Sirsa, August 21
The Congress will make booing of Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda in the August 19 Kaithal rally in presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a poll issue in the coming Assembly elections in the state.

Ashok Tanwar, the president of HPCC, who was in Fatehabad today in connection with his “Haryana Jodo Abhiyan”, said the party had decided to make the incident a poll issue because the jeering of Hooda was not merely to humiliate him but to insult the people of the state.

“The Kaithal rally will be remembered as a black day in the democratic history of the country, as it will set a bad precedent for future leaders. The Chief Minister was booed from the rally addressed by the Prime Minister because he was from a different political party,” Tanwar said.

“Earlier, it was our CM who was jeered at in the Kaithal rally on Tuesday and today, Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren was booed in Modi’s presence. After these incidents, no CM from the non-BJP ruled states is going to share dais with the PM at official functions,” he said.

The state Congress president said under the federal system, it became a moral duty of a CM to be present at the function whenever the PM visits his state for some official function. But going by the attitude of Congress leaders, the CMs will scare from attending Modi’s function.

He said the chief ministers of the Congress ruled states had already decided to stay away from Modi’s functions in their respective states.

Meanwhile, on Tanwar’s initiative, the Congress workers present in Ram Sewa Samiti Dharamshala here during his yatra, passed a resolution condemning the Kaithal incident.

Addressing party workers, Tanwar, Chief Parliamentary Secretary Prahlad Singh Gillankhera, former minister and Congress observer Vijender Kadyan, Ratia MLA Jarnail Singh and district Congress president Raghubir Singh said the party workers would take revenge of the August 19 incident by participating in the Panipat rally of Hooda on August 24.

However, Baljit Beniwal, a former block president of the party, took jibes at the party when he said the party leadership never forgot to describe the workers as the backbone of the Congress, but it never realised that the workers also had a belly to feed. He was referring to the neglect of party workers under the present government.

Tanwar said the “Haryana Jodo Abhiyan” had been started from Panchkula on Tuesday and would continue till the day of polling.

Chandigarh: “I was also a fan of BJP but ab baat Haryana ke apmaan ki hai, sabhi bhaiyon ko saath lo aur hooda ji ko vote karo aur logon ko Haryana ke apmaan ke barey me batao,” is one of the comments on Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda's facebook page. This Facebook follower was one of the many reacting to Hooda's post on his being hooted down at Prime Minister Narendra Modi's programme in Kaithal on August 19. In a post that has 2,457 likes, 388 comments and 499 shares, Hooda explains that he went there on the invitation of the PM and not as a party leader. “By resorting to hooting the BJP workers have disrespected the office of the CM and the people of the state." Maintaining that the BJP violated the sanctity of the occasion, he adds," I refuse to associate myself with anyone who disrespects federalism and uses a public event for partisan agenda.” While there seems to be an outpouring of support for Hooda, there is great resentment over the manner in which the CM, referred to as "the pride of Haryana" in comments, was treated in the presence of the Prime Minister. Also, the sentiment that the BJP indulged in "petty politics" runs through in most of the comments on the page which term the BJP workers' conduct as "shameful". While the Congress state chief, Ashok Tanwar, has announced that the party the incident an election issue, the Chief Minister has termed it as a "conspiracy of a few" and was orchestrated. — Geetanjali Gayatri

New Delhi, August 21
Faced with a tough electoral challenge in Haryana, the Congress may field some new candidates in the Assembly poll instead of repeating all sitting legislators.

Top sources in the Congress said today that “not all sitting MLAs in Haryana will be repeated.” Congress leaders aware of the developments said five to six legislators could certainly be dropped “though it would be a tough call”.

The party is awaiting the results of its internal survey to determine the winnability of candidates.

Asked if there would be some criteria to weed out the weaker lot, Congress general secretary in charge of Haryana Shakeel Ahmed said: “There is a general consensus on dropping candidates who performed very poorly in the last elections, say who lost by around 20,000 votes. Also, there is a feeling that those who openly worked to defeat the party’s official candidates last time should not be considered. But let me reiterate that winnability is the top criterion for ticket distribution.”

Party leaders said some kind of a criteria to determine winnable candidates would have to be evolved considering a large number of applicants for the ticket. A blueprint of the same would be ready by August 25, the day Haryana Pradesh Election Committee meets in New Delhi to hold the first screening. This meeting would be followed by a meeting of the screening committee for the state and finally the Central Election Committee meeting in the first week of September.

“The first list can be expected in the first week of September,” said Shakeel Ahmad, who has personally been a strong votary of fielding sitting MLAs and MPs in elections. Ahmad, also general secretary in charge of Delhi, had in the last LS elections resisted popular opinion in the Congress to drop some of the seven sitting Delhi MPs. He had then argued that the sitting MPs were the party’s best bet.

But all seven lost their seats leading to churning in the party on whether old faces should be constantly repeated. The Haryana Congress is also set to field more women, especially after party vice-president Rahul Gandhi’s latest message of a “women’s tsunami in the Congress.”

The Congress has 41 MLAs in the Haryana Assembly.

Chandigarh, August 21
The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has decided to go it alone in the Assembly elections. The party is likely to announce its second list of candidates by next week. However, the party is likely to go into the election without a formal manifesto, projecting former MP Arvind Sharma as its CM candidate.

Sources said the party leadership was in talks with a few former MLAs and former ministers as also a couple of sitting MLAs who could join the party in the coming days. “We have already announced our candidates for 17 seats and another 15 to 20 are likely to be announced next week. The remaining candidates will be announced subsequently as we have decided to contest all 90 seats,” party MLA and Deputy Speaker Akram Khan said.

Sources said the Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC), keen on an alliance with the BSP when its alliance with the BJP had been nearly called off, was renegotiating seat-sharing with its alliance partner, closing that chapter altogether.

Sonepat, August 21
Rohtak MP Deepender Singh Hooda today held a meeting of party workers at Gannaur to garner support for the party’s August 24 Panipat rally.

Ripping into the BJP, he said it wanted to come to power in the state with the help of defectors and paratroopers. “The people of the state will not bring in a government of aaya rams gaya rams,” he said.

He said people had by and large condemned BJP leaders and supporters for booing Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda at a non-political government programme at Kaithal. “We will give a befitting reply to this undemocratic behaviour with record participation in the Panipat rally,” the MP said.

Taking on the INLD, he called it a “party without principles”. “The INLD asked for votes at the time of the Lok Sabha election in the name of Narendra Modi whereas the BJP outright refused to take support from it. The INLD cannot fool the people by adopting double standards,” he said.

Chandigarh, August 21
The INLD has picked five new faces in its second list of candidates for the Assembly polls in a bid to cash in on the strong anti-incumbency sentiment against the Hooda Government.

The list of 11 candidates, announced by senior leader Abhay Singh Chautala and INLD state head Ashok Arora, also has the names of sitting MLAs Rampal Majra (Kalayat) and Rao Bahadur Singh (Mahendergarh).

The list of 11 candidates announced by senior leader Abhay Singh Chautala and INLD state head Ashok Arora tries to strike a balance between experience and youth. The party has so far declared candidates for 73 of the 90 seats.

“Representation has been given to all sections of society, including Punjabi, Aggarwal, Yadavs, Scheduled Castes, Muslims and Jats,” Ashok Arora said. Among the new faces on the list are Balwan Singh Daulatpuria (Fatehabad), Satyavir Yadav (Ateli), Lalit Kumar Bansal (Ballabhgarh), Teja Dalal Pehalwan (Bahadurgarh) and Sadhu Ram (Jhajjar).

Sources said the new faces stood a better chance as they would be able to exploit the anti-incumbency sentiment against sitting MLAs better than the existing leadership.

Meanwhile, senior leader and sitting MLA Rampal Majra, once tipped to be fielded from Kaithal, has been re-nominated from Kalayat segment. However, Rao Bahadur Singh, MLA from Nangal Choudhary, who ended in second spot from Bhiwani-Mahendragarh parliamentary segment in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, has been shifted to Mahendragarh.

Zakir Hussain, a former legislator who lost to Rao Inderjit Singh from Gurgaon in the 2009 Lok Sabha polls, has been nominated from Nuh, as he led by 48,000 votes over Rao Inderjit Singh in this particular segment.

While Kailash Bhagat will be the party candidate from Kaithal, state spokesman Nirmal Choudhary will be fielded from Gannaur. Anup Dhanak will try his luck from Uklana. 

Sirsa, August 21
Pawan Beniwal, a close associate of INLD leader Abhay Singh Chautala, today quit the party and said he would contest from Ellenabad if the BJP gave him ticket.

A nephew of former Rajya Sabha member and Darba ex-MLA Vidya Beniwal, Pawan said he was leaving the party after being neglected by the leadership. He said he would soon join the BJP with his supporters.

He claimed his aunt Vidya Beniwal and her family was with him in his decision. However, her son and Pawan’s cousin Vinod said the family had nothing to do with his decision. — TNS

Sonepat, August 21
The BJP will not announce its chief ministerial candidate ahead of the Assembly elections, Union Minister of State for Transport Krishan Pal Gurjar has said.

“The elections will be contested under the common leadership of the state BJP leaders,” he told the media at Kumaspur village in the district yesterday. Gurjar claimed that with the support from every section of society, the party would get a majority and then announce the name for the Chief Minister.

On booing of Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda at the Kaithal rally, the Minister said it was because of anti-incumbency against the state government and the BJP had no role in it.

The BJP leader blamed the state government’s “wrong policies” for delay in the construction of the Kundli-Manesar-Palwal (KMP) Expressway. “I have written to the state government, demanding transfer of the expressway’s construction to the Centre,” he added. 

Ambala, August 21
BJP legislative party leader Anil Vij, seen as one of the top contenders for the chief minister’s post, today said he had not laid claim to the top post but was willing to serve the party at any position it deemed fit.

Speaking to the media persons before welcoming senior leaders of the INLD’s Ambala unit into the party fold, Vij said he had not laid claim to the chief minister’s post, but it was for the high command to take the final call. He said he was working to ensure the BJP got the mandate to form the next government.

Terming Rohtak MP Deepinder Hooda’s suggestion that BJP should declare its CM candidate prior to the elections, Vij said it was as “childish”. “Instead of worrying about the BJP, Deepinder and his father Bhupinder Singh Hooda should work to keep the Congress flock together. Most of their senior leaders are deserting the sinking ship,” he said.

Giving a cryptic reply to a query on the BJP-HJC alliance, he said his party was preparing to contest the Assembly polls on all 90 seats in the state. “The Modi wave helped the party bag seven out of 10 Lok Sabha seats. The party workers’ morale is high and there is no looking back,” he said.

Vij said the BJP will look into the land acquisitions made by the Congress government and the “sale of jobs” under the Hooda government once it comes to power. “The chargesheet against the Congress is ready and it has been sent to legal experts before being made public,” he said.

Karnal, August 21
The demolition team of the municipal corporation, along with the police force, had to face stiff protest from traders and the residents of the city during a demolition drive. The team had to return with incomplete assignment of demolition of shops.

The traders alleged that the officials were harassing them by taking such action. There were several other buildings which were against the norms, but no action had been taken against them, they said.

Following the direction of Deputy Commissioner Balraj Singh, Municipal Corporation secretary Vinod Mehra assisted executive engineer, building inspectors and SHO of the Civil Lines Lalit Kumar in the drive. They reached the Purshotam Garden link road market to demolish the illegal shops.

As soon as the team members started the demolition, the traders started their protest.

Senior Deputy Mayor Krishan Garg, ex-chairman of the Improvement Trust Rakesh Nagpal, president of Beopar Mandal Krishan Lal Taneja also reached the spot and objected to the drive. The traders said the officials had come to harass them.

The team had to stop the drive and withdraw from the scene. The traders threatened that if such acts were repeated, they would launch an agitation.

Madana Khurd (Jhajjar), August 21
A display board promoting abortion in the district’s Madana Khurd village has created a controversy after it appeared in a short documentary film on the village. The film was shown in the popular game show “Kaun Banega Crorepati”.

Village resident Rishi Kumar, posted as Naik with the Indian Army in Nagpur (Maharashtra), participated in the game show and won Rs 12.5 lakh on Tuesday night.

As per the show format, the organisers shot a documentary film on the village and the contestant’s life. The film reportedly shows a board that reads, “500 rupees me garbhpaat karwao aur 5 lakh ka dahej bachao (Get the abortion done in Rs 500 and save dowry of Rs 5 lakh).” It gives the information that the village has a poor sex ratio: only 378 women against 1,000 men.

The district health authorities have tasked doctors, Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA) and Auxiliary Nurses and Midwives (ANMs) to find out the veracity of the information.

Sources said that after the telecast of the short film, the district health authorities sent its officials to the village to verify the information and find out the board. But they failed to trace it even after hitting every street of the village.

Ambala, August 21
Air Commodore Tejinder Singh VM today took over the command of Air Force Station, Ambala, as the Air Officer Commanding (AOC). A ceremonial parade was held at the Air Force Station. He has taken over the command from Air Commodore DK Patnaik VM.

An alumnus of the National Defence Academy (NDA) and Defence Services Staff College, Air Commodore Tejinder Singh VM was commissioned on June 13, 1987, in the fighter stream of Indian Air Force. He is an experienced fighter pilot with nearly 4,410 hours of fighter flying.

In his 27 years of service, the Air Commodore has held numerous important staff and field appointments and commanded a fighter squadron.

Rohtak, August 21
Local industrialists have demanded a CBI inquiry into the allotment of industrial plots to non-deserving candidates by virtue of their political clout.

The industrialists, who have also been making rounds of the state’s judicial corridors in a quest for justice, have also written to the chief justices of the Punjab and Haryana High Court as well as the Supreme Court to intervene in the matter.

At a news conference organised here today, the local industrial captains, including SK Khator and Narender Sahnewal, pointed out that the Haryana State Infrastructure and Industrial Development Corporation (HSIIDC) invited applications for the allotment of 202 industrial plots in June 2008. However, as many as 222 plots were allotted just two-33 days prior to the announcements of the state Assembly elections.

In the letter to the Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, the industrialists have alleged that the allotment committee ignored the eligibility criteria, qualifications, experience and personal background of the applicants and allotted plots to land mafia and property dealers in order to accommodate politically connected and influential persons.

In the process, the genuine applicants, having manufacturing background and experience, were denied the plots.

The petitioners maintained that family members, owing allegiance to a certain group, had been allotted five plots, and even the interviews for the allotment of these five plots were attended only by two members of the said group.

In another case, an agriculturist, not having any industrial/manufacturing experience, was allotted an industrial plot even though he failed to submit any project report.

As per the minutes of the allotment committee meeting, “The committee considering the background and confidence shown for the business found the applicant eligible …”

In the letters written to the Chief Justices of the Supreme Court and the Punjab and Haryana High Court, the industrialists have submitted that they had filed five petitions with the high court, but they had been struggling to get justice for the past almost four years.

Jind, August 21
A 17-year-old teenager of Julana village last night killed his father for repeatedly reprimanding him for not studying. He allegedly attacked his father with a sharp weapon and then informed his uncle about his ‘freedom’ from a ‘troubling’ father.

Aakash, who is a school dropout, was angry at being admonished by his father.

“Aakash had been demanding money from his father and had stopped going to school. His father did not give him money and they had heated arguments many times. Last night, he attacked his father and murdered him,” said Jind SP Anil Dhawan.

During investigations, it has come to light that the accused could not clear class X examination this year and had been a weak student. After failing, the accused refused to go to school again while his father wanted him to study. It has also come to light that the government had acquired the family land some months ago and paid a huge amount to the family. The accused wanted to get his share of the land, but his father denied it.

After receiving a call from Aakash, his uncle Sohan rushed to the house of his elder brother Ram Pal and found his body in a pool of blood. On the statement of family members, the police have registered a case against Aakash and are conducting raids to arrest him.

New Delhi, August 21
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) today issued notice to the Gurgaon Police Commissioner on the rising incidents of kidnapping and rape and murder of girl. He has sought a report in the matter.

The notice is based on a report that an 11-year-old girl was raped and murdered shortly after kidnapping and rape of a two-year-old girl in Gurgaon.

Expressing concern at the development, the commission observed that it raised an issue of state’s failure to protect its people, particularly girls.

Directing the official to respond to the notice within four days, the commission has also directed him to submit an action plan for the protection of such vulnerable groups.

The report, which led to commission’s intervention, said the 11-year-old, a daughter of a washer man, had gone to Sector 27 to deliver clothes but did not return. Her parents searched for her but to no avail.

Finally, after 10 hours, her body was found near an abandoned flat in Sector 29. The police suspected she was raped and subsequently murdered. They also suspected involvement of more than one person in the crime. 

Karnal, August 21
The district sports department has appointed 12 coaches, fulfilling the long-pending demand of residents.

District Sports Officer (DSO) Karam Singh said the department had assigned coaches for gymnastics, table tennis, weightlifting, cycling, swimming, volleyball, basketball, hockey, football, athletics and handball.

With this, the numbers of coaches at Karan Stadium is 21. “Some of the coaches will be shifted to Rajiv Gandhi stadiums in villages for nurturing athletes,” the DSO said.

He expressed concern over the lack of coaches for tennis, badminton, cricket and kabaddi. “I have written to the higher authorities, demanding coaches for the four games.”