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Jallopur gives its 100 pc
Khanpur scores big zero
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3 villages say no to votes in Jind
She died waiting for justice
Information on land release
HCS controversy heading for CBI probe
Voters brave heat to assert their democratic right
AGE NO DETERRENT: Mansa Devi (104) shows her indelible ink mark after casting vote at a polling booth in Garhi Birbal in
Karnal district on Thursday. Tribune photo:
Many failed to cast votes, others simply don’t
Narrow escape for Bhadana
They returned home disappointed
67.8 pc voting in Ambala
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Jallopur gives its 100 pc
Ratia, May 7 If the election booth became a virtual hang out for the village youth who didn’t let the election zing fizzle out all day, the village elders were not ones to be left behind. Shanti Devi (95), mother of sarpanch Mange Ram Godhara, repeatedly prodded her grandsons to take her to the polling booth. “My son has brought about this awakening in the village that every voter must vote and I am feeling left out. They took me to the booth but brought me back because of the morning rush. My health doesn’t permit me to stay out for long. I am a regular voter but this election is special,” she said. A frail figure hardly able to stand on her feet, 100-year-old Ramo Bai reached the venue on a motorcycle, sandwiched between her son and grandson. “The village has decided to give its 100 per cent to voting this year. I am not going to play spoilsport,” she said after casting her vote. Standing by its commitment of 100 per cent polling, announced by the gram panchayat, Jallopur polled 1,012 of its 1,278 votes by the time the clock struck 5 pm. “Everybody in the village has voted. The only ones who got left out are those who have migrated to other states for employment. Our interest was to ensure that those in the village don’t skip voting for any routine reason and we have been successful,” says sarpanch Godara who initiated this experiment. And, poll boycotts are a big no in the village. Like a youngster in the crowd said, “Our vote is our remote control. If we press the button now, we will have the option of pressurising our leaders when the need arises. Votes are the only language politicians understand.”
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Khanpur scores big zero
Kaithal, May 7 “Why should we vote and for whom should we vote? Since the delimitation, we have represented to almost everybody from the local MLA to the Chief Minister. Our only demand of being a part of Kaithal and not Gulha remains unaddressed. We need to do something drastic to be heard and this was the only option before us,” says Ramesh Kumar on behalf of the villagers gathered at the village chaupal. While the lock to the polling booth was opened a couple of hours later after a DSP’s visit and remained open throughout the day, the villagers could not be convinced to exercise their right to vote. While election observer Jagdish C Sharma tried to placate them, explaining that their protest had been taken note of and that they should now vote, the villagers, raising slogans of “grameen ekta zindabad” refused to soften their stand. “We have decided to boycott elections and this is final. We will not participate in the panchayat, the Vidhan Sabha or the Lok Sabha election till our demand is met. Does the Delimitation Commission even realise the inconvenience caused by cutting us off from Kaithal,” said Satyavan. Maintaining that this was the only time to exert pressure, the villagers were unanimous in their opinion that even if one vote from the village is cast, their stance would get diluted. “It is very nice that such a big man has come to hear us out. We welcome you but can’t vote at your instance,” they told the observer. He visited the village to “ensure” that the villagers were not acting under pressure. At the end of the day, the total tally of votes from Khanpur stood at zero.
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3 villages say no to votes in Jind
Jind, May 7 The voters remained unmoved despite efforts by the candidates of the various parties to persuade them to cast their vote. While Jind, Safidon and Julana are included in the Sonepat seat, the segments of Narwana and Uchana fall under the Sirsa and Hisar seats, respectively. The villages where not a single voter turned up included Kamaskhera, Ramraikhera and Jhanjkalan. Only a single vote was polled in other two villages - Jhanjkhurd and Barodi. These villages come under the Sonepat parliamentary seat after the delimitation. As per the details, while the residents of Kamaskhera had been demanding adequate supply of drinking water, the voters of Jhanjkalan had been dissatisfied with the irrigation water arrangements. It may be recalled that a protest had been staged at a recent election meeting at Julana town of the district, when the locals resorted to hooting and did not allow the local MLA to address the public meeting. The district election officials admitted that voting had been adversely affected in five villages due to boycott of the polling today. |
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She died waiting for justice
Pancchi/Samalkha, May 7 Mother of two, Alka had alleged that she had been gang-raped by five persons in August 2006. But, it was on June 20, 2008, that the police registered a case in this regard. The case was registered by the Samalkha police under various Sections against five persons on the recommendations of the district police chief. But till date no arrests had been made in the case. According the records available with the police, Alka had filed a complaint alleging that she had been gang-raped by a group of men, one of whom was known to her father, when she was visiting her parents in Shastri Nagar in Samalkha. She had stated that one Ranbir Singh, who worked as a peon in the school in which her father taught, offered her lift in a car that belonged to one Jitender of Karhans village. The two allegedly placed a piece of cloth on her mouth following which she fell unconscious. As she regained her conscious she found herself at an unidentified room where Ranbir and Jitender, along with Sunny of Karhans village and Kesa of Shehrmalpur village and another unidentified person, raped her. According to the statements given by her to the police, the five persons had also made a video of her that was later used by them to blackmail her. She had told the police that she somehow had managed to give the accused a slip and reached the National Highway-1 near Karhans village. From there she went to her parent’s house. After registration of the case, the police started investigating the matter and the SHO, Samalkha police station, was appointed as the investigating officer to look into the matter. According to sources, the officer found many discrepancies in Alka’s statement and concluded that allegations against the five persons were false. Family refuses to take body
Rohtak: The incident of suicide by the rape victim, Alka (24), took a new turn today when her family refused to take custody of the body in protest against the alleged police inaction. They announced that they would not do so till the police arrest all five accused. The body was lying in the mortuary of the PGIMS here till the report was filed. Meanwhile, the condition of Sunil, husband of the victim, has been stated to be improving. He had also consumed poison along with his wife here yesterday. |
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Information
on land release
Chandigarh, May 7 The Bench had asserted: “It will also be appreciated if the notifications and the orders of release are also compiled and furnished to this court”.
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HCS controversy heading for CBI probe
Chandigarh, May 7 As the matter came up before Chief Justice Tirath Singh Thakur and Justice Hemant Gupta, petitioner Karan Singh Dalal’s counsel-cum-former Advocate-General Mohan Jain said irregularities were patent from a bare perusal of answersheets of the selected candidates. The Bench went through the answersheets of a candidate, Kuldhir Singh; and indicated at handing over the matter to the CBI. Appearing on behalf of some selected candidates, Punjab Advocate-General Hardev Singh Mattewal also agreed for the probe. The Bench directed counsel for the parties to come out with points on which, reference could be made to the CBI.
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Voters brave heat to assert their democratic right
Karnal, May 7 The polling was brisk in urban areas in the morning but it picked up in the rural areas as the day advanced and nearly 40 per cent electorate had cast their votes by 2 pm. Women voters were more enthusiastic in rural areas and long queues of women voters, displaying their photo I-cards were seen at many polling booths in Assandh, Gharaunda, Nilokheri, Panipat (rural) and Samalakha areas. The women and aged voters braved the scorching sun to assert their democratic but the attendance of youth at the polling booth was comparatively thin. However, some older people who did cast their vote were said that they had just performed the ritual as nothing changes irrespective of the fact that you vote for. The voting pattern was almost similar in different parts of the constituency and almost all assembly segments recorded above 65 per cent polling at the close of the day. As per the data provided by election department, 68 per cent polling was recorded in Nilokheri followed by Assandh and Israna (67 per cent), Samalakha, Gharaunda and Panipat Rural (65 per cent), Indri (64 per cent), Panipat Urban (60 per cent) and Karnal (58 per cent). A 104-year-old woman, Mansi Devi of Gari Birbal village in Indiri reached the polling booth without any support to cast her vote. She said that she had been regularly casting her vote but could not remember how many times she had exercised her franchise in Lok Sabha or assembly polls. Villagers register negative voting
Karnal: While the crucial question of making a provision for “negative voting” is still being debated, residents of Bairsal village of Karnal district today asserted their right “not to cast” their votes in the teeth of stiff resistance from the police to express their resentment against the politicians of all hues. The residents, under the banner of “Nishan”, a voluntary organisation reached the polling station to cast negative vote but were driven out by the police which maintained that it was not a legally valid option. The village revolutionary vigilance committee confronted the police and asserted that no voter could be forced to cast his or her vote and after consultations with senor officers, the Bairsal voters were allowed to register their negative vote after identifying themselves and giving in writing to the presiding officer under Section 49 of election rules that they don’t want to vote. Gurinder Singh, leader of the committee, identified 22 negative voters who gave in writing to the presiding officers that they were not casting their votes as “politicians never ask or bother about them”. |
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Many failed to cast votes, others simply don’t
Gurgaon, May 7 According to the tentative figures of polling provided by the Returning Officer of the constituency, the maximum (about 69 per cent) polling was held in the Patoudi Assembly segment, while the minimum (about 51 per cent) was recorded in the Gurgaon Assembly segment. The Bawal segment recorded approximately 61 per cent polling, Rewari 60 per cent, Badshahpur 57 per cent, Sohna 64 per cent, Nuh 60 per cent, Ferozepur Jhirka 57 per cent and Punhana recorded nearly 60 per cent polling today. As indicated by the figures, nearly half voters of the Gurgaon Assembly segment did not cast their vote. While many of them simply did not bother to exercise their franchise due to sheer indifference towards the poll process, there were many others who couldn’t cast their votes as their names were missing from the voters’ lists. A number of residents of DLF and Sushant Lok areas raised slogans against the state government and district administration after they found their names struck off the rolls on reaching their respective polling stations in the morning. Sanjay Mehta of Sushant Lok complained that he was living in Gurgaon since 1998 and had been casting his vote ever since, but his name was missing from the voters’ list this time. P.K. Bhatia, a member of the Residents Welfare Association, Sushant Lok, and Dr Vikesh Sabharwal, another local resident, alleged that a major chunk of the electors had been left out from the voters’ lists and demanded a repoll. On being contacted for comments, Gurgaon Deputy Commissioner-cum-District Returning Officer Deepti Umashankar said from the complaints she could get inquired into, it was found that probably the names were deleted before the final publication of January, 2008. She said that during 2008, the draft publication of voters’ list was done on January 25, July 18 and it was finally published in August, 2008. “After this, draft publication was again carried out in October, 2008, and its final publication was done on January 22, 2009,” she said, adding that copies of this finally published voters list were provided to the representatives of all political parties and RWAs in the district. The claims and objections received were got verified and during that period, the names of voters who applied on Form-6 to the Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) were added to the list, she maintained. “Even after the final publication on January 22, 2009, the names of as many as 13,013 new voters were added in Gurgaon and this process continued till April 8, 2009,” she pointed out. The DC asserted that the voters who desired to get their names registered in the electoral rolls could apply after the present election process is over and their names would be added after verification by ERO. If any demand comes, special camps can be organized in some areas for this purpose, she added.
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Narrow escape for Bhadana
Faridabad, May 7 According to the official estimate assessed at the time of making this dispatch, about 55 per cent polling took place in this constituency. Bhadana and his motorcade were surrounded by irate residents of Nangal Jat village in the Hathin assembly segment when he reached there on a complaint to him by his polling agent. No sooner than Bhadana entered the village the residents flared up. He got the narrow escape when irate residents pelt stones on his car. |
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They returned home disappointed
Rewari, May 7 A bank employee, Baljit Singh and his wife, residents of Kosli, who have their voter identity cards, could not cast their votes today as their names were missing from the voters’ list. Similarly, some other voters of Berli
Khurd, Mastapur, Tehna, Musepur and Jatusana villages of the Kosli segment, too, could not exercise their franchise because of non-existence of their names in the respective voters’ lists. |
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67.8 pc voting in Ambala
Ambala, May 7 In Ambala City around 15 voters protested after finding their names missing from the voters’ list. In Panchkula, and Mullana cases were reported where candidates had their name in the voters’ list but wanted to use voting their ration cards, they were, however, not permitted to do so. In Panchkula district six cases of EVM’s not functioning properly were reported and polling was delayed up to half an hour. A few across the constituency chose to boycott the elections. In Kalka the shopkeepers boycotted in protest of the recent demolition of their shops. |
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Sonepat 64 %
Sonepat: Amidst reports of boycott by five villages in two assembly constituencies in Jind district and a few incidents of alleged manhandling, the polling for the fourth phase of Lok Sabha elections concluded peacefully in this parliamentary constituency of the state.
According to the official figures, 63.17 per cent of voters in nine assembly segments of parliamentary constituency cast their votes. The Safidon assembly constituency registered the highest 67 per cent polling while the lowest was registered at Julana assembly constituency, which was 55 per cent. Meanwhile, in Jhajjar barring few instances of heated exchanges between the polling agents of different parties, the polling process completed peacefully . With nearly 65 polling percentage here, the fate of all 16 candidates for the Rohtak parliamentry constituency was sealed today.
Bhiwani 65 %
Bhiwani: Except a few minor scuffles at two or three booths in Bhiwani, the polling ended peacefully. According to the election office average 65 percent polling was registered in the Bhiwani-Mahendergarh seat. During noon, all polling booths registered a slow polling but after 2 pm, voters started coming out of their homes.
At a booth setup in Tiberewala auditorium, polling agents of different parties were seen indulged in exchange of hot words. However, no untoward incident was reported from anywhere. NDA candidate Ajay Singh Chautala could not cast his vote today. His name is registered in Sirsa city and since he was campaigning in Bhiwani and Mahendergarh district today he found unable to move to Sirsa to cast his vote.
Hisar 64 %
Hisar: Polling passed off peacefully in the fiercely contested Hisar Lok Sabha constituency. Despite apprehensions of clashes in several sensitive areas, no violence was reported from anywhere in the constituency.
Official sources put the provisional poll percentage for the constituency at 64 per cent. This has surprised candidates who were expecting a low turn out because of heat wave and general indifference of the voters towards the election. The fall in daytime temperature today was cited as a major reason. The maximum temperature recorded today was 40 degrees. Polling began briskly in the early hours. Small queues were seen outside several polling booths in Hisar by the time the polling process began. In most cases, voters reached the booths even before the polling agents had turned up. The candidates and their family members were amongst the first to cast their votes.
Rohtak 62 %
Rohtak: Around 62 per cent voters cast their votes in the Rohtak parliamentary seat today. The polling remained peaceful and no incident of violence or protest was reported from any of the nine assembly segments. The highest turnout was reported from Meham segment where 70 per cent votes were polled.
The least turnout was in the Bahadurgarh seat which stands at 60 percent. The second spot in matter of polling percentage went to Garhi- Sampla- Kiloi segment with 69 per cent, while 68 per cent of the voters came out to exercise their franchise in Kalanaur, Jhajjar and Beri assembly constituencies. Badli reported 66 percent and Rohtak segment had about 65 percentage. The newly included segment of Kosli registered 64 percent of the polling percentage.
Sirsa 67 %
Sirsa: Nearly 67 per cent polling was reported in the Sirsa parliamentary seat, where AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi’s confident Ashok Tanwar is locked in an electoral battle against Sita Ram of the INLD, Rajinder Dhanak of the HJC, Rajesh Vaid of the BSP, Ram Kumar of the CPM besides 10 others.
Polling started at a sedate note in most of the polling booths in the morning but picked momentum as the day progressed. According to tentative figures given by the election office here, the Rania assembly segment was on the top with 75 per cent polling. INLD candidate Sita Ram was among the first to cast his vote at 7 am in his native village Chautala. In a polling booth in Sirsa, a 90-year old and infirm woman Ram Pyari was brought to the polling booth on shoulders.. A large number of first-time voters also exercised their voting right today. |
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Karnal, May 7
