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State of parties
Parties keep khaps in good humour
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STOCK-TAKING: Santosh Chowdhary Hoshiarpur
STOCK-TAKING: Rao Inderjit Singh gurgaon
Congress seals Bihar alliance with Lalu’s RJD
Venkaiah, Jaitley may not contest
EC to act tough on paid news
Gadkari-Munde rivalry to the fore
Sidhu most popular face of BJP: Gadkari
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Congress faces uphill task in Himachal
Banks on Virbhadra as he can make party’s boat sail into the wind Pratibha Chauhan Tribune News Service
With only one Lok Sabha seat of Mandi under its belt, the party is confident of improving its tally even as the uncertainty over candidates to be fielded in the polls still continues, giving the BJP a head start. The BJP is on a virtual high after Narender Modi's rally at Sujanpur in Hamirpur Parliamentary segment. The Congress is under pressure to match the saffron party's show. The situation is no different from the 2012 Assembly polls when the high command was forced to hand over the reins of the party to its old warhorse Virbhadra at the last minute to bring the Congress back to power. Even today, he towers over all other leaders, with no other vote catcher as most others are confined to their Assembly segments only.
Even though state Congress president Sukhwinder Singh, who succeeded Virbhadra as the Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee chief in January 2013, was not the Chief Minister's obvious choice, but the two seem to have worked out a descent relationship on most issues. Knowing well that it is Virbhadra alone who can make the Congress boat sail into the wind, an energetic and relatively young Sukhu, too, seems to be giving in except in Hamirpur where he is opposing Virbhadra's choice of an Independent MLA Rajinder Rana as the Congress nominee. With Union Minister Anand Sharma still not seeing eye to eye with Virbhadra, the Congress remains faction-ridden. With Sharma not enjoying much political clout in the state, it will be Virbhadra who will lead the party. Notwithstanding attempts by the BJP to corner him on corruption charges, he is still the party’s best bet. He has been touring the state to ensure that the Congress wrest three seats from the BJP. The stakes for two BJP stalwarts - Shanta Kumar, who is the BJP candidate from Kangra and former Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal, whose son Anurag Thakur is contesting from Hamirpur - makes winning even all the more difficult for the Congress. With their personal reputation at stake, the two BJP leaders will put in all their might to ensure victory. Sensing the arduous task that the Congress faces in Kangra and Hamirpur, the Congress leaders are trying to put their act together. The vote share of the Congress in the 2009 Parliamentary elections was 45.61 per cent as compared to 49.58 per cent of the BJP. The Congress vote share declined considerably from 51.89 per cent in 2004 to 45.61 in 2009 resulting in the party losing three seats. The huge vote swing of more than 6 per cent cost the party dear. With the selection of candidates still eluding the Congress, except in Mandi, the party is losing out on precious time. In another setback to the party, Rahul Gandhi's Dharamsala rally has been postponed. The party is divided over the selection of candidate from Hamirpur where defeating Dhumal junior appears to be an uphill task for it. Unlike the BJP, the Congress is yet to take a final decision on 100-odd party leaders, including 25 senior leaders, who were expelled from the party during the 2012 Assembly polls. In case the Congress wants to improve its performance, it will have to put its act together and formally declare its candidates. The decision on the expelled leaders will also have to be expedited as the winning margins are likely to be thin and everyone's contribution will matter.
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Parties keep khaps in good humour
In the forthcoming Parliamentary elections, most politicians, ranging from CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda to the leadership of Aam Aadmi Party, have made efforts to woo khaps. In Haryana, where cast plays a significant role, the support of khaps to any political party can tilt the scales as these social bodies are directly in touch with illiterate villagers, who always exercise their franchise unlike educated class and urban residents. As khap leaders help solve disputes in villages, they have developed an unchallengeable reputation in villages where farmers first approach khaps before exploring legal options. Many khap leaders nurture political ambitions on a personal level, but the trends so far indicate that khaps in Haryana will not enter the political arena. However, they will remain considerable pressure groups. Khap is a system of social administration where elders representing various villages or panchayats come together to take a decision on social and cultural issues. Hence, it has tremendous power to influence, especially in the rural Haryana. Historically a political entity, khaps have, over the years, maintained a united face in the shape of sarv khap (or all khap) panchayat (council) that has representation. Individual khaps send their delegates to the sarv khap. Although there were initial threats by khaps to enter the political fray, of late, khap representatives have been repeatedly clarifying that they don't have a connection with any political party and are non-political bodies constituted to solve disputes of the common man. "We don't have connection with any political party, but politicians want to misuse our name to garner votes. We will not tolerate it," Kuldeep Singh Dhanda, convener of the Sarv Khap Panchayat of Haryana, said. Defining the role of khaps, Ram Kishan, a farmer from Ahirka village in Jind district, says: "Khaps have solved many cases without causing financial loss and social disturbance. The police are not helpful always. Khaps give a chance to all to air their grievances." Although many khap leaders have connections with political parties, they are at their individual level and not at khap level, says Tek Ram Kandela, convener of the Rastriya Sarv Jat Khap Panchayat. As villagers are considered members of their respective khaps, crimes by many individuals against love marriages have brought a bad name to khaps. The national-level khaps are infamous for honour killings. Khap leaders are now holding seminars to clarify that they are not against love marriage, but only against the same-gotra marriage. Khaps have gained prominence again ahead of the elections with politicians from different hues looking at them for their support. Khaps have remained non-political bodies with the only exception of the Meham Chaubisi Khap Panchayat. However, after facing much flak for its style of functioning, many khaps consider election time as an opportunity to arm-twist the politicians in getting support on their pet issue of amendment in the Hindu Marriage Act to declare same gotra marriages as illegal. But in a shrewd move, khaps are unlikely to bat for any particular party while keeping cards close to their chest. A senior khap leader says the decision to enter politics is fraught with risks. Kuldeep Singh Dhanda, convener of the Sarv Khap Panchayat of Haryana, said: "Chaubisi fielded its candidates — Umed Singh and Harswroop Singh Boora — and even extended support to Devi Lal and Anand Singh Dangi. But there are no such examples in any other khap." Tulsi Grewal, head of the Meham Chaubisi Sarvkhap Panchayat, however, does not agree with the argument and says the khap will back the political party that promises to address the general social concerns by including them in their
manifesto. (With inputs from Parvesh Sharma, Nitish Kumar, Sunit Dhawan and Deepinder Deswal)
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STOCK-TAKING: Santosh Chowdhary Hoshiarpur Satisfied with her performance, she says she never took her job as a political career, but service Umesh Dewan and Sanjiv Kumar Bakshi Tribune News Service
She is receiving maximum flak for being unable to keep her promise of bringing employment-oriented projects to Kandi area. The projects
Chowdhary got a tertiary cancer care centre worth Rs 45 crore approved from the Centre. Funds for the centre, which will be set up in place of an abandoned TB hospital, have been released. A storm sewer project to manage rain water that had logged the Jalandhar road and adjacent areas last year is another major project in the MP's kitty. In the past five years, Garhdiwala area of the Sham Churasi Assembly constituency (once represented by Chowdhary's husband Ram Lubhaya as MLA) got special attention with at least one major project getting Centre's approval. A Kendriya Vidyalaya is also being constructed at a cost of Rs 22 crore at Gajjan village for which funds have already been allocated. Chowdhary's efforts for a daily passenger train from Hoshiarpur to Amritsar brought desired results when it was approved in the 2012-13 Rail Budget. In this year's interim budget, Chowdhary requested the Railway Minister to increase the periodicity of the weekly Express train from Hoshiarpur to New Delhi to daily, which was accepted by the ministry. MPLADS funds
Chowdhary released funds for installation of swings in government schools, solar lights in villages and benches at public places. "Small projects are very important. Utilising funds to cater to the common man's needs has always been my priority," she said. Chowdhary released Rs 1.42 crore from her MPLADS funds to start nine mobile laboratory-cum-medical unit ambulances. Chowdhary funded no other major project during her tenure. She mainly focused on small and local projects that cost between Rs 50,000 and Rs 2-3 lakh. Of the total Rs 19 crore allotted to her, major chunk was spent on constructing shamshan ghats (crematoriums), streets, drains and dharamshalas (inns). In Parliament
Chowdhary had not asked even a single question in Parliament, though she had special mention in three questions raised by other members of the House and none of them was related to her constituency directly. Only one question concerned the people of her area: "Need to implement one rank, one pension scheme" asked by Gurdaspur MP Partap Singh Bajwa on August 21, 2010. She once raised the issue of wild animals damaging crops in Kandi area, in Lok Sabha under Rule 377. What she says
Chowdhary said her term was successful but could have performed better if she had more resources and support of the state government. "Kendriya Vidyalaya at Gajjan village, a cancer hospital at Fatehgarh, mobile telecom towers of BSNL in Kandi area that had no source of communication in the past, getting approval for two ANM schools in the constituency, surveys for railway extension to Tanda and Una from Hoshiarpur, trains to Amritsar from Hoshiarpur, restarting the train from Hoshiarpur to Ferozepur and a train to Delhi are some of the major projects I undertook," Chowdhary said. She said if the state government had cooperated, the fencing of wildlife sanctuaries and other Kandi-related projects would also have been implemented. "I am satisfied with whatever I did but there is lot more to be done to this most-backward district of the state. It is now for the people to evaluate my performance as I never took my job as a political career, but a service that I will continue always," she added.
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STOCK-TAKING: Rao Inderjit Singh gurgaon Says he has a direct connection with his people who will vote him back to power considering his work Parvesh Sharma Tribune News Service
But, the general sentiment prevailing among voters portrays a picture of dissatisfaction with majority of them alleging that many parts of the area still lack basic amenities. Rao, who embarrassed the Congress for granting change of land use (CLUs) to Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law Robert Vadra, still believes that his switch to the BJP would not make any difference to his image as he was personally connected to the majority of electors who would vote him back to power. He claims to have spent more than 90% of the MPLADS funds granted to him and more than 95% attendance in Parliament. He said he had been successful in raising many important issues related to his constituency in Parliament.
Local residents said the MP had mainly hogged the limelight for difference of opinion with senior Haryana Congress leaders rather than bringing any major projects to the city. On his future plans, Rao said he had something big to disclose but refused to share, saying that he would reveal his "game plan" at an appropriate time after having detailed meetings with BJP leaders. Issues he raised
in Parliament
Land acquisition, Change of Land use scam, Western Rail Freight Corridor project, National Highway toll plazas, Delhi-Mewat-Alwar road link, elevating Gurgaon to a corporation and constitution of Gurgaon Development Authority. What locals say
Majority of the local residents alleged lack of basic amenities in the area. "Many parts of the city still lack basic amenities such as good roads. There is a nexus between officers and contractors. The latter do not use quality material. The roads give in even after light showers," said Rishabh Yadav, a student. Though the industry in Gurgaon is considered to be the lifeline of Haryana's economy, industrialists allege they are deprived of much-needed amenities. They said they were either investing from their pockets or the National Capital Region planning board invested money. "The industrialists pay all taxes, but still don't get basic facilities such as regular water and power supply. If the government fails to perform its role efficiently, it has no right to charge taxes," said Parveen Yadav, an industrialist.
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Congress seals Bihar alliance with Lalu’s RJD
New Delhi, March 5 Although in the end game, Lalu Prasad, chief of the RJD, agreed to give 12 seats to the Congress and one to the NCP, the Congress failed to bargain for several seats its top leaders had wanted. These included the seats of Madhubani, East Champaran, Jehanabad, Nawada and Bhagalpur. The topmost sacrifice in the hectic negotiations that led to the final deal came from none other than Shakeel Ahmed, the AICC general secretary and in charge of Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh and Delhi. While he is himself playing a key role in distribution of 31 Lok Sabha tickets in these four states, he has lost his claim over Madhubani, a segment he has twice represented in the past. Another top Bihar Congress leader Akhilesh Singh wanted to contest from East Champaran which RJD did not part with. Speaking to The Tribune, Shakeel Ahmed said he had willingly let go of the Madhubani seat in the wider interest of consolidation of secular votes in the state. "I had made it clear to the party high command that I would give up Madhubani in the interest of an alliance," he said, adding that he
was offered Sitamarhi segment, but he refused to contest. Under the final deal which will soon be announced, the Congress has got Sasaram (where Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar is the sitting MP), Patna (where BJP's Shatrighan Sinha is a strong contender), Kishanganj, Aurangabad (or Kalaghat), Hajipur, Samastipur, Supol, Purnea, Gopalganj, Valmikinagar, Nalanda and Muzaffarpur seats. Asked what the Congress would gain from giving up most of the seats it had wanted and settling for second choices, a top Congress leader said: "With LJP's Ram Vilas Paswan going to the BJP, the contest in Bihar has become triangular. If we went alone, we would have benefitted from the BJP-LJP combine by dividing our own secular votes. Now, the Muslim-Yadav will remain consolidated and go to the RJD-Congress combine." Congress leaders admitted the most formidable alliance would have been between the RJD, Congress and LJP, which had together won 29 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar in the 2004 elections. "This time had we all gone together, we would have driven Nitish Kumar of JDU and the BJP away. But now they are both back in the reckoning and the fight has become tough," said a Congress leader from Bihar. The Congress is equally wary of the recent joining of the BJP by a senior Kushwaha leader from Bihar - Upender Kushwaha. Kushwahas are the largest non-Yadav OBCs in Bihar and make up around 10 per cent of the votes. Paswans make up around 4 per cent votes. Nitish has consolidated the vote bank by launching special schemes for Mahadalits. Among
Dalits of Bihar, Paswans are better off.
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Venkaiah, Jaitley may not contest
New Delhi, March 5 Senior leaders Arun Jaitley, Venkaiah Naidu, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Thawar Chand Gehlot and Dharmendra Pradhan will most likely stay out of the fray in order to be better involved with the poll management and related issues, said sources. However, their Rajya Sabha colleagues like Ravi Shankar Prasad, Prakash Javadekar, Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Smriti Irani and Bhagat Singh Koshiyari are expected to contest the elections. The BJP's first list released last week had included the name of Rajya Sabha member Shanta Kumar, former Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister, from Kangra. As expected, the BJP will run a tech-savvy campaign, including prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi's 3-D images, to woo the voters. For the 10 crore-plus new and first time voters, the party is already running an internet and the social media reach-out. The "tech-savvy" BJP has chalked out an elaborate strategy using the traditional methods of canvassing. The saffron party's strong points are its strong grassroots connection and network and this time it intends to tap them to the maximum. Party leaders explain that the old style of canvassing has been revived with the help of door-to-door contact programmes. The party is also planning to be in touch with more than nine lakh booths across the country by constituting 10-member groups for each one of them. "There will be a page pramukh for every page of the electoral list," they explain. Analysts often blame the party's dependence on modern methods of canvassing as one of the reasons for its poor performance in the 2004 and 2009 elections.
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EC to act tough on paid news
New Delhi, March 5 The ECI will deploy flying squads and static surveillance teams to keep vigil on distribution of cash or influencing voters through bribes in its effort to reduce “abuse of money power” during the polls. Separate committees will keep a hawk eye on election advertisements and politically-funded reports in the media — known as “paid news” — while candidates will have to be wary of breaching spending limits as the ECI will deploy expenditure observers. A recent amendment had increased spending for Lok Sabha candidates to Rs 70 lakh in majority of states from the earlier ceiling of Rs 40 lakh. The poll body directed the government's financial intelligence to look out for movement of cash. During the November-December 2013 Assembly polls in five states, Central enforcement agencies had seized Rs 58 crore unaccounted cash from political workers. On the controversy over conducting opinion polls, Chief Election Commissioner VS Sampath said the poll body had batted for a ban on opinion and exit polls even in 2004 and that it was a matter for the lawmakers to consider. Currently, broadcast, telecast and publication of exit polls results is banned till the end of polling on the last day. While use of EVMs is not novel, the ECI has put in place administrative safeguards. These include sealing of control units and ballot units with pink paper seals specially manufactured by the Security Printing Press at Nashik and a two-stage random check in at least 5 per cent EVMs in the presence of representatives of political parties and candidates. Several candidates and some parties have in the past complained that EVMs could be tampered with and programmed to transfer votes to a pre-determined candidate, even though the ECI has denied the possibility. In addition, the ECI will use the Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) system in some constituencies, subject to availability of units. At present, it has VVPAT 600 units and has ordered another 20,000, which are likely to be received at the end of the month. The VVPAT is a paper slip which will come out of the EVM once a voter casts his vote, showing which symbol and candidate the vote has been cast for. The slip will be automatically dropped in a sealed box attached to the EVM for use by the EC. Key measures
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Gadkari-Munde rivalry to the fore
Mumbai, March 5 Munde, who was apparently not taken into confidence by the former BJP president, showed his displeasure by staying away from an important party meeting to discuss candidates for five Lok Sabha seats. Munde, who is in charge of the BJP's campaign committee in Maharashtra, skipped the meeting of the Parliamentary board and left for his constituency Beed. The BJP press office here insisted that he left for Beed to oversee the relief work since the area was lashed by heavy rains. Observers say that Munde looks at his rival's overtures to Raj Thackeray as an attempt to disrupt his own efforts to stitch together a five-party alliance against the Congress-NCP front in Maharashtra. Munde had kept Gadkari out of the loop and had effectively marginalised him ahead of the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections, BJP sources said. While Munde has a long-standing equation with Uddhav, Gadkari is close to Raj Thackeray and often calls him Maharashtra's Chief Minister in waiting. For the moment, Gadkari has reignited an old rivalry with Munde and raised the hackles of the Shiv Sena. A write-up in party mouthpiece 'Saamna', attributed to Uddhav Thackeray, called Gadkari a businessman. "There is no doubt in the mind of the people of Maharashtra that Gadkari is a thorough businessman. In the field of politics also, he has developed a skill to get whatever he wants without investing any capital," Uddhav was quoted as saying.
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Sidhu most popular face of BJP: Gadkari
The party's Parliamentary board would decide on Sidhu's role in the Lok Sabha elections. "He may either be asked to contest the elections or campaign for the party," Gadkari said. It has been reported that Sidhu may not contest from the Amritsar Lok Sabha seat from where he has been elected three times in a row. Sidhu has an apprehension that he would not be supported by some senior SAD leaders. Asked about the party's strategy in Haryana, Gadkari said as of now, there was no proposal to enter into alliance with the INLD. He said the BJP would do well in Himachal and Delhi.
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Post Kejri’s detention, AAP-BJP men clash
New Delhi, March 5 Similar protests sparked by the former Delhi Chief Minister's detention were reported in Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh, where violent clashes between both the parties were seen, especially after Kejriwal's car was attacked in Gujarat. Amid all this, Kejriwal urged his party volunteers to stay calm and refrain from violence. "You should be prepared to lay down your life but never raise hand," he tweeted. BJP workers were accused of thrashing AAP protesters during their demonstration outside the BJP office in Lucknow. In Delhi, it all started when AAP workers, led by leaders Shazia Ilmi and Ashutosh, gathered outside the BJP office in resentment to the Gujarat Police action after the news of Kejriwal's detention flashed. Kejriwal, who is on a four-day election campaign on the turf of BJP Prime Ministerial nominee Narendra Modi, was detained for sometime apparently to ease traffic while his convoy was heading towards Bhuj. "My detention shows that Modi is rattled by my presence. The orders have come from the top," Kejriwal said after he was released. In Delhi, chairs were thrown from the BJP office and workers of both the parties hurled stones at each other. Many were injured and the Delhi Police detained 32 protesters who allegedly resisted the Police's attempt to stop them from indulging in stone-pelting. "We have 32 of them and legal action will be taken against them," a cop said. "AAP volunteers were protesting peacefully against Kejriwal's detention and our slogans against Modi angered BJP workers," Ilmi said. Ashutosh said: "Both the Congress and the BJP are conniving against AAP as they are scared of us. Wait and watch what happens next." AAP leader Prashant Bhushan said raising uncomfortable questions related to the "so-called" Gujarat development model of Modi has left the BJP jittery.
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HC seeks answer from poll panel on AAP New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Wednesday sought a 'clear answer' from the Election Commission to issues raised in a plea for the cancellation of AAP's registration on the ground that it allegedly used forged documents to register itself. A Bench of acting Chief Justice BD Ahmed and Justice S Mridul did not issue notice in the matter and re-notified it to March 21. — PTI Mulayam has right to scold, says Akhilesh Lucknow: A day after Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav publicly admonished the working of his son's government in Uttar Pradesh, Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday said it was his right as the party chief. "I sometimes fail to understand when he (Mulayam) becomes father and when the party chief," said Akhilesh. Mulayam had on Tuesday given a 10-day ultimatum to party ministers and babus to "mend their ways" or face the sack, and even ticked off his son Akhilesh asking him to keep distance from "sycophants". — PTI Former CRPF IG joins BJP Ballia: Former CRPF Inspector General RK Singh on Wednesday joined the BJP saying its Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi was the only politician who could take the country on the right path. Singh, who is a relative of RJD leader and former Union minister Raghuvansh Prasad Singh, joined the saffron party in the presence of local BJP leaders here. — PTI 
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Shimla, March 5
In the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, the Congress had managed to win only one seat of Mandi and that, too, barely by 14,000 votes despite Virbhadra Singh being the party nominee. It's a different matter that his wife Pratibha Singh, sitting MP from Mandi, won the seat in the June 2013 by-election with a margin of 1.37 lakh votes. Even this time, it is only the Mandi seat where the Congress can be relaxed.
Chandigarh, March 5
No wonder Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) chief Om Prakash Chautala, Congress MP Naveen Jindal and even AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal have heaped praise on khap panchayats recognising them as institutions that have been ushering in social reforms. The demand to ban khaps as extra constitutional bodies has evoked little response from politicians.
Hoshiarpur, March 5
Gurgaon, March 5
"I have told the BJP that I will contest the elections only from Gurgaon. Changing the party will have no negative impact on my image as it's an era of personality and I have a direct and personal connection with the voters of my constituency," said Rao, who was the first Congress MP to demand a detailed probe by a Joint Parliament Committee in all CLUs granted in the state.
Chandigarh, March 5
