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Haryana Votes 2014
CM’s sop spree may not fetch votes
Caste holds key in assembly poll
Constituency watch: Kharkhoda |
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Cong list a mix of old and new guard
Bumpy ride for Birender in BJP
Stage set for INLD’s Jind show
today
Labour Minister decides to contest as Independent
INLD workers oppose SAD candidate
JP quits Cong, to contest as Independent
Chautala to address rally, says Arora
CM heads rumour-mongers: Union Minister
Five BSP office-bearers quit
45 more file nomination papers
Ex-minister to contest as Independent
Ticket tussle: Karnal YC chief resigns
SBP candidate deserts party to join BJP
Setback for HJC as youth general secy steps down Three file nominations
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CM’s sop spree may not fetch votes
Sirsa, September 24 Haryana has an estimated 2.85 lakh regular government employees, 60,000 temporary employees and an equal number of outsourced staff. With their families, they account for nearly 12 lakh votes and 7.5 per cent of the state’s total 1.62 crore voters. The way they vote can make a difference for the party as it faces strong anti-incumbency after remaining in power for 10 years. A check of the on-ground situation reveals things are not as rosy as the Congress might have expected after the bonanza of incentives, many of which were announced at the Panipat Sankalp rally of the Chief Minister on August
24. He also said 15,000-odd guest teachers were feeling let down as the government went back on its promise of regularising them. Echoing his sentiments, Sarbat Singh Punia, Haryana Roadways Workers Union president and Sarva Karamchari Sangh senior vice-president said very few employees had benefitted from the announcements. A woman working as a guest lecturer in a government college said the services of only 56 out of the 230 working in the state were made permanent. The rest were kept out on flimsy grounds, she said. Haryana Federation of Universities and Colleges Teachers Organisation (HFUCTO) secretary Dr Attar Singh said no demand of varsity teachers has been accepted by the government. “We have repeatedly sought increase in retirement age of university teachers to 65. Central universities have already implemented it and so have some state universities. Also, no guest teachers have been regularised,” said Attar Singh. However, a section of government employees has benefitted from the government’s announcement, but it is to be seen whether or not it translates into votes. In addition, there are certain announcements such as raising retirement age of government employees from 58 to 60 that have benefitted almost all. Similarly, if many temporary employees have not been regularised, several others have been lucky enough to fit policies framed for the purpose. An employee leader said though they were often able to mobilise a majority of employees when it comes to holding strikes and agitations but when they vote, they consider several other factors, including caste, affiliation of their families and local factors. ‘Feeling cheated’ The government announced to give salaries on the Punjab pattern from November 1. However, the notification issued by the government does not match the announcement. If the government was serious about giving Punjab scales to us, they could have done so during this term. The employees are feeling
cheated. — Gurdeep Singh Saini, spokesperson, haryana sanyukta karamchari mahasangh
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Caste holds key in assembly poll
Chandigarh, September 24 The majority community—the Jats—virtually monopolises political power and government jobs. This is evident from the fact that since the re-organisation of the state in 1966, all Chief Ministers have been Jats barring Bhagwat Dayal Sharma, Rao Birender Singh and Bhajan Lal. This time around, all major political parties, including the BJP which was till recently considered to be having its base among the non-Jat voters, gave a majority of the seats to Jat candidates as the community has a major say in the outcome in over 40 of the 90 seats in the Haryana Assembly. Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and INLD supremo Om Prakash Chautala are virtually scrambling for Jat votes. On the other hand, a traditional non-Jat party, the BJP has made conscious efforts to bring one of the tallest Jat leaders, Birender Singh, into its fold to woo Jat voters. The HJC-HJCP alliance and other parties are hoping to cash in on the non-Jat votes. Election observers said the caste factor had always dominated the state’s electoral scene. Except for three elections—1977, 1985 and 1996—when ‘bigger issues’ took the centrestage, the caste factor had always been instrumental in determining the poll outcome. In view of the dominant role of the caste factor in Haryana politics, the AAP, which championed ‘casteless’ politics, was not able to make a mark in the recent parliamentary elections in the state. The party is not contesting the assembly elections. Parties and their vote banks
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CM’s favourite, but as thirsty as ever
BS Malik
Kharkhoda, September 24 The CM’s soft corner for this constituency was because his in- laws live in Matindu village here. Although the government had sanctioned Rs 32 crore to solve these problems and the amount had also been utilised, but the ground situation leaves much to be desired. Since the drinking supply in the town is canal-based, leakages in the pipelines, erratic supply and faulty connections are a constant source of harassment for the residents. There are hardly any water works in this segment.
As far as the drainage system of the town is concerned, there have been no attempts to stop large scale encroachments, which have blocked the gravitational flow of the rain water resulting on water logging. Even the dry old drain that used to be the main channel for carrying rain water have been encroached upon by influential persons. Reserved in 2009, this segment is known for not electing any candidate for the second time and at present it is represented by Jaiveer Singh Balmiki who is a CPS. In the last Assembly election, Jaiveer Singh (Congress) defeated the INLD candidate Raju Dhanak by a huge margin of over 27,000 votes. He got 64.07% of the votes polled whereas INLD’s Raju secured 26.99%, BJPs Ram Niwas 3.26% and BSP’s Rajvir got only 3.0% of the total votes polled. Despite the Modi wave in the last Lok Sabha election, Congress candidate Jagbir Singh Malik secured a lead of 8,486 votes over BJP nominee Ramesh Kaushik who got 24,426 votes. INLD’s candidate Padam Singh Dahiya remained at second position with 28,081 votes. Incumbent MLA Jaiveer Singh claims the constituency had witnessed record development during Bhupinder Singh Hooda’s regime. Besides upgrading Kharkhoda as a sub-division, the town now has a bypass, a new tehsil complex, a bus stand, a civil hospital, an ITI and a government college. Works on the sewerage, drainage and drinking water projects were being completed on war footing and around 90% of the works had already been completed. All the roads connecting Kharkhoda with Delhi, Sampla, Bahadurgarh, Sonepat, Rohtak and Gohana had been widened and strengthened, he claimed. Raju Dhanak alleged that there had been misappropriation of the development grants and as a result of it, the people in the town continue to face the problems of faulty sewerage and drinking water and drainage systems. He alleged that on behest of the people in power, there had been large scale encroachments on the municipal land in the town.
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Cong list a mix of old and new guard New Delhi, September 24 Three other seats where sitting MLAs haven't been given tickets are the ones where the legislators requested for their wards or relatives to be fielded. These seats are Pehowa where Mandeep Chattha, son of Finance Minister HS Chattha, has been named the Congress candidate; Panipat Rural from where sitting MLA Balbir Shah declined to contest paving the way for the candidature of his brother Virender Shah; and Badshahpur from where sitting MLA Rao Dharampal's son Virender has been fielded. The Congress has largely managed to refrain from nepotism this time by giving only one ticket in one family. The party denied the ticket to Chiranjeevi Yadav, son of Irrigation Minister Capt Ajay Yadav, who is contesting from Rewari. Capt Yadav had demanded the ticket for his son from Kosli where Yaduvendra Singh, brother of former Congress MP Rao Inderjit Singh, has been fielded again. "We decided against fielding two people from one family, but where sitting MLAs vacated their seats for their wards, we agreed depending on the winnability of wards. For instance, former state Congress chief Phool Chand Mullana's son Varun was fielded from Mullana because his father declined to contest," Congress sources said after the party released its list of 90 candidates for the October 15 polls tonight. The highlight of the Congress list is the reward for loyalty. The party has re-nominated Independents who supported it last time as its own candidates. These include Prahlad Singh Gillankhera in Fatehabad and Jaleb Khan in Hathin. All four former HJC leaders who joined the Congress have been renamed too, including Vinod Bayana in Hansi, Dharam Singh in Samalkha and Satpal Sangwan in Dadri. The list features seven Indian Youth Congress candidates and at least 30 per cent of young leaders, who are below 40 years. But where needed, the party has reposed faith in its older guard. It has fielded 80-plus Dharamvir Gauba from Gurgaon preferring him over sitting MLA Sukhbir Kataria who had backed the Congress last time. Likewise, the Congress has replaced minister SC Sharma, who won as an Independent last time but backed the Congress. Instead of Sharma, the party has fielded Gulshan Bagga. The list has 11 women — the same number the Congress had fielded last time. Besides, the list comprises 34 candidates whom the Congress had not fielded in 2009 such as former Deputy Speaker Azad Mohammad and Krishna Pandit. The rest of the candidates are those who contested on the Congress ticket last time also and have today been repeated even if they lost the last poll. This list of 34 leaders includes former BCCI chief Ranbir Singh Mahendra of the Bansi Lal family. He had lost the last elections on the Congress ticket. The list hints at a strategy to take on the INLD patron Om Prakash Chautala, with the Congress fielding two members of the Chautala family — KV Singh, former OSD to late Devi Lal from Dabwali, and Ranjeet Singh Chautala, brother of Om Prakash Chautala, from Rania. Singh had polled 4,05,000 votes against Chautala's son Ajay from Dabwali in 2009. He will take on Ajay Chautala's wife in this segment this time. All six Congress MLAs in the CLU CD row have been re-nominated with the Congress trashing the CDs as INLD's move to weaken the Congress base in Sirsa and Hisar areas. These MLAs include Ram Kishen Fauji. In Kaithal, minister Randeep Surjewala managed to get the ticket for Ranvir Mann, son of late district leader Teji Mann. In another move, the Congress, on CM Bhupinder Hooda's insistence, agreed to shift Karnal MLA Sumita Singh to Assandh. Sitting MLA from Assandh, Zile Ram Sharma, has been denied the ticket for being an accused in a murder case. Haryana Congress chief Ashok Tanwar could not manage many seats for his supporters in Sirsa, with around three candidates recommended by him named in the segment. Tanwar is former Sirsa MP. CONTESTANTS TO WATCH OUT FOR
Relatives
Ignored, Karnal YC chief quits Karnal: Agitated over denial of ticket, District Youth Congress chief Pankaj Gaba, today resigned from his post. Sources said he may even quit the party and could take some big step since he has a good following among the youth. He is a younger son of Des Raj Gaba, former district president and also an active member of Congress here. His two elder brothers, Parvesh Gaba and Parag Gaba, are also the active members of the party and had remained on various posts. Political analysts see this development as a major jolt to the party before the polls. After a meeting with the supporters, Pankaj took the step. — TNS
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Bumpy ride for Birender in BJP
Known as the vocal Jat face of the Bangar area of the state for his repeated outbursts against his cousin brother CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Chaudhary is focusing on Uchana Kalan to ensure the victory of his wife from his stronghold constituency. Though the exact impact of switch over of Chaudhary to the BJP from the Congress will become evident only after the poll, voters of not only Uchana Kalan but other adjoining areas of Bangar are also finding it hard to digest the entry of their Jat leader in a non-Jat party. “Bangar Jats supported Birender only in a hope that he would be in a big position in the Congress to get their work done. But now since he is in BJP and the party has not clarified his future role, things may become tougher for him and his supporters during the poll,” said Sehdev, a Jat voter of Uchana. Though Birender has joined a non-Jat party, during an interaction with the non-Jat voters, it became evident that a majority still sees him as a Jat leader. They are still busy wondering whether they should support Birender, who has joined a non-Jat party for political gains and ditched them. Political pundits believe that if he fails to build an image of leader of all, he might face serious repercussions in the Assembly elections. “I would campaign for the BJP as per the directions of the party. I have joined it only for the development of the state and I have people’s support,” said Birender. BJP sources said many state BJP leaders see him and his supporters as outsiders. The recent BJP list of candidates has further provoked the anti-Birender camp after they were denied tickets to accommodate Birender’s supporters. Not a single loyal worker and party leader got ticket from Jind district, while Birender succeeded in grabbing four tickets from Uchana, Narwana, Julana and Kalayat. It has left the BJP cadre fuming. Battling the outsider tag
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Stage set for INLD’s Jind show
today
Jind, September 24 A big pandal was being erected at the Safidon Road venue when The Tribune team visited the spot on Wednesday. Special arrangements have been made for women participants as they have been allocated space in front of their male counterparts. Organisers have divided the main stage into two parts. The frontal portion is lower in height than the back where the VVIP would be seated for greater visibility. Party senior leaders and MLAs will sit in front. Special arrangements have been made for district presidents and other leaders on the right side of the stage. “Our September 25 rally will be massive and lakhs from across the state will attend. People are fed-up with the misrule of the Congress and want to oust the party,” said INLD Hisar MP Dushyant Chautala, who is also the candidate from Uchana Kalan for the Assembly election. Former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav, Punjab CM Parkash Singh Badal and senior leaders of various states are likely to attend. Special separate gates have also been constructed. The VVIP gate has been constructed to the right of the stage while VIPs will enter the venue from the front gate. Big screens have been installed at several points at the venue. All set
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Labour Minister decides to contest as Independent
Faridabad, September 24 He was elected legislator from this seat in 2009 for the first time as an Independent and has since been supporting the Congress government. The minister claimed to remain loyal to Hooda if the Congress got the mandate. The decision to contest as an Independent was taken at a meeting of his supporters here last night. Sharma told The Tribune that his supporters believed that he did not require the ticket of any party to become the legislator, but had people’s support to elect him again. Claiming that both Congress and BJP leadership wanted to field him, the minister said he had turned down the offer. “I won’t contest on the symbol of any party. I have faith in people and they will elect me on the basis of unprecedented development works done during my tenure as the MLA,” he said. Several sarpanches and panchayat members of Pawta, Pakhal, Dhauj, Khori Jamalpur, Sirohi, Tikri Khera, Pali and Gasera villages attended the meeting. Sharma is faced with opposition from his grandson Anoop Sharma, who recently charged him with corruption, and announced to contest the elections against him. The BJP has fielded Jasbir Dagar from Faridabad (NIT), while the INLD has given the ticket to Nagender Bhadana. |
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INLD workers oppose SAD candidate
Kalanwali, September 24 The agitators gathered at the residence of local party chief Hardial Singh Gadrana last night where they alleged that OP Chautala had promised the ticket to party activist Budh Singh but the SAD had unilaterally announced the ticket without taking them into confidence. Budh Singh, who was present there, said that Chautala had told him to start his campaign on September 19 but he was shocked to learn that now Khalsa was the party nominee. On learning about this, Khalsa went to Gadrana’s residence to seek his support but the INLD workers present there started raising slogans against him. Like this year, the INLD had given Kalanwali and Ambala City seats to the SAD in the 2009 assembly elections too. However, before the INLD entered into alliance with the SAD in 2009, the party had already named Charanjit Singh Rori as its candidate. When the seat went into SAD kitty, the Badals continued with Rori on the INLD symbol than make an issue of it. Ellenabad MLA Abhay Chautala said party workers would support the SAD nominee in the polls. |
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JP quits Cong, to contest as Independent
Kaithal, September 24 He said not only CM Bhupinder Hooda had betrayed him, but alleged that Randeep Surjewala was also behind the conspiracy to ensure that he (JP) was not allotted the party ticket. JP went to the extent of alleging that Surjewala and the INLD candidate from Kalayat, Majra had tactical understanding and supported each other during elections. He alleged Surjewala knew that Ranveer Mann was a weak candidate and his candidature would benefit Majra and to help him Surjewala supported Mann. In lieu of this Majra may extend support to Surjewala in Kaithal, he further alleged. |
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Chautala to address rally, says Arora
Kurukshetra, September 24 Chautala is currently out on an interim bail on medical grounds, which will expire on Friday. If he attends the rally it will be his first address to his party workers and supporters after his conviction. Ashok Arora, said, “All the preparations for the Jind rally have been completed. INLD chief Om Prakash Chautala will reach and address the party supporters. The Jind rally will break all previous records of rallies and INLD’s wave will sweep away the Congress in the Assembly elections.” He said party workers were excited with the news of Chautala’s arrival in the Jind rally. Lakhs of people would reach to listen to their favourite leader. Though the state will go to polls on October 15, INLD would lay the foundation of the next government tomorrow, Arora said.
— TNS |
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People fed up with Congress, says Abhay
Sirsa, September 24 He said the party’s rally in Jind on September 25 to mark the birth anniversary of former Deputy PM Devi Lal would make the election picture clear to the people. Speaking to mediapersons, Abhay said the decision to field Hisar MP Dushyant Singh Chautala from Uchana was not just party’s decision, but it was taken at the demand of the people of the constituency. He alleged that while the farmers in the state had suffered almost 70 per cent loss to crops due to drought, both Centre and the state government were fooling the people by writing letters to each other. He said after coming to power, the INLD would give compensation to the farmers at a rate of Rs 25,000 per acre. |
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CM heads rumour-mongers: Union Minister
Jhajjar, September 24 Such persons were spreading misinformation for political reasons. He was addressing an event organised by BJP’s nominee from Badli, Om Prakash Dhankar, last evening. Hooda was leading a gang of such people who were spreading these rumours to defame the union government, he alleged. Holding the CM responsible for plight of farmers in the state, the minister said the Congress was unconcerned with the plight of poor farmers and was desperate for electoral gains by such acts. We had sought a report from the state about its drought-affected areas in order to provide succour, but the report has not yet been submitted. The CM also failed to provide the land for developing a horticulture university in the state, he said. Charging the Hooda government with disposing the farmers’s land to corporate houses for personal gains, Dhankar said the former were eagerly waiting for poll day to teach the Congress government a lesson.
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Five BSP office-bearers quit
Sonepat, September 24 According to a press statement issued today, president Sanjay Khewra, in charge Jagmender Panchal, general secretary Govind Saini and secretaries Bhagwan Dass and Rahul, held a meeting at the office of the BSP leader and Zila Parishad member Rakesh Kumar Sauda, last evening, and submitted their resignations. They also stated that Sauda had been working hard for the party for the last many years and was a strong contender for the party ticket from the constituency. They announced that they would continue to support Sauda in his decisions in the Assembly elections. They also cautioned that neglecting Sauda would not be in the interest of Dr Arvind Sharma.
— OC |
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45 more file nomination papers
Chandigarh, September 24 Shrikant Walgad, Chief Electoral Officer, Haryana, said here today that Independent candidate Ashok Gupta has filed nomination papers from Panchkula. Independent candidates Raj kumar, Tarsem and Suresh Kumar filed their nomination papers from Pehowa. Independents Moti Ram Goyal and Dhara Singh filed their nomination papers from Assandh and Panipat Rural, respectively. SUCI-Communist Party nominee Jai Bhagwan filed nomination from Sonepat while SUCI candidate Devi did so from Rai. CPM candidate Prakash Chand filed papers from Julana , Marksvadi Communist Party candidate Sushil and Independents Karan Chechi and Ilam Singh from Safidon, Independents Satpal and Prabhati Ram from Jind and CPm nominee odha from Ucchana. — TNS
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Ex-minister to contest as Independent
Karnal, September 24
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Hooda may not benefit from the sops it showered on government employees towards the fag end of its term. Most employees and their leaders said what the government did for them was too little and too late.
The stage is set for INLD’s September 25 grand rally in Jind to mark the birth anniversary of its founder and former deputy prime minister Devi Lal. Leaders are leaving no stone unturned to ensure record turnout at the rally and have invited senior leaders of other states to give the party the required push in electioneering.
“The biggest announcement the state government made was giving salaries on Punjab pattern from November 1 this year. However, the notification issued by the government does not match the announcement. If the government was serious about giving Punjab scales to us, they could have done so during its own term. The employees are feeling cheated,” said Gurdeep Singh Saini, spokesperson of the Haryana Sanyukta Karamchari Mahasangh.
The dominance of Jats in the political arena explains the ambivalent attitude of major political parties, especially the Congress and the INLD, towards the influential khaps, which play a significant role in Haryana. 
Jind, September 24
