Karnal, October 4
On a high from the victory of the recent Lok Sabha elections, the Congress today looked worried with attendance at party chief Sonia Gandhi’s first election rally here in Haryana far less than expected.

The party candidates had hoped that the rally would create a pro-Congress wave and give a boost to their compaign. But the turnout was much less than the Jind rally of BSP supremo Mayawati and INLD chief Om Prakash Chautala.

Party leaders claimed that the response was good inspite of confusion over the venue and the crowds would have swelled if the rally was held in the afternoon.

The usual hustle and bustle associated with such rallies was missing. The people chose to be seated only on repeated requests by the leaders. Sonia Gandhi blasted the previous INLD-BJP government, asking the people to choose between “security, development and good governance” by bringing the Congress back to power or “anarchy”.

She said terror, fear and corruption had been the order of the day before the Congress came to power and a sea change in the lives of the people was a major achievement of the Congress. Calling upon the people to reject parties which had ruined Haryana and made the lives of people miserable, Sonia made a fervent appeal to the people to return the Congress to power for accelerated growth and development.“The Centre gave sufficient funds to the INLD government too, but these were not judiciouslyused. The Congress government headed by Hooda utilised the funds on the welfare of the people and the results are for all to see,” she said.

The Congress president said prestigious health and educational educations were being set up in Haryana, such as a defence university and Rajiv Gandhi Educational City. However, she chose not to comment on the demand for Kalpana Chawla medical College in the city. She said the budget for the state had been increased to Rs 11,000 crore and a host of schemes like Mahatma Gandhi Grahmin Yojna, girl schemes and revised wages for employees had been launched to improve the lot of the downtrodden. During her 15-minute speech, Sonia Gandhi did not make any reference to rising prices, unemployment and corruption.

Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda said free medicines were being provided to the poor, plots had been allotted to BPL families and loans of traders in the low income group had been waived. Union Tourism Minister Shelja, HPCC president Phool Chand Mulana, former minister Vinod Sharma, and all nine MLAs of the Karnal-Panipat parliamentary constituency were present. But acting HPCC president, Kuldeep Sharma, was absent.

Sirsa, October 4
Congress president Sonia Gandhi chose to castigate the INLD at an election rally here, the home turf of its leader Om Prakash Chautala today.

Without naming the Chautalas, she reminded the people of their rule when, she alleged, “might is right” prevailed in Haryana.“Those who ruled the state before you handed over the reins of power to the Congress in 2005 ruined Haryana.The Congress not only worked for your progress, but also freed you of their tyranny,” she said.

Referring to Chaudhary Devi Lal University here, Sonia alleged that the previous government had left the institution starved of funds, but the Congress government had provided funds needed for its infrastructural development and academic activities.

Lauding Hooda twice during her 15-minute speech, Sonia said he had transformed Haryana with various development projects.“The total budget of Haryana was merely Rs 2300 crore when the Hooda government took over in 2005. Now, its is five times more at Rs 11,000 crore,” the Congress president said.

Enumerating the pro-farmers and pro-poor steps taken by the Hooda government, she said power bills worth Rs 1600 crore had been waived, “draconian laws” under which farmers were sent to jail for failure to repay loans abolished and several schemes for the welfare of the poor implemented.

The Congress president began her speech by congratulating people on the occasion of Maharishi Balmiki Jayanti and said acting upon his teachings, the Congress government had been pursuing the policy of compassion and “maryada” not only in Haryana but the whole of the country.

She called upon the people to vote for the Congress for a secure future and taking Haryana further on the path of development. Only Hooda and local MP Ashok Tanwar addressed the rally after Sonia’s arrival. Prithviraj Chauhan, AICC general secretary, and Raju Parmar and Ram Parkash, both Rajya Sabha members, were also present.

District Congress president Hoshiari Lal Sharma welcomed the part chief on the dais while block Congress chief Bhupesh Mehta thanked her.

Hisar, October 4
The Kuldeep Bishnoi-led Haryana Janhit Congress (BL) today promised to create a rejuvenated Haryana if voted to power in the October 13 poll.

Addressing an election rally at the Mahavir Stadium here, Bishnoi said he would strive for an “ujjwal aur unnat Haryana”.

His father Bhajan Lal, who was present at the party’s show of strength, gave his son his blessings for success in this endeavour.

Eager to counter dominance of other areas in power equations, Bishnoi said he never believed in parochialism and thus he would not promise the “chaudhar” of any particular area of the state. “Instead, I promise to treat the entire state as one entity and would work for the chaudhar of Haryana itself,” he said.

Buoyed by the presence of long-time supporters at the rally, Bishnoi said Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda was seeking votes on the “work” done by him. “I ask you what kind of work has been done? There is no power. There is no water in canals. There are no jobs. Does the Congress deserve your votes for rising prices, unemployment and other problems it has created? he asked.

Besides, Bhajan Lal, Kuldeep’s mother Jasma Devi, who is contesting from the neighbouring Nalwa constituency, and his wife Renuka Bishnoi were also present on the dais.Bishnoi said he intended to transform every village into a mini city.

If voted to power, his party’s government would recruit 50,000 government employees each year. All one lakh-odd vacancies in the government would be filled within the first year of coming to power.

He said his party would resolve the SYL Canal issue which other political parties had only been using as a political tool.

Bhajan Lal, who was the last to speak, said he had anointed Kuldeep as his political successor. He appealed to voters to help his younger son achieve his goals of a better Haryana.

Chandigarh, October 4
The SAD’s “old love” for the INLD has not only put its time-tested alliance with the BJP on the back burner but also landed Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal in a piquant situation.

While the SAD has preferred the INLD to the BJP for an alliance for the Haryana assembly elections, its leadership has been embarrassed over the public stand taken by Om Parkash Chautala not only over completion of the SYL Canal but also over the NDA’s Prime Ministerial candidate LK Advani in the recent Lok Sabha elections.

Badal was left with no choice but to say that every state had to watch its interests and the INLD may have mentioned the SYL issue in its manifesto. “We have nothing to do with the INLD manifesto,” he said, adding that a common minimum programme had been worked out between the SAD and the INLD for the assembly elections.

In the October 13 elections, two SAD candidates - Charanjeet Kaur from Ambala City and Charanjeet Singh from Kalanwali - will oppose among others BJP nominees in both constituencies. Interestingly, it is for the first time that green and blue turbans have come together on an electoral front. Never before the Akalis have been locked in an electoral battle with the BJP anywhere in the region.

Senior Akali leaders will also campaign for Chautala’s party. Only yesterday, the INLD chief made scathing attacks on Advani, saying that had he decided to retire from politics five years ago, power would not have been transferred to undesirable elements.

Such statements by the INLD chief may be embarrassing for the Akalis as their leaders would be sharing the stage with Chautala during election rallies. Though the Haryana ad hoc committee, demanding a separate body to control gurdwaras in the state on the lines of the SGPC, has declared support to Congress candidates in all 90 constituencies, the SAD has decided to stand by the INLD.

The Badals, sources said, had informed the national leadership of the BJP before making public their decision to support the INLD in the assembly elections.

Akalis support to the INLD is understandable but their opposition to BJP candidates in Haryana is intriguing. Both the SAD and the BJP leaderships are dismissing the Haryana instance as a “friendly exception” on the plea that the INLD and the BJP have a common enemy in the Congress.

Sirsa: Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal today addressed a series of election meetings in Raghra, Jalalana, Chakarian, Desumalkana, Keol, Singhpura, Dadu and Kalanwali Mandi and sought votes for Charan Singh, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) candidate from Kalanwali.

Badal, who is also the president of the SAD, said his party enjoyed very good relations with the INLD and both Parkash Singh Badal and Om Prakash Chautala would work together to make Punjab and Haryana top two states in the country.

He said the SAD and the INLD had a lot of qualities in common. Both worked for the welfare of the peasantry and both believed in fulfilling promises made to people during elections.

“There is no town or village in Punjab which Badal has not visited. Similarly, Chautala too has travelled the length and breadth of Haryana to know residents’ woes,” Sukhbir Badal said.

Fatehabad, October 4
Sita Ram Yechury, member of the politburo of the CPM today lambasted the Haryana Government for what he alleged, ignoring the interests of farmers.

Addressing an election rally at Fatehabad on Sunday in favour of the candidates fielded by Left Parties in Sirsa and Fatehabad, Yechury alleged that Bhupinder Singh Hooda’s government had failed to protect the interests of farmers and poor, and atrocities on Dalits and women had also increased manifolds in his tenure.

Comparing Hooda’s style of functioning with that of Gujarat Chief Minister Narender Modi, Yechury alleged that both cared little about Dalits, downtrodden and women.

Coming down heavily on Manmohan Singh government at the Centre, the CPM leader alleged that the government has failed to check the prices of commodities like atta, dal and sugar, which have gone out of the reach of common man.

“Owing to the pro-capitalists and pro-corporate policies being followed by the central government, over five lakh people had lost their jobs,” he alleged. He added that more than Rs 5,000 crore had been doled out to the private airliners by the government.

He maintained that it was due to the opposition of the Left Parties to permit foreign investment in the insurance sector and the move for investment of pension money of the employees that has helped UPA government in fighting out worldwide recession.

He appealed to the people to vote for Left parties for alternative policies in the state and for their own welfare.

Inderjit Singh, state secretary of the CPM criticised the state government for allegedly working against the interests of common people.

“When the Congress party came into power in 2005, it had promised to create five lakh new jobs. But now, there is no mention of that promise,” Inderjit Singh alleged.

Krishan Swaroop, state secretary of the All India Kisan Sabha, Harpal Singh, a former MLA and candidates of the CPM and CPI from Fatehabad and Sirsa district were present.

Kaithal, October 4
In the Kaithal assembly segment, if there’s one thing that every voter agrees on, it is that the last four-and-a-half years of the Congress rule have seen unprecedented development in their area.

As 37-year-old Anil Kumar of Keorak village sums it: “We villagers have simple needs, water, power, roads and schools. Everything we can think of in our village has come up in the last few years.”

This comes from a village which had voted against the Congress in 2005 when the party had fielded Shamsher Singh Surjewala. The latter had lost from Keorak by nearly 2,100 votes, but won the election.

In this election, Surjewala’s son and power minister Randeep Surjewala is in the fray on the Congress ticket. He seems to have the upper hand given the development works he has executed in the last few years.

Pitted against him are INLD’s Kailash Bhagat and BSP’s Suresh Garg. They are harping on price rise and the growing unemployment.

“All jobs have gone to Rohtak. Where will our children go? Prices of essential commodities have sky-rocketed. What will we eat? We have no big hospital and no big education institute,” remarks Bhagat to counter the Congress claim of development.

In Gula, the situation is quite the reverse with Congress candidate and sitting MLA Dillu Ram facing anti-incumbency. He is up against Naresh Kumar of the HJC whose father has been an MLA on an INLD ticket and has considerable influence in the area. More competition for Dillu Ram comes from INLD’s Phool Singh, making for an interesting election.

Pundri seems entangled in a caste war with sitting MLA Dinesh Kaushik up against Independents (Ror) Tejvir Singh and Sultan Singh. With Brahmin candidates in the fray, getting re-elected may not be easy for Kaushik.

Congress candidate Tejinder Pal Mann, who won as an Independent in 2005 from Pai, is contesting from Kalayat (which has been de-reserved) against Rampal of the INLD. He has a clean image and has the advantage of parts of his earlier constituency being merged with Kalayat.

Bhiwani, October 4
Former Chief Minister and Haryana strongman Bansi Lal died three years ago. However, his name still lives on for most candidates as well as the Jat-dominated electorate in the five constituencies of this district. Little wonder that all votes are being sought in Bansi Lal’s name.

Cutting across political boundaries, many candidates, other than his family members in fray, are using the late Jat leader’s name and influence in the area to cut ice with the voters. Besides, the Congress contestants, including Lal’s son Ranbir Mahindra, daughter-in-law Kiran Choudhry and son- in- law Somvir Singh, HJC candidate from Dadri Satpal Sangwan, Independent JP Dalal contesting from Loharu and BJP candidate Nirpinder Sheoran from Badhra are all claiming to be the followers of Lal.

Promising to serve the electorate in the five constituencies of Tosham, Badhra, Charkhi Dadri, Loharu and Bhiwani, just as the late leader had done in his hey days, these votes are being sought in Bansi Lal’s name.

Kiran Choudhry and Ranbir Mahindra - both claiming to be the real heirs to Lal’s political legacy - and Somvir Singh are seeking votes in Lal’s name.

While the going looks smooth for Kiran Choudhry in Tosham, both Ranbir Mahindra and Somvir Singh seem to be caught in three-cornered fights in their respective constituencies.

Post delimitation, Ranbir’s constituency Mundhal was abolished and he is now contesting from Badhra. He is caught in a triangular contest with Rann Singh Mann of the Haryana Janhit Congress and Col Raghubir Chillar of the Indian National Lok Dal. Somvir Singh too is caught in a contest with INLD’s Dharampal Obra and Independent JP Dalal in Loharu. Both Mahindra and Somvir are now banking on their relations with Bansi Lal to seek votes.

Considering the fact that whatever little development that took place in the district was during Bansi Lal’s tenure as the Chief Minister, even after his death, most candidates in fray are quoting his example promising to emulate him in bringing development to the district.

Bhiwani is a sharp contrast to the otherwise development that has taken place in the state. While the millennium city, Gurgaon, and neighbouring districts of Rohtak and Jhajjar saw a lot of development activities, Bhiwani seems to have been caught in a time wrap with almost no development to boast of in the past five years.

Rural electrification, irrigation and the lift canal system for parched fields and road network in rural areas were all done when Bansi Lal remained the Chief Minister for three terms.

Interestingly, Sangwan and Nirpinder Sheoran remained Haryana Vikas Party MLAs, JP Dalal was also a strong supporter of Bansi Lal and amongst the founder members of the Haryana Vikas Party.The three leaders had joined the Congress when the HVP merged with Congress in 2004.

However, Sangwan and Sheoran left the Congress fold after Lal’s death in 2006. Dalal has recently quit the Congress to contest as an Independent. Because of their long association with Bansi Lal, all three contestants are claiming to be his followers and trying to woo the voters.

Chandigarh, October 4
The crime graph of politicians is on the rise. As many as 67 candidates (out of 489 of political parties) have criminal cases pending against them. Of these, 24 candidates, nearly five per cent, have cases of murder and attempt to murder against them.

Whereas in the 2005 assembly elections 11.34 per cent of the contestants had criminal cases against them, this time it is 14 per cent. These statistics were released by the Association for Democratic Reforms and National Election Watch, a nationwide campaign comprising 1200 NGOs and other citizens’ bodies, at a press conference here today.

The national coordinator, Anil Bairwal, said in 13 constituencies at least two persons facing cases were in the fray. “The Congress and the HJC has 14 candidates each with cases against them and the INLD and the BSP 12 candidates each. The BJP has nine such candidates,” he said.

Yamunanagar district tops the chart with six among 23 candidates with pending cases and Bhiwani the lowest with one in 35. Maintaining that there were 13.57 candidates per constituency in Haryana, he said a total of 1,222 candidates and 49 parties were contesting the elections. In 2005, there were only 27 parties and 983 candidates.

He said 192 candidates (39 pc) had not declared their PAN details. “Several candidates have declared few assets. Ram Niwas, contesting from Israna on the Samast Bharatiya Party ticket, has no movable or immovable assets. The total assets of four others range from Rs 1,500 to Rs 25,000. We need to think about what can be done to those giving wrong information,” he said.

Several candidates have declared pending liabilities in their affidavits and Kailash Bhagat of the INLD tops the list with Rs 55 crore followed by HJC supremo Kuldeep Bishnoi Rs 12 crore.

“We can gauge the seriousness of parties towards 33 percent reservation for women from the fact that only 5.5 per cent women are in the fray in this election against 6.1 per cent in 2005. ”

Fatehabad, October 4
A staff nurse working in a local general hospital has landed herself in the soup after a local evening daily published her photograph showing her campaigning for a candidate.

District Election Officer-cum-DC, CG Rajini Kaanthan, has taken suo motu cognizance of the photograph, which showed nurse Saroj Bala campaigning with women activists of the BJP, who were campaigning for their party’s candidate Bhisham Pitameh.

The DC has served a show-cause notice to the SMO asking him why action should not be taken against the erring nurse.