Sirsa, October 23
Former Haryana Industries Minister LD Arora today held leaders of his party responsible for his defeat from the Sirsa assembly seat.

Arora is the second leader of the district after State Planning Board Deputy Chairman Ranjit Singh to have accused local leaders of the ruling Congress of having worked for his defeat.

Ranjit Singh, who lost to the INLD from Rania, had yesterday accused former minister Jagdish Nehra, Mani Ram Keharwala and Om Parkash Keharwala of working for his defeat.

Arora, five-time MLA from Sirsa, finished third in yesterday’s counting of votes after winner Gopal Kanda, an Independent, and Padam Jain of the INLD.

“The Congress is such an organisation that no other party has the capacity to defeat its candidates, unless its own leaders work against its candidate,” said Arora and accused district Congress president Hoshiari Lal Sharma and some other local leaders of working openly for his defeat.

Arora, who polled 30,328 votes against 38,147 votes polled by Kanda and 31,678 by Jain, claimed only voters of his personal influence have voted for him and the traditional vote bank of the Congress went against him due to the negative role played by Sharma and some other local leaders.

He maintained that the credit of the Indian National Lok Dal succeeding in regaining its lost ground in the district went to Congress leaders, who worked against their own party colleagues.

“I will talk to other Congress losers from the district and we will collectively complain to the party high command in this regard,” Arora said.

District Congress president Hoshiari Lal Sharma, however, denied the allegations of Arora and alleged that the minister was trying to find excuses for his shameful defeat.

“During his term as minister, Arora never tried to know about the welfare of his people and never cared to tour his constituency,” Sharma alleged and maintained that the minister was himself to blame for his defeat and wasting a seat for the party. 

Rohtak, October 23
The issue of marrying in a neighbouring village, which had landed a couple into trouble in Sundana village, took a new turn today with the joint panchayat of the two villages of the boy and the girl serving ultimatum to the newly married couple to either leave the village forever or get a divorce if they wanted to reside in the village.

The groom - Karamvir of Sundana village - had married Rekha of Garhi Ballam village.

A panchayat was held in Sundana village in which about 200 persons from both the villages had gathered to discuss the issue. Later, it announced its verdict to dispel the couple from the both the villages if they fail to get separated within a weeks’ period.

No one from the family of the boy or the girl was present at the meeting today, said sources.

Though the boy and the girl belong to the Jat community, they are from different gotras.

They have been charged with the violation of the age-old social tradition of not marrying in neighbourhood village as residents of such villages consider each other as brothers and sisters.

Jagdish, sarpanch of Sundana village, and residents of both the villages had objected to the matrimonial alliance after it was revealed that the couple had married in a court without taking their families into confidence and had returned to the village after a gap of about three months.

Sources said the girl’s father had told the panchayat and residents of his village that he had already debarred his daughter from his family and property over the issue.

Later, the panchayat members met the boy’s family and handed over their decision and asked them to comply with it if they wanted to solve the issue.

The boy reportedly asked for a weeks’ time to reply on the matter after the girl, who was present with him, refused to accept the panchayat’s verdict. 

Sirsa, October 23
Indian National Lok Dal supremo Om Prakash Chautala, who won from Uchana Kalan and Ellenabad this time, will be the most experienced legislator of the House having been elected seven times to the state assembly.

Capt Ajay Yadav and Sampat Singh with six wins each, will be the other experienced legislators of the assembly, while former Finance Minister Birender Singh and former Industries Minister LD Arora, both five-time MLAs, could not make it this time.

Chautala won his first election from Ellenabad in 1970 and after that he won a bypoll from Darba Kalan in 1990, another byelection from Narwana in 1993, in 1996 from Rori, in 2000 from Narwana, in 2005 from Rori and now from Uchana Kalan and Ellenabad.

In 2000 too, Chautala won two seats from Rori and Narwana and later resigned from Rori to pave the way for election of his son Abhey Singh.

Sampat Singh, who snapped his 32-year-old association with the INLD to start a fresh innings in the Congress, scored three consecutive victories from Bhattu Kalan in 1982, 1987 and 1991, won a bypoll from Fatehabad in 1998 and again won Bhattu Kalan seat in 2000. Sampat Singh won the Nalwa seat by defeating former Chief Minister Bhajan Lal’s wife Jasma Devi this time.

Capt Ajay Yadav, who emerged winner from Rewari this time, enjoys a unique distinction of winning the same seat on six consecutive occasions in 1989, 1991, 1996, 2000, 2005 and 2009.

Two leaders, who missed the opportunity of scoring a “sixer” this time are former Finance Minister Birender Singh and former Industries Minister LD Arora.

Birender Singh, who won the Uchana Kalan seat in 1977, 1982, 1991, 1996 and 2000 was defeated by Chautala this time.

Arora, who also has five victories to his credit - he became MLA in 1967, 1982, 1991, 2000 and 2005 - had to bite the dust this time at the hands of a greenhorn, Gopal Kanda, chairman of MDLR Airlines.

Shamsher Singh Surjewala, another veteran leader with five victories in 1967, 1977, 1982, 1991 and 2005 to his credit, decided against contesting this time.

Former Chief Minister Bhajan Lal holds the record for the highest number of victories in the assembly elections having won the Adampur seat nine times since 1968.

In fact, Bhajan Lal or a member of his family is yet to lose an election from Adampur and the loss from Nalwa by Jasma Devi was the first-ever reverse for the family in an assembly election in Haryana. 

Karnal, October 23
A schoolgirl was killed and three children were injured after reportedly being hit by a bus that slipped into a kutcha pavement on which the children were walking in Gharunda, 25 km from here, today.

A 10-year-old girl, Jai Om Bharti, died on the spot while her younger brother Jai Om Bharat, Ritu (7) and Saroj (6) were seriously injured. They were immediately rushed to the Gharunda Civil Hospital and later referred to the trauma centre, Karnal.

The kids, students of Government Primary School, Kohand, were on their way to the school. The bus reportedly slipped in a bid to overtake another vehicle from the wrong side. The Gharaunda police has registered a case against the driver. 

Chandigarh, October 23
The Punjab and Haryana High Court has held that the post of a District Consumer Redressal Forum member is transferable.

The ruling by Justice Ranjit Singh is based on an apex court judgment; and follows a petition filed by Faridabad District Consumer Redressal Forum member Satish Mittal’s petition. Mittal had moved the high court against his transfer from Faridabad to Sirsa. But the petition failed to find favour with Justice Ranjit Singh, who dismissed the petition after ruling “no case for interference in the petition is made out.

The petitioner, a chartered accountant at Faridabad, was appointed member of the District Consumer Redressal Forum for five years in 2006. On August 13, order transferring him to Sirsa was passed. The order was challenged on the ground it was contrary to the service condition and rules governing the appointment; and as such was liable to be quashed.

Justice Ranjit Singh asserted: “Reply has been filed. Reliance is placed on the judgment passed by the Supreme Court in the case of state of Rajasthan and others versus Anand Prakash Solanki in civil appeal number 6733 of 2003, decided on August 25, 2003.

“The Supreme Court specifically differed with the view held by a high court that the president, members of district fora are not liable to be transferred inasmuch as there is no single cadre of such persons in the state”.

Justice Ranjit Singh added: Even concept of transfer has also been considered and it was observed that it is an incidence of public service and the power to transfer is available to be exercised by the employer unless an express bar or restraint on the exercise of such power can be spelt out.

“There is no allegation that the power to transfer the petitioner is not bonafide exercise of power. There are no allegations of any malafide. The cancellation of the transfer is sought only on the ground that the post is not transferable. In view of the categorical law laid down by the Supreme Court, the post is to be held a transferable one”. 

Sultan, the newly elected MLA of Pundri in Kaithal district, had never dreamt that one day he would be an MLA with a crucial role in state politics. Hailing from Jadola village in the Pundri assembly constituency, Sultan has been elected as an Independent MLA.He secured 38,828 votes, 4052 more than his nearest Congress rival Prof Dinesh Kaushik. Sultan of Jadola is now Sultan of Pundri.

He owns agriculture land at Jadola and runs a commission agent shop at Dhand. He was sarpanch of his village a few years ago.

After declaration of results, Sultan, accompanied by his supporters paid obeisance at the samadhi of Guru Brahamanand in Pundri.

He has assuranced the electorate to work for development and help the youth find employment.

PS Gillankhera

PS Gillankhera

Prahlad Singh Gillankhera is the grandson of Chaudhary Ganga Ram, who was the first MLA of Fatehabad.

Prahlad Singh, now 54, was seven when his father Ram Chander passed away. So it was left to him to carry forward the legacy of his grandfather.

A graduate from Punjab University, Chandigarh, Gillankhera made his first foray into politics when he was elected chairman of the Block Samiti, Fatehabad, in 1985 despite opposition of the then CM Bhajan Lal.

Gillankhera remained loyal to the family of the late Bansi Lal and was among the founder members of the Haryana Vikas Party.

He unsuccessfully contested assembly poll from Darba Kalan in 1996 and 2000 on the HVP ticket and lost the 1996 poll by a narrow margin of a mere 194 votes.

He again contested the 2003 bypoll from Fatehabad on HVP ticket but without success. He is a confidant of Kiran Choudhary.

Gopal Kanda

Gopal Kanda

Gopal Goyal, alias Gopal Kanda (45), the newly elected Independent MLA from Sirsa, is a business man with a footwear showroom in Sirsa town.

A disciple of Tara Baba, Kanda left Sirsa in the early years of this decade on Baba’s advice when his business was not doing well.

Kanda tried his hand in real estate in Gurgaon and is today a billionaire with his own MDLR Airlines named after his father Murli Dhar and son Lakh Ram, hotels, malls and other properties.

Close to the Chautalas, Kanda had once weighed former CM Om Parkash Chautala against currency notes.

He fell out with them after the parliamentary elections and announced to contest as an Independent.

Kanda remained in controversy during campaigning with his opponents alleging he was using money power.

Kanda and his brother Gobind Kanda have been running a charitable trust in Sirsa named after Tara Baba.

OP Jain

Om Prakash Jain stunned many by winning the Panipat rural seat, defeating six-time legislator Parsani Devi and other heavyweights.

A former sarpanch of Jatal village and chairman of the market committee, Jain shot into limelight when he won as an Independent from Panipat, defeating Congress’ Balbir Pal Shah in 1996.

He held the chairmanship of HARCO Bank in the Bansi Lal government and after Om Prakash Chautala toppled his government with the support of the BJP, he was given the tourism and education portfolio in the Chautala government.

He contested the 2000 and 2005 assembly elections again as an Independent but lost.

With a strong base in the outer colonies of Panipat, he was triumphant in these elections.

He runs a family business and owns two rice mills, while his son runs an export unit in Sector 29, panipat.

Sukhbir Kataria

Sukhbir Kataria

In 2000, the INLD joined hands with the BJP and in the pre-poll seat-sharing arrangement, the Gurgaon seat went to the BJP kitty. Resentful of this, INLD leader Gopi Chand Gehlot contested the election as an Independent and won with the support of INLD cadres.

In the 2009 election, the INLD fielded a weak candidate, ignoring the claim of the party’s state youth wing vice-president, Sukhbir Kataria, to the seat. Anguished, Kataria quit the INLD and jumped into the poll akhara as an 
Independent.

A number of youth INLD workers also revolted against the party and openly came out in Kataria’s support. Lack of development works in Gurgaon area and age factor went against sitting Congress MLA Dharambir Gauba.

Gauba, a four-time MLA had he won in 2005, asking the voters to give him one last chance.

Shivcharan Lal Sharma

Shivcharan Lal Sharma

Former Congress man and Senior Deputy Mayor of the Faridabad MC Shiv Charan Lal Sharma defeatedformer Congress minister and party nominee AC Chaudhary in Faridabad NIT.

Chaudhary’s resentment against the party leadership surfaced when he opposed “discrimination” against members of the Punjabi community in the allotment of Congress tickets during the recent Lok Sabha elections.

Sharma’s performance as Senior Deputy Mayor in ensuring drinking water and other basic amenities worked well with the voters.

Curiously, besides Chaudhary, other Punjabi candidates from Faridabad district, Seema Trikha, Pervesh Mehta and Vasant Virmani, also lost the election.

Jaleb Khan

The Hathin Assembly constituency in Palwal district sprung a surprise once again by electing former Congress leader Jaleb Khan, who contested as an Independent this assembly elections. Khan defeated the official Congress nominee and sitting legislator Harsh Kumar by a margin of over 6,000 votes.

Khan, who claimed to be the “panchayati” candidate, polled 33,774 votes as against 27,301 secured by his nearest rival Harsh Kumar.

Interestingly, the situation was exactly the opposite during the last assembly elections in 2005.

Then, Jaleb Khan had succeeded in getting the Congress ticket while Harsh Kumar had turned a rebel and contested as an Independent candidate.

Harsh Kumar then won the election, rejoined the Congress and secured the party ticket for himself this time.

But all this effort proved an exercise in futility. — Tribune Reporters

Chandigarh, October 23
What brought about a major change in the voter’s mind between the last Lok Sabha elections and the just-concluded assembly elections? The election verdict has left many stumped.

Psephologists are perplexed at the change in the voting patterns, especially when the political climate in the state remained much the same during the intervening period. Rather, the Opposition, including the INLD, the BJP, the BSP and the HJC, were downcast after the shocking defeat of their candidates in the Lok Sabha elections.

Among various causes being analysed for this unprecedented change in the voting pattern in such a short span of time are decision to hold the elections seven months before the scheduled time, clash with the harvesting season, inflation, infighting in the Congress, the role of rebel Congress candidates and complacency in the ruling Congress.

Whatever be the reasons, it is clear the Congress has lost its hold considerably in rural areas as well as in some of its showcase cities. Most importantly, the INLD, written off by most political pundits after the Lok Sabha elections, has staged a dramatic comeback.

If the Congress has lost its vote share from 41.77 per cent in May to 35.07 per cent in October, the INLD gain has been unusually high for a party that got its worst bashing only five months earlier. From a demoralising 15.77 per cent share in May, it got 25.67 per cent vote share now in October, a phenomenal 10 per cent increase.

Interestingly, all other opposition parties, including the BSP, the BJP and the HJC, saw their vote share go down since May this year.

The BJP vote share slipped from 12.09 per cent in the Lok Sabha elections to 9.04 per cent. Similarly, the BSP which had won in eight assembly segments and secured a vote share of 15.75 in the General Election, lost hold in seven assembly segments, its vote share falling to 6.73 per cent.

The HJC of Kuldip Bishnoi has won six assembly seats.

It was the only non-Congress party to have won a seat in the May elections. But it too saw its vote share declining to 7.4 per cent from 10.01these elections. Bhupinder Singh Hooda’s gamble of calling elections early appears to have backfired.

A cross-section of farmers who underwent a harrowing time, initially because their fields were flooded by late monsoon rains and then suffered huge damages in widespread showers accompanied by strong surface winds in the first week of October, were unhappy with the timing of the elections.

“Hooda has been more worried about his political fortunes than our survival. How can a leader leave his community in its hour of distress? No party talked about compensating affected farmers.

“And then we have had problems in paddy procurement by state agencies,” said Balwan Singh, a farmer of Pehowa. Several other farmers waiting for their produce to be lifted at the Pehowa grain market corroborated his viewpoint.

They said the elections should have been called after the paddy operations were over. And if Chautala could stage a comeback, it was because of this feeling of neglect in the Jat community.

Psephologists also feel that the INLD campaign, especially in the media, was more effective than that of its rivals as it made an appeal to the “aam aadmi. The Congress started its campaign late and it was far from innovative.

Panipat/Sonepat, October 23
With Congress heavyweight Parsani Devi finishing far behind others and Independent candidate Om Prakash Jain making it to the state assembly from the Panipat rural seat, it became quite clear that the electorate in Panipat voted for candidates and not parties.

While in Sonepat the mandate went in favour of the Congress at five out of six seats. Despite being considered a strong contestant, six-time legislator Parsani Devi trailed behind INLD contestant Bimla Kadian and another Independent Dara Singh in the final tally.

Om Prakash Jain bagged 23,770 votes to win the elections. Buoyant by the success, supporters of Jain took out an impressive procession in the town accompanied by drummers.

In Panipat city, the result was more or less on expected lines with four-time legislator Balbir Pal Shah winning the elections by defeating BJP’s Sanjay Bhatia, who had been facing a tough resistance from within his party. 

Rohtak, October 23
As many as 86 per cent candidates, who tried their luck in the state assembly elections in the district, lost their security deposit in the elections as they failed to get the minimum of one-sixth (16.6 per cent) of the votes polled required to save the security amount.

A total of 50 candidates had contested the four assembly segments in the district.

Garhi-Sampla-Kiloi, from where Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda won with a record margin of 72,100 votes, created a record of sorts with all candidates losing their deposit except the winner.A total of 10 candidates, including those of the INLD, the BJP and the HJC, had been in the fray from this constituency.

Out of 1,12,510 votes polled here, Hooda received 89,796 votes while his nearest rival Satish Kumar Nandal of the INLD got 17,749 votes.The INLD candidate was short of 1,002 votes as 18,751 were required to save the deposit. All remaining candidates,could not reach even the mark of 1,000 though the BSP candidate managed 2,135 votes .

In Rohtak, hometown of the CM, only the winner, Bharat Bhushan Batra of the Congress, and his nearest rival Manish Grover of the BJP could save their security deposit