Sirsa, April 21
The ongoing face-off between traders of Kalanwali grain market in Sirsa and Hafed finally ended today. RP Sahni, General Manager (procurement and warehouses) of Hafed, whom his Managing Director Ashok Kumar Yadav had sent from Panchkula to resolve the issue, said that the agency today began purchase of wheat from Kalanwali grain market.

Traders of Kalanwali grain market had earlier refused to sell any wheat to Hafed until the agency refunded over Rs 25 lakh deducted from their dues for last year’s purchases in the name of shortages. Sahni said Hafed has assured the traders that their representation on deductions would be sympathetically considered.

However, conflicting statements have been made by traders as well as the Hafed regarding the terms on which the issue was resolved.

“The traders have agreed to sell their wheat to Hafed only after the agency issued them cheques for deductions not only for wheat purchased from Kalanwali but also from other purchase centres like Faggu, Thiraj, Krungawali and Kamal etc,” said Pradeep Jain, president of the Kalanwali Grain Market Traders Association.

He said the cheques were issued by the cooperative society through which Hafed purchases wheat and these were handed over to the traders in the morning before the start of procurement.

Traders block traffic over tardy wheat lifting

Traders of the Sirsa grain market today blocked vehicular traffic and raised slogans against the authorities over tardy lifting of wheat. They alleged that the authorities had been indifferent to their complaints regarding wheat procurement.

Owing to a glut in the grain market, the procurement process, which is already slow, has been hit further in Sirsa.

The traders alleged that they, along with farmers, were being fleeced by the authorities looking after the purchase of wheat.

“Contractors demand Rs 8 per bag for lifting, the managers of the procurement agencies demand 80 paisa to Re 1 per bag of 50 kg for purchase and so on,” alleged Gurdial Mehta, a former president of the Sirsa Grain Market Traders’ Association.

He alleged that when they refuse to pay money to the contractors, they keep their trucks empty and decline to load their stock.

“They tell us they have already paid too much to get their contracts,” Mehta alleged. He said the traders were fed up with the system and if the present trend continued, a bigger agitation by farmers and traders could start.

Surinder Minchnabadi, who heads the association, said a trader had to cough out Rs 20-25 per bag out of the Rs 35 he got as his commission by greasing palms of some unscrupulous officials and contractors, besides the normal loading and unloading charges they had to pay to the labour.

“Till today, they were unloading the procured wheat at the FCI’s warehouse at Bhambhoor village, which is far away from Sirsa. Now, they have assured to open a warehouse at Mangala, which is also quite far from the town. Many other warehouses near the town were not being made functional deliberately. It takes a lot of time for a truck to return after unloading wheat bags to Bhambhoor village,” Minchnabadi alleged.

Deputy Commissioner Anshaj Singh said he had met traders and assured them speedy procurement from now.

He maintained that some traders were themselves paying the contractors for loading the stock.

He said he had warned the traders that he would cancel the licenses of traders who broke the principal of first in, first out for the wheat coming to the grain market. He said the procurement agencies also had been asked to speed up the purchases.

Kurukshetra, April 21
Members of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC) led by BJP district chief Dhuman Singh Kirmach along with farmers visited the new grain market at Thanesar and alleged that the state government and the local administration were not taking adequate steps to ensure smooth procurement of wheat.

The BJP-HJC alliance leaders held a demonstration and submitted a memorandum to the tehsildar to be forwarded to the Governor in this regard.

Kirmach said, “The state government has failed to ensure smooth procurement and lifting of the crop. Thousands of wheat bags are lying in the open. The government should come up with a better strategy to speed up the procurement and lifting process in order to avoid glut."

He said, “Farmers and commission agents have been facing difficulties due to non-cooperative attitude of contractors. Truck drivers are demanding commission from the commission agents for lifting the stock. The administrations should take strict action against the contractors and truckers.”

Over 2.64 lakh quintals of wheat was lying in the grain market due to slow lifting by the government agencies. More than 5,89,118 quintals of wheat had arrived in the grain market but only 3,24,295 quintals could be lifted till yesterday.

Kirmach said, “We have asked the administration to improve the procurement and lifting process within seven days. If they fail to do so, we will launch an agitation.”

Market committee officials said more manpower had been deployed in the mandi to speed up the lifting process. Over 2.38 lakh tonnes of wheat had arrived in various grain markets of Kurukshetra district till yesterday.

Sonepat, April 21
The secretary of the market committee, Sonepat, Chander Prakash, has imposed a penalty of Rs 3,000 each on two commission agents of the new grain market 
here after finding irregularities in weighing of the wheat stock.

The secretary has also issued notices to both commission agents asking them to explain why not to cancel their licences.

The secretary said the action was initiated when some of the farmers lodged a complaint that while weighing their wheat stock, the commission agents were filling wheat in the bags more than the prescribed weight of 50.700 kg. Irregularities were found when the filled bags were reweighed.

Amid complaints from the farmers at various purchase centres, Deputy Commissioner Samir Pal Srow has directed the market committee authorities and the officials of the procurement agencies to ensure that there was no irregularity in weighing and any complaint from the farmers be looked into promptly.

The DC said today that there were a few complaints of this nature and prompt action was taken by the authorities.

“I personally inspected a number of the purchase centres and grain markets to see how the procurement process was going on,” said the DC.

He said he had asked the area SDMs and the City Magistrate to carry out regular inspection of the procurement process.

Meanwhile, BKU spokesman Rajesh Dahiya has demanded that electronic machines be used in weighing of the wheat to ensure complete transparency in the process. 

Look into farmers’ complaints promptly: DC

Amid complaints from the farmers at various purchase centres, Deputy Commissioner Samir Pal Srow has directed the market committee authorities and the officials of the procurement agencies to ensure that there was no irregularity in weighing and any complaint from the farmers be looked into promptly.

Chandigarh, April 21
Over 23.94 lakh metric tonnes (MT) of wheat have arrived in various mandis of Haryana in the current procurement season.

While stating this here today, a spokesman for the Food and Supplies Department said the government agencies had procured 23,94,063 MT of wheat whereas 133 MT of wheat had been purchased by traders.

So far, Hafed has purchased the highest amount of wheat- more than 7.70 lakh MT, Food and Supplies Department over 7.26 lakh MT, Food Corporation of India over 3.72 MT, Haryana Warehousing Corporation over 2.75 lakh MT, Agro Industries Corporation over 1.94 lakh MT and CONFED had procured 53,825 MT wheat during the current season, he added.

The spokesman said Kaithal district was leading in wheat arrival where over 3.72 lakh MT of wheat had arrived in the mandis, followed by Karnal, with more than 3.66 lakh MT. Over 2.38 lakh MT wheat had arrived in Jind, 2.16 lakh MT in Kurukshetra, over 1.92 lakh MT in Sonepat, over 1.65 lakh MT in Palwal, over 1.37 MT in Panipat, 1.11 lakh MT in Sirsa, 1.19 lakh MT in Fatehabad,

76,861 MT in Ambala, 71,269 MT in Rohtak, 70,526 MT in Faridabad, 51,008 MT wheat in Hisar, 49,604 lakh MT in Jhajjar, 34,697 MT wheat in Bhiwani, 33,555 MT in Gurgaon, 26,395 MT in Mewat, 23,093 MT in Yamunanagar, 21,289 MT in Rewari, 8673 MT wheat in Narnaul and 6170 MT of wheat had arrived in various mandis of Panchkula.

Sonepat, April 21
Prevailing inclement weather conditions have forced farmers to opt for combine harvesting of their wheat crop to bring it to the grain markets at the earliest. Earlier, most of the farmers used to give preference to manual harvesting and thrashing to get dry fodder.

This has not only increased the combine harvesting rates, but also minimised the work of agriculture labourers in villages. It is also feared that combine harvesting would lead to shortage of dry fodder.

Farmer Anand of Naina Tatarpur village says the manual harvesting and thrashing take four to five days if the weather conditions are good and it used to cost around Rs 7,000 per acre. “However, in this process, the farmer gets around 16 quintals of dry fodder which is valued about Rs 6,000,” he added.

“The per acre charges for combine harvesting and reaping of wheat stubbles are estimated to Rs 4,600, but in this exercise, there is loss of 50 per cent of the dry fodder when compared to manual harvesting,” he said.

Sunil Chikara of Juan village said the combine harvesting and reaping rates were ranging between Rs 3,500 to 4,000 per acre last year “When the harvesting season started this year, this harvesting process was costing up to Rs 4,000 per acre,” he said and added that it had increased up to Rs 4,600 per acre in recent days.

In manual harvesting, the agriculture labourers used to harvest wheat crop for two to three quintals of wheat and equal weight of dry fodder per acre. The inclement weather and combine harvesting have deprived the agriculture labourers of this income.

Chandigarh, April 21
Nearly four years after a Gurgaon resident died in judicial custody under mysterious circumstances, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has asked the Director-General of Police to constitute a special investigating team.

The directions by Justice Surinder Gupta came three years after a Gurgaon Magistrate, in his report, expressed opinion that thorough investigation was required after pointing out “certain injuries on the person of the deceased”

The case hovers around the death of Krishan Kumar (40) in judicial custody a day after he was sent to jail by a Gurgaon court on January 11, 2010.

Jail officials claimed Kumar died of a heart attack, but his family alleged foul play and approached the Deputy Commissioner. A magisterial probe was ordered after Kumar's widow, Parvesh Kataria, alleged elimination as his brother was all set to uncover a bogus vote racket involving politicians in 2008.

The probe questioned the police's claims and suggested an independent probe into the death. In a 16-page report, the magistrate said: "The matter needs thorough investigation by some independent/ impartial agency as there seems to be indulgence of senior political bosses, superior police officers, jail authorities, doctors and others".

As action was not taken even two years after the magistrate submitted his report, Kataria approached the High Court for a CBI probe. She claimed her husband was framed by politicians and arrested in a fake case in 2008. "The false case dragged on for two years after which Krishan Kumar was picked up by the Haryana Police on the ground that he had jumped bail," her counsel Ravi Kamal Gupta contented.

As the case came up for resumed hearing, counsel for the state submitted that the matter was sent to the Crime Branch, which entrusted it to an inspector-rank officer for conducting an inquiry into the case.

Taking note of the assertion, Justice Gupta added: “The DGP, Haryana, is directed to constitute a special investigating team(SIT) for conducting the inquiry based upon the Magistrate’s report dated April 2, 2011”.

Justice Gupta also directed the state to place before it the names of the officers comprising the SIT.

The High Court, on a previous date of hearing, had asked the Haryana Police to explain why the case should not be handed over to the CBI.

Sirsa, April 21
After a midnight drama in which the police force forcibly removed former law student Vikas Kumar fasting outside VC office, allegedly beat up students sitting with him and resultant protests by other students in the morning, Chaudhary Devi Lal University finally allowed him admission to the BA LL.B course.

Vice-Chancellor Dr Radhe Sham Sharma told The Tribune in the afternoon that he was out of Sirsa when the former law student started his dharna.

He said he called a meeting of teachers of the Law Department today and dicided to grant him admission.

“The university has decided to issue provisional admission to Vikas. The decision was taken at a meeting presided over by Vice-Chancellor Dr Radhe Sham Sharma,” said a press statement issued by the university.

Quoting JS Jakhar, chairperson of the Law Department, the release said that the issue of Vikas’s admission was pending before a local court in an appeal filed by the university. “The university has given provisional admission to the student implementing the lower court’s orders,” the statement said, quoting Jakhar.

Earlier, a police party led by a Naib Tehsildar allegedly went to the university at midnight and forcibly removed Vikas from the dharna site. When other students resisted the police move, they were allegedly beaten up.

Five students - Narender, Amrik, Daljit, Gaurav and Yunus - were hurt in the police action and a windowpane was also smashed.

Vikas alleged he was left on Hisar road by the police late on Sunday night from where he returned to university in the morning.

As the news spread in the university, hundreds of students came in Vikas’s support and sat on dharna outside the VC’s office.

Denying that the police had beaten up any student, the Vice-Chancellor said the action was taken under the law. Vikas had started his idefinite fast on April 17 after the university refused to grant him re-admission despite specific orders of a local court.

Jind, April 21
The Haryana Power Engineers’ Association has demanded restructuring of power utilities in view of load growth and staff crunch.

Association president KD Bansal said during the bifurcation of the Haryana State Electricity Board in 1998-99, it was decided the owner would restructure power utilities every five years. But even after 20 years, discoms were not restructured once on the basis of workload norms.

“Despite the growth in number of consumers, an increase in the transmission network and reduction in staff strength, the management has not restructured the discoms. In case of transmission utility, Haryana Viduyat Prasaran Nigam consultant — Ernst & Young — submitted a report on its restructuring, but the recommendations of the report have not been implemented till date,” said Bansal.

Association general secretary Ranbir Deshwal alleged earlier, engineers in power utilities were getting more pay than their counterparts serving in other departments, but after the implementation of the Sixth Pay Commission recommendations, a dip had been registered in their pay scales, particularly at the AE and AEE levels. “As per the Sixth Pay Commission, one increment was granted to the engineers of 2004, 2005 and 2007 batches at the time of grant of the five-year time scale, but it has not been given now due to arbitrary approach of the management,” said Deshwal.

Vice-president KK Malik said many sub-stations being maintained by adopting an ad hoc strategy and the non-technical and inexperienced staff was being posted for operation and maintenance of grid sub-stations, leaving the grid security at a risk.

Chandigarh, April 21
The Haryana Education Department will conduct a school-wise online draw tomorrow to fill vacancies under the economically weaker sections (EWS) category in Classes I and II of private schools.

Sources said the Haryana Education Department had received over 5,000 applications against 9,000 vacancies in Class I and 3,700 applications for 8,900 seats available for class II under the 10 per cent quota reserved for the students of BPL families and weaker sections.

The Haryana Government, under the Haryana Education Rules, had made it mandatory for private schools to reserve 10 per cent seats in all classes for the students of the underprivileged sections.

After a stiff resistance from the private schools’ association, managements of 500 schools across the state finally accepted the government’s decision on the reservation.

The Department of Elementary Education invited online applications for the available seats after the schools reported vacancies. Nearly 250 facilitation centres were set up to help applicants in selecting the school of their choice. The last date for applying online was March 20.

Sources said schools would be allocated to students on the basis of their first preference following a school-wise online draw to be conducted at the Department of Elementary Education.

After the draw concludes, the Education Department will send SMSes to the successful applicants, informing them of their admission to the school of their choice. While the draw system will be followed for Classes I and II, the department will conduct an entrance test for the students of weaker sections and BPL families who are seeking admission from Class III onwards. 

Kosli (Rewari), April 21
Struggling to get the accused in the Mahavir murder case arrested, residents of the town organised a massive demonstration against the police and also staged a dharna on the secretariat campus here today.

Sources said the situation became tense when some villagers engaged in a spat with officials after they did not get any satisfactory reply for delay in the arrest of the murder accused. The villagers also shouted slogans against the police.

Sensing the gravity of the situation, a significant number of police personnel were called to the spot to avert any untoward incident. Kosli SDM Mahabir Singh, somehow, pacified the protesting villagers and sought 12 hours time to arrest the accused after discussing the issue with Kosli DSP Harender Singh.

The villagers then submitted a memorandum to the officials wherein they threatened to block all roads passing through the village if the accused were not arrested within the deadline.

Bowing to the pressure, the authorities later called a delegation of Bhakli villagers to the secretariat and asked them to produce the accused before the police so that they could be arrested, sources said, adding that the police had two days ago also made an unsuccessful attempt to resolve the issue through a compromise by organising a joint meeting of both the villages.

Earlier, a panchayat was held in the town this morning to decide further course of action.

“While criticising the police inaction in the case, the panchayat resolved to seal all border points of the town besides blocking vehicular traffic on all roads passing through it if the accused are not arrested by Tuesday,” Vijay Azad, vice-chairman of Nahar Block Samiti told The Tribune.

To inform the authorities about the panchayat’s decision, the villagers then took out a protest march and handed over a memorandum to the authorities, said Azad.

Mahavir (62) was killed and 12 others injured when residents of Bhakli village allegedly attacked Kosli villagers on March 5. The police had registered a case against 17 persons of Bhakli village.

Karnal, April 21
Panipat is all set to have a modern jail with a capacity of 1,000 inmates. The Haryana Police Housing Corporation would construct the jail at a cost of Rs 75 crore after the model code of conduct was lifted, said BS Sandhu, Managing Director, Haryana Police Housing Corporation.

Sandhu was here today to visit the site of Kalpana Chawla Government Medical College.

He reviewed the construction work and gave direction to the officials.

He also addressed a meeting of officials of various departments. They discussed issues like road widening, shifting of the police lines and ‘Shahid Smark’.

He also three new police lines would also come up in Palwal, Mewat and Manesar and 80 per cent of the work had already been completed.

He said Rs 125 crore would be spent on housing for police personnel.

Replying to a question on shortage of police personnel in the state, he said there was a plan to recruit 11,000 police personnel, but the recruitment process was getting delayed due to the model code of conduct. After the code was lifted, the recruitment process would be finalised, he added.

Yamunanagar, April 21
The Chhachhruali police have booked three persons on the charge of raping a 13-year-old girl. The police said three persons picked up the victim from outside her house when she had gone to attend nature’s call last night. Later, they took her outside the village and raped her.

The victim told the police that she knew only one of the accused.

Chhachhruali police station SHO Suresh Pal said one of the accused had been identified as Simmu of Kotda village.

1 held for molesting minor

Kurukshetra: The district police have arrested Rajender Kumar of Kheri village for allegedly molesting a minor girl.

Sources said the victim’s father had lodged a complaint at the Babain police station alleging that Rajender Kumar molested his daughter.

The police said the accused had been arrested and further investigations were on.

Rohtak, April 21
Repeated incidents of attack on residents, stabbing and chain-snatching here in the past few days have failed to wake up the local police.

A resident of Bharat Colony in the town, who had gone to give fodder to cattle at a shed, was stabbed by assailants in front of the office of the Inspector-General of Police (Rohtak range) here last evening.

Earlier yesterday, a resident of Jagdish Colony, who was travelling in his car along with a relative, was stopped on the way near the local SDM’s residence by two youths riding a two-wheeler.

The youths not only attacked and misbehaved with the occupants of the car, but also allegedly snatched a chain.

They fled as passers-by and residents gathered there. The local SSP’s residence is a stone’s throw away from the scene of the crime.

In yet another incident, a middle-aged man sitting in a town park was attacked and injured by three youths armed with iron rods yesterday .

Motorcycle-borne youths abducted a four-year-old girl from a locality on the outskirts of the town last week. The child, who had gone to get a toffee from a neighbourhood shop, remains untraced .

While the police have failed to take any worthwhile action to deter the miscreants, residents nabbed a motorcycle-borne chain-snatcher and handed him over to the police a few days ago.

Unable to check the increasing incidents of crime, the local police rounded up an innocent youth from his house and allegedly tortured him to make him confess that he had stolen a motorcycle. Later, the police conceded that the appearance of the said youth resembled that of the bike-lifter recorded in a CCTV camera and released the youth.

“I have stopped wearing gold ornaments after incidents of chain-snatching in different parts of the town,” said Sushma, a resident of DLF Colony here.

SS Deswal, president of the HUDA Sector-1 Residents Welfare Association, maintained that the police could not prevent stray incidents of crime but concrete action could deter the criminal elements.

A heavy posse of police personnel deployed to protect the local ancestral house of Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda also irks local residents who feel that the town’s crime graph could have been contained had the situation been otherwise.

Chandigarh, April 21
Just about a month after Haryana was directed to probe the allegations against Chief Parliamentary Secretary Ram Kishan Fauji before proceeding further, the government today told the Punjab and Haryana High Court that the compact disc showing alleged graft demand has been sent for forensic examination.

As the case came up for resumed hearing, Fauji’s counsel made it clear that the compact disc was required to be matched with the microchip of the CD recorder for proving its authenticity.

Elaborating, he said a photograph had little evidential value till it was matched with its negative to prove its originality. Similarly, it was essential to compare the CD with the microchip in the recording instrument to prove that the disc was not tampered with and the photographs were not morphed.

The developments come as a major relief to Fauji as a case against him can be registered only if something incriminating crops up during the inquiry, including the examination of the CD.

Facing allegations of corruption, Fauji had moved the High Court against the Haryana Lokayukta's order to register a case against him. In January, the Haryana Lokayukta, Justice Pritam Pal, had recommended the registration of a case after the release of a video footage allegedly showing Fauji demanding Rs 5 crore for change of land use for a plot along the NH-8 in Gurgaon.

The matter was referred to the Lokayukta for a probe by the state government, allegedly under pressure of the Opposition. Soon after the directives, the Chief Secretary had sent a reference to the Lokayukta for reconsideration of the matter on the ground that his observations were "at variance" with the findings. But, on February 11, the Lokayukta dismissed the state's application.

Fauji’s counsel has all along been alleging that the CD was doctored. He had earlier referred to a report by a Bangalore laboratory, which suggested that the CD was not authentic.

Narwana had also referred to a five-Judge Supreme Court judgment in the Lalita Kumari case to buttress the need for holding an inquiry in certain cases, including corruption, before registering a case.

In the petition, Fauji’s counsel had added the directions for the registration of a case were otherwise also beyond the Haryana Lokayukta's jurisdiction. Elaborating, he added, the office was not empowered to issue directives for registration of an FIR. 

Gurgaon, April 21
A three-year-old girl and her cardiologist father were killed when a rashly driven Haryana Roadways bus hit them near Subhash Chowk here this morning.

When the incident took place, Lineshia and her father Dr Pankaj Gupta were waiting for her school bus outside their Rail Vihar Society and Dr Gupta’s wife was standing near the society's gate clutching her six-month-old son. Dr Gupta died on the spot, while his daughter was taken to a hospital where doctors declared her brought dead.

The police have arrested the bus driver. Eyewitnesses said the bus driver was fleeing after hitting a rickshaw.

Nearly 1,400 people have lost their lives in 1,033 accidents in the city since 2011.

Faridabad, April 21
The father of a 24-year-old girl, a granddaughter of a freedom fighter, has alleged unusual delay and harassment in the registration of a dowry harassment case.

Rajender Singh, son of Ujala Ram, a freedom fighter, said on March 9, his daughter was allegedly assaulted and thrown out of her in-laws house for bringing insufficient dowry.

He said he approached the police to register a case, but instead of registering a case, he was asked to come the next day. Even the police did not care to get her medically examined, he added.

He said his daughter got married to Neeraj, a resident of 21- B here, on May 6, 2013, and right from the day one, her in-laws were harassing her.

He said the in-laws had threatened to kill her if she dared to enter the house again without accepting their demands.

The state government had also given a ‘kanydaan’ of Rs 51,000 in the marriage, he added.

He alleged political pressure exerted by an influential politician could be behind the delay.

Phool Kumar, DCP (NIT), said the matter was under counselling as per the instructions of the Supreme Court. 

Rohtak, April 21
Alleging irregularities in the despatch of postal ballots (PBs) meant for the personnel of the armed and paramilitary forces, the BJP has urged the Chief Election Commissioner to set up an inquiry into the matter.

In a complaint of negligence on part of the Rohtak parliamentary constituency electoral authorities addressed to the Chief Election Commissioner, BJP nominee for the Rohtak Lok Sabha seat Om Prakash Dhankhar pointed out that more than 26,000 PBs were dispatched by the local electoral officials to enable the in-service personnel to exercise their franchise.

Dhankhar said it had come to his notice that nearly 6,000 PBs were returned on being undelivered and the number was likely to go up.

“It appears that the PBs were sent through the civil postal service instead of Army postal service, which could be one of the reasons for non-delivery,” he maintained. Alleging violation of Election Commission of India norms, he said as per the norms, copies of the record of the dispatch of the PBs were to be given to the candidates, but it was not done and the returned PBs were sealed without any intimation to the candidates.

The BJP leader demanded de-sealing of all undelivered envelopes containing PBs to resend them to their correct addresses.On being approached for his comments, Rohtak Deputy Commissioner-cum-District Electoral Officer Amit Agrawal said he could not comment on the matter as it had been addressed to the ECI. 

Chandigarh, April 21
Apparently miffed at open support extended by the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) to the INLD in the recent Lok Sabha elections in Haryana, HJC chief Kuldeep Bishnoi today trained his guns on Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, urging him to clear his stand on corruption.

"While in Punjab, Badal says his fight was against corruption, he campaigns in Haryana against the BJP-HJC alliance and for the INLD, whose top leaders are in jail for corruption” , Bishnoi said, asking Badal to clear his stand on corruption.

About a week ago, the HJC head shot off a strongly-worded letter to NDA convener LK Advani over the SAD’s "open campaign" against the BJP-HJC alliance candidates during the recent Lok Sabha elections in Haryana.

To a specific query about the BJP-HJC alliance being under a strain and the possibility of a BJP-INLD alliance ahead of the Assembly elections this year, the HJC supremo claimed that the alliance was ‘rock solid’.

Whether Badal's attempt to forge a tie-up between the INLD and the BJP would put a question mark on the future of the HJC-BJP alliance, Bishnoi retorted "there is no question mark over the tie-up." "Who will put this question mark, it is either the HJC or the BJP. Who is Parkash Singh Badal, he is nobody. He is just the Chief Minister of Punjab and a part of the NDA,” Bishnoi asserted.

Bishnoi parried questions on Ambala MLA Venod Sharma’s entry into the HJC.

The HJC alliance partner, the BJP, had earlier blocked Sharma’s proposed entry into the HJC and his possible nomination as the party’s 
candidate from the Karnal Lok Sabha seat.