|
|
|
|
Sonepat Seat
Setback to AC Chaudhary
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
Parties try to strike a chord with villagers
Jindal’s campaign gets a boost
Forgive, don’t forget, me: Swami
Deepender lists govt achievements
Draws flak from Batra
Power Shortage
Yamunanagar Detention Case
Time-bound disposal of cases before tribunals
HUDA Sites
Chemist shop raided, intoxicants seized
Man done to death by son
Notice to CBI
|
|
Sonepat Seat
Sonepat, April 27 Ever since 1977, when the Sonepat constituency came into being, only four women have so far contested the Lok Sabha elections from this seat. But none could make it to Parliament. Political parties have been reluctant to field women candidates from here. The Congress and the INLD were the only two parties which gave the ticket to women contestants in 1977 and 2004, respectively. The other two had contested elections as Independents. Sushila is the fifth woman contestant from this constituency who is challenging the patriarchal mindset. Speaking to The Tribune, she said she had associated herself with the Lok Swaraj Abhiyan launched by an NGO of Kurukshetra, which was working towards bringing a positive change by promoting individuals with clean image to contest elections. “The idea is to fight for the democratic rights of the common man which have been eluding him under the prevailing political scheme of the country. Until commoners come forward and assert themselves politically, nothing is going to change”, asserted Sushila, who has no political background except the fact that she is a member of the Zila Parishad. Being a woman, the issues related to the fair sex form the core of her election speeches that she delivers while campaigning in villages and urban areas alike. There are undoubtedly more women among her audience who assemble at her election meetings. She calls for a change that is aimed at women empowerment and curbing social evils like dowry and female foeticide. Besides, in order to counter the candidates of leading parties, Sushila also includes subjects like corruption, terrorism, atrocities on weaker sections of society, especially women, and the widening gap between the rich and the poor in her speeches and dose not fail to highlight these while interacting with the electorate. Though being a woman, she had to face some opposition from certain sections of society, who believe only men had the right to stay in the forefront, but she claims that her campaign was being received well by a large number of villagers who even expressed faith in her submissions. She said with the support being extended to her by the commoners, she was quite hopeful of winning the elections. |
|
Setback to AC Chaudhary
Chandigarh, April 27 Certain office-bearers of his own organisation, the Haryanvi Punjabi Welfare Sabha, today virtually revolted against him and rebutted point by point what he had been saying to give vent to his anger against the “betrayal” of the Punjabi community by the Congress. These office-bearers, led by senior vice-president of the sabha Parikshit Madan, held a meeting here and termed the Congress as a “party of all communities, which does not believe in caste politics.” Incidentally, Madan was nominated as working president of the sabha by Chaudhary himself, who is its president. Madan had quit the post of working president after Chaudhary spoke against the Congress. However, he continues to be its senior vice-president. After the meeting a joint statement was issued, which was signed, among others, by Chander Gupt Chaudhary (Karnal), Darshan Lal Dua (Ambala), Vinod Midha (Kaithal), Kuldeep Kakkar (Kurukshetra-Shahabad), Dr Ram Saran (Kurukshetra) and Manohan Lal Dhodha, municipal councillor of Kurukshetra. The statement, though did not mention Chaudhary, contradicted the minister’s claim that the Congress had not been fair to the Punjabis. It said the credentials of the Congress were proved by the fact that not only Manmohan Singh was made Prime Minister by it, but also it had projected him as the next incumbent also. Similarly, the Punjabi community in Haryana had full faith in the leadership of Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda. Haryana had never got a Chief Minister who was as pro-Punjabi as Hooda. These leaders said there were three Punjabi ministers in the Hooda Cabinet and two parliamentary secretaries. Important boards and corporations like the Haryana Pollution Control Board and the Haryana Agriculture Marketing Board were headed by Punjabis. One Information Commissioner was also a Punjabi. Even the Haryana Public Service Commission was headed by a member of the community. Among other important posts being held by the Punjabis, they said, were vice-chancellors of two universities and a large representation to the community in the office of the Advocate-General. Without naming Chaudhary, they said certain selfish elements were trying to vitiate the atmosphere of Haryana by indulging in caste politics. Appealing to the Punjabis to beware of such elements, they said, these elements were trying to mislead the community for their own interests. Madan also appealed to the community to vote for the Congress. |
|
|
Parties try to strike a chord with villagers
Teetu Khera (Sirsa), April 27 Long wait of scores of people,
including women and children, under the scorching sun ends as Abhey
Singh Chautala, main campaigner for the INLD nominee, comes out of a
vehicle and takes his seat on a sofa placed under a shamiana. A worker
from the village soon starts the announcement of names of villagers who
have donated money for the election and the individual contributions
range between Rs 51 and Rs 11,000 as per the capacity of the
villagers. The money, wrapped in an INLD flag cloth, is then handed
over to Abhey Singh. Then starts the address of Abhey Singh, which is
more of an interactive nature. Seated on the sofa, he starts asking
rates of atta, dal and sugar and then the state of water in their canals
and electricity to their tube wells and after getting a reply, he tries
to bring home his point that how this Congress government has
discriminated against the area. While appealing for votes for his
nominee Sita Ram, he does not forget to tell the villagers, many of them
Sikhs, that Congress nominee Ashok Tanwar is son-in-law of the late
Lalit Maken, who was responsible for “carnage of Sikhs” in
Delhi. Workers introduce Ramesh Kumar, sarpanch of Mangala village, to
Abhey Singh at the next village, Nanakpura, and it is announced that he
has quit the Congress after remaining with that party for over 15
years. However, once the cavalcade of INLD campaigners is gone, Ramesh
Kumar denies he has quit the ruling party and says he and the other
villagers are still watching both the parties and will make up their
mind soon. Campaigning in the Fatehabad assembly constituency, Congress
nominee Ashok Tanwar says he is amid local people due to the directions
of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi as a month ago he, too, had no inkling
of his contesting from Sirsa. He says he is here to seek votes on the
basis of the performance of the UPA government and the Hooda
government. In Mohamadpur Rohi village, the ancestral village of former
Chief Minister Bhajan Lal, Kuldeep Bishnoi addresses a gathering for his
nominee Rajinder Dhanak. His cousin and a parliamentary secretary in the
Hooda government, Dura Ram, also hails from this village. Bishnoi
launches a scathing attack on Dura Ram for “stabbing his benefactor in
the back” and seeks an assurance of support for Dhanak from voters of
his community. |
|
Jindal’s campaign gets a boost
Kaithal, April 27 Randeep Singh highlighted various development works carried out by the state government in various parts of the state. He said during the past four years of the Congress rule under the leadership of Bhupinder Singh Hooda, the state had witnessed unparallelled development in every sphere. The government launched various welfare schemes and benefits of these schemes had percolated to all sections of society, he added. He asked voters to vote in favour of Jindal. Shamsher Singh said the Congress at the Centre had taken the country ahead on the path of progress. He said despite recession, the situation in our country was under control as the Centre had taken effective steps to overcome the situation. He said a decision to waive farmers loan had provided much relief to the farming community, which was facing financial problems. He also highlighted various development projects completed at a cost of more than Rs 200 crore in this area. Jindal said he had served the people of this constituency during the past five years with dedication. He assured that if he voted to power, he would serve the people with more zeal. |
|
Forgive, don’t forget, me: Swami
Karnal, April 27 Aware of the fact that the people had not forgotten the past, Swami, who lost the Lok Sabha elections in 2004, has sent letters to people, making an emotional appeal to show magnanimity and forgive him for his shortcomings. The letter, printed in Hindi, is also being distributed to voters in crowded places and all family members of Swami, including grandchildren, are contacting people on the phone for seeking votes. Swami has also mentioned his achievements as Union Minister and as MP and claimed that all projects and developmental works for which the Congress was trying to take credit were started by him. Listing his achievements, he said sanctioning of two India Reserve Battalions (IRB) which provided jobs to 200 youth, the Rs 16,000 crore Panipat Refinery Project, construction of flyovers, bridges, the elevated Panipat highway, computerisation of railway bookings, stoppage of the Jan Shatabdi and the Sachkhand Express and the railway station at Naira were sanctioned during his tenure. He said no new project was sanctioned during the Congress regime and sitting MP Arvind Sharma was trying to take undue credit for works started during his term. |
|
Deepender lists govt achievements
Rewari, April 27 Addressing village-level meetings, he said during the past three and a half years, he had sincerely worked to develop the Rohtak constituency into a dynamic hub of academic, economic, commercial and other allied activities. Stating that the current Lok Sabha elections were an acid test of his performance, he hoped that the electorate, like a competent examiner, would give him a rich award to enable him to come out victorious. Lashing out at the opposition parties for their “negative” approach and politics of sheer expediency, Deepender enumerated the developmental projects like the power plant of Jhadli, the Hansi-Butana Link Canal, the Jahjjar-Rewari railway line and the second AIIMS in Badsa village in Jhajjar district which the Bhupinder Singh Hooda government had initiated to radically transform the entire region and thereby prominently raise the standard of living of the people of the region. |
|
Draws flak from Batra
Faridabad, April 27 Addressing a public meeting to garner support for the HJC (BL) nominee, Batra welcomed Chaudhary's support to the BSP nominee in Sonepat and the HJC(BL) nominee in Karnal. He said the alleged reports of his efforts to hobnob with the Congress leadership even while his party was yet to take a decision on his alleged resignation had confused the Punjabis. He maintained if Chaudhary was convinced that his party had ignored the Punjabis, there was no need for him to “cozy” towards it. |
|
Power Shortage
Barara, April 27 Thought agitated villagers tried to meet Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda at his rally in support of sitting MP Kumari Selja at Barara yesterday, they were not allowed to meet him. Around 10 villages, including Pinjarpur, Jaffarpur, Sardheri, Sherpur, Sulakhni and Aliyaspur, are affected by this problem. The problem is, however, more in the following villages---Duliana, Duliani, Dhanoura and Dhanouri. These villages have a population of around 14,000. “It is time to cut the crop and there is no electricity here. Even politicians are not concerned about our problems,” Narinder Sharma of Dulliana village said. Karnail Singh, a resident of Duliani village, rued: “We have no electricity in the evening and we have to send our children to neighbouring villages to study.” “I am unable to do farming as my tubewell never works,” Santan Singh of Chandigarh, who comes here for farming, said. The villagers said they had met the DC and the officials concerned in Chandigarh and Yamunanagar in this regard, but in vain. They alleged that when they approached politicians, they assured them that the work would be done after the elections. HPCC president Phool Chand Mulana, who is MLA from Mulana, said: “We are aware of this problem and will try to solve it soon.” |
|
Yamunanagar Detention Case
Chandigarh, April 27 Justice Rajan Gupta allowed the girl to accompany her mother-in-law from the court itself under security cover. Her custody case had come under the high court’s scanner after a relative had filed a habeas corpus petition. The petitioner had alleged assistant sub inspector-cum-chowki in charge of Bilaspur police station in Yamunanagar district Yashpal Singh had taken the girl in custody in violation of the court orders, and was subjecting her to physical torture. She was, rather, being forced to sever ties with her husband. Counsel had alleged the protection orders passed by the court were brought to the cop’s notice. Yet, the detainee was taken away. As the matter came up for hearing, state counsel referred to the girl’s statement recorded before a judicial magistrate on April 19, expressing her unwillingness to go to her parent’s house. Counsel said the girl had stated she wanted to live with her husband Naib Ahmad. The girl, lodged in Karnal nari niketan, was present in the court during the hearing. Her counsel referred to judgment in “Balwinder Singh alias Binder versus State of Punjab” case to contend the girl, despite being a minor, may be allowed to live in her matrimonial home. After taking on record the counsel’s submission, Justice Gupta ruled: “Under the circumstances, it is directed that the girl, who is present in the court, shall be allowed to accompany the mother of Naib Ahmad from the court itself. Both shall be provided adequate protection”. Fixing May 19 as the next date of hearing in the case, Justice Gupta gave time to the state counsel to file an additional affidavit clarifying the state’s stand on her detention. The Yamunanagar superintendent of police had earlier denied allegations of illegal detention. The petitioner, he had added, was an accused in an abduction and rape case and had filed the petition just to pressurise the police. |
|
Time-bound disposal of cases before tribunals
Chandigarh, April 27 The significant ruling comes on a petition filed against the Punjab and Sind Bank and other respondents by an “auction purchaser”. The petitioners’ grievance was that the matter was pending before the debt-recovery tribunal since May 2007 and the delay was causing grave prejudice to them. As such, it should be decided in a time-bound manner. Pronouncing the judgment in an open court, Justice Surya Kant asserted he was of the considered view it was not appropriate for the high court to issue a direction to the tribunal to decide a pending matter in a time-bound manner. The high court was neither aware of the total pendency before the tribunal, nor of the priorities to be given in the matter of disposal of pending cases. Moreover, every court had its own method of docket management. In its petition, Panchkula-based Ram Pal and Associates, along with other petitioners, had claimed they were “auction purchasers of secured assets of a guarantor, which had been disposed of”. The sale was confirmed in the petitioner’s favour way back in May 2007. But the borrowers submitted before the tribunal a plea, challenging the bank’s action. Interim stay against dispossession was also granted to them. After hearing the arguments in the matter and going through the documents, Justice Surya Kant further asserted even though the issuance of detailed directions to the tribunal for fixing a deadline in the matter were inappropriate in his view, there was apparently substance in the contention that the aggrieved person before the tribunal was not the guarantor, whose assets have been sold through auction. Disposing of the petition, Justice Surya Kant issued directions to the debt recovery tribunal-I, Chandigarh, to make efforts to decide the matter as early as possible, preferably before June 30. |
|
|
HUDA Sites
Chandigarh, April 27 Justice Surya Kant quashed the demand of penal interest as it was not in conformity with the terms and conditions stipulated in the allotment letters, the HUDA Act, and the relevant rules. Appearing for the petitioners, senior advocate Mohan Jain argued the order of resumption and demand of penal interest on delayed payments on commercial sites by HUDA was not sustainable. Such a demand could not be raised as long as the basic amenities for development of commercial sites such as roads, sewerage and electricity were not provided. The allotments of commercial sites was made between 1986 and 1988, yet the basic amenities were not provided till June, 1992, clear from local commissioner’s report. It was contended HUDA had assured all commercial operations from the residential premises would be stopped. But, no action was taken till the filing of writ petitions. Allowing the writ petitions, Justice Kant directed the authorities to recalculate the interest at the rate of 10 per cent from June 1992. |
|
|
Chemist shop raided, intoxicants seized
Sirsa, April 27 The police has arrested the shop owner, Rakesh Jindal, under Sections 8/21, 8/22 and 61/85 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act. “The authorities had received a complaint from Sangria (Rajasthan) Drug Inspector DS Uppal that Jindal had been supplying intoxicant drugs in his area. Following this, a team comprising the police, the local SDM and the drug-control authorities was constituted to raid the chemist,” said SK Goyal, Deputy Commissioner, Sirsa. He said the raids had revealed that the chemist had illicit trade of narcotics and his business was spread in neighbouring towns of Punjab and Rajasthan too. Senior Drug Control Officer Lal Chand Mittal, Drug Control Officer Raman Sheoran and DCO Rajnish Dhariwal raided two unlicensed godowns of the firm, Jindal Medicose, and found 139 cartons of medicines, which are usually taken by the youth for a kick. “We have sounded the authorities at Muktsar in Punjab as the firm has been found running an illegal godown in Kilianwali town of Punjab, which is a sort of twin town of Dabwali,” said Goyal. DCO, Sirsa, Rajnish Dhariwal said the drugs seized by the authorities included 61 brands of intoxicants and the authorities were still in the process of preparing the list of items seized by them. So huge was the quantity of drugs seized that the drug authorities today sought the services of SDCO, Karnal, Rajender Herna and DCO, Bhiwani, NK Goyal for assisting them in completing the legal formalities. |
|
Man done to death by son
Yamunanagar, April 27 His body has been sent for a post-mortem examination at the Civil Hospital. Police sources said the incident took place when Om Pal was sleeping in his field and his son Shakti came there and had heated arguments over the land. Following this, Shakti beat up his father with a stick and fled the spot. Brijpal, son of the deceased, in his complaint alleged that his father was killed by his brother Shakti. A case has been registered against Shakti. |
|
Notice to CBI
Chandigarh, April 27 In his petition before Justice Rajan Gupta, Setia asserted he had conducted the official investigations in the matter, which formed the basis for the FIR registered against two cops. He further submitted Sarita in the suicide note had attributed the commission of crime to two cops - head constable Balraj and constable Silak Ram. Taking up the matter, Justice Gupta also fixed May 1 as the next date of hearing in the
matter. |
|
|
| 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 | |
