Chandigarh, September 23
With the stakes high for each party in the Assembly contest, parties have reworked their strategies. The Congress, BJP and INLD aim at becoming the single largest party since a clear majority to anyone seems unlikely given the multi-cornered contests in nearly all 90 seats.

The BJP has designed its strategy pulling “winnable” candidates, taking in over 34 “outsiders” of which 21 and 10 come from the Congress and the INLD, respectively. By not declaring its chief ministerial candidate, the BJP has tried cut down on infighting among its long list of CM aspirants, thus buying peace among its top leaders.

The party, hoping to cash in on the Modi wave, has gone into the financial resources of the ticket-seeker to sustain his campaign though it does not seem to have a strategy in place to counter the growing opposition in the cadre to “outsider” party candidates.

Having always played second fiddle to a Jat-dominated regional satrap, the party claims to have no skeletons in its cupboard and is raking up corruption as a major issue against the Congress and the INLD.

Having been in power for two consecutive terms, the Hooda-led Congress government, facing anti-incumbency, attempted to counter it by embarking on a sop-doling spree just before the elections were announced. The leadership has chosen to play the development card while harping on the fact that it has fulfilled all its promises made in the manifesto and even gone beyond. Though infighting remains its Achilles’ heel, the party is also banking on Hooda’s “clean image” to see it through these elections.

Sources maintain that the party is deliberately holding back its list till all other parties declare their candidates in an attempt to contain rebellion and leave little scope for the disappointed ones to look for other options. Besides, the party wants to strategise ticket distribution on a model whereby the poorly represented castes can be consolidated behind its candidates.

With its top leadership, INLD chief Om Prakash Chautala, elder son Ajay in jail, the INLD, the first to declare its list, seems to have recovered from the initial rebellion over ticket and is gaining ground by concentrating on seats where it holds sway. The party continues to target the Jat vote but has attempted to soften its Jat identity by giving adequate representation to non-Jats as well.

The party leadership, MLA Abhay Chautala, state chief Ashok Arora, MP Dushyant Chautala and his younger brother Digvijay, have been targeting the BJP over the alleged sale of ticket to the highest bidder. The Congress is in its line of fire over alleged land deals.

BJp 

*The party has fielded ‘winnable’ candidates, taking in more than 34 ‘outsiders’, of which 21 come from Congress and 10 from INLD

*By not declaring its CM candidate, the BJP has tried cut down on infighting among its long list of CM aspirants

CONGRESS 

*The government attempted to counter anti-incumbency by doling out sops-before the elections were announced

*The leadership has chosen to play the development card and claims to have fulfilled all its promises made in the manifesto

inld 

*The party seems to have recovered substantially from the initial rebellion over ticket distribution and is gaining ground by concentrating on seats where it holds sway

*It continues to target Jat votes and, at the same time, attempts to soften its Jat identity by giving adequate representation to non-Jats 

Chandigarh, September 23
Naina Singh, wife of Ajay Chautala, who is serving a jail term in the junior basic training (JBT) teachers’ recruitment scam along with his father Om Prakash Chautala, has become the first woman from the Devi Lal clan to enter politics.

The Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) today named Naina as its candidate from Dabwali Assembly segment, currently being representated by her husband. Besides her, fielding of Dushyant Chautala, Naina and Ajay’s son and parliamentarian from Hisar, from Uchana Kalan Assembly segment, currently represented by Om Prakash Chautala, indicates a greater role for the youngest MP in the country, in state politics.

Dushyant, who defeated Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC) chief Kuldeep Bishnoi from the Hisar parliamentary seat in the 2014, led by massive 51,000 votes in the Uchana Kalan segment falling in the Hisar Lok Sabha segment.

In fact, in the seven seats announced by the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) today, the stamp of the dynasty is writ large with Bachan Kaur, wife of Sher Singh Badshami, who is also serving a jail term along with Chautalas, being named as the party candidate from Ladwa.

Chander Bhatia (Badkhal) and Pravesh Mehta (Faridabad), two turncoats, who recently joined the party had been rewarded. The other candidates named today included Neelam (Panipat city) and Fakir Chand (Kalanaur).

The fielding of Dushyant, who has been one of the star campaigner for the party, is seen as smart move by the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) to keep the Uchana Kalan seat in Jind district within the family as other members of the family were too young to contest the elections.

Yamunanagar, September 23
The migrant labour class of Yamunanagar has always played a key role in the politics of the state. It gave the state its first Chief Minister, Pandit Bhagwat Dyal Sharma, therefore it will be interesting to see who this unified vote bank supports during this Assembly election.

On the invitation of the labour unions, prominent leader of the Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC) and the first Chief Minister of the state, Pandit Bhagwat Dyal Sharma, fought the Assembly election from this industrial Assembly constituency, in 1967. Sharma won with a remarkable 52.43 per cent votes. He had fought his first Assembly election in 1962 from Beri constituency in Rohtak, under joint Punjab.

Interestingly, prominent labour leader Girish Chander Joshi and freedom fighter and labour leader Chhanno Devi were also elected MLAs as they also enjoyed the support of labourers from this region.

Besides these, industrialist DD Puri, who was the owner of the Saraswati Sugar Mills, Yamunanagar, now one of the largest sugar mills in India fought the Assembly election and won. He was also a one-time Rajya Sabha member.

“The labourers, who have settled here and enrolled themselves as voters, have always played a major role in the victory of candidates in every Assembly and Lok Sabha elections. They are united and extend their support to a candidate, who assures them social security,” said a political leader.

He added candidates from all political parties cannot ignore this section and make considerable efforts to seek their favour. The labour unions have been effective here and successful to protect the rights of the labourers to a large extent. The town has an INTUC hall which remains the centre of political activities throughout the year.

Industrialist DD Puri set up Saraswati Sugar Mills in 1933 and Thapar Group’s paper mill (BILT) came up in 1935. After Independence, the town turned into an industrial hub with the coming up of a railway workshop, Haryana Distilleries, ISGEC (Indian Sugar and General Engineering Corporation) and became a home to India’s largest plywood industry.

Kaithal, September 23
Fissures are widening in the ad hoc committee of the Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (HSGMC) over support to the Congress in the poll.

HSGMC chief Jagdish Singh Jhinda, senior vice-president Didar Singh Nalvi and other members have announced support to the Congress while youth leader Amarinder Arora is speaking in a different tone.

He today said leaders excommunicated by Akal Takht did not have the right to take decisions on behalf of state Sikhs. “A state-level meeting of Sikhs has been called in Kaithal’s Jalmana village on September 27. The decision to support the Congress will be taken as per the choice of Sikhs,” Arora said.

He said the HSGMC leadership had not called any meeting of members since its formation. “A few leaders are calling the shots,” he claimed.

Jhinda, however, said the decision to support the Congress was taken with the support of all members. “He (Arora) is trying to confuse Sikhs by issuing baseless statements. The HSGMC will take disciplinary action against him,” he said.

He said Arora’s claim of being the president of the HSGMC’s youth wing was nothing more than a claim. “He is an ordinary member of the HSGMC,” he said.

“Arora should not play into the hands of persons with vested interests, as it will harm Sikhs in the state,” Joga Singh, HSGMC general secretary, said. “We stay in a democratic country. If anyone has any difference of opinion, he has every right to speak,” Nalvi said.

Sonepat, September 23
Expressing resentment against the BJP leadership for not fielding any candidate from Dahiya gotra in any of the five Assembly constituencies of the district, prominent members of the Dahiya khap have threatened to field its own representative as a panchayati candidate.

The decision was taken at a meeting of the khap representatives at a dharamshala in Kharkhoda on Monday. The meeting was presided over by Ranjit Singh Dahiya. Khap president Surender Singh, Sisana Gaushala president Mahavir Singh, Sanjay Pehalwan, Rajbir Bhatgaon, Ramesh Dahiya and others were present.

A 21-member committee of the khap representatives was constituted at the meeting to pursue the demand and it was announced that if the BJP was not giving ticket to a Dahiya gotra candidate by September 24, a khap mahapanchayat would be convened to take final decision on fielding a panchayati candidate.

A number of Dahiya gotra candidates had applied for the Congress and BJP ticket from Rai and Gohana Assembly constituencies. The INLD has already nominated Inderjit Dahiya from the Rai Assembly constituency.

The BJP had fielded Krishna Gahlawat from Rai, Jitender Malik from Gannaur, Jai Singh Thekedar of Bhanwala Gotra from Gohana, sitting MLA Kavita Jain from Sonepat and Baljit Singh Malik from the Baroda constituency.

Tohana (Fatehabad), Sept 23
Independent Devender Babli may disturb the calculations of political parties in Tohana, where Haryana Agriculture Minister Paramvir Singh is aiming to score a hat-trick.

Besides the minister, INLD’s Nishan Singh and BJP’s Subhash Barala are in the fray. Nishan is aiming to win the second time after his victory in the 2000 Assembly elections, while state BJP general secretary Barala is hoping to open his party’s account from Tohana.

The Tohana Assembly seat has been a stronghold of Paramvir’s family. He and his father late Harpal Singh won this seat seven times starting from 1967. The minister won this seat in 2005 and 2009, while his father Harpal Singh represented this seat five times in the Assembly in 1967, 1968, 1972, 1982 and 1991.

The going could have been easier for the minister this time too, but for anti-incumbency against the government and the entry of Babli, Paramvir’s applecart may get disturbed. His supporters are, however, still hopeful of his victory. As for BJP’s Barala, he is confident of winning the seat.

Babli, however, has been getting immense response of the electorate during his meetings in Tohana and villages. His supporters believe that the response he is getting will sail him through.

New Delhi, September 23
The Centre today put the ball back in Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda’s court, when it categorically stated that there were absolutely no issues at its end regarding exports of Basmati — which is witnessing a downward trend in procurement prices this season.

Minister of State for Agriculture Sanjeev Balyan told The Tribune the Haryana Government should investigate the reasons behind the drop in Basmati prices, if any, at its end. Balyan said close to 15.21 lakh tonnne Basmati had been exported since April and the foodgrain had registered a year-on-year increase in exports since last year. “Rumours suggest that the procurement prices of Basmati have come down because of a ban on export. The Haryana Chief Minister had also written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi about reduction in exports to Gulf countries, particularly Iran.”

“I carried investigations and found that there were no problems at our end. Exports are continuing and no other state has sent us any such complaint. The Haryana Government should find out why the prices are dropping because no changes have been made in the export policy of Basmati. The CM should investigate why procurement rates are falling in Haryana despite the increase in exports,” the Agriculture Minister said.

As per Balyan, the Centre had no role in the procurement of Basmati. “Private agencies and the state government (HAFED) are the only procurers of this variety of the rice,” he said.

Notably, the Haryana Chief Minister had written to PM Modi on September 21 about the losses being suffered by Haryana farmers on account of “heavy” reduction in procurement price of export quality varieties 1509 and 1121.

According to Hooda, there was a fall in quantities of rice being exported to Gulf countries such as Iran. He urged Modi to find out the reasons behind the trend, stressing that it would affect not just the forex reserves of the country, but also harm farmers of Haryana — the biggest exporter of Basmati in the country.

Interestingly, the Agriculture Minister also wondered why Hooda had raised the issue at this point in time considering that the 1121 variety had not even arrived in the market yet.

Sirsa, September 23
The police have booked over 50 persons for rioting and attacking public servants on duty and arrested three of them after a clash between local residents and a police patrol party near Ghanta Ghar Chowk in Sirsa last night.

Those arrested by the police are Yogesh Sharma, a senior INLD functionary, Sonu and Rohit. The incident occurred around 10 pm yesterday when a police patrol party went to the Ghanta Ghar bazaar and allegedly started beating up rehriwalas, asking them to go.

Some bystanders objected to the the police action, but they too were allegedly abused and thrashed by the policemen. Soon several other residents, who alleged that the policemen on the patrol duty were drunk, clashed with the police. The policemen tried to escape in their gypsy, but were stopped by hundreds of residents.

DSP Dharambir Singh and SHO of City Police Station Suresh Pal reached there with reinforcements and used force to disperse the crowd. — TNS

Rewari, September 23
A burglary of Rs 25 lakh at a house in Khaliavaas village here cost around 600 migrant labourers dear. These labourers have been residing in rented accommodations in the village.

Among them, 400 labourers have deserted Khaliavaas during the last three days after the village panchayat held them responsible for the theft and asked them to vacate their accommodations by Thursday.

The panchayat has now threatened the remaining tenants to move to other places within the next two days or else they would be thrown out. Significantly, the panchayat has also apprised the local police authorities of its decision.

These labourers belong to Uttar Pradesh and Bihar and most of them work at Bar Malt India Private Limited, which is located on the outskirts of the village. Now, these labourers are making rounds of surrounding villages — Titarpur, Masani, Kharawali, Dumarvaas and Dhaaruhera — in search of new residential areas.

“We suspect the involvement of these labourers in the theft that was committed on the intervening night of September 18 and 19. The burglars stole gold worth Rs 24 lakh, and Rs 1 lakh in cash along with a licensed pistol from Praveen Yadav’s house,” the village sarpanch, Ram Narayan Yadav, said.

He maintained the labourers used to come to the village from their work places late at night and wandered the village on the pretext of answering the nature’s call in the fields due to lack of toilet facilities at the rented accommodations.

Yadav informed that last night too, some burglars sneaked into the house of Gajraj Singh, who resides in the village, but they fled when Gajraj’s wife who was alone in the house at that time, raised an alarm.

“The pachayat has resolved to ask the tenants to leave the village, considering this and some previous incidents. 400 tenants have so far moved to other places, while the remaining ones have been served two-day’s notice to leave their rented accommodation,” said the sarpanch.

Chandigarh, September 23
In all, 25 candidates today filed their nomination papers for the October 15 assembly elections. So far, 47 candidates have filed their nominations.

Shrikant Walgad, Chief Electoral Officer, Haryana, said CPM candidates Randhir Singh Sathi and Tek Chand had filed papers from Panchkula and Naraingarh, respectively. While BSP candidates Akram Khan and Sameen Khan had filed nomination from Jagadhari, Samast Bhartiya Party candidate Varun Sharma did so from Yamunanagar.

He said Independent candidates to file papers were Ranjita Devi(Samalkha), Maya Devi (Kharkhoda), Rakesh Sharma (Sonepat), Parveen Malik (Baroda), Surender Singh(Jind), Ramesh Kumar(Fatehabad) and Kanchan Kumar(Sirsa).

Socialist Unity Centre of India Communist (SUCIC) candidate Hawa Singh filed his papers from Adampur,. CPM candidate Shakuntla Jakhar from Nalwa and Independent candidate Raj Singh from Narnaund.

Kuruksehtra September 23
The Ror community today extended support to Zila Parishad Chairman Praveen Chaudhary and selected him as its representative from the Thanesar Assembly constituency.

The unanimous decision comes after he decided to contest the Assembly elections from there. Chaudhary is a clansman and has been an INLD supporter over the years and his candidature will be a major setback for the INLD in this segment.

Talking to TNS, he said “The community members extended their support to me. I will file my papers as an independent candidate on September 26.”

However, he is in also in touch with Bahujan Samaj Party leaders for the ticket.

“I have been working for the people of this district and I know this constituency and the expectations of the people better than anyone else. Being the chairman, I have been visited every village and block of this constituency many times. I am a grassroots worker,” he added.

Choudhary said “I have proved myself as a chairman. The Kurukshetra Zila Parishad has won the best parishad award thrice in the last four years. I want to take this winning streak ahead and raise the people’s issues Assembly,” he added.