Karnal, January 18
Fissures in the Congress have come to the fore with Vidhan Sabha Speaker Kuldeep Sharma and Karnal MP Arvind Sharma indulging a war of words.

Addressing a press conference here today, Kuldeep alleged that Arvind was trying to malign his image by dragging his name in the “missing” naib tehsildar case.

The Speaker said Arvind was jailed in a murder case in Rohtak and was an accused in a cheating case against Kurukshetra MP Naveen Jindal.

A delegation would meet AICC vice-president Rahul Gandhi in the coming days to bring forth the criminal past of the MP.

He alleged that it had been proved that Arvind was behind the conspiracy to malign his name in the naib tehsilar case.

“I have forgiven the naib tehsildar and his family, but not Arvind and Abhey Chautala,” said Kuldeep.

Being an MLA and lawyer, he had sent a legal notice to Abhey Chautala over his allegations against him, the Speaker added.

Reacting to the Speaker’s allegations, Arvind said, “Kuldeep is the Speaker of the Vidhan Sabha and he should maintain the dignity of the post. If he has anything against me, he should come out with facts. He is close to the Chief Minister and is the Speaker. He should mark an inquiry to know the truth.”

Arvind said the Speaker should stay within his limits. “If he does not change his attitude, I will take a legal action against him,” the MP said.

Jind, January 18
The government claims to have made the required arrangements to reduce the impact of the forthcoming strike of employees from January 20 to 23. However, the common man should be ready for a hard time as the government appears to have been mainly hoping to provide relief with the help of splinter groups of employees who have announced to join duties during strike.

“Not all employees are supporting the strike. There are many who want to work. All district authorities hope to work smoothly with the help of these employees. We will provide police protection to them,” said Jind ADC Jaiveer singh Arya.

But the details with all the 21 special teams, formed by the employees coordination committee, showed that during their meetings at Sirsa, Hisar, Fatehabad, Bhiwani, Panchkula, Ambala, Kurukshetra, Kaithal, Karnal, Panipat, Sonepat, Rohtak and Jhajjar, they got full support of employees for the strike.

“There is no division among us. But from the last some days the government has been trying to create divisions. Instead of wasting time in doing so, the government must concentrate on fulfilling our long-pending demands,” said Vinod Sharma, state press secretary of Haryana Karmchari Mahasangh.

Sirsa, January 18
The call of Sirsa bandh, given by the Haryana Bijli Andolan Sangharsh Samiti, evoked a mixed response today.

Most of the shops opened in the morning but were forced to shut down after some time by the activists of the samiti.

However, the moment they left the markets in the afternoon, a majority of shops opened.

Later, the activists of the samiti blocked vehicular traffic on the national highway nearly for an hour. Addressing the activists, Roshan Suchan, convener of the Haryana Bijli Andolan Sangharash Samiti, said the reduction in power tariff announced by the government was not acceptable to them as it was too little. — TNS

Chandigarh, January 18
Six years after she was first booked, Special CBI Court Judge Vimal Kumar today framed charges of corruption against former High Court Judge Nirmal Yadav in the cash -at judge’s -door scam.

Earlier this month, the Supreme Court had rejected her plea for stay on proceedings of the trial court. Charges of corruption and criminal conspiracy were framed against four others in the case.

The court framed charges against Justice Yadav under Section 11 of the Prevention of Corruption Act. The trial will begin on February 15, which is the next date of hearing.Framing corruption charges, the court stated, “Justice Nirmal Yadav obtained Rs 15 lakh on August 14, 2008, from Ravinder Singh Bhasin through Sanjiv Bansal and Rajiv Gupta without any consideration or a consideration which she knew to be inadequate. Bhasin, Bansal and Gupta were concerned with proceedings or having connection with her official functions or were interested and related in her functions and thereby, she committed an offence punishable under Section 11 of the Prevention of Corruption Act. Justice Yadav, who was then the Judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, being a public servant, accepted or obtained valuable things, including a mobile phone number (9811522262) from Ravinder Singh and, using the same, obtained Rs 2.5 lakh in April, 2008, from Delhi-based hotelier Ravinder Singh, air ticket for journey from Chandigarh to Delhi on August 2, 2008, from Sanjiv Bansal and air ticket for journey from Delhi to Chandigarh on August 3, 2008.On July 31 last year, the CBI court had accepted the CBI charge sheet for framing of charges in the case against her and other accused.The other accused are Sanjiv Bansal, former Additional Advocate-General, Haryana, Delhi-based hotelier Ravinder Singh Bhasin and city-based businessman Rajiv Gupta.

The court framed charges of criminal conspiracy and fabricating false statement against Nirmal Yadav, Bansal and Gupta. All accused, including Yadav, were present in court today. 

Chandigarh, January 18
In a political development that is bound to create ripples in the faction-ridden Haryana Congress, Industries Minister Randeep Singh Surjewala was today nominated as a member of the election coordination committee for the general election by Congress president Sonia Gandhi.Coming as a big boost for the minister, Surjewala's name has been added to the eight-member panel along with Union minister Ghulam Nabi Azad and Union minister of state Jyotiraditya Scindia.

The panel is headed by Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi and other members are Ahmed Patel, Janardan Dwivedi, Digvijaya Singh, Madhusudan Mistry, Jairam Ramesh, CP Joshi and Ajay Maken.The panel will have a say in ticket allotment, picking 'winnable' candidates ahead of the general election. This is particularly important since the party is a divided house in most states.

It was believed that he would be given greater responsibility at the national level after he started appearing as 'unofficial' spokesperson of the party and began addressing press conferences of the All-India Congress Committee.

The Haryana minister had proved himself in state politics by being the only line of defence for long in the Vidhan Sabha against the barbs of the Opposition.

From being a chief ministerial aspirant in the 2005 elections to accepting Bhupinder Singh Hooda as the leader and emerging as the second most important politician in the state, Surjewala became the Congress face for defending the government during the Robert Vadra-DLF controversy in October 2011. 

Rohtak, January 18
Bowing to the pressure from various quarters, the company managing the toll-plaza at Makdauli village on the Rohtak-Panipat road has extended an olive branch to the residents.

The company has offered concessional monthly passes at Rs 100 to residents of the Rohtak-Gohana belt.

An announcement to this effect was made by Col (retd) Vikramjit Singh, chief general manager, and Col (retd) Surender Panwar, general manager, tolling operation, at a press conference here this evening.

The move comes on the eve of a protest announced by the Toll Bachao Sangharsh Samiti. The protest was backed by prominent villagers as well as various social and political organisations.

The toll managers said the step had been taken in view of the demand from public and the recommendation of the Rohtak Deputy Commissioner.

The offer was open to the residents of the area, they said. They added that vehicles used by farmers for agricultural purposes as well as two-wheelers were exempted from toll tax.

Earlier, the toll management had offered monthly passes at Rs 215 to the people residing within five km of the toll plaza.

The company’s offer was turned down by the residents and various residents' bodies as well as political parties had raised their voice in protest against the high toll-tax at the barrier. 

Rohtak, January 18
A few days after the arrest of a woman quack who allegedly conducted illegal abortions at Sampla township, the district health authorities have unearthed another such racket near Sunaria village on the outskirts of the town.

The accused, Kamla Rani, who managed to escape, was booked under the IPC and the MTP Act. She had been running a clinic for several years, allegedly conducting illegal abortions, for which she charged a hefty amount.

The raiding team found banned injections and 32 types of medicines used for carrying out abortions. The raid led to tension in the area, but the police deployed adequate personnel to tackle the situation.