Chandigarh, April 7
The INLD, the BSP and the HJC have failed to release their manifestoes even as two days are left before the state goes to the polls on April 10.

While all Opposition parties are banking on anti-incumbency against the Hooda Government releasing the manifesto-a document underlining a party’s commitment to a set of promises-seems to be parties’ Achilles’ heel. Only the Congress, debutant AAP and the BJP (which released it today) have released their manifestoes till now.

In fact, the INLD, the main opposition in the State Assembly, does not wish 
to release any manifesto 
for the parliamentary elections. “We are a state party and cannot promise much to the electorate at national level. The INLD would offer support to ny political formation which accepts its conditions as part of the common minimum programme (CMP) post-elections,” INLD national spokesman KC Bangar told The Tribune today.

While the BSP is yet to release its manifesto at the national level, the HJC is fighting elections in an alliance with the BJP . A majority of the issues taken up by the alliance partner such as skewed development, nepotism in government jobs and lopsided land acquisition policies during Hooda’s regime are also being taken by the HJC in the run-up to the elections. However, open support by the SAD, the BJP’s alliance partner in Punjab, specially aggressive Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, have made the going tough for HJC chief Kuldeep Bishnoi(Hisar) and Sushil Indora(Sirsa).

HJC spokesman Devi Lal Bishnoi said since the BJP-HJC were in an alliance, the party would not release a separate election manifesto and go to the elections on issues raised by its alliance partner. BSP president Naresh Saaran could not be contacted despite repeated attempts.

Reacting sharply to the non-release of manifestoes by the certain opposition parties, the Congress spokesman Ran Singh Mann said: “This shows the bankruptcy of ideas with the Opposition and their casual attitude towards the issues concerning public welfare.” 

Sirsa, April 7
In a political somersaul twithin 24 hours of seeking votes for state Congress chief Ashok Tanwar, former minister Gopal Kanda’s younger brother, Gobind Kanda, a member of the HPCC executive committee, today quit the party.

Addressing mediapersons at his residence today, Kanda said he was resigning from the executive committee as well as from the primary membership of the party as his routine meeting with Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda yesterday was projected by Congress candidate Ashok Tanwar as support to his candidature.

Congress leader Rahul Setia today pooh-poohed the Kandas, saying that they started their politics with Chautalas, aligned with Hooda to take benefits and have now started talking of “Namo, Namo” in view of the “Modi wave”.

Interestingly, Kanda had gone to Air Force Station yesterday on Hooda’s phone call and then accompanied him and Tanwar to Bhattu in Fatehabad on the CM’s helicopter.

From Bhattu to Fatehabad, he had addressed several meetings from the rooftop of the CM’s “Rath” and sought votes for Tanwar.

On the way to Bhattu, Tanwar as well as Gobind Kanda had spoken to The Tribune on the phone and confirmed that Kanda had sunk differences with Tanwar and would now support him.

However, Kanda’s media managers started calling mediapersons late on Sunday evening, requesting them not to publish any news regarding his participation in the roadshow.

“I had gone to Air Force Station to meet Hooda on his call. But my meeting with the CM was propagated as my support to the Congress nominee Ashok Tanwar. If I had any intention to support him, I would have come when Hooda came to Sirsa twice in the past to campaign for Tanwar. I did not even attend Rahul Gandhi’s rally,” Gobind Kanda said in his press conference.

He said that his brother, Gopal Kanda, had already announced that he would soon provide a political alternative to the people of Haryana, and he would make an announcement on this issue very soon.

Gopal Kanda, who was out of the town, parried answer to the question whether he would continue his support to the Hooda government in Haryana after today’s move or not.

Kanda has never enjoyed cordial relations with Congress nominee Ashok Tanwar ever since he won the assembly poll in 2009 and joined the Hooda government as a minister.

Kanda’s family members have been nursing a grouse against Tanwar for his “role” when his name cropped up in the Geetika Sharma case.

Keeping a distance from Tanwar’s campaign so far, Kanda had been supporting HJC nominee Sushil Indora in this election.

Hisar, April 7
Locked in a tough battle against two mighty opponents in HJC supremo Kuldeep Bishnoi and INLD debutant Dushyant Chautala, the Congress is on a sticky wicket at the Hisar parliamentary constituency, battling anti-incumbency and factionalism.

The Congress has fielded Nalwa MLA Sampat Singh who is considered a non-factional politician. It was believed that his candidature would put an end to the factionalism in the district unit of the party, which had been one of the reasons of the party's defeat in the previous two elections.

Singh's personal rapport with leaders of various factions has helped his cause to some extent as senior leaders, including Rajya Sabha MPs Birender Singh and Kumari Selja and six MLAs, including state minister Savitri Jindal, have pitched in to campaign for him.

The one-day roadshow of Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda in Bawani Khera, Narnaund, Barwala and Hisar Assembly segments too gave a boost to his campaign.

However, the threat of internal sabotage is still lurking over him, the party sources said, adding that certain factions have not yet given in their bitterness.

The groupism in Congress had come to the fore just before the announcement of elections when two senior Congress leaders, three-time MP Jai Prakash and Birender Singh had dared each other to contest the election and accused each other of sabotaging their respective elections in the past.

During his roadshow, Hooda, however, denied any factionalism in the party, stating that all leaders were working for Sampat Singh in their respective areas of influence. When asked about former MP and district Congress president Jai Prakash's absence from the roadshow, he said the former had been working for the party. However, a host of other party leaders, including MLAs and former MLAs accompanied him.

Sampat Singh, however, said he had been getting support of senior leaders and MLAs.

"I have been getting cooperation from all quarters. I am not aware of any kind of sabotage".

The party has six MLAs in Hisar Lok Sabha constituency, out of nine Assembly segments, including Ramniwas Ghorela in Barwala, Naresh Selwal in Uklana (reserved), Vinod Bhyana in Hansi, Savitri Jindal in Hisar and Ramkishan Fauji in Bawani Khera (reserved) besides Sampat Singh, who represented Nalwa segment before filing nominations for Hisar Lok Sabha seat.

While Uchana and Narnaund segments are represented by INLD MLAs, HJC's Renuka Bishnoi is MLA from Adampur. The Congress had tried to put pressure on its MLAs by linking performance in the Lok Sabha polls to renomination in Assembly elections.

Sirsa, April 7
Rahul Gandhi’s protégé and state Congress chief Ashok Tanwar faces an acid test on the Sirsa parliamentary seat, the home turf of the top leadership of the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD).

Seeking re-election, Tanwar is facing a stiff challenge from Charanjit Singh Rori of the INLD even though Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC) candidate Sushil Indora is trying to make the contest triangular by riding on the so-called Narendra Modi wave.

Tanwar’s supporters are buoyed after Rahul Gandhi’s rally in Sirsa on Sunday, in which the Congress vice-president reiterated his proximity to the Congress nominee. Tanwar’s perceived closeness to Rahul Gandhi had helped him win in 2009, barely a month after his first visit to Sirsa after the Congress nominated him.

Several Congress leaders of the constituency like former minister LD Arora’s daughter Sunita Setia, her husband and All-India Punjabi Sena president Rahul Setia, former minister Ranjit Singh, Chief Minister’s former OSD KV Singh, state Youth Congress president Amit Sihag, Chief Parliamentary Secretary Prahlad Singh Gillankhera and minister Paramvir Singh have been seeking votes for him in their respective Assembly segments.

Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda’s roadshows in Sirsa and Fatehabad have helped Tanwar consolidate his position. When the Setias addressed a meeting in the Ther mohalla on Sunday night, people listened to them despite a downpour.

The going is not easy for Tanwar this time due to several factors, which include anti-incumbency, general mood against the ruling party, division of urban votes and consolidation of INLD votes in the home district of the Chautalas after sentencing of its top two leaders.

The INLD is banking on 3.32 lakh Jat votes, 1.78 lakh Sikh votes and 59,000 Mazhabi Sikhs votes. With this equation in mind, the INLD has fielded Charanjit Singh Rori, a sitting Sikh MLA of the Shiromani Akali Dal. Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal had addressed rallies in support of Rori at Odhan and Ratia. SAD patriarch Parkash Singh Badal will come to Sirsa on Tuesday.

HJC nominee Indora, who was a Congress man minutes before he was given the ticket from Sirsa, is trying to make the fight triangular with former Parliamentary Secretary Dura Ram’s support in Fatehabad, backing of Kanda brothers’ supporters in Sirsa and benefit of the so-called Modi wave in urban areas.

Pawan Dingwala, a former municipal councillor, maintains that the BJP had lost much of the benefit of the so-called Modi wave by swapping the seat for Karnal with the HJC, its alliance partner. “Had the BJP fielded former IRS officer Sunita Duggal, as announced earlier, the party could have reaped a rich harvest of pro-Modi votes,” said Dingwala, supporting Tanwar.

The Badals’ campaign for the INLD and cancellation of Modi’s April 7 rally after its announcement had worked to Indora’s disadvantage.

As urban voters had not been the INLD’s forte in the recent past, Tanwar’s fate will depend much on how voters in Sirsa, Dabwali, Rania, Ellenabad, Kalanwali, Dabwali, Fatehabad, Ratia and Tohana vote this time.

The division of urban votes between Tanwar, Indora and Aam Aadmi Party candidate Poonam Ratti is the biggest worry for the Congress nominee. Tanwar is banking on votes of followers of Dera Sacha Sauda and Dera Bhumman Shah, both of which had their headquarters in Sirsa. Tanwar and his rivals are making last-ditch efforts to woo the maximum voters.

Sonepat, April 7
As the polling day draws nearer, candidates have intensified their campaign in the Sonepat parliamentary segment. The electioneering will come to an end at 6 pm tomorrow.

A total of 23 candidates are in the fray. Three of the four main contestants are law graduates.

Congress nominee Jagbir Singh Malik and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidate Jai Singh Thekedar and BJP candidate Ramesh Kaushik are law graduates, whereas INLD candidate Padam Singh Dahiya is BEd.

Son of late advocate Fateh Singh, 64-year-old Malik is seeking votes in the name of various development works done during the past 10 years of the Congress governments at the Centre and in the state. Also banking on Jat votes, three-time MLA Malik practices law as and when he gets time.

Practicing advocate and Gohana Bar Association president Thekedar is seeking votes in the name of providing corruption-free system. He owns moveable and immovable properties worth Rs 17.14 crore.

Banking on non-Jat votes, former minister and two-time MLA Kaushik is pursuing his case in the name of making Narendra Modi the Prime Minister of the country.

Former MLA Padam Singh Dahiya is hoping to get sympathy votes as former Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala and his elder son Ajay Chautala are in jail. He is seeking votes to wipe out “corrupt” government and to improve deteriorated law and order situation.

A total of 14,09,793 voters, including 7,62,972 males and 6,36,821 females, will decide their fate on April 10. First-time voters (1,05,623) will also play a significant role in these elections.

Chandigarh, April 7
Haryana has seen different hues of campaigning styles in the last two weeks, that witnessed poll fever rising to its crescendo till canvassing comes to an end tomorrow. Two weeks of an intensive poll blitzkrieg brought all three aspiring prime ministerial candidates face to face with the common man in the state.

Each with their own style of campaigning, oratory skills and political punches made some dent in the political thinking of the people, or at least that is what they would like to think. Unsure of the mood of the voters, Narendra Modi, Arvind Kejriwal and Rahul Gandhi made attempts to connect with the locals, raising local issues with the people.

When Modi first came to Haryana for the ex-servicemen's rally in Rewari, not many had thought that the single factor for the BJP to establish an unprecedented base in Haryana would be nothing other than the personality of Modi. In his few visits to Haryana, Modi mainly remained confined to raising national issues and indulged in Congress bashing.

Once CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda went all out to trash the Gujarat model of development, which was one agenda that Hooda repeated hundreds of times, Modi expanded his attack in his visit to Jhajjar and took on the Haryana model of land acquisition as one that benefited only the Gandhi clan.

In his own style of oratory, Modi made it pretty clear that he would not advocate an alliance with the INLD and would stay with the HJC in the elections. His one sentence said it all, “Do not look at the BJP through spectacles” (INLD party symbol). He remained aggressive and kept the people’s focus on himself rather than the party.

On the other hand, Rahul Gandhi came to Haryana only once and addressed rallies in Panipat and Sirsa the same day. Naming the BJP four times in 10 minutes in Panipat, the Congress heir apparent made it obvious that his party considered the BJP as its main rival in Haryana and did not even bother to talk about the Om Parkash Chautala-led INLD.

He rubbished the Gujarat model of development, highlighting that what had been said was a farce and a hoax on the people as the Haryana model of development had benefited the people far more. Rahul’s first visit to Haryana has certainly added fresh spirit to the contest, that was beginning to wane from the monotonous electioneering in the absence of any star campaigner doing the rounds of Haryana.

Kejriwal, who is from Haryana, however, remained confined to a roadshow and did not do anything special to lure Haryanavis. His focus remained on his anti-corruption agenda and he pleaded with the people to come up with a non-Congress, non-BJP alternative.

The one person who sweat it out the most was CM Hooda, who travelled extensively in all 90 Assembly segments, covering the 10 parliamentary constituencies. Barring a little support from Rahul and Sonia Gandhi, Hooda mainly did it on his own in the state. Realising that he had to do it himself, he travelled on his “rath”, the only way that ensured that he covered the entire state.

Hisar, April 7
Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda has dismissed any kind of caste polarisation in the Lok Sabha elections in the state.

Sounding confident of victory of the Congress candidates in the elections, Hooda, while talking to The Tribune during his one-day roadshow in the Hisar parliamentary constituency, said the leaders of the opposition parties in Haryana neither had a vision, nor had credibility.

When asked about the reported polarisation of voters on caste basis, especially in Hisar, he said, "We believe in the welfare of all sections. The Congress government has framed policies that have benefited every one.”

Hooda also brushed aside the allegations of regional discrimination, stating that the facts relating to development spoke for themselves. "The entire state has witnessed development in the past nine years of the Congress government. We have spent Rs 4,454.23 crore on development projects in the parliamentary constituency, which is more than five times more than the amount spent by the previous INLD government,” he said.

Attacking former CMs OP Chautala and Bhajan Lal on the issue of regional bias, he said in the name of development, one of them had set up a university in the name of his father and other established another university after his religious guru.

He said the Chautalas had been making false allegations against him just to save their image.

The Chief Minister's roadshow took off from Singhwa Khas village in Bawani Khera and covered around 20 villages in Bawani Khera, Narnaund, Uklana, Barwala and Hisar assembly segments. He was accompanied by Congress nominee Sampat Singh, MLAs Naresh Selwal, Ramniwas Ghorela, former MLAs Rambahat Sharma, Chhatarpal, PCC member Dharambir Goyat, Mukesh Saini. However, the absence of district Congress chief Jai Prakash was conspicuous.

Ambala, April 7
The expenditure registers of the candidates of Ambala (reserved) Lok Sabha constituency were checked for the third time by Expenditure Observer R C Parsad and Returning Officer Dr Saket Kumar in his office today.

Three contesting candidates, independent Phool Kumar, CPI candidate Arun Kumar and independent candidate Ishwar Singh did not turn up to get their expenditure registers checked. All the three candidates were issued notices by the returning officer and action would be taken against them.

Parsad said as per the directions of the EC it was illegal to not get expenditure registers checked and an FIR would be registered against them under the IPC and permits for vehicles issued for the election purposes will be cancelled.

He added that the contesting candidates would have to submit the statement of expenditure during elections to the returning officers within 30 days of completion of election process, otherwise legal action would be initiated against them and the Election Commission can also debar them for contesting any elections for the next three years.

Hisar, April 7
After Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal's campaign against Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC) nominee Kuldeep Bishnoi during the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) rally on March 18, the stage is set for Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal's campaign in support of the INLD nominee here tomorrow.

Sukhbir Singh Badal had urged the electorate to ensure that the HJC candidate lost his deposit, which provoked Bishnoi to complain to BJP president Rajnath Singh. Bishnoi had complained that SAD, in alliance with the BJP in Punjab, had violated coalition 'dharma' by opposing his party, a constituent of the National Democratic Alliance, in Haryana, and had urged the BJP leadership to rein in the Badals.

Unperturbed by the allegations of violating coalition 'dharma', the Punjab Chief Minister will address a rally here. INLD leader and Ellenabad MLA Abhay Singh Chautala, state president Ashok Arora and party nominee Dushyant Chautala will address the rally as well. Badal is scheduled to address rallies in Sirsa and Kurukshetra the same day.

INLD spokesperson Dharam Pal said campaigning by SAD leaders in favour of INLD nominees was not in violation of coalition politics since the INLD had an electoral alliance with SAD in Haryana. "SAD leaders have made it clear that they prefer a family alliance over politics as the Badals have a long family relationship with the Chautalas," he said.

Sirsa, April 7
When the Election Commission’s efforts and measures are failing to check distribution of liquor to voterss, Santosh Dahiya, an associate professor from Kurukshetra University, has taken up the task of checking this menace by mobilising rural women against it.

Santosh, a former volleyball player and an associate professor of Physical Education in Kurukshetra University, has been mobilising women to constitute “Belan and Mussal Brigades” in their respective villages to act as deterrent to this menace.

Santosh Dahiya, who covered some villages of Rania Assembly segment of Sirsa today, said women were the worst sufferers of this problem and hence they had been joining her campaign willingly. “Candidates contesting the polls and their managers serve liquor to villagers, particularly the poor, to get their votes. By doing this, they not only influence the verdict of the poor people, but also deteriorate their habits. Once the elections are over, the addicted villagers spend their families’ meager resources on liquor and when denied beat up their children and wives,” Santosh said.

She said the best way to prevent this menace was to stop those who distribute liquor at the time of elections and for that purpose, women carrying “belan” and “mussal” could prove the best deterrents. “Belan and mussal being kitchen tools are easily available to the women. They can take these in their hands and rush to stop distribution of liquor wherever it is being distributed,” she added. So far, Santosh has carried out her drive in Ambala, Rohtak, Kurukshetra, Karnal, Sonepat and Hisar constituencies.

Karnal, April 7
The Nain group of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) has decided to use NOTA (none of the above) option in these elections. The group was upset as their long-pending demands, including the implementation of the Swaminathan report, had not been accepted.

Rattan Maan, national vice-president of the BKU, said, “Many demands of the farmers are still pending due to apathetic attitude of the politicians. We held several protests, but our demands are still hanging fire.”

He said, “Neither the national parties nor the regional ones have considered our demands. So, we have decided to use the ‘NOTA’ option to express our anger against the politicians.”

Maan said the implementation of then Swaminathan report was one of their long-pending demands.

“The Swaminathan Committee was constituted by the Congress government, but it has failed to implement its recommendations. It has now become a joke for the farmers.”

He attacked the BJP for not accepting their demands during its rule, but admitted that the BJP held many protests in support of the Swaminathan report.

Babu Ram Barthal, district president of the BKU, said, “Politicians always have fooled the farmers and never thought for their welfare.”

“The government has launched a policy named ‘Rashtriya Krishi Beema Yojna’, which is not good for farmers. A farmer would be compensated only when the whole area is affected,” he said.

He added that a farmer should be compensated for his loss. He said theft of transformers was a major issue as the power department was charging 20 per cent of the total cost of the transformer from the farmers.

“The BKU had raised the issues of the farmers many times. It is necessary to give them a strong message. So, we have decide to choose NOTA option,” he added.

Kurukshetra, April 7
Residents of Mathana village in the district have decided to boycott sitting MP and Congress candidate Naveen Jindal in the Lok Sabha elections.

A panchayat of the 36 ‘biradaris’ of the village today passed a resolution in this regard and burnt an effigy of Jindal following a scuffle between bodyguards of Jindal and villagers last night in which three villagers were injured.

Randhir, a victim, said, “Jindal was campaigning and talking about development work, but I refused to buy his claims. I said that no development has taken place in our village. May be Jindal did not hear, but his bodyguards heard it and thrashed me.”

Praveen Mathana, a local BKU leader, said, “The bodyguards thrashed Randhir and two other villagers, Duvender and Rishipal, who tried to save him on the directions of Jindal.”

The injured were rushed the Community Health Centre, Mathana, from where they were referred to Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Hospital, Kurukshetra, he added. The enraged villagers blocked the Pipli-Ladwa road for nearly 90 minutes around 11 pm.

Kalyan Kumar, media adviser to Jindal, said, “All allegations are baseless. It is a political stunt of the opposition party, Jindal was addressing a public meeting in the other part of the village when the incident took place.”

Duvender was today discharged, while Rishipal was still undergoing treatment at LNJP Hospital. Randhir had been referred to the PGI, Chandigarh.

Praveen alleged that Jindal had sent his supporters to settle the matter and they had offered Rs 3 lakh for not filling a case in this regard.

“A panchayat of the 36 ‘biradris’ has passed a resolution that villagers will not cast their votes in favour of Jindal,” he added.

Anil Kumar, a villager, said, “We have given an ultimatum to the police to arrest the accused by 11 am tomorrow. If they fail to do so, we will block the Kurukshetra-Yamunanagar road,” he said.

The villagers submitted a memorandum to DSP Nirmal Singh to be forwarded to the Chief Election Officer, Haryana, to take action against Jindal.

The police said a case had been registered against five persons and further investigation was on.

Sirsa, April 7
Authorties at Chaudhary Devi Lal (CDL) University today said there was nothing wrong with its results declared last month even as several students of Government National Post Graduate College, Sirsa, threatened to boycott April 10 parliamentary polls if the university authorities failed to improve their results or allowed students with reappear in graduation to master’s courses.

Praveen Aghamkar, Controller of Examinations of the university, said, not a single discrepancy had been found in results of BA students of the first, third and fifth semesters after re-checking of over 7,000 answer-sheets.

Earlier, after re-checking of over 6,000 answer-sheets of science and commerce students, the university said on March 28 that there was no incongruity in the results of those subjects too.

Angry students of Government National College had ransacked some offices of the university and smashed windowpanes on March 18 after the results for the first, third and fifth semesters were declared.

The result of arts students was particularly poor, as barely 29 per cent students had passed in the examination.

The result in English language was abysmally poor, as very few students had cleared the subject.

The students alleged they had been getting poor marks ever since their colleges were affiliated to the university.

After this, Vice-Chancellor RS Sharma had promised ransom re-checking of answer sheets in presence of principals and teachers of the respective colleges. Angry at the stand of the university, the students threatened to boycott the polls.

“We will neither cast our votes nor we allow our parents to exercise their right to franchise, if the university did not pass us or amend its rules to allow students with reappear in BA, BSc and BCom admission to the master’s courses or BEd, wherever they are interested,” students said.

Kurukshetra, April 7
Bollywood star Raveena Tandon today accompanied Congress candidate from Kurukshetra and MP Naveen Jindal in his roadshow in the Kurukshtra constituency.

Making an appeal to the people for supporting Naveen Jindal, Raveena said that Naveen alone was capable of bringing more development and prosperity to the area.

Naveen Jindal claimed that unlike other candidates who were making false claims and promises, he was asking people to vote for him on the basis of development. Kurukshetra, he claimed, had witnessed tremendous development in the past 10 years and challenged opposition parties to prove him wrong.

Naveen Jindal’s wife, Shalu, said it was Naveen who had got the people of India the right to fly the National Flag, was the first voice inside Parliament to underscore the need for food security and to include Haryanavi in the 8th Schedule of the Constitution.

While Raveena Tandon was campaigning for Naveen Jindal, workers of the Indian Bahujan Sandesh Party (Kanshi Ram), led by party president Kanta Alariya, held a demonstration at the mini-secretariat and burnt an effigy of the congress MP.

Alariya, who has accused Naveen of not giving complete information regarding pending cases against him in the nomination papers, threatened to jam Kurukshetra city if the administration failed to take action against Jindal by Tuesday morning.

Yamunanagar: Raveena Tandon sought votes for Naveen Jindal during a roadshow here. Several areas of Yamunanagar city are a part of Radaur Assembly constituency which falls in the Kurukshetra Lok Sabha constituency. In her brief speech, Raveena Tandon appealed to the voters to support Jindal.

“I have not come here as an actress. Naveen is my brother. Our family has a long relationship with the Jindals,” said Raveena making an emotional appeal to voters.

People had no information about Raveena's arrival. As soon as the helicopter carrying Raveena Tandon, Naveen Jindal and his wife, Shalu, landed here on the ground of a private company, the news spread life a wild fire in the city.

From the ground of the company, the trio boarded a sports utility vehicle and started a roadshow at Kansapur. Their roadshow passed through the Railway Workshop, Farakpur and Mandebari before returning to the ground where the helicopter was parked. As soon as their SUV reached Kansapur, a crowd comprising people of all age groups gathered to have a glimpse of the actress.

People were even seen on rooftops of houses along the route. Naveen Jindal assured the people that he was committed to all-round development of the area. 

Sirsa, April 7
Women have been playing a significant role in campaigning for the Sirsa parliamentary seat even though no political party has fielded a female candidate. While most women campaigning in Sirsa have been playing second fiddle to their male counterparts, several others are in the political battle due to their own standing.

Sitting MP and Congress candidate Ashok Tanwar leads his opponents as far as the number of female campaigners is concerned. The “women’s brigade” in Tanwar’s election is led by his wife Avantika Maken Tanwar, who is a former general secretary of the National Students Union of India (NSUI). Ragini Nayak, a former president of the NSUI, and some other women associated with her since her student politics days are campaigning for Tanwar.

Among local leaders, Usha Dahiya and Reena Birat, district presidents of the Mahila Congress in Fatehabad and Sirsa, respectively, and Krishna Poonia, a senior Congress leader from Fatehabad, have been campaigning aggressively for Tanwar. Women members of Tanwar’s and Avantika’s families are also camping in Sirsa to campaign for the Congress candidate.

While Avantika has been on the forefront of the campaign, addressing eight to 10 meetings a day, others have been largely accompanying her or male Congress leaders of their respective Assembly constituency during their election meetings. Haryana minister Savitri Jindal campaigned for Tanwar for a day and sought votes for him at Dabwali, Rania, Ellenabad, Sirsa and Fatehabad.

Keeping a distance from Tanwar’s campaign initially, Sunita Setia, daughter of former minister LD Arora, has also joined his campaign and is now seeking votes for the state Congress chief in the Sirsa Assembly segment. Anjali Rai, a former Delhi MLA, also toured Sirsa and sought votes for the Congress nominee.

For INLD candidate Charanjit Singh, Swatantar Bala Chaudhary, former MLA from Fatehabad, Krishna Fogat, president of the women’s wing of the INLD from Sirsa, Suman Lata Siwach, former president of the INLD women’s wing in Fatehabad, Sushila Saraf, Vidya Ratti, Mamta Kataria and other women are actively involved in the elections.

Renu Sharma, former district president of the BJP in Sirsa, is a prominent face active for HJC nominee Sushil Indora. Jaswant Kaur, Fatehabad district secretary of the All-India Democratic Women Association, Anita Kranti, Balbir Kaur Gandhi and other women are actively campaigning for CPM candidate Ram Kumar Bahbalpuria. BSP candidate Mange Ram Dahiya’s daughter Indu has been campaigning for her father. The role of the women has largely been limited to door-to-door campaigning for candidates.

Chandigarh, April 7
Acting on a petition by Haryana against the Central government for recommending a CBI inquiry into the scams allegedly unearthed by 'whistleblower' forest service' officer Sanjiv Chaturvedi, Justice Daya Chaudhary of the Punjab and Haryana High Court today issued notice to the Union of India. The case will now come up for further hearing on July 14.

The government has challenged the Union Government's inquiry report of 2010. The report is the basis on which the Centre, the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) and the CBI recommend a central agency inquiry into multiple forest scams allegedly unearthed by Chaturvedi. The report had named senior officials and politicians in the state for their alleged involvement in the scams and harassment to the whistleblower.

The government, in its petition, is seeking directions for quashing the inquiry report, dated December 8, 2010, by the Union Environment and Forests Ministry and subsequent actions.

It comes at a time when the Supreme Court is hearing a case filed by Chaturvedi. He is also asking for a CBI inquiry as the state refused to initiate investigation on the basis of a contradictory note of the Union Government's Department of Personnel and Training and other objections.

Sonepat, April 7
“The INLD is a medicine with an expiry date which does not give any relief. The people have understood that such a medicine can only harm the users.”

This was stated by Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda while addressing a series of election meetings in the villages of Rai and Kharkhoda (reserve) constituencies today, in support of Congress candidate Jagbir Singh Malik. It was his fifth roadshow in the district.

Claiming that the Congress was going to repeat the 2004 and 2009 parliamentary elections feat this time too, he said the INLD had not won any Lok Sabha seat from Haryana after 2000 and this history would be repeated in the forthcoming elections also.

He said instead of Gujrat, Haryana was the role model of speedy all-round development and in the last nine years, the state had achieved number one position from the poor 14th position.

He accused the HJC of exploiting people by asking for votes in the name of “chaudhar”.

“Congress is asking for votes in the name of equal development and implementation of a record number of welfare schemes for every section of the society,” he claimed.

The CM was accompanied by Jagbir Singh Malik, CPS and Kharkhoda MLA Jaiveer Singh, Rai MLA Jai Tirth Dahiya, Prof Virender and other party leaders. 

Jhajjar, April 7
Facing a tough contest on Rohtak Lok Sabha seat, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has now roped in its Ahir-face and Congress turncoat Rao Inderjit from Kosli Assembly segment of this constituency to polarise the Ahir voters in favour of its candidate Om Prakash Dhankhar.

Having around 2.15 lakh votes, Kosli is the largest Assembly segment in the constituency dominated by Ahir voters.

Despite the fact that Inderjit’s brother Yaduvendra Singh is the Congress legislator from here, the BJP leaders believe that Inderjit’s clout in the area may turn out to be instrumental in attracting the Ahir votes towards the party candidates. Notably, Yaduvendra Singh is seeking votes for his party nominee Deepender Singh Hooda.

Moreover, the BJP also wants to get the advantage of the on-going row between Kosli and Bhakli villages over naming of development projects as people of both the villages are not satisfied with the government’s action in this regard. That is another reason which made the BJP enhance the presence of Rao Inderjit in Kosli Assembly segment.

As per official information, Deepender had got a significant lead of 24,150 votes over his nearest rival candidate Nafe Singh Rathi in 2009 Assembly poll. The former had polled 60,393 votes while Rathi got 35,243 votes.

Executing the party strategy, Rao Inderjit on Friday launched his poll campaign in support of BJP candidate in Kosli. Addressing a gathering in Dahina village, Inderjit said Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda had betrayed him by not taking any initiative for the development of south Haryana.

“Though Kosli is part of Rohtak Lok Sabha seat, Hooda has committed discrimination with it by not providing adequate number of jobs to the people of Kosli,” he said.

The distribution of funds should be equal in terms of development, he added.

Exhorting the villagers to vote and support the BJP candidate in the elections, Inderjit said it was not merely an election but a decisive battle to get the due right of south Haryana.

Rania (Sirsa), April 7
INLD leader Abhay Singh Chautala has hit out at the Election Commission of India (ECI), accusing it of fixing dates for the parliamentary elections in Haryana to the disadvantage of his party.

Addressing a rally in support of INLD nominee from Sirsa Charanjit Singh Rori at Rania in Sirsa last week, party’s star campaigner alleged that the polling date fixed for Haryana was highly impractical and disadvantageous to his party, as the farmers, who largely supported his party, were busy harvesting this period.

“The objectivity of the ECI is a misplaced perception. Appointments of the Election Commissioner are made by the Congress and the ECI works to the advantage of the ruling party,” Abhay alleged in his speech.

He alleged that the poll date had been fixed so as to help the Congress.

Claiming that the INLD would win all 10 parliamentary seats in Haryana, he said the Hooda government would fall the day results were declared on May 16.

“Several Congress MLAs are in touch with me and they wanted to join the INLD before the announcement of poll. However, I wanted the government to be caught unawares. Till now, you have heard the Governor going to Delhi for administering oath to new chief ministers. This time you will see him going to the Tihar Jail on May 17 for the oath ceremony of Om Prakash Chautala,” said Abhay.

Karnal, April 7
Sunday night’s showers and the prevailing overcast sky has left Surinder Doda of Nigdhu village worried, much like other farmers of the state.

His wheat crop is ready for harvesting, but the bad weather conditions have become a threat for the crop.

Dr Indu Sharma, director, Directorate of Wheat Research Institute, said “No damage to crops has been reported yet, but it is a crucial time for wheat. We are hoping that there is no hailstorm in the next few days as it could have adverse impact on the standing wheat crop.”

She advised the farmers not to cut wet wheat crop. “Let it dry in standing condition in the field. Cut as much in a day, which could be thrashed easily,” she added.

Moderate rain lashed a few places in the state on Sunday night and Monday morning. The Meteorological Department has predicted high-speed winds and thundershowers across the region in the next 72 hours.

Farmers are worried that the winds could lead to dislodging of the wheat crop.

Agriculture experts have advised the farmers not to irrigate their fields for the next 72 hours.

Dr Sharma said, “Five ton wheat production per hectare is being expected and around 25 lakh hectare area has been cultivated with wheat crop. The state is expecting a bumper wheat production of around 125 lakh metric tonnes.”

She added that reports from many parts of the state have indicated that the wheat crop in the fields was still green and yet to dry and ripen for harvesting.

Wheat is expected to arrive in the mandis around April 17 onwards. "If the climate remains favourable, a bumper crops could be expected,” she added.

Rohtak, April 7
Five persons of a family were killed and two injured in a road accident near Gudhan turn (Kalanaur) in the district in the wee hours today.

The police said Rajender of Ravidas Colony in Bhiwani was travelling from Rohtak to Bhiwani with his family members. When their car reached Gudhan turn, the driver lost his balance and the vehicle into an electric pole and eventually into a roadside shop.

Rajender, Ashok, Ravinder and Suraj were killed on the spot while Sombir succumbed to his injuries later at the PGIMS. Surender and Bhishm were injured in the mishap. Surender has been referred to Gurgaon in view of his critical condition.

The accident reortedly took place due to high speed of the car.

The bodies of the deceased were handed over to their family members after a post-mortem examination.