Bathinda, September 5
The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and the BJP, which are allies at the national level, are in the news for tying up separately with rival factions of the respective parties for the coming Assembly elections in Haryana.

While reports about Badal supporting the INLD is already doing the rounds, the latest zing to the election drama is a letter from the Baljit Singh Daduwal group, saying that “the BJP wants to promote Sant Baljit Singh, a religious Sikh leader, as a campaigner against the INLD election campaigner”. This means that the BJP would go directly against its ally, SAD, the force behind the SGPC fighting for control of the ad hoc Haryana State Gurdwara Management Committee (HSGMC) Daduwal was associated with”.

In fact, Daduwal’s promixitiy with the HSGMC had led to his arrest. Badal’s support to the INLD because of his old relations with the Chautala family were directly in contradiction with the BJP opposition to the INLD in Haryana.

Anil Vij, leader of the Legislature BJP group in the Haryana Vidhan Sabha, said: “There has been no formal discussion of any tie-up with the Daduwal group at the party level”. He, however, said he could not rule out meetings of party leaders at their personal level”

In reply to a specific question on messages from the BJP, Pradeep Singh Chandpura, head sewadar of the Daduwal Panthak Sangh, said: “We have received messages from different BJP leaders for joining the election campaign”.

He, however, categorically stated that “we will make an official statement of a tie-up or otherwise only after discussions with Sant Daduwal, likely tomorrow”. The official statement by the Panthak Sangh said that “as Parkash Singh Badal, Chief Minister, will be the star campaigner of the Indian National Lok Dal, the BJP is looking for Sikh religious leaders. A special messenger of the BJP is in regular touch with Sant Daduwal. The BJP wants to promote Sant Daduwal as a Sikh religious leader against the rival campaigner of the INLD”.

Hisar, September 5
Wary of the impact of campaign by Punjab CM Prakash Singh Badal in favour of the INLD in Haryana, BJP leader Capt Abhimanyu said that the former would have to explain his stand on the SYL canal to the people.

Taking to the mediapersons at Hansi today, the national spokesperson who is also the likely candidate from the Narnaund, said that the INLD had made the SAD patron its star campaigner as the party was devoid of a charismatic leader. “The INLD leaders are banking on Badal for their campaign. But it would prove costly for them as the people would confront Badal as to why he was not allowing Haryana get its due share of SYL waters,” he said. Responding to the allegations of the HJC supremo Kuldeep Bishnoi, he said that the BJP had abided by the coalition dharma by sticking to the conditions of the alliance for three years and helped him win the by-election from Hisar. “But his party’s defeat during the Lok Sabha elections proved that Kuldeep was not acceptable as the chief ministerial candidate to the people, he pointed out.

Sonepat: Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal should announce the state was ready to release Haryana’s share of water through Satluj Yamuna Link (SYL) canal before campaigning for the INLD.

BJP vice president Rajiv Jain, who was addressing election meetings various colonies here today, said that otherwise how could Badal urge the state farmers to vote for the INLD. Jain recalled that the former Deputy Prime Minister Devi Lal had struggled hard for construction of the SYL but because of adamant attitude of successive governments in Punjab many obstacles were created with the result that the matter was still pending in the courts. He alleged that the INLD and the Congress were the chips off the same block as the people had already tested them in the past. 

Sirsa, September 5
The money being distributed by some candidates to woo voters in the Sirsa Assembly constituency has started boomeranging on them now.

In Mochiwali village of Sirsa, where ~2.5 lakh given by INLD leader Makhan Lal Singla for a village temple has driven a number of voters away from him. During his visit to the village, the candidate asked villagers how he could serve them.

Villagers demanded donation for the renovation of the village temple. The candidate, who has business interests in Haryana, Punjab and NCR, immediately announced ~2.5 lakh for the temple. Feeling embarrassed, the village leader close to the former MLA summoned a meeting of his supporters the next day and announced to quit the party. — TNS

Sirsa, September 5
The BJP is facing an uphill task on the eight Assembly seats of Sirsa and Fatehabad districts while preparing for its Mission 46+, an endeavour to get majority in the 90 member Haryana Assembly in the upcoming poll.

The party has never won an election from Dabwali, Rania, Ellenabad and Kalanwali of Sirsa or Ratia and Tohana seats of Fatehabad. It has never won from the erstwhile Rori and Darba Kalan seats of Sirsa, which are now parts of Kalanwali, Rania and Ellenabad or Bhattu Kalan, which was included in Fatehabad in delimitation. The only time the BJP won the Fatehabad seat was in 1987, when party candidate Chaudhary Balbir Singh was elected in a strong wave in favour of the Lok Dal–BJP alliance following Nyaya Yudh.

Similarly, the BJP won the Sirsa seat only once in 1996, when Ganeshi Lal won the seat riding on pro-prohibition wave in favour of Bansi Lal’s Haryana Vikas Party–BJP alliance.

Gulshan Kumar, a dhaba owner, who contested the 2009 Assembly poll from the Fatehabad Assembly segment as an Independent and has again begun his poll campaign for the upcoming elections, describes BJP’s position aptly, though ironically.

When asked how many votes did the BJP got, Gulshan said the saffron party candidate polled 1,350 votes in 2009. In the recent Lok Sabha poll, the HJC, which had an alliance with the BJP, could take lead only on the Fatehabad Assembly seat, but that was largely due to Bhajan Lal clan’s personal clout in the district where former CM’s ancestral village is situated. On the rest of the six Assembly seats of the two districts, the main contest remained between the INLD and the Congress.

Sirsa, September 5
Ellenabad MLA Abhay Singh Chautala today said the recent revelations in CBI chief Ranjit Sinha’s case in the Supreme Court have vindicated INLD’s allegations that its leaders Om Prakash Chautala, Ajay Singh Chautala and Sher Singh Badhshami, have been framed under a conspiracy between the Congress and the CBI.

Addressing mediapersons at his Dabwali Road residence today, Abhay Chautala alleged that the visitor register maintained at Sinha’s residence revealed that Hooda met the CBI chief on more than one occasion in the last two years.

“Does Hooda have any plausible answer as to why it became necessary for him to meet the CBI chief personally at his residence; because if a CM has some official work with a senior functionary of the central government, it is normally taken care of through bureaucrats?,” questioned Chautala.

He said his party had alleged on several occasion that their senior leaders had become victims of a political conspiracy hatched by the Congress in collusion with the CBI, but in his reply, Hooda advised them to hire a competent lawyer.

He alleged that Hooda had met the CBI chief as part of his conspiracy to frame INLD chief Om Prakash Chautala, Ajay Chautala and INLD legislator Sher Singh Badshami in the teachers’ recruitment scam. The INLD leader alleged according to entries available in visitor register outside the CBI director’s residence, Hooda met Sinha twice in 2013. Abhay Chautala demanded that Hooda should resign from his post on moral grounds. Castigating the local authorities and Sirsa police for their “barbaric” lathicharge on girls agitating for a new college building, Abhay Chautala said it was shameful that a pregnant girl was hit on her belly by the cops.

He said it was disgraceful that over 1,350 girls had to study in an 80-year-old British era building of a tehsil office under constant fear of getting buried alive and were beaten mercilessly when they went to meet the DC.

Samain (Fatehabad), September 5
Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda’s visit to Samain village under the Tohana Assembly seat of Fatehabad had to be cancelled today in view of the intermittent rains that lashed the area throughout the day.

Hooda was to address a meeting in the Jat-dominated Samain village. The ostensible purpose of the visit, however, was to “inaugurate” a 220-kV substation, which has already been functioning for the eight months.

First, the authorities announced that Hooda’s chopper would land at Samain at about 12 noon, but the time was later changed to 3.30 pm. However, heavy rains led to waterlogging of the rally venue.

Later, it was revealed by official sources that Hooda’s chopper could not take off from Chandigarh due to bad weather.

Later, Agriculture Minister Paramvir Singh and Chief Parliamentary Secretary Prahlad Singh Gillankhera addressed people in an indoor venue.

They also “inaugurated” the functional powerhouse built at a cost of Rs 55 crore.

The Congress leaders castigated the BJP and the INLD and said Prime Minister Narendra Modi managed to get votes in the parliamentary election by fooling people.

Gillankhera said the INLD leaders, who were once trying to give its support to the Modi government without asking, were now abusing the saffron party for fooling the people.

Julana, September 5
This is a classic example of putting the cart before the horse: A vast network of water channels has not ensured adequate domestic and agricultural supply.

The authorities have adopted a callous attitude towards maintenance of the existing water distribution system while the construction of new ones was never on their agenda.

Of the 72 villages in this constituency a majority are facing acute water shortage and lack of other basic amenities, Voters believe that their political choice for voting for the opposition resulted in discrimination on the development front by the Congress regime. Broken and potholed roads, lack of sewerage system and poor health facilities symbolise their constituency and it has made the lives of the people a virtual hell, especially the far flung villages.

Canal system in bad shape

Since a majority of villages fall at tail end of the canal network, the farmers alleged they never get the required amount of water for irrigating their crops. Though the authorities know that the ground water is unfit for agriculture yet little has been done to mitigate their suffering. The yield of the crops has gone down since they have been forced to use the brackish water for irrigation.

Farmers allege that the water channels and major drains in the segment have not been cleaned for years reducing their carrying capacity. Although big claims are made that crores have been sanctioned for cleaning the channels, nothing has happened at the ground level. The farm input costs have also gone up since the power supply is erratic and they are forced to run diesel pump sets to irrigate their crops.

Systematic neglect

There are a number of water channels in this segment which include the Sunder branch, Hansi branch, Rajbaha no 3,4,7, Ludhana, Rakmali, Brad Khera, Jamni Khera, Karsola, Kila Jafargarh, Shadipur, Khanda minors and many others. The irrigation department had prepared estimates totalling Rs 1.86 crore under MNREGA for the cleaning and strengthening of all these canals but no one knows where the money was spent.

“A majority of the canals in our area are without water from a long time as officials have pocketed huge amounts meant for the cleaning and maintaining the drains and seasonal water channels. All these canals and channesl are covered in dense vegetation. I have repeatedly raised all these issues on the floor of the house but to no avail, said INLD MLA Parminder Singh Dhull.

The systematic neglect is deliberate since the voters voted for the opposition. Voters are aware that they are facing discrimination by the Congress regime, he alleged. 

Yamunanagar, September 5
A woman from Dharam Kot village died 19 hours after delivering a baby at the trauma centre of the Civil Hospital on Friday. The victim’s kin have alleged that she died due to negligence of the hospital staff and filed a complaint with the police demanding action against them.

A panel comprising three doctors conducted the post-mortem examination. Shashi Bala, 25, complained of labour pains and was admitted to the trauma centre yesterday morning.

She gave birth to a girl around 10am after a caesarean delivery. The deceased’s husband, Sohan Lal, said at about midnight, his wife’s condition started deteriorating and he urged the lady doctor and nurses on duty to attend to her.

He alleged that instead of attending her, the hospital staff kept saying that there was some uneasiness after a caesarean delivery and her condition would be normal soon.

He said at around 4am, his wife died due to lack of treatment and due to the doctor’s negligence.

Dr Vineet Jain, medical superintendent of civil hospital, Yamunanagar, said after the caesarean delivery the patient appeared to be fine. However, they would be in a position to tell the exact cause of death after the arrival of the post-mortem report. He said the woman was declared dead at about 5.15 am.

New Delhi, September 5
The Centre has announced a major project for research and care of cancer to be undertaken jointly by the Department of Biotechnology in collaboration with the All India Institute of Medical Sciences-National Cancer Institute (NCI) at Jhajjar.

Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Science and Technology Jitendra Singh said the project envisaged setting up of a world class joint research advisory body to identify areas of immediate, medium and long-term planning and research.

It would work to evolve a consensus mechanism to harmonise administrative and financial processes and approvals (evaluation, funding and monitoring) through mutual discussion and develop a policy perspective, including economic analysis and forecasting for technology with potential for use in public health, especially in cancer-related areas.

Reports suggest that of the country’s 11 lakh new cancer cases, the mortality rate is 5.5 lakh a year. 

Uchana Mandi, September 5
The 1,200-odd students of Government Senior Secondary School, Uchana Mandi, listened in rapt attention as ‘Modi sir’ touched upon most problems that are an inseparable part of their lives. Soon, the expectedly formal (read boring) speech by the country’s PM turned into a unique session.

It was a festive atmosphere when The Tribune team reached the school around 1 pm. ‘Poori–chhhole’ was being made with the help of teachers. As it had rained on Friday, authorities feared most girls would give the telecast a miss. Parents here rarely allow their children to leave home for non-educational events, but by 2.30 pm most of the girls had arrived. By the time the telecast began, all were ready after the school-sponsored lunch.

“Modi sir hamari sab problems jaante hain. Mujhe lagta tha ki toilets aur baaki bandishe (restrictions) sirf hamare Haryana mein hain… (Modi sir understands our problems. I thought the problems we face were peculiar to our state),” said Preeti, a Class 12 student.

The school had arranged a TV set and radios from locals for the telecast. The initial 10-15 minutes of the telecast were lost due to rain, but connectivity was restored later.

“I thought Modi sir would be unaware of the problems of girls in our state, as the BJP has never formed the government. Many girls have left schools only because of lack of toilets,” said Sunita, a Class 7 student.

The girls broke into applause when a girl from Chhattisgarh asked the PM about steps he would take to improve education. The girls laughed when a student from the North-East asked the PM: “How can I become the PM ?”

“We hope the PM takes steps for the betterment of education,” said Babli, another student.

Gurgaon: Children enjoyed the special meals prepared on the day which was followed by the speech. A visit to the government middle schools in Sectors 2, 3 and 4 revealed both students and teachers watching the telecast. Kiran of Class V and Neha of Class VI said they liked it.

Ambala: Scores of students braved the heavy rain to come to school for the PM’s speech. Kamal Singh, a student of the local Government School, said he and his friends initially thought the speech would be boring, but it wasn’t. “As the PM started speaking, we listened intently,” he said. Most schools had made elaborate arrangements for the speech.

Khushi, who studies in a private school, said. “We spent the whole day in school. In the morning there were celebrations and we stayed back after lunch to listen to the PM. It was tiring,” he said.

Faridabad, September 5
Students mainly from government schools in the city listened to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's speech and interaction broadcast live on the occasion of Teacher's Day. Most leading private schools declared a holiday.

Describing the interaction as a unique experience, 11-year-old Shakti said the PM spoke as if he was himself a student. The Class 5 student of Government Primary School, Ajronda, Sector 15, said it was a motivating speech. Sneha, also of the same school, gave the telecast a thumbs-up. Students Kushal and Akash said the speech was a bit longer then expected, but they enjoyed it.

Head teacher of the Ajronda school Chatar Singh said all 402 students and staff were present today. “The school started functioning at 11.30 am to accommodate the telecast timings. We had to arrange the TV set and the cable connection to ensure telecast,” he said.

Chandigarh September 5
Haryana Governor Kaptan Singh Solanki and Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda today honoured 33 teachers for their outstanding contribution to education at a state-level Teacher’s Day function held here.

Those honoured included Santosh Bhanker and Ravinder Kumar(Bhiwani), Rajesh Kumar(Faridabad), Manoj Kaushik, Ashok Kumar Yadav and Rajinder Singh (Gurgaon), Lalit Manopati, Rajvirender Singh, Ashok Garg and Sarwan Kumar (Hisar), Narender Singh (Jhajjar), Anant Pal(Jind), Ramesh Kumar Kaindal, and Darshan Lal (Kaithal), Mahender Singh (Mahendragarh), Saddik Ahmed (Mewat), Sanju Sharma, Labh Chand and Bhim Singh (Panchkula). Meenakshi Sharma and Ram Gopal (Panipat), Laxmi Narayan(Rewari), Yashpal Singh, Jagdish Kumar, Indu Singh, Suresh Sangwan, Ramesh Kumar and Asha Devi (Rohtak), Ishwar Singh, Dharampal Chahal, Darshna Kumari and Santosh Kumari were also honoured.

Teachers observe ‘black day’

Rohtak: Teachers of state universities and colleges expressed resentment against the alleged indifferent attitude of the Haryana Government towards their demands by observing Teacher’s Day as a black day by wearing black badges, staging dharnas at their respective institutions and not participating in any celebrations. — TNS

Panipat, September 5
A five-year-old boy was allegedly sodomised by a youth at Khotpura village falling under Panipat’s Sadar police station here on Thursday.

In his complaint to the police, the victim’s grandfather Shamsher Singh from Khotpura village alleged that Abhishek, 18, from the same village, sodomised his grandson. The district police registered an FIR under Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code and Section 6 of the Prevention of Children from Sexual Offences Act 2012 against Abhishek at the Sadar police station. ASI Rajender Singh is investigating the matter, whereas Abhishek is at large. — TNS