such leaders should act in the larger interest of society instead of pursuing their own vested interests,” Sarwan said, adding that if the politicians did not pay heed to this advice, they would be taught a lesson in the ensuing elections.

Secretary to vice-chancellor, U.S. Dalal, has been given charge of finance officer.

Yamunanagar, May 15
The nurse, who was allegedly gang-raped on May 6, here today alleged that she was living in a state of terror. She said there was a threat to her life.

Accompanied by her lawyer, the nurse held a press conference at the Brahman dharamshala in Jagadhri this evening and alleged that she was beaten up by cops at the police station on May 11, the day she had torn off her kurta.

She claimed that she was staying in her house only. She also countered the claim of Haryana women commission’s chairperson Sushila Sharma that her house was locked.

Sharma had claimed that she had gone to meet the nurse but there was a lock on her house.

The nurse also alleged that her relatives were being pressurised by the police. According to her, the police wanted her to withdraw the case.

Regarding the tearing off her kurta, she said the police was not cooperating and she lost her temper and tore off the kurta.

Sonepat, May 15
Four persons, including three members of a family, were killed when the car they were travelling in collided with a canter after skidding on the GT road near Ethnic India tourist complex, Rai, late last night.

The victims have been identified as Shyam Khanna, his wife Shivani Khanna and son Chatanya, residents of Kamla Nagar in Delhi, and the driver of the car, Kumbhakar.

The accident took place while the members of the family were returning to Delhi from Shimla.

While Shyam Khanna, Shivani and Kumbhakar died on the spot, Chatanya succumbed to his injuries on his way to the local Civil Hospital.

Sonepat, May 15
Taking exception to the statement of Dharam Pal Singh Malik, Haryana Janhit Congress candidate from the Gohana assembly constituency, that he was offered a post of cabinet minister for deserting former Chief Minister Bhajan Lal, Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, while addressing an election rally in Bidhal, the native village of Malik, today said Malik was telling a lie.

At the meeting, Anil Shastri, son of a former MP, the late Kapil Dev Shastri, joined the Congress.

The Chief Minister was offered purse of lakhs of rupees at every election meeting, but he returned the amount, saying that “Aap note nahin vote dijiye, hum aapko vikas denge” (give us votes, not money, and we will give you development).

Sirsa, May 15
The CPM and the CPI raised issues of public interest in separate agitations today. Members of the CPM, led by district secretary Raj Kumar Shekupuria, held a protest.

They raised slogans against the Congress-led UPA government at the centre for “failing” to rein in inflation.

Flaying the government, Shekupuria held the “ill-conceived and narrow-minded” policies of the government responsible for the spiralling prices of essential commodities.

The CPM activists demanded an immediate ban on commodity exchange. They also sought distribution of cereals and other eatables through the public distribution scheme.

Meanwhile, a deputation of the CPI, led by district secretary Jai Chand, handed over a memorandum to the district authorities to be forwarded to the state government.

The memorandum urged the government to ensure smooth supply of water and power to farmers during the current season of sowing cotton.

They also sought early release of compensation to the farmers who lost their crops to a spate of fire incidents, which hit the district recently.

Fatehabad, May 15
Classical and vernacular (C and V) teachers of the state are agitated over the “stepmotherly treatment” being given to them in the matter of pay scales.

The C and V teachers organised a demonstration here today and submitted a memorandum addressed to the Chief Minister to deputy commissioner O. P. Sheoran.

Sukhbir Sharma, president of the Haryana Rajkiye Kala Adhyapak Sangh, said while addressing the agitating teachers that the C and V teachers of the state had been discriminated against in the matter of their salaries.

He said C and V teachers, Hindi/ Punjabi teachers and Sanskrit teachers possessed similar qualifications of matriculation and a diploma.

Rather, the diploma course of C and V teachers was of two years’ duration while that of others was of one year, he added.

He said in 1996 all three categories of teachers enjoyed a pay scale of Rs 125-250 but during subsequent pay revisions, the C and V teachers were given a raw deal.

At present while Hindi/ Punjabi teachers and Sanskrit teachers enjoyed a pay scale of Rs 5500-9000, C and V teachers were being given a scale of Rs 4500- 7000.

He said in the neighbouring states of Punjab and Himachal Pradesh, C and V teachers were being given scales higher than those of JBT teachers but in Haryana they were being treated on a par with JBT teachers.

He said their association had demanded the removal of pay anomalies and a pay scale of Rs 5500-9000.

Chandigarh, May 15
Claiming success of its “night domination exercise” held two days ago, the Haryana police today announced that such exercises would be conducted twice a month.

Director-general of police Ranjiv Dalal had asked all range IGs, 21 SPs and other senior officers to patrol their respective areas.

These were held on on May 13 between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m. and nakas were set up to apprehend criminals.