Chandigarh, September 27
Only a few Congress nominees turned up for the meeting called at the party office here today, with most of the other in the thick of campaigning. Many among the rest had sent their workers with authority letters to get publicity material.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda seems on a roll - in the past two days he has covered 37 of the 90 constituencies already. His campaign managers are working overtime to accommodate “CM-visit” requests.“I don’t have to be campaign in my constituency with my people assuring me of support. They take charge in Kiloi while I seek support for other candidates,” he said on the sidelines of a meeting with party candidates here today.

The Chief Minister seems unfazed by reports on infighting. “There is no infighting in the Congress. Candidates who filed nominations after being denied the party ticket have agreed to withdraw their papers as in Hansi and Ghanaur,” he maintained.

Sure of a Congress sweep, Hooda said, “An issueless opposition is in the doldrums. How else does one explain the need for INLD chief Om Prakash Chautala’s decision to contest from two seats? It only means that he is not certain of winning Uchana.”

He said the party manifesto was ready and would be released any day.

Accompanied by state unit president Phool Chand Mullana, he said Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi would campaign in Haryana. Earlier, he inaugurated a media centre at the Congress office.

Sirsa, September 27
A 30-ft wide street separates their homes in Ram Nagar Colony here, but there is a wide chasm between the two brothers in terms of political ideologies.Again, the assembly seats they are contesting are less than 30 km apart with some villages sharing their boundaries.

INLD supremo Om Prakash Chautala and his younger brother Ranjit Singh, a former deputy chairman of the State Planning Board, both kicked off their campaigns today, Chuatala for Ellenabad and Ranjit Singhfor Rania.

“The days of the Hooda government are numbered. The people have decided to vote the INLD to power,” Chautala claimed, addressing villagers at Kagdana.Later speaking to mediapersons, he denied his party had denied irrigation waters to South Haryana. He alleged it was the Hooda government that had wasted several hundred crores on the Hansi - Butana Canal without permission from the Central Water Board.

He said the government was trying to project itself as the champion of farmers’ cause without providing a drop of water to South Haryana villages.

He claimed the Jind rally had unnerved the Congress.Ranjit Singh began his poll campaign by inaugurating his election office in Rania and then holding a road show

“Voters are wise enough to distinguish between a political party working for development and those who worked for their personal interests,” he said. “Over Rs 100 crore have been spent on the development of Rania in the past four years ,” he said.

From Ellanabad, Chautala will now tour other assembly seats while Ranjit Singh will toil in 72 villages and several small “dhanis” of the Rania seat.

Karnal, September 27
Condom as election symbol and legalising flesh trade as main agenda may sound bizarre, but an Independent candidate - Anand Prakash Sharma - has made this outlandish move by entering the fray from the Karnal Assembly constituency to fight AIDS.

Sharma, a social activist and editor of a local weekly, who has been working for the cause of sex workers and AIDS awareness for the past few years, has taken the bold step to contest the elections not for victory but to highlight the “plight of sex workers”, illegal flesh trade flourishing in metros and other major cities and spread of AIDS due to unprotected sex.

“I have requested the Election Commission to allot condom as the election symbol as it promotes safe sex and helps in checking population,” he said after filing papers.

His demand for legalising flesh trade is based on the surmise that ordinary women are safe on the streets because sex workers satiate man’s more basal instincts and hence act as a shield for other women .“The government is aware of illegal brothels running in different parts of the country and it should legalise the flesh trade and register the sex workers, who do not consider consensual sex a taboo,” he maintained.

Sharma said other issues in his manifesto included respect and recognition to Hindi as national language. He further said it was unfortunate that crores were spent every year on celebrating Hindi Day but not giving it its due place.

ndi were not available when I went to file the nominations. All papers provided to me were in English,” he rued.Another promise made by Sharma in his manifesto is building a temple of “Bharat Mata”.

“We repeatedly talk of Bharat Mata, but there is not even a single exclusive temple of Bharat Mata in the country and vow to construct one such temple in Karnal to facilitate people to worship the motherland,” he added

.He said the common issues like unemployment, rising prices and corruption would be effectively raised during the campaign but the main focus would be on AIDS and plight of sex workers.

On being asked why he decided to contest the elections as an Independent candidate, he said no political party was willing to include his agenda in their election manifesto.

Hisar, September 27
Major parties have opted for greenhorns as their nominees for the forthcoming assembly poll in the seven assembly segments in this district. The choice has surprised political analysts as well as voters who have no idea of who these candidates are.

In the Hisar assembly segment, the INLD has put up Hanuman Aren against Savitri Jindal, a minister in the Hooda Cabinet. He is a former chairman of the Hisar Municipal Council and has never contested an assembly poll before.

The HJC has fielded Ram Niwas Rada from this segment. He is a councillor. He is also a first-time contestant. Likewise, the BJP has put up Ravi Saini from this seat who has never faced an assembly poll before.

In Hansi, the BJP has again chosen an unknown entity, Maman Saini, as its candidate. He is pitted against former minister Chhattarpal Singh of the Congress. Saini is entering the fray for the first time.

In the Barwala segment, the Congress has fielded Ram Niwas Ghorela who unsuccessfully contested for the chairmanship of the Zila Parishad some time ago. This will be his first attempt at entering the Vidhan Sabha.

The INLD has fielded the chairperson of its women cell, Sheela Bhayan, from this seat. She is a novice too. So is HJC’s Subhash Tak.

For the newly created Uklana (reserved) seat, all major parties have put up new faces. The Congress has chosen Naresh Selwal, an unknown name in political circles. Likewise, the HJC has allotted the ticket to Rajbala, who too is a political non-entity.

The BJP’s Nar Singh Selwal, too, is a new face. Semma Gaibipur is the INLD candidate from here. She is a greenhorn too.

In the Nalwa constituency, the INLD has fielded Ranbir Gangwa against two formidable candidates - Sampat Singh of the Congress and Jasma Devi of the HJC. The BJP has reposed its faith in a greenhorn, Madan Kumar. The BSP’s Leela Dhar is a new face.

Sampat Singh is a former Finance Minister who recently quit the INLD to join the Congress. Jasma Devi is the wife of former Chief Minister Bhajan Lal. This the first time that so many greenhorns are in the fray from this politically important district.

Panipat, September 27
With the onset of the festival season, a large number of factory workers, who are registered as voters in the city, have started leaving for their homes in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Rajasthan, thus reducing the number of voters here.

There are more than one lakh labourers in Panipat city, of which about 25,000 have got voter ID cards. In the assembly elections, when a few votes can affect the winning prospects of a candidate in a big way, this reduction in votes is being considered vital by contestants.

Moreover, even labourers are unhappy with the elections falling in the festival season.

Ram Yadav, a local labourer, who, along with his two sons and wife, is leaving for his native village in Bihar, said elections were the time when labourers got a chance to voice their concerns about the problems being faced by them. However, as this time the elections were being held during the festival season, it would not be possible for the labourers to highlight their issues, he said.

About 95 per cent of the workers migrate here from Bihar, Bengal, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, who go back to their native villages every year during the festival season. The exodus will continue till Diwali and workers will come around 10 days after the festival, said Vasu Mishra, one of the labourers.

Kishna, a native of Rajasthan who works in a handloom unit here, said during the elections leaders throng their dwellings seeking votes and that was the time when they were heard. Radhey Sham from Uttar Pradesh said elections were the time to bargain with leaders who otherwise turned a blind eye to the problems being faced by labourers.

“Whether our demands are finally accepted or not is not the issue, but it definitely provides us with some relief that someone came and listened to our problems and assured help,” he said, adding that “this time the meagre relief would not be for us as most of us would be away to our villages for Diwali and other festivals.” 

Rohtak, September 27
Member of Parliament Deepender Hooda today harped on development during the four-and-a-half year regime of the Congress in the state and said the people must return the party to power so that the process of developing Haryana could be carried on.

Addressing a public meeting in favour of Congress nominee for the Rohtak assembly constituency Bharat Bhushan Batra on the Gohana road here today, he said, “Batra has made a significant contribution to the development of Rohtak city and people must ‘bless’ Batra in the assembly elections and I assure you he will not leave any stone unturned in developing Rohtak as an ultra modern city.”

Speaking on the occasion, Assembly Speaker Raghuvir Singh Kadian said, “The Congress is the lone party which has an all-inclusive agenda taking care of every section of society.”

Batra assured the people of chalking out a common programme for the overall development of the Rohtak assembly constituency.

Meanwhile, Haryana Janhit Congress state secretary Vazir Singh Khokhar, along with his supporters, deserted the HJC and joined the Congress during the programme.

Election observers in six assembly constituencies of Sonepat district will be available on their cell phones The numbers are: Ganaur EO MH Sawant 94667-68180; Rai EO NK Khaka 94667-68181;Kharkhoda (reserved) RO AN Khatri 94667-68182; Sonepat RO KR Murlidharan, 94667-68183; Gohana RO Ramesh Chander 94667-68184; and Baroda RO PK Katiar 94667-68185. Complaints may be sent to the district-level control room on landline number 0130-2211425 and fax number 0130-2211427.

Chandigarh, September 27
The SC ‘A’ Adhikar Sangh today listed out its expectations from various political parties and said the body would support the party that committed to meet their demands.

Addressing a press conference here today, president of the sangh Dr Surya Prakash said the target of the sangh was to send 10 MLAs of Group A to the Vidhan Sabha and a decision to support a political party would be taken on the occasion of Bhagwan Valmiki Pragat Diwas.

He said they wanted complete reservation of the SC Group ‘A’ only while completely doing away with reservation for Group B since they are “more than adequately represented” in the government.

The sangh also demanded constitution of a separate “Ati-Maha Dalit Commission” on the pattern of Bihar, regularisation of all safai karamcharis presently employed by th egovernment and a sanction of Rs 20 crore for establishing bhawans in Panchkula for different castes that make up Group ‘A’. 

In other categories, the winners included shooter Abhinav Bindra (sports), Chetan Bhagat (arts), actor Rahul Bose (social justice and welfare), Sachin Bhatia (technology), Ajay Bijli (entrepreneurship-private), Barkha Dutt (media) and Omar Abdullah (politics).

Panipat, September 27
Six persons lost their lives while one sustained serious injuries as the car they were travelling in reportedly rammed into a stationary truck near Manana village on the NH-1, near here, today.

According to the police, the Tavera that was on the way to Delhi from Panipat reportedly hit into a parked truck.

The deceased have been identified as Dheeraj, son of Satinder Jain, and Madubala, wife of Raja Ram, both residents of Baghpat district in Uttar Pradesh, Mahesh, son of Babu Ram, and Amrit Lal, both residents of Faridabad, driver of the vehicle Subhash and Nishan, son of Kulbhushan and resident of Punjab.

Golu, a resident of Bhajanpura in Delhi, was rushed to a Delhi hospital as he fell unconscious after the accident.

A team of police officials stated that it appeared that the deceased had taken lift in the vehicle as they all belonged to different places.

Meanwhile, according to a report from Karnal, two persons, including a three-year-old girl, were killed in road accidents in Karnal today.

The girl was killed and her two-year-old sister was seriously injured when they were reportedly crushed by a canter in Sector 3, Karnal.

The police has registered a case against the driver of the canter, Babli, a resident of Shamnagar in Karnal.

In another accident, one person was killed when he was reportedly hit by a car near Arpana Hospital. The deceased identified as Arvind died on the spot. 

Karnal, September 27
Haryana, known for milk production, has a large number of candidates with assets worth crores of rupees but few candidates possess cattle wealth. Most of the prominent candidates in the fray posses assets like land, houses, vehicles, cash, bank deposits and jewellery but negligible cattle wealth.

However, Zafardin, an Independent candidate from Gharaunda in Karnal district, has a flock of 50 goats and two buffaloes as major assets, besides Rs 10,000 in cash and two dwelling units valued at Rs 50,000.

A father of 13 (eight sons and five daughters), Zafardin is contesting the elections for the third time with the sole objective of “fighting and wiping out” corruption.

“I am fighting for a cause and my entire village is with me,” he claims, adding that many parties had approached him to contest on their ticket, but he preferred to remain free of any “party tag”.

Zafardin dislikes being garlanded by people while he moves around in his constituency and has covered the entire constituency many times on a bicycle.

Expressing confidence that he will win and “end corruption”, Zafardin says that he is fully geared for the poll and hopeful of making it to the assembly this time.

However, he never misses his daily routine to give fodder to cattle and take them out for grazing and says that he loves his cattle.

Kaithal, September 27
Tension gripped the Chadana Gate area in the town this evening when a group of unidentified persons destroyed an effigy of Ravana, which had been kept in the Dussehra Ground for installation.

According to eyewitnesses, around 25 persons came to the site where the effigy had been kept and destroyed it. The miscreants came on jeeps and motorcycles around 4 pm and forced their entry into the Dussehra Ground. They threatened the labourers who had been engaged to install the effigy to leave the spot or face dire consequences.

After the labourers ran away in panic, the miscreants started destroying the effigy with sharp-edged weapons in full public view. The incident created tension in the area.

Some organisations have been opposing the burning of Ravana’s effigy, saying that he was a scholar and it was improper to “insult” him by burning his effigies. They had served a notice on the administration not to allow the burning of Ravana’s effigies.

Deputy Commissioner Amneet P Kumar said on the phone that she was out of town and had no information about the incident. SP Sandeep Khilwar said a case had been registered.