Chandigarh, August 29
Still smarting under its dismal performance in the Lok Sabha election and a day after severing ties with alliance partner BJP, Kuldeep Bishnoi’s HJC today released a ‘please-all’ manifesto promising subsided farming, toll-free roads, free education up to postgraduate level, doubling of social security pension and quota for women in government jobs.

The 79-point agenda for ‘equity in development’ released by Bishnoi and Dharam Pal Malik, manifesto committee chairman, promised ‘accountable, honest and responsive’ government. “The manifesto echoes the aspirations of the masses at the grassroot and reflects a thorough understanding of the issues and concerns shared with us in the last over seven years,” Bishnoi, who was flanked by his elder brother and former deputy chief minister Chander Mohan, said.

Promising interest-free tractor loans for two years with no registration charges, the HJC leader, said farming on up to five acres will be subsidised with free electricity for tubewell and boring facilities. Farmers, who suffer land damage due to natural disasters, would be compensated at the rate of Rs 30,000 an acre. Besides, loans for farmers against landholdings at current market prices would be given, he said.

To cash in on the anti-Hooda sentiment on land acquisition, Bishnoi vowed to ensure the return of farmlands “unscrupulously” seized in the name of special economic zone in Gurgaon to farmers and amend the law to enable farmers to buy more land against loan on existing land.

To woo the youth, the manifesto promised free education for boys and girls up to postgraduation level. He also promised to set up a university of international standard in the state and the opening up of girls colleges in all Assembly segments. “The eligibility tests for jobs will be eliminated,” the manifesto promised.

“The SYL canal will be launched, which is the lifeline of Haryana. This project has been held up since 1996 despite the highest court having ruled in favour of Haryana. This project will be implemented at the earliest,” he said.

The HJC leader promised 100 square yards of land for landless families.He claimed that illegal colonies with a population density of 50 per cent or more will be legalised.

With a view to empowering women, the HJC would reserve 21 per cent jobs for women in the state and police stations with female staff will be set up in all sub-divisions.

Assuring employment to one member of each family, Bishnoi said interest-free loans will be given to graduates for two years to encourage entrepreneurship. He promised to fill vacant posts in the state within a year and promised to replace contractual system of hiring with permanent hiring in all state government departments.

Bishnoi also promised to make state roads toll-free in order to cut down cost besides making state highways six-laned. The VAT on diesel will be cut down to zero and VAT on petrol will be cut down by 50 per cent.

Supporting the new body for managing gurdwaras in Haryana, Bishnoi said the party will allow Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee to function independently.

Bishnoi’s ‘sop opera’ Interest-free tractor loan; free power to run tubewell for farmers with up to 5-acre land Land forcibly acquired for SEZ to be returned Free education up to postgraduation level Toll-free state roads; six-laning of all state highways Doubling of social security pension 21% quota for women in government jobs

Jind, August 29
After snapping ties with the BJP on Thursday, Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC) chief Kuldeep Bishnoi entered into an alliance with Venod Sharma’s Jan Chetna Party, but leaders from the BJP and HJC had seen it coming, and were prepared for the break-up.

Leaders from both parties had been preparing to go ‘solo’ in the forthcoming Assembly elections since the last few weeks, after they got a green signal from their respective party leaders.

“We have received requests from 20-25 candidates from each Assembly seat. Though Bishnoi announced the separation with our party on Thursday, we have been campaigning solo for the last few months as we were sure that the HJC-BJP alliance will not survive, courtesy Bishnoi’s adamancy,” said BJP’s Jind district president, OP Pehal.

Not only BJP, but some HJC leaders also expressed similar sentiments and confirmed that they had been campaigning solo for the Assembly polls as they expected the break up.

Senior HJC leaders told The Tribune that the HJC candidates from all 90 seats were ready for the elections, but with the party entering into an alliance with the JCP, they would have to ask some candidates to leave their seats for the JCP. They also did not rule out more alliances with other parties in the coming days.

BJP workers protest during Manohar Lal Khattar’s Vijay Sankalp Yatra in Karnal on Friday. Tribune photo: Ravi Kumar

Sources say that he is one of the ticket aspirants from Karnal, but workers were resentful since he was an outsider.

Dynastic politics must end, says Dhankar

Sonepat: BJP Kisan Morcha president Om Prakash Dhankar said dynastic politics must come to an end in the state. He stated this while addressing a meeting during Vijay Sankalp Yatra in the district on Friday.

Sirsa, August 29
The INLD will hold two rallies coinciding with special days in September.

One of the rallies will be held at Kanina in the heart of Ahirwal belt in Mahendragarh district on September 23 and the other in Jind, the centre of the Jat belt, on September 25.

September 23 is observed every year as Veer Shaheedi Diwas in Haryana to remember Rao Tula Ram and other martyrs, while September 25 is the birth anniversary of INLD’s founder Chaudhary Devi Lal.

Rao Tula Ram is revered in the Ahirwal belt, while Devi Lal enjoyed a considerable clout among Jats in the state.

Devi Lal was born on September 25, but the party has been celebrating his birth anniversary on November 1 every year coinciding with Haryana Day for the past several years.

With an eye on the elections, the party, however, has decided to celebrate the birth anniversary on September 25, as the polls are likely to be held in October. — TNS

New Delhi, August 29
Faced with a tough electoral challenge in Haryana, the Congress today finalised a multi-pronged campaign strategy with party president Sonia Gandhi’s four divisional rallies pegged as star attractions of the poll run.

While Sonia will to address rallies at each of the four divisions of Ambala, Hisar, Gurgaon and Rohtak, party vice-president Rahul Gandhi is expected to hold more rallies depending on his availability.

A marked shift in the Congress’ plan this time around will be the absence of road shows, which top leaders today conceded was an “old idea”. Following discussions at the meeting of the state Congress Campaign Committee today, a decision was taken to bank on rallies instead of road shows.

The strategy had not worked in the Lok Sabha elections where Rahul Gandhi conducted some road shows in Rajasthan and other areas. The party today also decided to project “collective leadership in the state” throughout the campaign.

Speaking to The Tribune, Capt Ajay Yadav, committee chairman said, “We have decided to project collective leadership and include in the entire canvassing material photographs of local leaders to give them a sense of identity.”

The collective leadership projection means Haryana CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda (who also attended today’s meeting) won’t be the sole face in election material. Normally, the CM and the state party chief’s images are used for canvassing – something the Haryana panel today wanted altered to take everyone along.

Taking a cue from PM Narendra Modi, the Congress also decided today to use mobile vans for spreading the message of its achievements in Haryana. Yadav said one mobile van would be engaged in every district to communicate to the people the top decisions of the state government.

“Vans will be used as canvassing vehicles to communicate our achievements that we will project through Haryanavi folk music form ‘Ragini’. Folk music forms prevalent in specific regions will be used to engage with the voters of that region. In Karnal, where the Sikh population is high, we will use Punjabi as the language for communication; in Rewari, Rohtak and Faridabad belt we will use Brajbhasha. The theme of Raginis will be region-specific achievements,” Yadav said.

The campaign committee has, meanwhile, asked publicity committee chairman Naveen Jindal to focus on the social media to catch the voters’ attention.

Karnal, August 29
The Congress received another jolt as Suresh Gupta Madlauda, a AICC member, quit the party and joined the BJP in Delhi today.

He was welcomed into the party by BJP president Amit Shah. He was also a member of state election committee of the Congress.

Gupta, who had unsuccessfully contested the Assembly elections in 2000 from Karnal, said that the Congress leadership has not done any justice with its workers who were now leaving it.

“I was pained at the indifference of the party on the discrimination with Karnal on the development front and the politics over the construction of the Kalpana Chawla Government Medical College, he added.

A Birender Singh loyalist, he said, “I have not raised only these issues but several others but no one bothered to redress these matters, so I decided to quit. The BJP is a strong party with a strong leadership. It would rectify the lopsided development in the state, he said.

He had remained the district president of the Congress of Karnal and Panipat besides being the state president of the Sewa Dal.

Yamunanagar, August 29
Home to India’s largest plywood industry, this Assembly segment has been suffering for want of connectivity of roads and general neglect by the state government.

This constituency, which was represented by the first Chief Minister of Haryana, Bhagwat Dyal Sharma in 1967, has been waiting for any development works during the Congress regime.

Speak to anybody here and people will complain of poor development in the area. Potholed roads and dilapidated infrastructure welcome visitors. This is reflected not only on the day to day life of the residents but on entrepreneurs too who decry the callous attitude of the government towards them with the result that the growth of industry has come to a halt.

Most of the approach roads leading to the plywood units are un-metalled resulting in accidents every day. Fed up with the system, several industrialists have shifted their units to Uttrakhand or are in the process to do so. They rue that although they generate revenue worth crores every month, they are getting a step- motherly treatment from the state.

Heavy machine manufacturing units and the local sugar industry fare no batter. Their managements too find it difficult to deliver finished goods to their clients and get raw material in time due to bad roads. So much so that transporters are reluctant to ferry their products due to excessive wear and tear of their vehicles.

The maximum pressure of local and inter-state traffic is on NH-73 from Jagadhri bus stand to Yamunanagar since the mini secretariat, judicial complex, new grain market, a number of government offices, several big hospitals, schools, Hooda’s sector-17 and 18 are all situated along this road.

Commuters from Punjab, Chandigarh and Haryana too use this highway to go to UP and Uttrakhand.

The solution of this problem is a bypass which has been hanging fire for the past two decades. Traffic snarls are a common occurrence all day long but there is no alternative to this problem.

The constituency doesn’t have any state run college. The government opened a number of universities in the state, but not a single was sanctioned for this area. Despite repeated demands, the civil hospital has not been upgraded from 50 to 100 beds. The demand of a railway over bride was also ignored by the government.

The pressure will be on INLD to repeat its good performance. The party has to cope with anti-incumbency along with rise of BJP in the state’s political scenario.

The political atmosphere has changed here after the 2014 general elections where the vote share of the BJP witnessed a huge increase. The INLD and the Congress were limited to second and third spot respectively.

Chandigarh August 29
The state government has enhanced certain allowances admissible to its employees with effect from January 1.

The Children Education Allowance admissible to state government employees has been increased from Rs 500 a month to Rs 750. The Special Allowance admissible to Group D employees holding charge of dual posts that is peon-cum-chowkidar, peon-cum-maali and chowkidar-cum-maali in government offices has been increased from Rs 60 a month to Rs 90. Similarly, the monthly Cycle Allowance for Group D employees has been increased from Rs 100 to Rs 150. A spokesperson said the Hill Compensatory Allowance for employees posted at Morni Hills had been increased from the existing 5 per cent to 7.5 per cent of basic pay in the revised pay structure, subject to minimum of Rs 300 and maximum of Rs 600 per month. The monthly Special Allowance for safai karamcharis has been hiked from Rs 350 to Rs 525. — TNS

Chandigarh, August 29
Taking strong exception to the snapping of 1,424 MW supply by the Adani Group on “frivolous grounds”, the Haryana Power Corporation is contemplating legal action against the company for violating the long-term purchase agreement.

Secretary, Power, Anil Malik said the state had signed a power purchase agreement with Adani Power Limited (APL) in 2007 according to which a levelised tariff of Rs 2.94 per unit was agreed upon. He said that as per the provisions of the Electricity Act, 2003, this could not be changed before the agreement term was over. “Not a single penny is pending for the power supplied to Haryana, but APL has taken the plea of second collateral, only a security measure, to cut off supply,” he said.

Explaining the process, he said that while a letter of credit (LC) already existed as a security in case the department defaults on payment, the non-availability of Escrow, another security mechanism which allows the supplier to access the revenue of the department in the bank in case of non-payment, had been going on for over a year-and-a-half and was used as an excuse by the APL to suspend supply.

Malik said Adani had sought a hike in power tariffs in view of increased cost of imported coal, which was allowed by the Central Electricity Regularity Commission (CERC) and Appellate Tribunal for Electricity (APTEL).

The procuring states moved Supreme Court and it set aside the orders and asked the CERC and APTEL to consider the decision afresh. Soon after the court’s August 25 order, the Adani Group sent a notice to the power corporation on August 26 seeking an Escrow account, which was processed within 24-hours, Malik said. He said that even as Adani was informed about the development on the morning of August 27, the power supplier cut off supply in the evening. He said the snapping of supply a day after the court order could not be a mere coincidence. The Adani group had made a case for a hike to the tune of 60 paise per unit that would have had huge financial implications for the state’s 55-lakh consumers. Malik said Adani was using the Escrow account issue as an excuse to suspended the supply at a critical juncture when rains were 40 per cent deficient in the long period average and farmer were in dire need of power.

Earlier, Power Corporation CMD Devender Singh said Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda was also taking up the matter with the Prime Minister and the Union Power Minister.

Bad timing to cut power supply The move to cut power supply comes at a time when the state is facing a drought-like situation and demand has almost doubled as compared to the same period last year Power Corporation CMD Devender Singh said the Chief Minister will take up the matter with the Prime Minister and the Union Power Minister The company has also cut off supply to Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Punjab

Hisar, August 29
Days after two Rohtak teenagers were driven to commit suicide by molesters, another schoolgirl ended her life yesterday reportedly after being harassed by four youths in Dobhi village of Hisar.

Lalita (16), a student of class 9 in the village government school, was returning home from school when four youths molested her. She was coming back participating in a seminar on female foeticide in Hisar. She narrated the incident to her parents and later committed suicide by consuming poison.

Her family today lodged a police complaint naming four youths as accused. Her father alleged that when she reached four youths waylaid her and rammed their motorcycle into her. They then misbehaved with her.

“She had said the accused threatened her of dire consequences if she told anyone,” he said. The family refused to take the body from the hospital demanding the accused’s arrest. DSP Vinod Kumar said the police had registered a case. He said the victim’s family had denied foul play earlier and said it was an accidental death. But later, they submitted a complaint of molestation.

Hisar, August 29
A trainee police officer died under suspicious circumstances at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy (NPA), Hyderabad. Manu Mukt Manav reportedly drowned in the swimming pool on Thursday during a party of the trainee officers on the academy campus at Shivrampally.

The trainee’s family raised suspicion and demanded a CBI inquiry into the incident. Manu, 30, son of Dr Ramniwas Manav, a resident of Sector 13 here, was undergoing training at the NPA.

He attended a party held on the completion of the training on Thursday night and then went to the swimming pool along with another police officer. He later drowned in the pool. The victim’s father stated his son died under mysterious circumstances and only a CBI inquiry would help them know the truth.

“Manu was dressed in his uniform when he came out of the mess around midnight. He was an expert swimmer and never used any intoxicants or drugs. It is baffling as to why he went to the swimming pool at night and why did no one make any attempt to save him,” said a grief stricken Manav, in a statement issued today.

Family demands CBI probe Manu Mukt Manav (in pic), 30, reportedly drowned in the swimming pool on the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy (NPA) campus in Hyderabad on Thursday. Manu’ s father claimed he was an expert swimmer and never used any intoxicants or drugs. He said Manu was dressed in his uniform when he came out of the mess around midnight, and it was baffling as to why he went to the pool at night and why no one tried to save him.

Fatehabad, August 29
The police have booked the principal of a school in Fatehabad’s Ratia town for molesting a woman teacher and outraging her modesty.

The 34-year-old teacher of DAV Public School, Ratia, told the police that school principal Sanjay Chugh had been sexually harassing her for nearly five months. She alleged Chugh would call her to his office and molest her despite protests.

She said she kept quiet for the sake of her honour all this while, but when Chugh assaulted her yesterday after she resisted his attempts, she told her husband, who approached the police.

A case has been registered against the accused under sections 323, 354, 294, 509 and 370 of the IPC. The accused has not been arrested.

Fatehabad, August 29
The bodies of a couple were found from a field at Samain village near Tohana in the district today.

The victims have been identified as Saroj Rani (18) and Beeri (17). They belonged to the same gotra and were neighbours. Sources said the families of the girl and the boy were opposed to their relationship.

Saroj’s mother told the police that her daughter was sleeping near her in the night. When she woke up around 4am, she found her missing. The girl’s parents and other villagers rushed to to a cotton field on the outskirts of the village, and found Saroj dead and Beeri gasping for breath. Later, the boy died in hospital. An empty pack of Celphos was found near their bodies.

The police have completed legal formalities of unnatural death under Section 174 of the Criminal Procedure Code.