Sonepat, May 3
Even as electioneering in the state is set to end in the next two days, the presence of BJP star campaigner Narendra Modi today added fervour to the election scene in the state.

Campaigning for BJP-INLD candidates at Ambala, Kaithal and Sonepat, Modi used his typical style to woo voters by highlighting the “shortcomings” of the Congress and the Prime Minister.

Garnering support for BJP candidate from the Sonepat seat Kishan Singh Sangwan, the Gujarat Chief Minister called upon the people to displace the Congress and elect a more able government at the Centre.

Striking a chord with the local people, Modi said he had an old association with Haryana as he had worked for the “sangathan” here during his earlier days.

The Gujarat Chief Minister said the Congress lacked the political will to tackle the problems being faced by the country and the state as it was interested only in vote politics. He condemned the state government over power shortage and unavailability of job opportunities for the youth here.

Kishan Singh Sangwan said the “NDA hurricane” would uproot the Congress, not only in the state but also at the Centre.

Meanwhile, addressing a massive INLD-BJP rally in support of Ashok Arora in Kaithal in the Kurukshetra parliamentary constituency, Modi gave a clarion call to the people to elect a strong leader who could end terrorism and ensure security of the country.

The flamboyant BJP leader launched a blistering attack on the UPA government and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for “abject failure” to utilise the opportunity thrown by the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks to finish terrorism in the country “once and for all”.

The entire world community stood behind India and Pakistan was completely isolated after the Mumbai attacks but the “inept” UPA leadership let the “golden opportunity” go waste and now the country was under Taliban threat, he said, amid cheers from the people.

Targeting the Prime Minister, Modi said Manmohan Singh claimed to be a leader of the Sikhs but had chosen to remain a mute spectator to the atrocities being committed on Sikhs by the Taliban in Pakistan. “Sikhs are being forced to pay jazia and hundreds of Sikhs are coming to India for refuge but there is neither sympathy nor support for these hapless persons from the government,” he lamented.

He accused Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar of neglecting farmers and showing more interest in cricket.

Meanwhile, addressing a rally in support of BJP-INLD candidate Rattan Lal Kataria in Ambala today, Modi asked the Prime Minister to stop writing “love letters” to Pakistan and bring the guilty in the Mumbai terror attacks to book.

In his 25-minute speech, Modi lambasted the Congress and the Third Front.

Modi said it was strange that the Human Rights Commission had not said anything about the Sikhs suffering in Pakistan.

Referring to Sonia Gandhi, Rahul and Priyanka as “SRP”, he said only the trio were harping on Manmohan Singh becoming the next Prime Minister. “Neither Sharad Pawar, nor Pranab Mukerjee or any other leader has backed Manmohan Singh as the next PM,” he said.

Calling the Third Front opportunist, Modi said various fronts were being formed to control this front and nobody knew who were part of it.

— With inputs from Manish Sirhindi in Sonepat, Bhanu P Lohumi & Satish Seth in Kaithal and Amrita Dhaliwal in Ambala 

Chandigarh, May 3
The lid over the Congress infighting came off rather unceremoniously today in Mahenderagarh where workers of two factions virtually came to blows at a rally to muster support for party candidate Shruti Choudhry.

Tension between local MLA Rao Dan Singh and Minister of State Kiran Choudhry, Shruti’s mother, had been brewing for some time with supporters of the latter alleging that the former was working against party interests.

Today, at the first rally of Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda in the Bhiwani-Mahenderagarh seat, the mood for the programme was set when Rao Dan Singh got up to speak and was hooted down by the crowd. However, Choudhry intervened and urged her supporters to maintain peace and allow him to speak.

Later, when she got up to address the crowd, sources said the MLA’s supporters tried to hoot her down too. At this she reportedly said on stage that the supporters of the MLA were “intentionally” trying to disrupt the rally. Sources said Rao Dan Singh, too, reacted, asking her to explain how she had leveled such allegations and an argument ensued between the two.

While this was on, the supporters of Choudhry and the local MLA came to blows even as they raised slogans in favour of their respective leaders and the police had to step in to control the crowd. Also, some supporters of both leaders climbed on to the dais, where the leaders and the Chief Minister were seated.

In the resulting commotion, Satish Yadav, a Choudhry supporter alleged that the MLA slapped him and even tore his clothes for which he had even submitted a complaint to the police.

Sources said the drama went on for nearly 20 minutes after which, the Chief Minister, witness to the goings-on, got up to speak and sought votes for Shruti to wrap up the rally.

However, the police sources said a clash was averted though a slogan-shouting war between the two groups was witness at the police lines, the venue of the rally. MLA Rao Dan Singh was not available for comments.

Kurukshetra, May 3
The Jats in this parliamentary constituency (post delimitation) could turn out to be the deciding factor on who wins at the hustings. Though this seat was earlier regarded as the safest bet for the Congress, the relentless wooing of the Jats by INLD supremo Om Prakash Chautala has ensured that the going will not be easy for Congress candidate Naveen Jindal.

Chautala has been campaigning here relentlessly for his party candidate and state unit president Ashok Arora. Seeking forgiveness from his Jat voters, he has been pleading that he has learnt his lesson and that they (voters) should now forgive and support him.

“You were angry with me and my party, so you ensured that we lost the Lok Sabha and the Vidhan Sabha elections from here. Let us put the past behind. We need your support so that we can serve you better,” he has been saying at various election meetings here.

This humility is finding quite a few takers among the Jat community. However, many are still apprehensive about supporting him. Fateh Singh Fatwa, a prominent Jat and farmers’ leader from Kharad Pandov village sums up the Jat voters’ mood by saying that many still believe that he was an autocratic Chief Minister and once back in power, he would return to his old ways.

“People have not forgotten how he handled the farmers’ agitation at Kandela. However, the fact that he is now seeking forgiveness is getting him support from the Jat community,” he says.

Says Balwan, a Jat from Kaelrum village, “Both Chautala and Hooda are now regarded as Jat leaders here. However, people have to decide whether they want to ride the new Hero Honda (referring to new Jat leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda) or the old Royal Enfield (referring to Chautala)”.

Kaithal and Kalayat, which are now part of the Kurukshetra parliamentary constituency, have traditionally been a Chautala stronghold. However, during the 2004 parliamentary elections and the Assembly elections in 2005, Jats had given their mandate to Congress candidates. 

It was after almost four decades that a Congress MLA was elected from Kalayat, which had earlier always returned a candidate supported by the Chautalas. Having suffered a huge dent on its vote bank here, the INLD is now leaving no stone unturned to win over the Jats here, reminding them of the old-age pension, widow pension and other social welfare schemes initiated by the party during its rule in the state from 2000-2005.

According to rough estimates, there are almost 2.65 lakh Jat voters in this constituency, which also includes Sikh Jats. No wonder that Congress candidate Naveen Jindal is feeling the heat and has asked Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda to campaign for him in the Jat-dominated areas.

The latter, too, has put his weight behind Jindal and has held several election meetings here, promising more development for people here.

Karnal, May 3
The Karnal police today solved the mystery behind the threat letter to kill Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim and arrested a woman and her son in this connection.

The letter threatening to eliminate the dera chief within in a month, purported to be written by one Navdeep Singh, was received at Kambopur Satsang Bhawan near Madhuban on April 28 and a case under Section 506 of the IPC was registered on the complaint of the inmates.

The police said the investigation team arrested Gagandeep Singh of Rajivpuram on the Karnal-Phusgarh road, who confessed that he had sent the letter to create trouble for Navdeep Singh, against whom he was harbouring “ill-will and animosity”.

He also confessed that the handwriting in the letter in Punjabi script was of his mother Poonam Lata, working as nurse in local Amritdhara Hospital, who had also been arrested, the police said.

Gagandeep also reportedly told the police that he had earlier written to the SSP, Karnal, that Navdeep Singh had stored arms and explosives at his residence and might create trouble during the elections and also sent threatening letters to dera at some other places.

The police said the accused had deliberately given the name and mobile number of Navdeep Singh in the letter to mislead the investigating agencies and to point the needle of suspicion towards him. The letters were sent to 12 deras in Punjab and Haryana, the police added.

Gagandeep was sent to two-day police custody while his mother was sent to jail.

Gurgaon, May 3
On March 7 this year, Rahul Anand, 19, a resident of Delhi and student of a hotel management institute here, was passing through Gurgaon on the National Highway No. 8 in his car. On the toll expressway, he saw a pedestrian crossing the road. He tried to save the pedestrian, but in the attempt, his car rammed into a water tanker watering the plants sown on the median of the toll road.

Nobody came to the boy’s rescue for half and hour. Then, a passerby volunteered to take him to the hospital, but he could not be saved.

For record sake, Rahul was the 93rd victim of the Gurgaon Toll Expressway. The expressway, which was opened for public early last year, has claimed as many as 101 lives in just over a year.

“However, no concrete steps have been taken to check the death toll till date,” said Rahul’s father KS Anand, who has been running from pillar to post to ensure that no more lives are lost on this road.

Addressing a news conference here today, Anand maintained that on being apprised of the matter, the local police and the administrative authorities directed officials of DSC Ltd (the firm which has been engaged by the NHAI to maintain the road) to take immediate steps to ensure the safety of commuters.

“Still, the officials of the company failed to do the needful, let alone the question of making any special safety arrangements, they are not following even the basic safety measures, which is mandatory for them,” said Sunil Arora, the chairman of the Air Cargo Agents Association of India and friend of the victim’s father.

Having faced disappointment from all quarters and peeved at the “callous” attitude of the concessionaire, Anand finally knocked at the door of the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

Anand’s counsel Pankaj Sharma , who was also present at the press conference, said High Court Chief Justice TS Thakur had admitted their public interest litigation (PIL) and issued a notice to the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) in this regard. The next date of hearing has been fixed for July 21, he added. 

Kurukshetra, May 3
The district police have arrested three persons under Sections 364 A, 323, 506 and 341 of the IPC for allegedly kidnapping, criminally intimidating and wrongfully restraining Bharat Chawla of Shahbad for ransom.

District police chief K V Ramana said here today the persons, who were arrested on a tip off, had been identified as Sandeep, alias Lota, a resident of Buhawi village and Ashwani Kumar, alias Tillu and Vinod Kumar, both residents of Shahbad Markanda.

Ramana said during interrogation, admitting their crime, they told the police that they, along with their fourth accomplice Gurdarshan, a resident of Dhanaura Jattan village in district Ambala, as per their plan, forcibly abducted Bharat, alias Vikki, on April 24, beat him up and demanded ransom.

On this, Bharat Chawala’s servant Avtar had brought a ransom of Rs one lakh at Jandheri turning point and they had released Bharat after getting the ransom and threatened them not to disclose this incident to anybody else.

Meanwhile, the police has recovered two motorcycles used in the crime from their possession, added Ramana.

The trio was produced in the local court here today and was remanded to judicial lock-up for 14 days.

Sirsa, May 3
The annual prize distribution function of the JCD College of Engineering was held here today. Varinder Sahni, Vice-Chancellor of the Sant Longowal College of Engineering, Longowal, a deemed university, was the chief guest on this occasion.

Kuldeep Singh Dhindsa, director-general of the JCD Vidyapeeth, presided over the function. A myriad of cultural activities were presented on this occasion of which giddha drew special applause.

Sahni gave away prizes to 75 students for excelling in the fields of academics, sports and extracurricular activities. Speaking on this occasion, Sahni exhorted students to excel in education and extracurricular activities in order to stay afloat in today’s competitive world.

Dhindsa highlighted the facilities provided in the colleges associated with the JCD Vidyapeeth that were aimed at producing better human resources.

Jhajjar, May 3
Here is good news for political outfits which wish to appoint pradhan, sarpanch or members of gram panchayat as an election, polling and counting agent on behalf of their candidates for the remaining fourth and fifth phases of the Lok Sabha poll.

The Election Commission of India (ECI) has clarified that pradhan, sarpanch or member of any gram panchayat can become the polling agent of any candidate as these persons can not be counted in the group of the state ministers, sitting MPs, MLAs and MLCs.

Sumit Mukherjee, under secretary of the ECI, has recently sent a communiqué in this regard to the Chief Electoral Officers (CEOs) of all state and union territories. The CEOs have also been asked to bring the clarification to the notice of all political parties and candidates in state concerned so that the political parties could chalk out their poll strategy accordingly.

Sources said after coming out the ECI directives for banning minister, sitting MPs, MLAs and MLCs or any other person with security cover from performing the duty of any sort of poll agent, some political outfits had raised a question before the ECI that whether pradhan, sarpanch or members of the gram panchayat could be appointed as election/polling/counting agents of the candidates.

It may be recalled here that the ECI had prohibited minister/sitting MPs / MLAs/ MLCs, etc., acting as an agent of a candidate saying that these persons would not be desirable from the point of view of maintaining level-playing field among candidates and political parties.

Besides, the prohibition of being election/polling/counting agent would also apply to the mayor of the corporation and chairman of the municipality, the ECI had maintained.