Sirsa/Hisar, December 14
With its focus on parliamentary and Assembly elections in Haryana, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) led by Arvind Kejriwal will begin its campaign in the state tomorrow. Yogendra Yadav, a member of the national executive of the party, will address meetings at Rewari, Mewat and Gurgaon.

A meeting of the state executive was held in Delhi today to chalk out the strategy in Haryana.

Rajiv Godara, a state executive member, said, “We have been receiving calls and messages from people in Haryana who want to associate with the AAP,” he said.

He said the AAP had full-fledged executive committees in 18 districts and ad hoc committees in three others.

After its performance in Delhi, the AAP planned to spread its wings and Haryana was its priority, he said.

Another member of the national executive of the party Naveen Jaihind said Yadav would chair the meeting of the Gurgaon unit tomorrow.

The district units of Mewat and Rewari, Yadav’s home district, would also meet tomorrow to take decisions on reaching out to the people.

“We are geared up for the electoral fight in Haryana. The extensive membership drive is already underway and party units are being formed up to small town and village levels,” Jaihind said.

The presence of farmer leaders Gurnam Singh and Prahalad Singh Bharukhera in the meeting today indicated that the AAP would focus on a combination of youth and farmers.

The impact of Delhi election results on Haryana were reviewed during the meeting.

The AAP decided to set up headquarters in Ambala and Karnal.

Jhajjar, December 14
Protesting against the alleged misbehaviour of Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda with ASHA Workers Union leaders some days ago, the ASHA workers today staged a day-long dharna on the campus of Mini Secretariat here.

The protesters shouted slogans against the Congress government and threatened to step up their ongoing agitation campaign if the CM did not apologise for his "misbehaviour" soon.

Vedvanti, district president of the union, told mediapersons that the Chief Minister had called a delegation of ASHA workers to his residence in Delhi for discussing their demands after a state-level rally was organised by the union on December 1.

"The Chief Minister did not listen to our demands and misbehaved with members of the delegation when they met him at his residence. Thereafter, the police personnel also misbehaved with protesting ASHA workers at the local residence of Education Minister Geeta Bhukkal on December 3, leading to acute resentment among the ASHA workers against the state government," the president alleged.

She maintained that the workers had been struggling hard to get their demands met but the state government was not paying any heed towards them. ta Bhukkal on December 3, leading to acute resentment among the ASHA workers against the state government," the president alleged.

She maintained that the workers had been struggling hard to get their demands met but the state government was not paying any heed towards them. 

Chandigarh, December 14
Giving a further impetus to higher education, three ambitious projects — extension campuses of the IIT-Delhi at Sonepat and Jhajjar and the Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) at Sonepat — are set to be opened in the state.

Union Minister for Human Resource Development Pallam Raju will lay the foundation stones of these projects on December 21. Member of Parliament from Rohtak Deepender Singh Hooda announced this after a meeting with the minister in New Delhi today.

He said the Union minister would lay the foundation stone of the IIT-Delhi extension campus, to be developed over 50 acres, at Rajiv Gandhi Education City, Sonepat.

Instrumental in bringing these projects to Haryana, Hooda, one of the two MPs elected as member of the National IIT Advisory Council, put the proposal of setting up extension campuses of IIT-Delhi in Haryana before the council.

Hooda, working closely with the Director, IIT-Delhi, had the entire blueprint of the projects in place and was associated right from conception to planning to execution.

The Union minister would also lay the foundation stone of the IIIT at Kilord village in Sonepat district. “All three projects are a feather in Haryana’s cap. Bringing them to Haryana was one project close to my heart since I became a member of the advisory council,” he said.

Fatehabad, December 14
Beginning tomorrow, the BJP cadre plans to hard sell their prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi in Haryana for the upcoming parliamentary elections.

Top leaders of the BJP in Haryana will lead the ‘Run for Unity' event at different district headquarters in the state on Sunday.

‘Run for Unity’ is part of Modi’s dream project ‘Statue of Unity’- the world’s tallest statue of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.

Ram Bilas Sharma, state president of the BJP, will participate in the run at Karnal, former MP Sudha Yadav at Rewari, BJP’s vice-president Rao Narvir Singh at Gurgaon, MLA Anil Vij at Ambala, former MP Rattan Lal Kataria at Yamunanagar, Mahabir Parsad at Sirsa, and BJP state secretary Subhash Barala at Fatehabad, along with other senior leader at different places.

“Run for Unity is a tribute to Sardar Patel, who, as the first home minister of the country, was accredited with uniting 562 independent states with India,” Ram Bilas Sharma, BJP state president, said while talking to The Tribune today.

Addressing mediapersons in Fatehabad today, Subhash Barala, state convener of the Statue of Unity Iron Collection Cooperation Committee, said the party workers had the support of students, social organisations and NGOs.

Besides, activists of the Swabhiman Trust and Kisan Union would also participate in the event, Barala said.

After the 'Run for Unity' tomorrow, the BJP will organise debates and essay writing competitions for schoolchildren, an event in which the party plans to involve lakhs of children in Haryana, thereby popularising Modi while eulogising Sardar Patel.