|
|
|
|
Plot Allotment
Express Highways
Fall in line, Cong tells dissenters
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
Doyens’ slugfest in Hisar
Hansi-Butana Canal
Code violated
Extension of Election Commissioner okayed
Villagers threaten to boycott poll
Kapil bats for Chetan
Youth’s Death
Sadhu battered to death
Mystery shrouds teenager’s death
Protest over youth’s murder
Woman dies in roof collapse
Dera manager’s disappearance
|
|
Plot Allotment
Chandigarh, April 15 A Division Bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court today came down heavily on the inquiry officer and asked him to look into the matter before submitting a supplementary report. The Vigilance Bureau, Rohtak range, is already looking into the allotment of 68 plots to non-industrial workers in Panipat Sector 25. The matter was brought to the high court’s notice by trade union leader PP Kapoor. As it came up for hearing before the Bench of Chief Justice Tirath Singh Thakur and Justice Hemant Gupta, counsel for the petitioners, HC Arora, asserted the allottee in case of plot number 1376 was not an industrial worker, as found out by the inquiry officer. She was rather a political activist and vice-president of the INLD, apart from being an advocate. Arora said Phoolwati had even contested the Haryana Vidhan Sabha elections from the Samalkha constituency in 1991 and 1996, and was functioning as honorary general secretary of the Haryana State Council for Child Welfare at the time of applying for the plot. He also handed over certain documents to the inquiry officer in support of his contentions. Taking up the matter, the Bench observed in the open courtroom that the inquiry officer shall do well to look into the contentions and submit a supplementary report on the subject. The Bench also took on record the contentions of state counsel Randhir Singh. He informed the court that the report’s copy had been forwarded to the state government. Appropriate orders would be passed expeditiously, but not later than two months. The inquiry officer, DSP Sajjan Singh, has already recommended cancellation of plots to 34 individuals after observing that they were not falling within category of industrial workers. Criminal prosecution against 15 has also been recommended on the allegations of producing bogus certificates or resorting to other fraudulent practices. The matter will now come up for further hearing on July 6. |
|
Express Highways
Chandigarh, April 15 A Division Bench also directed expeditious completion of underpasses and foot-over bridges on the national highway from Delhi to Rajasthan, passing through Gurgaon. The ruling came on a petition filed by residents of six villages in Gurgaon district. The petitioners, belonging to Khandsa, Mohamadpur, Jharsa, Narsinghpur, Begumpur Khatola and another village, had contended six points within eight kilometers distance had been closed. The petitioners, Madan Pal and others, had also sought directions to the respondents to make suitable arrangements for opening the road crossings at these six points. Directions were also sought to the state of Haryana and other respondents to make provisions for under-path, flyover and T-junctions on the national highway. Taking up the petition, the Bench of Chief Justice Tirath Singh Thakur and Justice Hemant Gupta ruled: “The express highway has been provided to cater to the heavy traffic on NH 8. “The individual rights of the petitioners have to give way to larger public interest. Some inconvenience to the petitioners to go across the road by a shorter route is outweighed by larger public interest”. In its detailed order, the Bench asserted: “If large number of openings are provided -- as sought by the petitioners -- it would defeat the very object of building an express highway. The movement of the traffic at a high speed will, in fact, endanger lives of the pedestrians”. The Bench, however, took notice of the hardships to the residents and ruled these too were required to be mitigated, as expeditiously as possible. “We deem it appropriate to dispose of the writ petition with a direction to the respondents to immediately take steps for completion of the work of foot-over bridges and underpasses as early as possible,” the Bench asserted before parting with the orders. |
|
Fall in line, Cong tells dissenters
New Delhi, April 15 This comes close on the heels of resentment shown by Finance Minister Birender Singh, Urban Local Bodies Minister AC Chaudhary, besides two MLAs Karan Dalal and Mahender Pratap Singh over denial of the party ticket. Birender Singh met Congress chief Sonia Gandhi late last night and this morning and he told The Tribune, “I have explained my grievance and apprised her of certain facts and also the reasons why I should have been given the ticket from Sonepat”. Sonia is learnt to have told the Jat leader that “there should be no visible division within the party”. The meeting between the two is said to have lasted 20 minutes. Birender had blamed Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda for stonewalling his nomination. Meanwhile, the Faridabad leaders Urban Local Bodies Minister AC Chaudhary and two MLAs Karan Dalal and Mahender Pratap Singh have turned down offers of reconciliation and for supporting the official party nominee Avtar Singh Bhadana. There are also being asked to come around as they will also face the Assembly elections next year. Chaudhary had submitted his resignation from the Cabinet. It is yet to be accepted. Sources said the three had spurned efforts of Hooda to bring about a rapprochement. The three, during a meeting, made it clear that they would not work for Bhadana, a sitting MP. However, they have maintained their line of being “loyal soldiers of the Congress” and have offered to work for the party elsewhere. Asked about the developments, Chaudhary confirmed that he had made it clear that he was also answerable to his community — the Punjabis, who sought two seats but got none. |
|
41 more file nomination papers
Chandigarh, April 15 Prominent among them included Kumari Selja, Arvind Sharma and Jai Prakash of the Congress, Bhajan Lal and Kuldip Bishnoi of the Haryana Janhit Congress (BL) and Ajay Singh Chautala of the INLD. A maximum of nine candidates from Karnal filed their nomination papers followed by seven from the Bhiwani-Mahendragarh Lok Sabha constituency, four each from the Ambala, Faridabad, Kurukshetra and Hisar parliamentary constituencies, three each from Sonepat and Gurgaon, two from Sirsa and one from Rohtak today. The nine candidates who filed their nomination papers from the Karnal Lok Sabha constituency are Arvind Sharma and covering candidate Reeta Sharma of the Congress, Mange Ram and Pawan of the CPI, Rajiv Ahuja of the Samajwadi Party and Independents Sushil Kumar, Mukesh Kumar, Lal Singh and Shiv Prasad. In the Bhiwani-Mahendragarh Lok Sabha constituency, Ajay Singh Chautala of the INLD filed his nomination papers, whereas Naina Singh filed her papers as a covering candidate of the party. Those who filed papers as Independents from the same constituency are Mahabir Singh Yadav Engineer, Raj Kumar, Laxmi Narayan Asija, Suresh Kumar and Birender Singh. The four candidates who filed their nomination papers from Ambala (reserved) Lok Sabha constituency are Selja and covering candidate Nalin Singh of the Congress and Chander Pal and Nand Lal of the BSP. Similarly, the four Independent candidates who filed their nomination papers from the Kurukshetra Lok Sabha constituency are Subhash Mahendra, Yash Pal, Atam Prakash and Birender Singh. In the Hisar Lok Sabha constituency, Jai Prakash of the Congress, Bhajan Lal and covering candidate Kuldip of the Haryana Janhit Congress (BL) and Karan Singh of the Bharatiya Republican Party filed their nomination papers. The four candidates who filed their nomination papers from the Faridabad Lok Sabha constituency are Chetan Sharma and Anand Kant of the BSP, Lata Rani of the Samajwadi Party and Mukesh Kumar of the All-India Raksha Party. The three candidates who filed their nomination papers from Sonepat are Sukhbir Singh of the Rashtrawadi Congress Party, Harinder Singh of the Congress and Bijender Kumar who filed his nomination papers as an Independent. Three candidates also filed their nomination papers from Gurgaon as Independents. They are Vimla, Satish Yadav and Subedar Budh Ram. The two candidates who filed their nomination papers from the Sirsa (reserved) parliamentary constituency are Rajesh Kumar Vaid of the BSP and Swaran Singh of the Rashtriya Janhit Party. Nafe Singh Rathi of the INLD was the only candidate who filed his nomination papers from the Rohtak Lok Sabha constituency today. |
|
Hooda hits out at INLD, BJP
Karnal, April 15 The Congress tried to put up a united face with Hooda, HPCC president Phul Chand Mullana and chairman of the campaign committee Venod Sharma sharing the dais. However, HPCC working president Kuldeep Sharma, who had unsuccessfully contested against Arvind Sharma in the 2004 elections, was conspicuous by his absence. By joining Arvind Sharma at the time of filing of nomination papers, Hooda tried to dispel the general impression that he had “differences” with Arvind Sharma and sent a clear message to the party cadres that the party was united. Sharma, who had been a vocal critic of the government in the past, was accompanied by Sumita Singh, Meena Mandal and Raj Rani Punam, all sitting MLAs, at the time of filing of nominations while the Chief Minister joined him later. Blasting the INLD and BJP for forming an “unprincipled” alliance to grab power, the Chief Minister wondered how these parties, which had spit venom against each other till recently, had undergone a “change of heart” and again come together. Taking on the BJP, he said it remembered “Ram” only at the time of polls and forgot Him after the elections. The Ram of the BJP was not the Lord Rama, worshipped by people, but “kursi Ram” to get power, he said. Lauding the UPA and his own government for “spectacular” development, Hooda challenged the INLD-BJP to compare 40 years’ development in Haryana with his performance during the past four years. Taking credit for waiving of farmers’ loans, NREGA, remunerative returns to farmers and compensation at market rates with long-term stakes for farmers’ land acquired for developmental works, Hooda claimed that the power crisis would be over within two years. Maintaining that the power crisis was inherited by his government, he said the state’s own power generation was a meagre 1,587 MW during the past 40 years while his government was setting up half a dozen power plants to generate 5,000 MW. Once these plants started generation, Haryana would be surplus in power, he said. Addressing the rally, Venod Sharma tried to strike a chord with Punjabis and said Sikhs and Punjabis were the pride of Haryana and in case they had any grouse over the allocation of the ticket, it would be redressed in the future. Mullana also attacked the BJP-INLD and showered praise on Hooda government for development. Arvind Sharma also praised the Chief Minister for the developmental works and thanked him for his support. He assured the voters that he would continue to raise their issues. |
|
NDA will bring back black money, says Shekhawat
Bhiwani, April 15 Shekhawat was addressing a public meeting in favour of NDA candidate from the Bhiwani-Mahendergarh constituency, held at local Municipal Park here today. He said if NDA formed its government in Centre, it would not only brought back the Indian money deposited in foreign banks in shape of black money, but a new chapter of development of country would also be written. Senior BJP leader said the nation was passing through a serious situation and countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan were terrorising India. Referring the debate continued between Prime Minister Man Mohan Singh and Lal Krishan Advani for the past few days, he said it had only revealed the weakness of the Prime Minister. He said the Prime Minister was afraid of slip of his government in this election. Former Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh Shanta Kumar said the UPA government had been failed in removing the poverty from nation. He said only NDA government could fulfil the aspirations of the people. INLD supremo Om Prakash Chautala while lashing out at the Congress said the party was facing protest from inside. People were fed up of the Congress rule as it had committed several scams in the state. The Congress leaders were behaving like property dealers and officialdom had no check on it. Nothing has been done in the name of development in the state. NDA candidate from Bhiwani-Mahendergarh parliamentary constituency Ajay Singh Chautala said the wrong policies of the Congress had led to inflation, unemployment, terrorism and recession in the country. The country needed a strong leadership of LK Advani to come over these difficulties. |
|
Doyens’ slugfest in Hisar
Hisar, April 15 Former Chief Minister Bhajan Lal, contesting under the family banner of Haryana Janhit Congress (BL), is facing former Haryana Finance Minister Sampat Singh of the Indian National Lok Dal and Jai Parkash of the Congress who is making a bid to win the election from Hisar for the fourth time. Bhajan Lal and Sampat Singh are sworn political foes despite being neighbours in more than one way. The two are currently residing in Sector 15 here for over two decades. Their residences are located within 500 metres of each other. The duo has also represented neighbouring Adampur and Bhattu Kalan Assembly constituencies in the past. Yet, the two have never seen eye to eye. Bhajan Lal was the Chief Minister when Sampat Singh, then a political novice, fought his first Assembly election in 1980. The bitterness between the two peaked, however, in 1985 when Sampat Singh prepared a dossier on Bhajan Lal’s alleged accumulation of wealth which was presented to the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. Bhajan Lal became Chief Minister in 1991 again and lost no time in retaliating by slapping a case under the Prevention of Corruption Act against Sampat Singh which lingered on for years before the charges were dismissed. The mutual political hatred again manifested last year when they faced each other in the byelection from the Adampur assembly segment which Bhajan Lal won comfortably. As against this, Sampat Singh and Jai Parkash are both former protégés of the late Devi Lal. The two were launched in politics by the former Deputy Prime Minister. While Sampat Singh stuck to the state political arena and in time became a senior INLD leader, Jai Parkash was elected from Hisar in 1989 on the Janata Dal ticket and elevated as a Deputy Minister in the VP Singh Cabinet. The two parted company when Jai Parkash failed to build a rapport with Om Prakash Chautala and joined the late Bansi Lal’s Haryana Vikas Party on whose ticket he won from here in 1996. Jai Parkash went on to win again in 2004, this time as a Congress nominee. The political future of the trio hinges on the outcome of this election for each one is fighting for his political survival. If Bhajan Lal loses, that would be the end of his long political career spreading over more than four decades. Should Sampat Singh lose, it would be the third electoral defeat in a row since the 2005 Assembly polls. The ignominy of a hat-trick of defeats will cast serious doubts over his ability to pull off wins in the future. In so far as Jai Parkash is concerned, a defeat will leave him without a Lok Sabha constituency. The delimitation has already curbed his clout to a great extent as many Assembly segments of Jind district are no longer part of the Hisar Lok Sabha seat. Should he lose, he has to look elsewhere. So, this is a scenario in which the winner takes all. Literally, virtually, but not the least modestly for modesty was never the virtue of politicians thriving in the undulating sand dunes of this vast desert tract. |
|
Hansi-Butana Canal
Sirsa/Fatehabad, April 15 Congress nominee for the Sirsa (reserved) seat Ashok Tanwar today asked INLD supremo Om Prakash Chautala to make his party’s stand clear on the Hansi-Butana Link Canal and supply of water to South Haryana. Reacting to the statement of Sita Ram that Sirsa and Fatehabad areas would not get water for drinking purpose, what to speak of irrigation water, in case water started flowing in the newly constructed canal, Tanwar said the INLD should make its stand clear on this issue as Ajay Singh Chautala had been promising in the Bhiwani-Mahendragarh area that he would bring water in the canal, while Chuatala’s younger son Abhey Singh and Sita Ram had been speaking in a different tone in Sirsa. IYC president Sanjay Chhokar also rebutted Sita Ram’s assertions that Sirsa and Fatehabad had been discriminated against by the present regime and said Hooda was the only Chief Minister who had ensured the development of the state without discrimination against any areas. Earlier, Tanwar inaugurated his election office at Fatehabad in the morning. Meanwhile, Congress leaders of both Sirsa as well as Fatehabad are busy mobilising support for tomorrow’s rally to be addressed by Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, in charge for Haryana in the AICC Prithviraj Chauhan and HPCC president Phool Chand Mullana. Tanwar will also file his nomination papers tomorrow. Shilpa Verma, district president of the Haryana Pradesh Mahila Congress, toured villages with her workers, while DCC president Hoshiari Lal Sharma and Block Congress president Bhupesh Mehta also mobilised support for the rally.
|
|
|
Code violated
Karnal, April 15 Congress candidate from Karnal Arvind Sharma was already inside the office of RO with five persons for filing the nomination papers when the Chief Minister joined him. The police had effectively intervened and stopped the supporters of BJP-INLD candidate ID Swami from entering the RO office and scuffle was avoided but the same spirit and enthusiasm to check the ruling party members was clearly lacking. Meanwhile, an old man, Zila Singh, sprang a surprise when he climbed the stage and gave Rs 500 each to Chief Minister BS Hooda, Arvind Sharma and Phul Chand Mullana as “blessings”. The dignitaries returned the money saying that his blessings are sufficient and he should not offer money. |
|
Extension of Election Commissioner okayed
Chandigarh, April 15 The state Election Commissioner looks after the elections to urban civic bodies as well as Panchayati Raj Institutions. The state government a few days ago had written to the EC asking it if extension could be given to Chander Singh because it might not be possible to put a new incumbent in his place in view of the model code of conduct in force. The EC has told the state that Chander Singh can be given an extension for the maximum of six months or till the time a new state Election Commissioner is appointed, whichever is
earlier. Chander Singh, a former IAS officer of the 1973 batch, was appointed state Election Commissioner in 2004 when the INLD was in power. A state Election Commissioner enjoys the constitutional status and the procedure to remove is very tedious. |
|
|
Villagers threaten to boycott poll
Karnal, April 15 As a mark of protest, the villagers threatened to boycott the polls and declared that no political leader would be allowed to enter the village. The villagers were annoyed over “inaction” of the police in tracing a girl who was abducted from the village on March 30. The villagers, who had gone to the Gharaunda police station to enquire about the progress made by investigating agencies, rued that the missing girl had gone to meet her aunt in Ghronda was allegedly abducted by Paras, Reshma, Maheshwarlal, Pradeep, all residents of Panodi village, but no action had been taken against the accused even after the lapse of two weeks. The villagers alleged that the police misbehaved with them when they asked about the progress of the case and gheroed the police station. The police said the mob turned violent and started pelting stones and ASI Balbir Singh was injured. |
|
Kapil bats for Chetan
Faridabad, April 15 Kapil Dev accompanied Chetan Sharma at the time of the latter filing his nomination papers. Kapil Dev, however, stressed that he had no affiliation with any political party. He said he supported Chetan Sharma as he was a cricketer and a person of high dedication and
intergrity. |
|
Youth’s Death
Hisar, April 15 The youth was admitted to the nursing home with injuries sustained in a clash with his opponents a few days ago. He succumbed to his injuries late in the evening. Soon a mob collected at the nursing home. After ransacking the hospital, the miscreants set the furniture on fire. All patients admitted to various wards immediately left the nursing home in a huff. The mob then placed the body on the Dabra Chowk railway overbridge, disrupting traffic. Two motorcycles were snatched from passersby and set afire. The police rushed to the spot but the crowd demanded arrest of those responsible for assaulting the youth. Meanwhile, two representatives of the mob went to see Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda who was participating in a function near the Urban Estate crossing around midnight. Hooda assured them of suitable legal action following which the crowd dispersed. In the meanwhile, when fire engines were rushed to the nursing home to douse the fire, the mob resisted their approach. The fire engines returned and were later brought in again under police escort.
|
|
|
Sadhu battered to death
Panipat, April 15 The incident took place under the Asandh overbridge near the local railway station. According to the police, two sadhus were attacked by two persons who gave serious beating to them. The two were rushed to the Civil Hospital, where one of them succumbed to his injuries. The deceased was identified as Jeeta, alias Punjabi Baba, and the injured sadhu’s name was Dinesh. The police said a number of sadhus assemble here to consume intoxicants. Two persons approached these sadhus and asked them for some marijuana. On being refused, they got hold of a rod and attacked the two. A number of other sadhus were also present there, but none tried to save them from the wrath of the drug addicts, who immediately fled from the spot after beating them. The police has registered a case against unidentified persons and started investigation in this regard. |
|
Mystery shrouds teenager’s death
Yamunanagar, April 15 “Manga Ram did not have rivalry with anyone but the way he disappeared and found dead in the morning is a matter of investigation,” he added. “There are severe head injuries. However, after the postmortem the viscera of the deceased would be sent to the lab in Madhuban. After getting viscera report we would be able to find out the exact cause of the death,” said the police officials, who are investigating the matter. |
|
Protest over youth’s murder
Palwal, April 15 Neeraj was alleged to be shot dead on March 31. District Congress president Harinder Pal Sngh is one among half a dozen persons, who have been named in the FIR. The procession was led by a former working president of the Municipal Council, who is now a leader of the INLD. The agitators submiitted a memorandum to the Governor vide the office of the DC.They demanded arrest of the culprits. Earlier, they burnt an effigy of the Congress nominiee from Faridabad parliamentary constituency, Avtar Singh Bhadana and raised slogans against him. |
|
Woman dies in roof collapse
Yamunanagar, April 15 The police said the mishap took place as construction work was in progress on the top floor and due to heavy load, the roof of the house collapsed. Santlesh, who was doing household work, was buried under the debris and died on the spot. Meanwhile, eight students of a private school were injured, one of them seriously, when the bus carrying them collided with a tractor-trailer on the Buria road here today. The accident took place when the school bus, after carrying children from rural areas, was on the way to the school. The injured children were admitted to two private hospitals and were discharged after treatment, the police said. |
|
|
Dera manager’s disappearance Chandigarh, April 15 Justice MMS Bedi ordered the probe, while taking up the petition filed by Ram Kumar Bishnoi. The petitioner had, at one point of time, served the dera as manager along with Faqir Chand. Justice Bedi also asked CBI counsel Ajay Kaushik to submit to the court a report within three months. Seeking CBI probe, the petitioner had earlier referred to the confessional statement of Gobind Singh, the driver of the dera head. In his statement aired by the channel, Gobind Singh had alleged Faqir Chand was beaten to death at the instance of dera head Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh. The petitioner also submitted a number of representations to the police and the CBI for registration of a criminal case against the dera head. The counsel for the petitioner had argued due to enormous influence and clout of the dera head, Haryana police had not even registered a case on the complaints made by Ram Kumar Bishnoi. As such, there were little prospects for a fair investigation. Policy on pipelines The high court wants Haryana to formulate policy for laying underground pipelines through public land. The Bench of Chief Justice Tirath Singh Thakur and Justice Hemant Gupta observed: Undisputedly, large number of individuals are making requests for laying underground pipelines through public land. Therefore, the state government is well advised to prepare a policy and prescribe conditions for grant of permission for laying underground pipelines through public property.
|
|
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
