Hisar, September 19
With the commencement today of filing of nominations for the impending byelection to the Hisar Lok Sabha seat, the stage has been set for a virtual clash of the titans.

While the Congress has nominated Jai Prakash, who has won the seat thrice in the past, the INLD has fielded Ajay Singh Chautala, a son of former Chief Minister Om Parkash Chautala. Facing them is Kuldeep Bishnoi, younger son of former Chief Minister Bhajan Lal, whose death has caused the vacancy. Bishnoi is the official nominee of the Haryana Janhit Congress (BL) and the BJP.

The byelection has assumed great political importance because of the impact the result would have on the political fortunes of different parties .

For the Congress, a victory may not mean much but a defeat in this byelection will be a huge blow both for the party as well as the government as it would mean that the party has been losing grip after its poor performance in the 2009 Assembly poll.

A victory for the INLD will mean that it can go to the next Assembly poll as the favourite of the people. This will be huge morale booster.

Should Kuldeep Bishnoi go on to win the byelection, the HJC-BJP combine will emerge as the third political force in Haryana which could give a tough fight to both the Congress and the INLD in the next Assembly poll.

From 1977 onwards, the Hisar Lok Sabha included four Assembly segments from Jind district and five from Hisar district. This ensured that the candidates from Jind had an upper hand in the contest. No wonder then that except in 1980 when Mani Ram Bagri won from here, candidates from the Jind area got elected from here till 2009 when Bhajan Lal won this seat after fresh delimitation.

The constituency now has seven Assembly segments from Hisar district and one each from Bhiwani and Jind districts. These are: Hisar, Barwala, Uklana, Narnaund, Hansi, Adampur and Nalwa from Hisar, Uchana Kalan of Jind and Bawani Khera of Bhiwani.

Going by the geographical composition, Bishnoi is the only main contestant from Hisar since Jai Parkash hails from Jind district and Ajay Chautala from Sirsa. Whether the home turf will offer any advantage to Bishnoi is yet to be seen.

Even though Ajay Singh Chautala is technically Chautala Jr being a son of Om Prakash Chautala, he is a veteran of electoral battles in his own right. He has successfully contested elections from Rajasthan and Haryana over the past two decades. He has been a member of the Rajasthan Assembly twice. He was elected to the Lok Sabha from Bhiwani in 1999. Currently he represents the Dabwali Assembly constituency.

A softspoken man he has the advantage of a well-trained and dedicated cadre. The INLD cadres in Hisar are deeply devoted to him personally as he has been active in the area since his early days as a politician. Besides, his partymen consider him as a future Chief Minister and this is a big advantage for him.

Jai Prakash, a former protégé of the late Devi Lal, has won the Hisar Lok Sabha seat thrice. He won for the first time in 1989 as the Janata Dal nominee and became a Deputy Minister at the Centre. He won again in 1996 on the Haryana Vikas Party platform and later in 2004 as the Congress nominee. He lost the 2009 poll to Bhajan Lal.

No longer enjoying the domination of Jind district, JP, as he is popularly known, however, has the advantage of being a nominee of the ruling Congress. As in every byelection, the ruling party nominee has a definite edge. However, this had not worked in 2009.

Kuldeep Bishnoi is no stranger to electoral politics having been groomed by his maverick father, Bhajan Lal. He has two main factors in his favour. One, he is a non-Jat while his main rivals, Ajay Chautala and Jai Prakash, are both Jats. Besides, the BJP support is crucial for him not only in terms of urban non-Jat voters but also in terms of cadres who will canvass for him. The latter advantage will come handy in Assembly segments other than Hisar and Adampur.

Samalkha , September 19
Prompted by a prolonged struggle and several RTI queries put up by a local activist, the state government today finally got its own land back from the encroachers in the local grain market after almost 17 years.

According to the official records, a copy of which is available with The Tribune, the Haryana State Agriculture Mandi Board (HSAMB) had come up with a new grain market at Samalkha under a special World Bank scheme.

Soon after the plots were allotted to commission agents, a total of 6562.65 sq metres of land that was meant for roads and a sewerage system was encroached upon by them.

The commission agents constructed concrete shops on the encroached land. The market value of said land was calculated around Rs 24.11 crore about two years ago.

According to a report prepared by the local market committee, out of a total of 151 shops in the grain market, 109 had encroached upon the government land. The encroachments had started in 1995 when 14 shopkeepers extended their shops. As no action was taken against them, the number swelled to 109.

Even as 19 of these commission agents voluntarily brought down their illegal constructions bringing the land under encroachment to 4905.61 sq metres, the rest continued with the encroachment, given the fact that they enjoyed considerable political clout that thwarted any move by the authorities to get the land vacated.

After the matter was brought to the fore by RTI activist PP Kapoor, an attempt was made to transfer the land in the name of the commission agents who occupied it illegally by passing a resolution. But Kapoor again used the RTI route to stall this move as he demanded a reply from the board authorities whether the land meant for roads and the sewerage system could be transferred in the name of persons, to which the answer was no.

Following this, the HSAMB served several notices on the encroachers and even tried to demolish the illegal structures seven times over the past two years, but every time their efforts proved futile as no police force was provided.

However, today the officials of the HSAMB reached the grain market along with JCB machines and labourers and soon after adequate police security arrived at the market.

The illegal constructions by 90 shops were razed one after the other amid disapproval by the commission agents.

The HSAMB has already filed a recovery suit against the encroachers who have been asked to deposit Rs 73.61 lakh as rent for using the government land.

On orders issued by the state Lokayukta, the board had also charge-sheeted seven of its officials for having failed to thwart the encroachments on the government land during their tenure. An inquiry against them is still pending with a retired District and Sessions judge.

Following the removal of encroachments from the market, Kapoor said the RTI Act had proved its mettle as it had become an effective tool in restoring the government land which was in the illegal possession of encroachers. 

New Delhi, September 19
A day after talks brokered by the Haryana government to end the standoff with workers at the Manesar plant failed, Maruti Suzuki India said today that it had asked 350 trainees to resume duties within three days,

In the meantime, the company said it rolled out 600 Swift cars from the Manesar and Gurgaon plants today.

Blaming repeated shifting in positions by workers' representatives for the breakdown of talks brokered by the Haryana government, the company said it wass now adopting another communication "channel" to resolve the impasse at its Manesar plant.

"With the talks having failed, the company management is now communicating with workers through various channels. It will encourage workers to sign the good-conduct bond, and resume duties without any fear or apprehension and work towards restoring normalcy," it said.

"The management continues to believe that most of the workers are sincere and hard working. They are misled by a few people," it added.

Talks between the management and workers of the Manesar plant broke down and subsequently three leaders of the rebel union — Maruti Suzuki Employees Union-- were arrested.

The talks began late last week in the presence of the Labour and Employment Minister of Haryana , the Labour Department and the district administration of Gurgaon.

MSI blamed the workers for the failure of the talks.

"The management had started the talks with the aim of arriving at a solution, and made efforts to achieve positive progress. However, talks failed on Sunday night as striking workers repeatedly changed their position on key issues, making it impossible to reach a settlement," it said.

They also made unreasonable demands such as asking the management to take back people who had indulged in violent acts and attacked company officials, it added.

The MSI management and workers have been locked in a standoff since August 29, when the management prevented workers from entering the factory premises unless they signed a 'good-conduct' bond, after alleged sabotage and deliberate compromise on the quality of cars being produced. — PTI 

Jhajjar, September 19
Two minor boys drowned in the NCR canal near Aashoda village in Bahadurgarh town here last night. The deceased have been identified as Pappu (14), son of Madan, a resident of Sushayi village in Darbhanga district (Bihar), and Gaurav (15), son of Puran, a resident of Rajendera Park in Nangloi (Delhi).

The incident took place when Pappu and Gaurav along with two friends- Sujeet and Gaalib- were roaming near the NCR canal . Suddenly, Pappu slipped and fell into the canal. Gaurav also jumped into the canal to save his friend but was drowned .

When Gaurav and Pappu did not come out from the canal, Sujeet and Gaalib returned to their homes in Delhi but did not disclose the incident, said the police.

On Monday morning, they narrated the incident to kin of Pappu and Gaurav. The family members rushed to the spot and informed the Aasudha police post. The police called divers who fished out the bodies after several hours

The bodies have been handed over to their kin after a post-mortem examination at the civil hospital. The police has recorded the statements of Sujeet and Gaalib. 

Chandigarh, September 19
Congress general secretary in charge of Haryana BK Hariprasad today sent a strong message to those party leaders who believe that since Jai Prakash is not their nominee, it is not their responsibility to ensure his victory in the Hisar Lok Sabha byelection.

Senior Haryana Congress leader Birender Singh, who was seeking a ticket from Hisar for his son, had said at Kaithal two days ago that it was for them to ensure the victory of Jai Prakash who had sponsored his candidature. Though he had not named any one, the obvious reference was to Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda who had sought the ticket for Jai Prakash.

Addressing a general body meeting of the Haryana Congress here Hariprasad said Jai Prakash was the candidate of Sonia Gandhi and the party, and “not of anyone else”. Therefore, it was the duty of every Congress man to work for his success. Later explaining to newsmen, Hariprasad said the ticket to Jai Prakash was given by the high command. Hence he was Sonia Gandhi’s candidate.

If the purpose of today’s meeting was to put up a united face, the Congress failed. Three prominent leaders, who are generally perceived to be dissidents, Union Minister Selja, Birender Singh and Rao Inderjit Singh, MP from Gurgaon, did not attend the meeting, convened to chalk out the election strategy.

Hooda tried to dispel the notion that there were factions within the Congress when he told a former MLA from Uchana, the traditional constituency of Birender Singh, to organise a public meeting there. Hooda said he along with Randeep Surjewala, Parliamentary Affairs Minister, and Birender Singh would address the meeting.

Hooda gave a call to his partymen to reach Hisar on September 23 in strength to show the party’s strength to its rivals. Jai Prakash would file his nomination papers on that day.

While some speakers were apprehensive that the issue of corruption raised by Anna Hazare and unbridled inflation would have an adverse impact on the party’s prospects, senior leaders tried to make light of their apprehensions. Hooda agreed with Dr Ram Prakash, MP, that the INLD and the HJC were raising the issue of corruption because they wanted to divert public attention from the corrupt deeds of their leaders.

He said if the Chautalas were not corrupt, then nobody in Haryana was corrupt. He said the Congress would contest the election on the issue of development. He highlighted various development schemes launched by the Congress during the past seven years and compared them to what was done or not done during the INLD regime.

One big gain for the Congress today was the joining of former MLA Ram Bhagat Sharma from Narnaund. Sharma, who quit the INLD along with his supporters, has considerable influence in that area, which is a part of the Hisar Lok Sabha 
constituency. 

Ambala, September 19
Shashank Anand, SP, has directed the police to register a case of rape against Naib Tehsildar Ramesh Garg based at Yamunanagar and arrest the accused.

This follows a report by Raj Kumar Walia, DSP, Ambala, who investigated the rape of 27-year-old woman in a hotel on August 19 after she was made unconscious by mixing drugs in her cold drink.

The DSP submitted a report to the district police chief, confirming the woman’s rape.

According to sources, Ramesh Garg of Ambala had called the victim to Yamunanagar on the pretext of getting her a job.

However, the victim reached Ambala Cantt railway station in a semi-conscious condition after her rape.

She informed her parents after which a complaint was lodged. The victim was medically examined at the Civil Hospital, Ambala, on August 22, which confirmed rape on her.

Jind, September 19
The police has arrested a woman wanted in connection with the Ved Pal murder case of Singhwal village of Narwana subdivision of the district.

The accused is the mother of a girl, Sonia, whom the victim had married against the wishes of her parents. Later the victim was was beaten to death by the girl’s relatives and other residents, including members of a panchayat, at the village on the night of July 22, 2009, in full public view.

While the accused has been remanded in judicial custody, this is 13th arrest of the 14 accused named in the FIR. The court is likely to deliver its judgement in the case on September 21.

The accused, identified as Dhanpati, had been absconding since the case was registered by the police against 14 persons. This included Sonia’s father, Dhanraj, who was arrested soon after the incident.

According to the police, the incident had taken place when Ved Pal, escorted by a police team and a warrant officer of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, had reached the house of Sonia to get her custody on directions of the court.

Ved Pal had filed a petition in the high court for the recovery of his wife from the custody of her parents as she was “forcibly” taken away by her relatives on June 21 after her marriage with Ved Pal in an Arya Samaj temple at Chandigarh in March 2009.

Both had been in love and fled from their houses to get married. But this was opposed by the girl’s relatives and the panchayat that declared the marriage “unacceptable” due to the couple hailing from neighbouring villages.

Ved Pal, a resident of Mator village, had an affair with Sonia of Singhwal village while working as a private medical practitioner in Singhwal village. The pressure from the caste panchayat that declared the marriage as violative of traditions, resulted in a forcible separation of the couple and the girl was married off elsewhere. The mob attack had resulted in the death of Ved Pal and caused injuries to some cops and the warrant officer accompanying him on July 22, 2009, said the report lodged with the police. Though 12 of the accused have already been arrested, Dhanpati was arrested yesterday.

Sirsa, September 19
Traders clashed with workers of the anti-encroachment squad of the MC in Rori Bazar of the town today, resulting in injuries to two persons, a shopkeeper and a worker of the municipal body.

The incident occurred when the anti-encroachment squad went to the market to remove encroachments on roads. As MC workers impounded a display board of a shopkeeper, the latter grappled with him. Some other traders also joined them.— TNS