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INLD-BJP alliance in doldrums
Sirsa defeat a severe blow to INLD
Yamunanagar District
Focus shifts to Cabinet formation |
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People have reposed faith in Cong policies: Surjewala
Jind proves tricky for Cong
Hisar power project ahead of schedule
Labourers’ Death
Akal Academy to reopen today
Domestic Violence
SHO commits suicide
Freedom fighter cremated
Admn gets tough against manual scavenging
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INLD-BJP alliance in doldrums
Hisar, May 17 The tie-up, in fact, had proved stillborn as it was never accepted by the cadres of the two parties. During the Lok Sabha poll, grassroots workers of both parties opposed each other’s candidates. As it turned out, the alliance proved counter-productive, facilitating the defeat of alliance candidates throughout the state. As of now, the two parties lie in tatters, their political standing taking a huge beating. Both have witnessed fall in their vote share, making the Bahujan Samaj Party a bigger vote catcher in Haryana than the alliance together. The INLD is the bigger loser of the two. It has never wrested political power in Haryana without the BJP ever since the political tie-ups with the BJP began during the heyday of the late Devi Lal. Left to itself, the INLD had, till the days of Devi Lal, an upper hand in about 20 seats. This influence too has shrunk considerably with the advent of the Hooda clan in the Jat heartland. The Chautalas do not have much choice either. Other than the BJP, there is no party it can align with. The BSP is the INLD’s natural adversary as it commands support among those sections of society which traditionally oppose the Jats. Any tie-up with the HJC is likewise an impossibility for the same reasons. The BJP is not better placed either. It has always been a catalyst for victory of the INLD and its earlier avatars. By itself it can at best hope to win an odd seat here or there which too seems a remote possibility considering the pro-Congress and pro-Hooda atmosphere in the state at present. Its mass base has shrunk over the years. There is no leader who enjoys support all over the state. After licking the dust now, it will find it extremely difficult to revive its political fortunes. The only viable option it has been left with is a tie-up with Kuldeep Bishnoi’s Haryana Janhit Congress. However, given the present trend, it is unlikely that such a tie-up would matter much in the next Assembly poll due soon. Theoretically, it could also tie-up with the BSP. But whether the BSP would be able to repeat its performance in the Assembly poll too, is a moot question. The next few months will see political realignments in Haryana. Till that happens, both the INLD and the BJP have to contend with political wilderness. |
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Sirsa defeat a severe blow to INLD
Sirsa, May 17 Besides being Chautala’s home district, Sirsa and Fatehabad districts, which form part of the Sirsa parliamentary seat, have been supporting him even during his worst periods. Even at the time of almost a total rout in the state during the 2005 Assembly elections, Sirsa district returned three MLAs of the INLD in the total five seats. While former Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala himself won from Rori, Sushil Indora and Sita Ram were returned from the Ellenabad (reserved) and the Dabwali (reserved) seats, respectively. Fatehabad district also gave an MLA to Chautala from Ratia (reserved), where Gian Chand Odh of his party was elected. Of the nine INLD MLAs in the state Assembly today, four came from areas falling under the Sirsa parliamentary seat. With the Assembly elections in the state less than seven months away, that too if Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda was to oblige his opponents by not going in for early elections and ride the nationwide bonhomie in favour of the UPA after the results, Chautala and his party will have to do a lot of introspection to find reasons for his party’s defeat from his stronghold. Having entered into an alliance with the BJP just before the parliamentary poll to make a bid to wrest power in Haryana after the Assembly elections, Sirsa’s defeat has dealt a bigger blow to the INLD than the rout in the rest of the state has done. Of the eight Assembly seats falling under Sirsa and Fatehabad districts, the INLD has lost in six of these; it could only manage a slender lead of 318 in Kalanwali and 1279 votes in Ellenabad. Surprisingly, INLD candidate Sita Ram lost to Congress’ Ashok Tanwar in Dabwali, which he has been representing in the state Assembly for two consecutive terms now. Dabwali has now been opened to general candidates after the delimitation and Chautala is likely to contest from here during the coming Assembly poll. Rania, a newly carved out constituency of the district, from where Chautala’s younger son Abhey Singh is likely to contest, gave INLD a “beating” of 5,292 votes. Chautala’s younger brother and Deputy Chairman of the State Planning Board Ranjit Singh has been working in Rania and he aspires to contest from here on the Congress ticket. Ratia, where the INLD’s Gian Chand won in 2005 elections, too gave a “beating” of 11,173 votes to the INLD nominee. Among other Assembly seats of these two districts, Sita Ram was defeated by 12,931 votes from the Sirsa Assembly seat, 10,744 from Fatehabad and 8,680 votes from Tohana. |
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Yamunanagar District
Yamunanagar, May 17 Central minister Kumari Selja emerged as winner from the Ambala constituency. However, BSP candidate Chander Pal secured the first position in the Sadhaura Assembly segment defeating Congress and BJP candidates, the second position in Jagadhri and also managed to score significant number of votes in the urban belt of Yamunanagar segment. The results of the district may have wide implication in the Assembly elections, which are expected to be held this year. In the Sadhaura Assembly segment, BSP candidate Chander Pal was polled 40,425 votes, BJP-INLD candidate Rattan Lal Kataria 36,215 votes and Kumari Selja 33,140 votes. In the Jagadhri Assembly segment, Selja was polled 36,878 votes, Chander Pal 32,630 votes and Rattan Lal Kataria 30,092 votes. While in the Yamunanagar assembly segment, BJP-INLD candidate Rattan Lal Kataria was polled 32,383 votes, Kumari Selja 32,067 votes while Chander Pal 15,981 votes. The much credit of the BSP’s significant gain was attributed to former MLA Akram Khan, who had recently joined the BSP after leaving the INLD. He has a large impact on the Muslim community and Gujjars in many areas of the district, including Chhachhroli, Khijrabad, Sadhaura and Yamunanagar. Akram Khan’s father was elected MLA in 1987 and 1991 on the Congress ticket while Akram became an MLA in 1996 as an Independent candidate. Besides, he suffered defeat in 2000 as Independent and in 2005 as the INLD candidate in the Assembly elections. However, he had managed to secure his intact vote bank.
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Focus shifts to Cabinet formation
Chandigarh, May 17 This confidence does not come merely from the numbers alone but from the fact that the state had two ministerial berths to its credit in the previous term of the government as well. Re-elected from the Gurgaon and Ambala seats, respectively, Rao Inderjeet Singh and Selja are more than just “seasoned politicians” who have been “in the chair” for all five years of the UPA rule. Though they sailed through the 2004 election given the Congress wave in the country, this election was a different ball game. They were two ministers stuck in similar situations in their respective constituencies. Rao Inderjeet Singh, initially a Union Minister of state for External Affairs and later Defence, faced a much-changed constituency profile following delimitation in which Ahir dominated areas went to the Bhiwani-Mahendrgarh seat. Similarly, for Selja, who held the charge of Union State Minister for Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation, a new Yamunanagar pocket was added to the Ambala seat. However, this was no issue at all given what lay ahead as the campaigning progressed. The Congress infighting unfolded in a big way with some local MLAs working against the party candidates who were left on their own to fight the electoral battle, adding to the “tough” status of the two seats. Further, countering the BSP was another battle on another front and in Gurgaon BSP’s Zakir Hussain was almost being considered a front-runner. Ambala is a reserved seat where the BSP was playing troublemaker for Selja. However, both the ministers handled their “troubles and troublemakers” well to emerge victorious and retain their seats. In Gurgaon, Rao Inderjeet Singh’s clean image weighed heavily against all odds to help him come out with flying colours and with a comfortable margin of over 84,000 votes. In Ambala, despite opposition from within the party, Selja took the bull by the horns to triumph. This win, though with a much lower margin compared to the 2004 election, came despite the infighting. Interestingly, the Congress came third in the Mullana Assembly constituency, which is represented by PCC president Phool Chand Mullana himself. Selja attributes her victory to the central leadership and to her workers hard work. Now, with the making of the Cabinet occupying centre stage, it remains to be seen how these veteran players will be adjusted alongside Rahul Gandhi’s team of youth in the Cabinet. Whether youngsters like Rohtak MP Deepender Hooda, who won by nearly 4.5 lakh votes, and Rahul Gandhi’s soldier Ashok Tanwar will figure in the “chosen few” to bring about a balance in the youth and experience will also unfold over the next few days.
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People have reposed faith in Cong policies: Surjewala
Kaithal, May 17 This was stated by Shamsher Singh Surjewala, president of the All-India Kisan Khet-Mazdoor Congress and local MLA, while addressing a press conference here today. Surjewala said it was a historic victory for the Congress after two decades which had to look for the support of various other parties for formation of government at the Centre. He said the election results showed that people had rejected those parties which sought votes in the name of caste, religion and region. The people had given mandate in favour of various welfare schemes launched by the UPA. The National Rural Employment Scheme launched to provide minimum 100 days of employment to rural people was one of such schemes, he added. The introduction of the Right to Information Act was also another historic step which empowered the people of the country to seek information on various subjects, including schemes being implemented by the government. The waiver of farmers’ loans amounting to Rs 71,000 crore provided great relief to farmers who were reeling under financial burden. The farmers got remunerative price for their produce which added to their prosperity. Surjewala also gave credit to Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda for the party’s victory by introducing schemes for the welfare of the people of the state. He said the people were impressed by the development of the state during the past over four years. The waiver of Rs 1,600 crore power bills of farmers soon after coming to power, the decision to allot 100 yards of plots to the SC families, grant of free water connections with water storage tanks to SC families, adequate compensation to farmers whose land were acquired, introduction of bill to stop auction of agricultural lands of farmers and the insurance scheme introduced for the poor were some of the decisions by this government which sent a signal to the common man that the state government believed in doing welfare of the people. Surjewala is optimistic that the Congress will repeat its performance of the Lok Sabha elections in the Assembly elections, which are likely to take place in Haryana in the near future. Surjewala also complimented the Press for its positive role. DCC President Kavi Raj Sharma, organising secretary of the HPCC Dilbagh Mor and district media coordinator Sham Sahni were also present on the occasion. |
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Jind proves tricky for Cong
Jind, May 17 The results have proved that the ruling party candidate from the Sonepat and the Sirsa seat definitely been benefited with the inclusion of Narwana into Sirsa and
Jind, Julana and Safidon into Sonepat seats, as the ever dominating Jat vote bank has helped the Congress candidates to wrest a margin over their rival candidates in the respective segments. But, what had been a cause of concern had been the loss to the party candidate at the Hisar seat, which lost Jind and other segments to Sonepat this time, resulting in fragmentation of the traditional vote bank, which went ultimately in favour of the candidate of the rival party. The presence of another Jat candidate
(INLD) in Hisar and with availability of just one segment of Uchana of Jind district with Hisar seat this time could hardly prove any help as the main vote bank went with the Sonepat seat after delimitation this time, claims the political observers and analysts. Meanwhile, according to results of the three segments, Congress candidate from Sonepat Jitender malik polled a total of 84,929 votes from the segments of
Jind, Safidon and Julana against 71,054 votes polled by his main rival Kishan Singh Sangwan of the
BJP. BSP candidate Dev Raj Diwan got placed third in this region with about 46,717 votes. It is revealed that the BJP candidate was placed first in the Jind segment with a total of 24,018 votes against the 20,716 votes polled by the Congress candidate. However, the Congress remained at top in Safidon and the Julana segments by about a total of 17,177 votes in these two segments. |
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Hisar power project ahead of schedule
Chandigarh, May 17 He said an overall progress of over 73 per cent had already been achieved and in the fields of project engineering and procurement a progress of 85.80 per cent and 80.90 per cent, respectively, had been achieved. The project had achieved a record by conducting the hydraulic test of the boiler of unit-1 on March 1, a period of 24 months and 29 days, which is the fastest hydraulic test in India. In unit-2 also the hydraulic test was successfully completed on April 18, around 4 months before the schedule. Kaushal said with this landmark achievement, the construction of the project would proceed at an accelerated pace and the HPGC would leave no stone unturned to achieve the next major milestone of boiler light up of unit-1 during August, two months ahead of schedule. The first unit of this project would be commissioned before December and the second before March, 2010. He said an overall expenditure of Rs 2,445 crore had so far been incurred on the project, which was more than 56 per cent of the total estimated cost of the project. Kaushal said most of the major construction activities like boiler erection, turbine generator erection, etc were going on as per schedule or ahead of schedule. Many critical works, such as construction of cooling towers, plant buildings, raw water reservoir, chimney and 400 kV switch yard were nearing completion. The cooling towers of the project were the tallest in the country with a height of 173 metres and the chimney was 275 metres and it was the tallest structure of the project. Giving details of the work force engaged in the implementation of this project, he said more than 40 reputed contractors and around 5,000 workers were working round the clock to meet the challenging schedule of the project. The manpower was likely to peak to around 8,000 during the final stages of construction. |
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Labourers’ Death
Sirsa, May 17 The incident occurred yesterday when the entire official machinery was busy in the counting of votes. The deceased identified as Buta Singh and Subhash were doing the brick lining work when the walls of the well suddenly gave in. The labourers tried to come out with the help of a rope lowered in the well for safety, but it also broke away. Villagers tried to rescue them, but could not do much for want of equipments. The bodies were brought out of the debris after six hours of the incident. Deputy Commissioner SK Goyal announced a financial assistance for the next of the kin of the victims.
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Akal Academy to reopen today
Fatehabad, May 17 Ratia SDM SK Chahal met the school authorities after some parents submitted a memorandum to him demanding resolution of the issue involving the school and some local residents. The Akal Academy, Ratia, had been closed indefinitely by its management after its building was reportedly ransacked on May 8 by some protesters. They were irked over the death of a student, who was found ill in a school bus. The police had arrested the institution’s principal and two other staff members for alleged “negligence”. The police had also booked 28 persons for ransacking the school building and hurting the religious sentiments by creating disturbance in a religious function being organised there. The management of the academy had earlier refused to reopen it until those responsible for ransacking the school were arrested. However, it has now announced to reopen it from tomorrow after Chahal assured them of justice. Jaivinder Singh said the school authorities did not want to hamper the studies of children and hence they have decided to start regular classes from tomorrow. |
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Domestic Violence
Sirsa, May 17 Running from pillar to post, she reached the office of Sadhna Mittal, Protection Officer, appointed under the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act-2005 and subsequent actions have assured some justice for her now. On a petition filed through legal services authority (LSA) counsel Vandana Monga, Judicial Magistrate Abhishek Phutela has ordered the custody of the child to be restored to Sarita through the Protection Officer and the police. Jaspreet Kaur (name changed) was married at the age of 13 to a man aged 30. Mittal, who is also the Child Marriage Protection Officer with the duties of Protection Officer under the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, took a proactive stand and after filing a suit through LSA counsel Sunita Gupta, she got the marriage declared null and void through the court. Dayawanti (name changed) is 70 and has four well-settled sons but they had thrown her out of their house as none of them was ready to provide her meals and clothes. The case was taken up under the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act and though the main case is still pending in the court of Amarjit Singh, Judicial Magistrate, Sirsa, the judge has issued interim orders directing the Protection Officer to ensure the restoration of her right to her house. These are some of the scores of cases in which women victims of domestic violence have got solace, courtesy the new laws that came into implementation recently. In over 10 cases, estranged couples have been reunited through counselling. Sadhna Mittal, an advocate by education, was appointed Protection Officer under the Act in November 2008. Since then, scores of women have visited her office to seek justice for the violence they were being subjected to in homes. “Women, who are subjected to any of the four kinds of violence namely physical, emotional, economic and sexual, can approach me for justice,” Mittal said. Balbir Kaur Gandhi, an advocate and state committee member of the All-India Democratic Women’s Association, said the new laws relating to the domestic violence have proved a boon for women suffering at the hands of their own relatives and the delivery of justice is also speedy in such cases.
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SHO commits suicide
Kaithal, May 17 According to police sources, one HC Pawan Kumar saw the SHO lying in a pool of blood in the record room. He was immediately rushed to the civil hospital where he was declared brought dead. On receiving information, SP Sultan Singh rushed to Guhla. The deceased hailed from Beharthala village in Ambala district. He was reportedly suffering from depression. A forensic team was summoned to examine the spot. The SP said according to preliminary investigation it looked to be a case of suicide but the matter would be further investigated. The body was brought to the Kaithal civil hospital for a postmortem and was later sent to his native village. |
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Freedom fighter cremated
Rewari, May 17 On behalf of the district administration, SDO (PWD) RS Dahiya placed a wreath on the pyre, while a police contingent reversed its arms to pay salute to the late freedom fighter. He joined the Indian National Army of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose towards the end of 1938 and spent six years in jail in Singapore from 1939 to 1945. He is survived by three sons and grandchildren. |
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Admn gets tough against manual scavenging
Panipat, May 17 The administration here said there was a complete ban in force against manual scavenging under the provisions of the Employment of Manual Scavengers and Construction of Dry Latrines (Prohibition) Act. It stated that manual scavenging was a “degrading practice” and against social dignity of an individual. The administration said anyone found engaging an individual for manual scavenging would invite strict action as per the law. It was in September last year that The Tribune had highlighted the existence of manual scavengers in the district. The state government, in an affidavit filed in the Supreme Court, had claimed that till 1992 there were 2.02 lakh dry latrines but these were phased out and none existed today. It also claimed that Rs 18.36 crore received from the Centre was used for rehabilitation of 15,739 scavengers and that the state was now “scavenger-free”. However, reality defies the claims. On the Sanoli road in the district, several dry latrines exist and manual scavengers can be found around these. The local Deha Basti and the Balmiki Basti have a number of families engaged in manual scavenging for several years. Despite efforts put in by voluntary organisations and the laws in force to end “manual scavenging”, there has been not even a single prosecution in the country till date under the said Act. According to social activists, who are working for the cause of ending manual scavenging, under the said law the power to take action rests with the sanitary inspector or the Collector as the worker himself cannot file a case. Those involved in manual scavenging are exposed to great risks, but there is nothing much they can do to get rid of it, says Rahul Wadi, a social activist. Manual scavenging still exists in various parts of the state which are without the sewer system. |
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Kaithal, May 17
