Chandigarh, August 6
The efforts of the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) to present its “non-Jat” face by nominating several candidates from a cross-section of society notwithstanding, the rebellion in the party refuses to die.

The party’s first list of candidates for 62 Assembly segments is an attempt to reach out to other castes.

The INLD, which hitherto commanded a substantial support base among the Jats, gave 18 Assembly seats to the Jat community, while majority of the remaining seats were allotted to Brahmins, Aggarwals, Backward Classes and Scheduled Castes.

The party’s calculation was that the “winnable” candidates from other castes were given preference against the backdrop of polarisation of voters following reservation to the Jat community in government jobs. Since the party could no longer claim monopoly over the Jat vote bank, the allocation of the tickets to candidates belonging to other communities was need of the hour, sources said.

With the BJP on the upswing after its spectacular performance in the Lok Sabha elections, the INLD has smartly chosen its candidates (mostly from the upper castes) in the urban areas to checkmate the saffron party and Congress.

INLD state president Ashok Arora, however, contended that as per party’s policy, representation had been given to all sections of society to contest the elections.

Apparently, the early announcement of candidates is aimed at providing adequate time to the nominees to campaign and cash in on the anti-incumbency factor against the Hooda government.

In spite of the INLD’s good intentions, the choice of candidates has sparked off a revolt from senior party leaders, who apparently conveyed their displeasure to the party leadership, including its supremo Om Prakash Chautala, at being “ignored” for the elections.

Reports said resentment seemed to be brewing among the party rank and file in at least five Assembly segments.

Local leadership has reportedly taken umbrage at the nomination of Kamla Devi, wife of former IAS officer Vidya Dhar who is convicted along with Chautala in the JBT recruitment scam from Tosham (Bhiwani). Similarly, former Vidhan Sabha Speaker Satbir Kadian is reportedly flexing his muscles after being ignored from the Panipat (rural) segment.

Moreover, nominations of Ved Narang from Barwala (Hisar), Surinder Pawar from Sonepat and Santosh Dahiya from Beri (Jhajjar) seem to have evoked sharp reactions from local leaders.

Party sheds its Jat image Only 18 Jat INLD candidates in the first list of 62 nominees Substantial representation to Brahmins, Banias, SCs Rebellion brews in party as ‘ignored’ leaders flex muscles INLD likely to change certain candidates after opposition

Chandigarh, August 6
Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda has said the Congress is upbeat and will return to power for the third consecutive time.

Contradicting figures on polling percentage in the Lok Sabha elections, Hooda said the General Election results would not be repeated in the Vidhan Sabha poll as people voted differently in the Assembly elections.

“An assessment undertaken with the help of an independent agency has put the Congress ahead of all others parties, predicating that the Congress will poll about 32 per cent of votes,” he said.

In the parliamentary elections, the Congress was almost tied with the INLD at the second and third slots. The Congress polled 22.9 per cent of votes (26,34,905 votes), while the INLD was just a little ahead with 24.4 per cent of votes (27,99,899). The BJP secured 34.7 per cent of votes (39,93,527).

After the Uttarakhand byelection, Hooda had said it was clear that the “Modi wave” was over and the Congress was on its way back.

“Normally, parties face anti-incumbency after two successive terms, but the work done by my government in the past nine years has benefitted every strata of society. As a result, there is no anti-incumbency,” Hooda told The Tribune.

When questioned about the details about the findings of the internal stock-taking by the Congress on its poll prospects, Hooda said the Congress was leading with a little over 32 per cent of votes, while the BJP was close second. But in terms of number of seats, the BJP had a slight edge. The INLD, as per the assessment, was much lower than both the Congress and BJP. The Chief Minister said his party’s position had improved in the past few weeks.

To another query, Hooda said the contest was between the Congress and BJP. “By the time the elections are held, the Congress will have a clear edge,” he claimed.

Jhajjar, August 6
Continuing the revolt in the INLD after the announcement of the first list of party nominees for the Assembly polls, two-time Beri MLA Om Prakash Beri has resigned from the party. He stated that there was no space left for dedicated and honest leaders in the party.

Om Prakash was a member of the INLD state executive committee and had been the Jhajjar district president after joining the party in 2009. He unsuccessfully contested the last Assembly election on INLD ticket from Beri.

Belonging to a political family, Om Prakash is the younger brother of late Prof Sher Singh who had served as Union Minister and deputy Chief Minister in undivided Punjab (before Haryana was formed).

“I had been working dedicatedly for strengthening the party cadre in Jhajjar district for the last over five years but the party leadership has allotted the ticket to such a candidate who has no political base in this area and has never worked for the party. Hence I have sent my resignation to the party president,” Om Prakash told The Tribune.

The INLD has fielded a woman activist, Santosh Dahiya, from Beri. Though Santosh belongs to Dighal village of this segment but Om Prakash was toiling hard to get the party ticket.

“After discussing the prevailing political situation with my supporters, I have decided to join the BJP in the presence of party national president Amit Shah at the Kaithal rally on August 18,” Om Prakash said. He claimed that some other INLD office-bearers in Jhajjar were pondering to quit the party. 

To join BJP on August 18 Om Prakash (in pic) joined the INLD in 2009. He was a member of its state executive committee and the Jhajjar district president. He unsuccessfully contested the last Assembly poll on the INLD ticket from the Beri. “I had been working for the party in Jhajjar for the past five years, but the leadership has allotted the ticket to a candidate who has no base in this area,” he claimed. He will join the BJP on August 18.

Mahendragarh, August 6
With the twin aim of carrying out a mass contact programme and exposing the ‘wrong’ policies of the Hooda government in the run up to the Assembly elections, the BJP would launch four ‘Vijay Sankalp Yatras’ on August 14.

The yatras would be flagged off by BJP president Amit Shah, who would also address a public meeting on the occasion besides motivating workers to work hard for ensuring the party’s victory.

Ram Bilas Sharma, state chief of the BJP, said this while addressing a conference in Mahendragarh last evening. He claimed the yatras would turn out to be a milestone in paving the path of power for the party in the state.

“The yatras will be undertaken from four points of the state and senior party leaders and officer-bearers will be present during these yatras at their respective places. I along with Union Ministers Rao Inderjeet and Krishanpal Singh Gurjar, will lead the Mahendragarh yatra that will pass through 23 Assembly segments of Mahendragarh, Rewari, Gurgaon, Mewat, Faridabad and Palwal,” said Sharma.

He said the second yatra would be led by MLA Anil Vij. It would start from Kalka while the party MPs — Ratan Lal Kataria, Raj Kumar Saini, Ashwani Chopra and former minister Kanwar Pal Singh — would assist it.

The third yatra would be launched from Bhiwani, led by BJP Kisan Morcha chief OP Dhankar along with MPs — Dharambir Singh and Ramesh Kaushik — while the fourth one would be carried out under the leadership of party’s national spokesman Capt Abhimanyu from Sirsa, Sharma said.

Sharma maintained the yatras would expose the Hooda government by raising issues such as devastation of farmers owing to land acquisition, favouritism in government jobs, discrimination in development and corruption.

Yamunanagar, August 6
Tension prevailed in Tigra village today after a group of villagers held a panchayat demanding construction of a stadium on six-acre panchayat land while the people belonging to Schedule Castes opposed it.

To defuse the tension, block development and panchayat officer (BDPO), Jagadhri, and SHO, Sadar Yamunanagar, rushed to the village with huge police force. They heard both parties and tried to pacify them but both the groups were adamant on their respective demands.

The officers suggested both groups to form a 10-member committee, five from each group, to find an amicable solution to the problem.

The group, which is demanding the stadium, belongs to an upper caste. In the panchayat, they announced that they would boycott the forthcoming Assembly elections and not allow the entry of political leaders in their village until the construction work on the stadium begun.

According to the information, the Haryana government had released ~32 lakh for the construction of a stadium and a basketball court on panchayat land in the village. However, the other group had been opposing it. They were of the view that the stadium could be constructed at some other place in the village.

“The said land is situated close to Harijan Basti. Several people of the village keep standing there and tease their women,” said Vikram of the village.

He also said the said land was reserved for the people of SC community.

A senior BSP leader of the village, Dharam Pal, appealed to the villagers to maintain peace and asked them to find an amicable solution to the problem.

BDPO Rajbir Singh said the said land was the property of panchayat and it was not reserved for any community. He said they could not find a solution today and had scheduled a meeting for Saturday.

Kosli (Rewari), August 6
The five-month row between Kosli and Bhakli villages over the naming of development projects has been resolved. Both villages agreed to give no name to the controversial railway overbridge (RoB) and kisan bhawan.

The villagers also resolved to withdraw the criminal cases lodged against each other in connection with a clash that took place on March 5. They signed the ‘compromise document’ and took a pledge to maintain brotherhood and social harmony.

Earlier, delegations of both the villages gathered at Rao Ram Narayan Library in Kosli and discussed the on-going row which claimed the life of a middle-aged man, Mahavir, and left several others injured.

“It was unanimously decided that name of any of the villages will not be associated with the newly constructed RoB and kisan bhawan. Besides, no change in the name of previous development projects will be made and both the villages will withdraw the case lodged against each other,” said Vijay Kaushal, chief of Kosli Sangharsh Samiti.

He maintained the Bhakli village panchayat would also formally pass a resolution in this regard. A joint delegation of both the villages would soon call on Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda to seek financial aid to next kin of Mahavir, he added. Notably, both the villages were locked in a tense standoff over getting their name mentioned on the RoB and kisan bhawan.

Chandigarh, August 6
The Haryana Government has issued the posting and transfer orders of two IAS officers and 18 HCS officers with immediate effect.

Among the IAS officers: Yash Garg has been posted as ADC-cum-CEO, DRDA, Fatehabad, and Prabhjot Singh has been posted as ADC-cum-CEO, DRDA, Kurukshetra.

Among the HCS officers: Virender Singh Hooda has been posted as ADC-cum-CEO, DRDA, Palwal; Dinesh Singh Yadav as ADC-cum-CEO, DRDA and special officer, APZ, Faridabad; Ashok Kumar Garg as joint commissioner, Municipal Corporation, Gurgaon.

Pradeep Godara has been posted as ADC-cum-CEO, DRDA, Mewat at Nuh; Bhal Singh Bishnoi as ADC-cum-CEO, DRDA, Jind; Jaibir Singh Arya as managing director, Coop. Sugar Mills, Palwal; KK Kalson as additional secretary, planning department; Lalit Kumar as additional director (admn), Information, Public Relations and Cultural Affairs, Haryana; Aurbind Sharma as ADC-cum-CEO, DRDA and special officer, APZ, Ambala.

Jitender Kumar goes as subdivisional officer(C)-cum-additional collector, Palwal; RK Singh as secretary, RTA, Karnal and Kurukshetra; Sushil Sarwan is secretary, RTA, Hisar; Jag Niwas has been posted as subdivisional officer(C)-cum- additional collector, Hathin.

Jaideep Kumar, awaiting order of posting has been posted as managing director, Cooperative Sugar Mills, Karnal; Anurag Dhalia as joint director (admn) medical education and research, Haryana; Sushil Kumar-II as subdivisional officer (C), Karnal and estate officer, HUDA, Karnal; Kushal Kataria as general manager, Haryana Roadways, Hisar; Manish Kumar Lohan has been posted as general manager, Haryana Roadways, Rohtak.

New Delhi, August 6
The Supreme Court today asked the Punjab and Haryana High Court to adjudicate a PIL by Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC) chief Kuldeep Bishnoi seeking quashing of laws enacted by Haryana and the Centre to facilitate the setting up of Special Economic Zones (SEZs).

Bishnoi had filed the PIL in the SC, but a Bench headed by Chief Justice RM Lodha said it would be better if the case was first decided by the High Court as the apex court would have the benefit of High Court’s views while hearing the appeal, if any. The SC also sent to the respective state High Courts similar PILs and other cases against SEZ projects in Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and other states.

According to Bishnoi, Haryana had approved over 50 SEZ projects and most of these still remained non-starters and vast tracts of land acquired from farmers for these projects were being diverted to private property developers, giving rise to speculative trading in real estate at the cost of poor people, who were forced to part with their precious land.

The SEZ scheme was also jeopardizing national food security and the ecology of the Aravalli Hills running through Gurgaon and other parts of Haryana, he contended. He also pleaded for the return all acquired land to the farmers.

However, in response to the SC notice on the PIL filed in 2006, Haryana and the State Industrial Development Corporation (HSIDC) had contended that as many as 2,200 acres of land had been returned to the farmers as most of the SEZ projects did not take off due to lack of interest from the corporate sector.

According to Haryana’s Additional Advocate General Manjit Singh Dalal, the biggest economic project, the Reliance Haryana SEZ in Sectors 36, 36-B and 37-B of Gurgaon, no longer existed “either on paper or on ground.” The state had given 1,383 acres of land for the joint venture project in the form of equity, but the scheme was de-notified in June 2013 following the surrender of land by Reliance.

Chandigarh, August 6
Less than a month after the Punjab and Haryana High Court applied brakes on announcing the result of candidates for around 10,000 posts of junior basic training (JBT) teachers in Haryana, a Division Bench today paved way for the declaration of results.

As the case came up for resumed hearing, the Bench headed by Acting Chief Justice Ashutosh Mohunta allowed the Haryana Government to declare the selection list, but asked it to carry out the verification process before offering the appointment orders.

Appearing before the Bench, Haryana Advocate-General Hawa Singh Hooda said: “As per an affidavit filed before the apex court, it was necessary to fill the vacant posts of teachers.”

The High Court had, on July 9, asserted: “It is not clear as to when the result will be declared. In case the respondents are declaring the result, they will take due care to verify each candidate.”

The orders were passed after hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) on the issue. It was argued that the Haryana Teachers Eligibility Test certificate of several candidates was found to be obtained through impersonation in the previous selection list of JBT teachers in the state.

The Haryana School Teachers Selection Board had issued an advertisement in 2012 to fill around 10,000 posts of JBT teachers. Candidates having qualified the HTET were eligible to apply. The selection process has been completed and the board can declare the result anytime.

In his PIL, the petitioner placed on record an inquiry report in which the HTET certificate of around 8,300 JBT teachers selected in 2009 was examined. Only 1,093 candidates were found to be genuine. The inquiry was conducted on the directions of the High Court and was still going on.

The petitioner argued before the court that if the result of the JBT teachers was announced without verification of thumb impressions with their HTET certificates, selection of candidates who fraudulently cleared the HTET could not be ruled out.

Faridabad, August 6
The poor condition of the primary school building at Ajronda village is a cause of concern for teachers of the village and the parents of the children studying there.

Rajender Gaur, a resident, said while the village was located in the heart of the city and was surrounded by the posh Sector of 15-A, the school building was in a dilapidated condition and exposed the tall claims of the authorities on the ground realities.

‘’The problem has aggravated over the years due to the fact that a majority of the students belong to poor families and the parents had no option but to send them due to the nominal tuition fees as compared to private schools, said Kailash Sharma of the Abhibhwak Ekta Manch, who blames it all on official apathy.

The school building had come up in 1952 and has been functional ever since. While the authorities claimed that repairs were carried out at regular intervals, the department failed to reconstruct it as it had outlived its life. The dismal state can be seen in crumbling walls and ceilings and hanging electricity cables and other broken fittings.

Admitting that the building required immediate repairs, Chattar Singh, officiating Head Teacher of the school, claimed that he had taken up the issue with the officials concerned and had written two letters in 2011 and 2014 besides submitting repair estimates in November 2012 but to no avail.

Parents alleged that while the school has only six rooms for 472 students, the entire school gets inundated during heavy rains and is virtually locked. While there were a total of 255 primary schools in the district, the condition of several others located at Baselva colony, Sanjay Colony, Prem Nagar(sector-4), Indira Colony, Jawahar Colony and Nehru colony and many others located in rural parts is no different.

While District Elementary Education Officer (DEEO) RPS Sangwan said that repair estimates had already been submitted, DEO Rajiv Arora claimed that the issue was not covered by his office or department.

Faridabad, August 6
The 36-hour-long ‘chakka jaam’ by the employees of Haryana Roadways came to an end this evening, with an agreement between the Employees Union and the authorities concerned. The employees were protesting against the non- payment of the technical grade and the delay in salaries of the last month.

Ram Ashrey Yadav, a leader of the Haryana Roadways Workers Union (affiliated to the Sarva Karamchari Sangh (SKS), Haryana, said the indifferent and non-cooperative attitude of the officials concerned had forced around 500 employees to resort to agitation since Monday noon.

He said the Joint Action Committee (JAC) of the union halted the operation of the buses and resorted to a complete tool down since Tuesday evening as the authorities failed to provide them an assurance. He announced that a meeting held this evening led to resolving the standoff and the employees agreed to resume the work by 5 pm. All 200 buses had gone off roads since the last evening, he claimed. Subhash Lamba, a spokesperson for the SKS, said resentment was prevailing among the employees regarding the policies of outsourcing. 

Faridabad, August 6
In a bizarre incident, the police have arrested a couple for allegedly setting ablaze their niece, who was living with them.

Chandersen, a resident of Gadana village of Bulandshahar, UP, said his minor daughter was brought to Faridabad by his sister Sangeeta around a month ago. Sangeeta (35) was married to Sunil and was living in Roshan Nagar for several years.

On his return from a pilgrimage on July 25, Chandersen was informed that his daughter had gone missing from his sister’s house after a fire incident. While he rushed to Sangeeta’s residence to enquire about the matter, he found several bones, half burnt hair, a human jaw and a button of the trousers that were worn by his daughter, in the debris discarded in an open plot. Though the couple claimed ignorance about the whereabouts of the victim, Chandersen got suspicious.

He alleged his daughter was burnt to death by the accused. On basis of the complaint, the police recovered the remains of the victim from the debris and arrested Sangeeta and her husband Sunil Kumar.

Surender Singh, the investigating officer, said the probe had revealed that the girl was allegedly sexually assaulted. He did not rule out Sunil’s involvement.

He added the investigations had revealed that the girl was strangulated to death before being set ablaze by the couple. It was revealed that while the girl had tried to protest, Sunil, in a fit of rage, allegedly strangulated her, which resulted in her death. The couple then set the room on fire with the victim’s body inside a box, to show that fire had broken out accidentally.

While the couple has been arrested after registration of a case under Section 302, 201 and 34 of the IPC, the police said the section regarding the sexual assault would be added soon. Sangeeta was remanded to one-day police custody on Tuesday.

Karnal, August 6
In a tragic incident, a six-year-old boy was crushed to death by a car driver at Nigdhu village today evening. The deceased was identified as Vishal from the same village.

Enraged over the incident, the family members along with the villagers blocked the road by keeping the dead body on the road. They demanded the arrest of the car driver and raised slogans against police inaction.

Fatehabad, August 6
A minor girl from the district’s Diwana village was allegedly raped repeatedly.

The accused Mukesh alias Thumka of the same village entered the victim’s house on July 16 and allegedly raped her. The accused threatened to kill her if she told anyone about the incident and repeatedly raped her under threat. The victim approached the police on Tuesday.

The police have registered a case under Sections 450, 376 (2) N and 506 of the IPC and Sections 4 and 6 of the POCSO Act. — TNS