Ratia, November 28
The din of electioneering ended today for the Ratia Assembly seat with all political parties contesting the bypoll making their last-ditch efforts to woo the voters.

Former Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala, who addressed a rally in Ratia town to seek votes for his candidate Sarfi Bai, said the Bhupinder Singh Hooda government’s days were numbered now, while Hooda, who addressed a series of meetings in support of the Congress nominee Jarnail Singh, claimed that the ruling party was going to win both Ratia and Adampur seats.

Chautala said the result of Hisar parliamentary bypoll had already shaken the foundations of the Hooda government and claimed that the government would crumble if the people of Ratia could give a big defeat to the Congress.

Accusing the Congress of being anti-farmers and anti-traders, Chautala alleged that by allowing FDI in the retail sector, the ruling party had given a severe blow to small traders, who, he maintained, would not be able to survive.

Chautala’s two sons, Ajay Singh and Abhey Singh, Ashok Arora, state president of the INLD, and several former ministers and MLAs addressed the meeting.

A couple of SGPC members of the SAD also addressed the rally to woo the Sikh voters, who are in large numbers in Ratia.

Meanwhile, addressing meetings for Jarnail Singh till late last night and then again in the morning today, Hooda said he spent Rs 330.48 crore on Ratia against Rs 99.48 crore spent by Chautala during his tenure.

The Chief Minister said Gian Chand Odh, whose death has necessitated this bypoll, never raised any demand of Ratia in the State Assembly or at the government level, and now the INLD had fielded his wife, an illiterate housewife.

Hooda promised voters more development in the next three years than what had been done in the past 30 years, if Jarnail Singh was elected from here.

The Congress leaders, including Hooda, were at pains dismissing an alleged spat between MP Ashok Tanwar and minister Gopal Kanda in the presence of the Chief Minister at his helipad last evening.

The BJP today said that both Hooda and Chautala were misleading the people on the issue of development.

Inderjit Singh, state secretary of the CPM and Harpal Singh, a former CPM MLA, also addressed meetings for Left parties’ nominee Ram Kumar Bahbalpuria. 

Hisar, November 28
Former Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala said today that the UPA government’s decision to allow FDI in the retail sector would spell doom for millions of small traders and farmers.

Addressing an election rally marking the end of INLD nominee Ram Singh Baswana’s campaign for byelection to the Adampur Assembly segment at Balsmand village near here, he said the UPA government had virtually handed over the Rs 27 lakh-crore retail business to foreign companies on a platter. This would serve a deadly blow to the economy of the country.

Chautala said while 83 per cent of the small shopkeepers were affected adversely, the decision would only benefit 17 big business groups in India. The decision would render 4.5 crore families without any means to earn their livelihood.

Hitting out against Congress president Sonia Gandhi and general secretary Rahul Gandhi, the former Chief Minister said, under their directives, the Centre was virtually functioning like the East India Company.

He said the nation’s economy was based on agriculture and yet the Congress government was neither prescribing adequate MSP for agricultural produce nor increasing the sugarcane prices at a time when sugar mills had commenced operations.

Chautala accused the Congress of pumping money to win the two byelections by hook or crook. The Congress was so desperate to win that it had thrown all norms of a healthy democracy to the wind.

He appealed to the voters to throw out the Congress by voting for the INLD nominee.

INLD secretary-general Ajay Singh Chautala said his party would form a government in Haryana soon after the results of the two byelections were declared. He appealed to the voters to elect the INLD nominee and assured them that he would take care of the interests of the voters of the constituency.

Ajay, too, criticised the decision on FDI in the retail sector and said traders and farmers in Haryana would be affected also. It was important to defeat the Congress so that pressure could be mounted to withdraw the decision.

The INLD nominee, Baswana, said the entire constituency had suffered due to election of a member of the Bhajan Lal family for 43 years. Change, he said, was always for the better and if given a chance he would serve his voters with humility. 

Chandigarh, November 28
The Haryana Election Department has made arrangements for the conduct of smooth, fair and peaceful byelections to the Adampur and Ratia Assembly constituencies.

Chief Electoral Officer Sumita Misra said here today that in the Adampur Assembly constituency, 840 polling personnel, 12 sector officers and 39 sector magistrates had been deployed for polling duty. Besides, 60 micro observers had also been deployed on all hypersensitive or sensitive or critical and multiple buildings. As many as 102 videographers had been deployed in Adampur besides installing 12 digital cameras on critical polling stations.

She said in the Ratia Assembly constituency, 853 presiding and polling officers, 135 micro observers and 40 supervisors and duty magistrates had been deployed for polling duty. 

Hisar, November 28
Campaigning for byelection to the Adampur Assembly segment came to an end today. The polling will take place on Wednesday.

Throughout the campaign, there were no real issues at play. The three main contenders and their party leaders indulged only in smear campaigns against each other.

In the last days, the Congress promised voters that the state government would unleash unprecedented development in the area if its nominee was elected.

The HJC-BJP combine kept projecting itself as the future political alliance of Haryana.

The INLD claimed that the result of the bypoll would mark the beginning of the end of the Congress government in Haryana.

The three main contenders are: Kulbir Beniwal (Congress), Ram Singh Baswana (INLD) and Renuka Bishnoi (HJC-BJP).

The seat was vacated by Renuka’s husband Kuldeep Bishnoi who had been elcted to the Lok Sabha from the Hisar seat.

Adampur has been a bastion of the Bhajan Lal family for 43 years. No family member has ever lost an election from Adampur since 1968.

Meanwhile, the district administration has made all arrangements for the conduct of the polling. The security forces today staged a flag march in the entire constituency. Led by SP Ashvin Shenvi, the march was aimed at reassuring the voters that no violence would be tolerated during polling. 

Chandigarh, November 28
The state government has declared November 30 as a public holiday under Section 135-B of the Representation of the People Act for those employees of government or semi-government offices, educational institutions of the state government, boards and corporations who are registered voters for the byelection to the Adampur and Ratia Assembly constituencies so that they can caste their votes in these elections.

An official spokesman said the employees of various factories, shops and private establishments located in the Adampur and Ratia constituencies who were registered voters of these constituencies might also be allowed on November 30 to take paid leave under the Act for the same purpose. 

Panipat, November 28
Riding high on the pisciculture wave, district farmers involved in fish farming produced more than 1.99 crore fish seeds along with 2,656 tonnes of fish from 762 hectares of land which has so far been brought under fish farming in the district.

Deputy Commissioner JS Ahlawat said with the increasing input costs and disappointing minimum support prices of crops, a large number of farmers in the district had taken to pisciculture as an alternative source of income.

He said the fish farmers were earning returns up to Rs 4 lakh a year and the subsidies being offered by the state government had made this practice more lucrative for the farmers.

He said during the current year, the government agencies had fixed a target to produce 5,030 tonnes of fish, half of which had already been achieved. He said the fish farming development agency would also set a target of storing more than 2.21 crore fish seeds.

The agency also took up renovation of ponds for fish farming on 17 hectares of land and helped farmers dig up ponds on three hectares of land which paved the way for 27 more farmers joining the pisciculture wave, the Deputy Commissioner said. 

Kurukshetra, November 28
Noted playback singer Anuradha Paudwal will be the star performer at the “Bhajan Sandhya” during the five-day Geeta Jayanti festival on December 3 while renowned Sufi singer Hans Raj Hans will regale the audience on December 4.

The festival will be inaugurated by Governor Jagannath Pahadia on December 2 while Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda will be the chief guest at the closing function marked by "Deep Daan" on December 6. Ballad dances on Krishan Lila by the Brindavan Lok Kala Manch will be the main attraction on the opening day while the North Zone Cultural Centre will present a cultural programme on December 5.

For the first time, a 10-day "Saras Mela" will be organised from December 1 to December 10 during the Geeta Jayanti festival in which over 450 Self-Help Groups from across the country will display their traditional skills, craft and art. The aim of the mela is to set up linkages between the traditional art and craft and rural skills across the country.

A handicraft mela will also be organised from December 1 to 3 while a state-level exhibition will be on display from December 2 to 6.

Kurukshetra Deputy Commissioner Mandeep Singh Brar said the entire Brahmasarovar complex and the roads leading to the venue were being given a facelift and elaborate arrangements had been made to maintain sanitation and provide other civic facilities like drinking water, toilets, etc to the visitors. 

Jhajjar, November 28
The district court has awarded death sentence to two accused and life imprisonment to eight others in connection with the murder of three persons at Jassore Kheri village of the district in 2009.

According to the prosecution, the convicts identified as Ajay Veer, Jairam, Yashwanti Devi, Manjeet, Vikas, Ashok, Pramod, all residents of Jassore Kheri, Praveen of Nahri village, Kaptan of Jindpur village, and Ajay of Barwala village in Hisar district. They have been held guilty of murdering three persons in Jassore Kheri on May 20, 2009. While the court of the Additional District and Sessions Judge, Ajay Tevatia, awarded capital punishment to two of the convicts, identified as Ajay Veer, alias Toni, a resident of Jassore Kheri village, and Jairam, alias Baba, hailing from Mundka village in Delhi, it sentenced eight others to life imprisonment.

According to reports, the court had held Toni and Baba as the prime accused while eight others had been their accomplice in the crime, who had shot dead three persons, Hariom of Jassore Kheri village, his sister Krishna Devi and Krishna’s son, Naresh Kumar, at the bus stand in the village on May 20, 2009, due to enmity over land dispute.

The rivalry between two families was the main reason behind the chain of murders and assaults that had led to a kind of gang war between two groups in the village.

Eight persons from both the sides have been killed in the gang war so far, according to police sources.

Rohtak, November 28
Sarpanch of Naya Baans village Dalbir Singh was shot dead by some armed assailants last night.

The victim was sitting with his cousin in a factory when some youths fired at him. This is the fifth murder case in the district in the past three weeks.

Hundreds of villagers blocked the Sampla-Sonepat road for several hours today to seek the immediate arrest of assailants. Protesters kept the body on the road and raised slogans against the administration for failing to ensure safety of villagers. Finally, the blockade came to an end and they took away the body for cremation after intervention of the senior police officials, including the SSP, who assured them of prompt action into the matter.

Though the police has arrested the four accused allegedly involved in the murder of a youth identified as Dinesh of Rithal village whose body had been recovered on Saturday, the murder of the sarpanch has created shock waves among villagers.

This incident is a repeat of a murder of a dhaba owner located near Chuliana village where some armed assailants had shot him dead on the night of November 7. While the police had arrested one of the accused and had killed another in an encounter that took place in western UP recently, the third accused was still at large. The fourth recent incident of murder had taken place at Sanghi village where a 21-year-old boy was beaten to death by the some persons for having an affair with a girl of the village. The police arrested one of the accused while four others were still absconding. The police is still looking for the accused involved in the murder of two youths who were shot dead in August at Sanghi village. The police had announced a reward of Rs 20,000 for a clue in this regard. 

Karnal, November 28
A Dalit couple, working as safai karamcharis in Sangoha village, is running from pillar to post seeking justice and action against the village sarpanch and panch for allegedly beating up and harassing them and stopping their wages.

In a written statement to the press, Chanderbhan and his wife, Vidya Devi, working in the village as safai karamcharis since December 2007, alleged that they were also working in the fields of sarpanch Rishipal Singh and used to collect cowdung and bring fodder.

“In March we could not go to the fields of Rishpal Singh for three days due to marriage of our daughter and he was so much annoyed that he sent panch Gurmukh Singh, who threatened that we would be ‘fired’ if we did not collect the cowdung and bring fodder from the fields,” they alleged.

Chanderbhan also alleged that panch Gurumukh beat him up mercilessly and broke one of his teeth and also abused his wife. He also registered a false case of theft against them and stopped their salary.

“They are influential people and get away with anything and there is a threat to our lives as the police, district administration and others concerned have not taken any action on our complaint,” he lamented.

“We have been running from pillar to post for justice and have also met the local MP, the DSP and the Deputy Commisioner, but nothing has been done so far and no one has come to our help.

We have three children and old parents to look after and our lives have become so miserable that we will be compelled to commit suicide in case justice is not done,” he added.

Panipat, November 28
The district police has booked a youth for murdering his wife for dowry.

According to the police, Babu Ram of Thanda village in Haridwar district had filed a complaint with the department alleging that his son-in-law, Karamjot, of Radoor village, presently residing in Panipat, had murdered his 25-year-old daughter, Shivani.

Babu Ram told the police that he had solemnised the marriage of his daughter with Karamjot on May 6, 2011, after which the couple shifted to Panipat. On November 24, the body of Shivani was found hanging in a community kitchen of a local gurdwara near Fatehpur Chowk.

Karamjot was booked under Section 304 of the IPC pertaining to dowry death. The police said the accused was yet to be arrested as he had been absconding after the crime. 

Rewari, November 28
Two cheats reportedly cast some sort of a spell on an old woman, Vidya Devi, of Sati Colony here today.

After that they duped the woman of her gold bangles and a ring while handing a packet to her, which, they stated, contained currency notes of several lakh rupees.

While the cheats hastily fled with the jewellery, the woman opened the packet and was stunned to find that it contained a single currency note of the denomination of Rs 50 only.

The incident occurred when the woman was going to offer prayers at a holy shrine near the colony. Meanwhile, the police has registered a case of cheating in this regard. 

Sonepat, November 28
Chand Ram Kuhar, a freedom fighter, who died a natural death, was consigned to flames with full guard of honour at his native village, Hullaheri, last evening. He was 92.

On the behalf of Governor Jagannath Paharia and Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda floral wreaths were laid on his body by BDPO Ram Phal and Naib Tehsildar Deepak Raj, respectively, before cremation of the INA hero.

Born on November 10, 1920, he joined the Army on January 4, 1938. After serving at Hyderabad, Afghanistan border and Andaman Nicobar in the Army, he joined the INA in 1943 and on many occasions, he performed the duty of a driver of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose.