Chandigarh, February 1
Former Union minister and Haryana legislator Venod Sharma says he will continue to stay away from the Haryana pradesh election committee. He has said constitution of any such committee is against the spirit of announcements made by Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi at the All-India Congress Committee (AICC) session in New Delhi last month.

Reconfirming that he had submitted his resignation from the committee, even though state Congress president Phool Chand Mullana denied receiving it, the Ambala legislator played down the reason, saying it was his way of expressing resentment over the inclusion of Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda's detractors Birender Singh and Selja in the committee.

Giving his reasons for opting out of the election committee, Sharma told The Tribune that these committees did not serve any purpose. He said he wrote in his resignation letter, "I will not be able to contribute to the cause for which the committee has been constituted."

Elaborating further, he said Rahul Gandhi had announced that party primaries and workers at the block level in 15 parliamentary segments would directly elect party nominees. "This is a great idea and should be expanded to all parliamentary segments," he said.

He said Rahul Gandhi had promised at the AICC meeting that a pilot project would be undertaken in 15 Lok Sabha constituencies, which he did not specify, where candidates would be decided by party workers. Sharma said this was a great idea and the only way to ensure the success of the party. He said it should be taken to all paliamentary segments as a few people choosing candidates was against the electoral interests of the party.

He said the Congress vice-president had said they would ask block presidents, workers and district presidents to select candidates directly. Leaders who were not confident did not want this to happen, but to achieve success in elections, candidates should be chosen with the approval of workers, said Sharma. "Election committees are a formality and an exercise in futility as the days of pick and choose are over. People do not accept people they do not want," he said.

Sharma had held public rallies in seven of the 10 parliamentary constituencies in Haryana in the last few months. The feedback he got at these rallies, mainly in rural areas, was that people wanted to elect the representative who became an extension of their voice and not one who usurped power after being elected.

He said people attending his rallies had expressed the desire that the Representation of the People Act should be amended so that people had the right to recall non-performing elected representative instead of waiting for five years to elect another.

He rubbished talk about his desire to move to Chandigarh to contest the parliamentary seat. "I have worked hard in Haryana and held 381 block-level meetings, highlighting achievements of the Hooda government. My energies are focused on helping the Congress win the maximum seats in the state. I have no interest in the Chandigarh parliamentary seat."

Refusing to comment on the reach of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Haryana, Sharma said AAP was now a political party and not a social group. He said no one should speculate or undermine any other party. Elections would show where AAP stood, he said. He added that not many people in rural Haryana knew AAP the way it was known in Delhi.

Panipat, February 1
Seven years after the Samjhauta Express blast at the Diwana railway station in Panipat district, 19 of the 68 persons killed are yet to be identified. The 19 unidentified bodies were buried in the Mehrana graveyard.

Families of persons reportedly killed, but yet to be identified, had already given samples of their blood for the DNA test for establishing identity, but were awaiting the DNA report.

The National Investigating Agency (NIA) told Panipat-based lawyer Momin Malik to visit its Delhi office on Monday regarding the ongoing identification process of the bodies.

Malik called up the NIA Inspector General for seeking time as he represented his Pakistanis clients pursuing the issue of identification of 11 of the 19 bodies. He was subsequently told to visit the office on Monday.

Mohammad Shakeel (32) of Mirpur Khas in Sindh lost his father Fateh Mohammad, mother Rayesa and sisters Aasea and Sahiba in the blast on February 19, 2007.

Shakeel came to Panipat a few days ago with his brother-in-law, Abdul Sattar of Jaipur, for pursuing his compensation case. Shakeel said, “What to talk of getting Rs 10 lakh compensation announced by Railways, I have not got the DNA report. I gave my blood sample at the Indian High Commission in Islamabad in 2008 for identification of bodies.”

Mohammad Ikram Khan of Karachi and 10 of his family lost their lives in the blast. While five of them were identified, six were yet to be identified.

“Ikram’s daughter Nazia Khatoon and son Nazrudin deposited their blood samples with the Panipat GRP on May 29, 2010, but their DNA report had not been received.” said Malik.

He further said, “In the absence of identification, their next of kin cannot get the compensation. Their families are facing several problems, including division of property.”

Kurukshetra, February 1
Congress MP from Kurukshetra Naveen Jindal today lashed out at Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for making allegations of corruption against him.

Talking to mediapersons at Dab Kheri village here, Jindal said, “I challenge Kejriwal to prove his allegations. I will quit politics if he proves it otherwise he should leave politics.”

Jindal said, “Kejriwal has made false, malicious and baseless allegations which are aimed at downgrading my image, but I don’t need any character certificate from him.” Taking a dig at the Delhi Chief Minister, Jindal said Kejriwal should work for the betterment of the people of Delhi rather than sitting on dharnas and making false allegations.

Moreover, one of his MLAs, Vinod Kumar Binny, had made allegations against Kejriwal and the latter should come clean first before levelling allegations against others, he said. He said Kejriwal was defaming others to divert public attention because his government had failed to fulfil its promises. Whether he would file a defamation case against Kejriwal, he said, “If need occurs, I will but presently, I have more important work to do rather than reacting to someone’s false allegations.”

Kejriwal had included Jindal’s name in his list corrupt persons. — TNS

Chandigarh, February 1
As many as 1,03,959 candidates appeared in the Haryana Teachers' Eligibility Test (HTET) today. The examination was held at 341 centres in the state. Flying squads of the Haryana Board of School Education have registered 12 cases against candidates for adopting unfair means during the exam.

Jind, February 1
One-and-a-half months after the announcement of reservation for Jats, the failure of the authorities to issue a notification to this effect has angered the community. Jats have decided to call a mahapanchayat at Narwana on February 6 to announce its plan of agitation.

Representatives of more than 100 khaps in Haryana will participate in the mahapanchayat. Members of 15 khaps and the Jat reservation agitation committee met here today for around two hours to finalise the strategy against the 'deliberate' delay in issuing the notification.

Members of various khaps said they planned to block all roads in New Delhi and gherao Parliament. "We believe that the government is deliberately delaying the issuance of a notification," said Nafey Singh Nain, national president of the sarvjat khap panchayat.

Representatives of various khaps expressed resentment against the inaction of the Centre. They said they postponed their agitation, scheduled for December 23, on December 20, the day after the Centre announced reservation for Jats, but not withdrawn it.

"We will announce our final decision on February 6 during the mahapanchayat at Narwana," said Tek Ram Kandela, president of the Kandela khap. "We will not hesitate in resuming our agitation if the authorities fail to issue a notification at the earliest," said Dalel Singh, president of the Khera khap.

Faridabad, February 1
Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda today inaugurated the 28th Surajkund International Crafts Mela here. High Commissioner of Sri Lanka to India Prasad Karlyawasam, National Crafts Council of Sri Lanka Chairman Budhikeerti Sinna, Goa Deputy Chief Minister Francis D’Souza, Tourism Minister Dilip Parulekar and Principal Secretary Parimal Roy were among other dignitaries present on the occasion.

Addressing a gathering, Hooda said the mela had not only given an international recognition to the state, but had come up as an important annual itinerary for thousands of visitors to the fair.

“This 15-day-long event has proved an important landmark in the lives of art and craft lovers in the country and abroad,” he said.

“The fair is ultimately a celebration of India’s incomparable heritage, varied crafts, culture and cuisine and now, it represents a fusion of nations, cultures and artisans from all over the world,” said an official.

Sirsa, February 1
Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh appeared before the CBI court through video-conferencing at the district courts here today.

The next hearing in the three cases -- Ram Chander Chhatrapati murder case, Ranjit Singh murder case and sadhvi sexual exploitation case -- is on February 11.

The dera chief arrived at the Sirsa district courts around 10 am amid tight security and went to the video-conferencing room, where he appeared before the CBI court holding its hearing in Panchkula. His followers stood as guards along the 8-km road from the dera to the court complex. The hearing ended in the afternoon.