Chandigarh, October 14
As Haryana votes to elect a new government tomorrow, a beleaguered Congress is seeking votes on the development plank, while the BJP is banking on the “Modi wave” to repeat its Lok Sabha performance. A resurgent INLD, for its part, is banking on anti-incumbency against the Hooda government’s 10-year “misrule”.

Besides, the INLD is depending on the sympathy factor for the alleged conspiracy by the Congress to send its leader Om Prakash Chautala to jail in the JBT teachers’ recruitment scam.

The party feels that the “misuse” of the CBI by the Modi Government in getting bail of the INLD supremo cancelled ahead of the elections will strike an emotional chord with the voters. In fact, Chautala, who campaigned intensively for several days, wrote an emotional letter to the voters before going to jail again.

“Anti-incumbency against the government in the past 10 years for its various acts of omission and commission is the single largest factor going in our favour this time. Besides, the emotional bond Chautala shares with the electorate will be the icing on the cake in our victory,” claims RS Choudhary, INLD general secretary.

On the other hand, the BJP that led in 52 of the 90 Assembly segments in the recent Lok Sabha elections is banking heavily on the “Modi wave” to replicate the success of the Lok Sabha elections. In fact, the BJP’s top brass, including Prime Minster Narendra Modi and party chief Amit Shah, campaigned feverishly in the run-up to the elections to wrest power in the state in for the first time without the support of any ally.

“Modi wave coupled with anti-incumbency against the government, besides several local factors will help the BJP form the government on its own strength,” state BJP chief Ram Bilas Sharma claimed. The party got a shot in the arm with the influential Dera Sachha Sauda, Sirsa, extending support to the party though there were certain reports to the contrary.

As for the Congress, it hopes to have made certain last-minutes gains. Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda has gone on record claiming that there is no anti-incumbency, rather pro-incumbency that would help the party form the government for the third successive term.

Claims and counter-claims of the three main political parties notwithstanding, the HJC-HJCP alliance and Independents believe they can spring a surprise and would be indispensable to the formation of the government, as was the case after the 2009 Assembly elections.

In the 2009 poll, the Congress could get only 40 seats and formed the government with the support of five HJC MLAs and seven Independents.

Hisar, October 14
The Dera Sacha Sauda’s decision to support the BJP in the Haryana Assembly elections has put its followers in the Hisar and Nalwa segments in a dilemma, as two among them are in the fray on the HJC and INLD tickets.

Gautam Sardana

Ranbir Gangwa

One of them, Gautam Sardana, is the HJC’s Hisar nominee and the other, Ranbir Gangwa, is the INLD’s Nalwa candidate. They have been bestowed with “naam daan” (initiation) by dera chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh.

Both candidates are locked in a tough fight. Sardana is pitted against Congress sitting MLA Savitri Jindal and BJP’s Kamal Gupta, while Gangwa faces Congress’ sitting MLA Sampat Singh, HJC candidate Chander Mohan and BJP’s Master Hari Singh.

There are nearly 20,000 dera followers in the Nalwa segment and 15,000 in Hisar. Given the close contest in these two seats, the significant number of dera followers will prove a deciding factor. Hisar has 1.56 lakh voters, while Nalwa has 1.51 lakh voters.

Sardana, who contested the 2009 Assembly election as an Independent and finished second, claimed that he enjoyed the blessings of “pitaji” — as followers address the dera chief. “The political affairs wing may have issued instructions (to support the BJP), but ‘pitaji’ always ask his followers to vote for a right person. I enjoy his blessings,” he said.

A dera follower in Hisar said several followers had been left confused by the decision of the political affairs wing. “We have been campaigning for our brother (Sardana) for the past several days. But the direction from the political affairs wing has put us in a quandary. Obviously, the direction has come from the chief. The votes can get divided in such a situation,” he said.

“Followers have been instructed to vote for the BJP. Other parties are trying to create confusion. There are examples of a disciple abiding by the dera’s instructions in spite of him being in the fray,” dera spokesperson Dr Pawan Insan told The Tribune.

The dera’s political affairs wing says the dera can influence voters in 60 seats in 90-member House. Sirsa, Fatehabad, Kaithal, Kurukshetra, Karnal, Panipat, Jind, Ambala, Sonipat, Bhiwani and Hisar districts are considered strongholds of the dera.

Dera reiterates support to BJP

 Sirsa: The Dera Sacha Sauda today sought to dispel reports, terming these as mischievous, which quoted Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh as having denied the sect’s support to the BJP.

“I reiterate that the Dera Sacha Sauda’s political affairs wing has taken the decision to go with the BJP after consultation with the followers spread across Haryana,” said Pawan Insan, a spokesman of the dera.

Insan alleged some news channels had used an old video of dera chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, where he had said that the dera was a religious organisation and hence did not indulge in politics. Terming the act as a “mischief”, Panwan Insan said it had been done at the instance of a particular political party.

Reiterating the dera’s support, Pawan Insan said if anyone had any doubts or lack of clarity on this issue, he was free to contact the dera for clarifications.

Rohtak, October 14
Even though the Congress candidates are locked in tough contests in three of the four assembly segments in Chief Minister’s Bhupinder Singh Hooda’s home district, Hooda spent the day mingling with old friends and roaming around in town markets today.

With polling scheduled to be held tomorrow and the election campaign having come to an end last evening, Hooda, who is a lawyer himself, went to the District Bar Association to see his lawyer friends. Incumbent MLA and Congress nominee for the Rohtak Assembly seat Bharat Bhushan Batra, who is also a lawyer by profession, also joined him.

Talking to reporters there, Hooda, who has been a star campaigner for the Congress in Haryana, expressed confidence that they would form the government in the state for the third consecutive time.

The Chief Minister then went to the Bhiwani Stand and Quilla Road markets. He visited his friend who runs a spectacles’ shop. After chatting with shopowner Puranmal Multani and getting his glasses checked, he went to a footwear shop.

Later, the Chief Minister’s group had some snacks at a popular eating joint and also got pictures clicked with local shopkeepers, shoppers and passers-by.

Chandigarh, October 14
After about three weeks of a high-voltage campaign, Haryana is all set to go to the polls on Wednesday to elect representatives for 90 Assembly segments.

The elections which will see an increase of about 31 lakh voters from the last Assembly elections held in 2009. As many as 1.62 crore people have the right to cast their vote to decide the fate of 1,351 candidates at 16,357 polling booths, where the staff on duty reported along with electronic voting machines (EVMs) this evening.

Speaking to The Tribune, state Chief Electoral Officer Shrikant Walgad said while security arrangements were in place for the elections, the Election Commission of India had given its nod to the innovative Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) in six Assembly segments — Thanesar, Karnal, Panipat, Sonepat, Rohtak and Gurgaon. This will enable voters to get instant feedback of the vote cast by them.

“The VVPAT, with a printer-like apparatus, is linked with the EVMs and it generates a receipt showing the serial number, name and symbol of the candidate, enabling verification of the voter and the details of the vote. The receipt, once viewed, goes inside a container linked to the EVM and can only be accessed by the election officers in the rarest of rare cases. This will help check changing or destroying of votes. However, casting a vote at these places may take a little extra time, about seven seconds, since a print has to be generated,” he said.

While voting will begin at 7 am, it will conclude at 6 am and the EVMs of every constituency will be locked away in strong rooms in the respective Assembly segments. He said a mock poll would be organised in front of agents of candidates from 6 am to 7 am tomorrow. Only voters who enter the polling station till 6 pm would be allowed to cast their vote, he said.

A constant vigil was being maintained on persons and vehicles in all border areas of the state by teams of the state police and para-millitary forces while flying squads were patrolling to ensure smooth conduct of elections.

Walgad said while the Congress and the BJP were contesting from all 90 Assembly constituencies, 88 candidates of INLD; 87 of the BSP; 65 of the HJC; 17 of the CPM; 14 of the CPI; and 297 of Registered Parties and 603 Independent candidates were contesting.

Walgad said a total of 2,700 booths had been identified as sensitive. “Video cameras and CCTV cameras have been installed, webcasting would be done or micro-observers will be deputed at all the polling booths for monitoring the election process,” he said.

Sonepat, October 14
The election office has made webcasting arrangements at 70 sensitive and hyper-sensitive polling stations in the district so as to have live monitoring of these centres.

District Electoral Officer Samir Pal Srow said 25 polling booths had been earmarked as model polling booths, where voters would be given a “warm welcome” on their arrival.

Election teams for 990 polling booths in six Assembly constituencies of Sonepat district were today dispatched by special vehicles.

Election officials said adequate security personnel had been deputed at the polling stations for maintaining law and order and to ensure peaceful polling.

The police have set up a control room with 10 landline phones numbers from 702119751 to 702119760 to address polling-related complaints or information on any unlawful activity from public.

Pundri (Kaithal), October 14
Famous for electing a record number of Independents as MLAs, Pundri will witness a multi-cornered contest among 20 contestants this Assembly election.

While Congress has allotted a ticket to new-entrant Ravinder Mehla, former MLA Tajvir is INLD’s candidate, and Randhir Gollen represents the BJP. All three candidates are from the Ror community.

Balkar is another strong Independent contestant from the Ror community, who refused to contest on the HJC ticket despite his relationship with Kuldeep Bishnoi.

Another Independent, Satbir, will give a tough fight to his opponents. Besides these candidates, Dinesh Kaushik and Narinder Sharma, a former minister, both Brahmins had represented this segment earlier.

In the 2009 Assembly poll, Sultan Jadola, an Independentm remained successful and defeated his rival Dinesh Kaushik of the Congress by 4,051 votes.

Sultan Singh Jadola, who supported the Hooda government, joined the BJP after the Lok Sabha results. But the BJP reposed confidence in Randhir Singh Gollen, a time-tested party worker, leaving Jadola to contest as Independent.

Political pundits say the scenario in this region was unclear and it was difficult to assess which way the wind would blow and who out of these stalwarts emerges victorious.

Karamveer from the BSP, Pardeep Kaltagaria of the HJC, Jaswinder Pabnawa are also in the field, but they may do little or nothing to affect the results.

Sirsa, October 14
Haryana Lokhit Party president Gopal Kanda, his brother Gobind Kanda and their supporters prevented a raiding party from searching the house of a supporter where Rs 10 crore was allegedly kept for distribution among voters. No FIR has been lodged so far.

Additional Deputy Commissioner (ADC) Rajesh Jogpal, the Returning Officer for Sirsa Assembly seat, was leading the raiding party. It was forced to retreat after a large number of HLP supporters led by the Kanda brothers stopped them from going ahead with the raid.

Deputy Commissioner-cum-District Election Officer Anshaj Singh said he received a tip-off at 10 pm on Monday that Rs 10 crore was kept in the house of Kanda supporter and Sirsa Grain Market Vyapar Mandal president Surender Minchnabadi. “I asked ADC Rajesh Jogpal to raid the house with a DSP to recover the amount. However, our raiding party entered a house adjacent to Minchnabadi’s. When they informed me that they had entered a wrong house by mistake, I directed them to immediately raid Minchnabadi’s house. By the time they could conduct the raid, Gopal Kanda and his younger brother Gobind came there with supporters and forced the raiding party to make a retreat,” Anshaj Singh said.

When contacted, Gopal Kanda said people living in the area called him and his brother complaining that some “drunk officials” had entered their house and were “misbehaving with women”.

“I informed the authorities that INLD candidate Makhan Lal Singla was distributing money, but they are unmoved. They did not arrest Singla’s son and two nephews accused by a Delhi-based girl of rape, but they are hounding my supporters,” Kanda alleged.

Hisar, October 14
It seems that all issues have taken a backseat and it’s caste that matters the most now. With campaigning for the October 15 elections concluding, the candidates embarked on micro-management to ensure caste polarisation in their favour.

Hisar is considered the nerve-centre of caste politics. Though caste remained a major factor during campaigning, extreme polarisation is possible at the eleventh hour. Playing this trump card, the candidates deployed caste “chaudharies” (prominent persons of caste) to garner support.

“Caste appeal can change elections overnight by way of shifting major chunk voters at the eleventh hour,” said a key functionary of a main contestant in the Hisar Assembly segment.

In Hisar, there is a triangular contest among Bania candidates — Savitri Jindal from the Congress and Kamal Gupta from the BJP — and a Punjabi nominee — HJC’s Gautam Sardana. “The result will depend on Bania votes. With Punjabi almost looking to back Sardana, INLD’s Bhim Mahajan seems to be lagging behind,” a political expert said.

In Hansi, the Punjabi community’s support is divided between Congress’ Vinod Bhayana and HJC’s Renuka Bishnoi.

In Barwala, which has the biggest chunk of voters from the Kumhar community, Ramniwas Ghorela of the Congress is the sole Kumhar nominee. He faced opposition, but hopes to win back the community’s support.

In a high-voltage contest between BJP’s Capt Abhimanyu and INLD’s Raj Singh Mor in Narnaund, Jats seem to be split. “Independent candidate Ramkumar Gautam belonging to the Brahmin community has managed to polarise his caste, besides drawing support from others. Now, both Jat nominees — Capt Abhimanyu and Mor — are trying to convince their community,” the expert said.

“The closer the contest, more caste matters. So candidates and their campaign managers shift the focus on this aspect after the end of campaigning,” said a poll watcher.

Jind, October 14
Call it a status symbol or compulsion in these violence-ridden-election-days, bouncers and musclemen are in demand.

To keep a low profile and to avoid any controversy, a majority of politicians prefer to employ these private security guards their numbers with the candidates are an indication of the former’s threat perception or intimidation potential.

As per information from private security agencies of Chandigarh and Gurgaon, the rates of bouncers have increased by 10-15 per cent during these as compared to the general elections held recently. Another fact that came to light was that during this election many companies are charging Rs 1,000-1,500 per day upfront before sending their employees.

Apart from professional bouncers, many candidates have also hired local musclemen from various gyms for campaigning.

“It’s always better to have some bouncers during electioneering as they not only help in managing the crowds but many times double as drivers too. We also dodge the EC officials as they always accompany us as our supporters,” said a local candidate on anonymity.

Earlier, Haryana had witnessed a keen contest between the Congress-INLD but this time many parties like HJC, HLP, BSP, CPM and BJP are contesting independently making it an multi-cornered contest at many seats.

The number of contestants has increased the demand of these private musclemen and the apparent shortage has pressed candidates to pay more. Some musclemen working with various politicians confirmed that they have got a fixed amount, a SUV to campaign, food and reimbursement of mobile charges for a month.

Jind, October 14
With the state going to the polls, candidates of various parties were seen putting their best efforts to convince voters today by making phone calls and visiting them personally.

Many candidates have set up small control rooms at their houses and offices with their supporters sitting and calling voters to fetch maximum votes.

INLD candidate from here, Dr Harichand Middha, said, “INLD is the only party that can end discrimination with Jind City. During the last 10 years, the Congress did not take any step for its development. Give your votes to INLD tomorrow for a better future.”

The candidates left their homes along with their supporters in the morning and visited maximum areas in their constituency to give a personal touch to their campaign by meeting voters of their respective constituency.

In many areas special groups led by the relatives of the candidates conducted door-to-door to coverage to woo voters.

“There is a strong INLD wave across the state. You must vote for INLD to get equal development in all constituencies. Uchana Kalan has not seen the required development during the last 10 years as Congress leaders have deliberately ignored this constituency,” said INLD candidate Dushyant Chautala, who is contesting the Assembly elections from Uchana Kalan.

BSP candidate from Safidon, Karmbir Saini, claimed, “After forming the next government, BSP will bring equal development in the state.”

The BJP candidates Surender Barwala from Jind City, Dr Vandana Sharma from Safidon, Sanjeev Buana from Julana, Santosh Danoda from Narwana, Prem Lata Singh from Uchana Kalan and Congress candidates Bachan Singh Arya, Dharminder Singh Dhull, Bhag Singh Chattar, Pramod Sehwag and all other candidates from various parties such as the BSP and the HJC also conducted door-to-door to convince voters.

Gurgaon, October 14
Three more villages have joined the poll boycott to protest the death of Kasan village girl Pinky Chauhan, who set fire to herself on her college campus to protest “intentional” poor marking by the authorities. The villages of Kasan, Jaurasi, Fatehpur and Nakhdola are home to nearly 45,000 voters.

Pinky Chauhan, a second-year BSc (non-medical) student, was amongst the 1,000-odd students protesting against the management of the Government Postgraduate College for Women near Sector 14 here and Maharshi Dayanand University (MDU), Rohtak, for “intentionally” giving them low marks.

“The Kasan village panchayat has demanded a fresh probe against former college principal Usha Malik, who was transferred a week after Pinky set herself ablaze. Pinky was not protesting for marks and exams, but she was fighting for a bigger issue,” said Dinesh Chauhan, a member of the Kasan panchayat.

Karnal, October 14
The Assembly elections will be an acid test for the Congress and the INLD to retain their seats in Karnal district. At present, the INLD has three out of the five seats of Gharaunda, Nilokehri and Indri while the Congress has the Karnal Assembly seat. HJC candidate Zile Ram Sharma won the Assandh seat but later joined the Congress and recently, was disqualified by the High Court.

Both the parties seem to be locked in a multi-cornered contest in all the five Assembly segments, says a political expert. He said the Congress had fielded three experienced leaders, including Sumita Singh (Assandh), Varinder Rathore (Gharaunda) and Bheemsen Mehta (Indri), and two first-timers Surinder Narwal (Karnal) and Gian Chand Sahota (Nilokehri), while the INLD had placed its bet on two sitting MLAs, Narinder Sangwan (Gharaunda) and Mamu Ram (Nilokehri). At Indri, it has fielded sitting MLA Ashok Kashyap’s wife Usha Kashyap, first-timer deputy mayor Manoj Wadhwa at Karanl seat and INLD district president Yashvir Rana at Assandh seat.

To regain its ground in Karnal district, the BJP has fielded an experienced RSS activist and aspirant for chief ministerial post, Manohar Lal Khattar, at Karnal and Bakshish Singh Virk at Assandh. The party has fielded first-timer Karandev Kamboj from Indri and Bhagwan Dass Kabirpanthi from the Nilokeri Assembly segment. It has fielded Harvinder Kalyan from the Gharaunda seat.

Playing the “social engineering” formula in the state, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has declared former Karnal MP Arvind Sharma as its chief ministerial candidate and has fielded Martha Virender Verma from Assandh seat.

Faridabad, October 14
Posters of a leading political party “came up” on electricity poles on a road at Sector 14 in Faridabad this morning. These were removed around 11.30 am after a complaint was lodged with the authorities concerned. However, no action has been taken against the party or the candidate who allegedly put these up last night. This is the first case of violation that has surfaced in the district after the election campaign came to an end last evening.

“Residents were taken aback this morning when several mid-sized hoardings appeared on the main road connecting DAV School and the main market. Such publicity material has been banned under the Defacement Act and the model code of conduct,’’ said B Bagri, a local resident. He said while putting up posters, banners and hoardings on public places was prohibited, the surfacing of such a matter even after the end of the campaign period was “astonishing” and raised a doubt over the “so-called alertness” of the election authorities.

One of the posters had come up right in front of the DAV School gate, where a polling station has been set up and there has been a constant movement of election officials and policemen for the past few days. The poster was however removed later.

Though District Election Officer Vijay Singh Dahiya said he had no information about it, Returning Officer of Faridabad (089) Assembly segment Kulbir Singh Dhaka claimed that he had ordered the Anti-Defacement Cell to remove the hoardings after a complaint surfaced in this connection. He, however, added that it was not clear if the hoardings were put up last night or earlier. He said the matter could be probed if a complaint was formally lodged claiming that the material was put last night or this morning.

However, Rani Chaudhary, a local resident, said such publicity (in public places) was banned even at the very beginning of the election campaign and questioned who was responsible if they (hoardings) were up till this morning.

Kaithal, October 14
Haryana minister and Congress Kaithal candidate Randeep Singh Surjewala has been issued a show cause notice for violating the model code of conduct.

Kaithal SDM-cum-Returning Officer Nar Hari Banger said Surjewala had been given 48 hours to reply to the notice. He said the notice was issued as Surjewala reportedly held a roadshow after the fixed time of 6 pm on October 13, the last day of campaigning.

It was brought to the Election Commission’s notice that Surjewala, with hundreds of supporters, continued the roadshow even after expiry of 6pm, the time fixed by the poll body. According to reports, the notice was issued on a complaint by INLD candidate Kailash Bhagat.

Kaithal, October 14
Even as most Congress candidates roped in party stalwarts and star campaigners to spice up their campaign, party national spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewalahas been campaigning on his own from Kaithal constituency.

The 47-year-old has pegged his campaign on bringing “chaudhar” to this area and making Kaithal the centre of power to run state affairs.

BJP stalwarts such as External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, MP Chief Minister Shiv Raj Singh Chauhan, ex-cricketer Navjot Singh Sidhu and MP Raj Kumar Saini have addressed meetings in support of party candidate Rao Surinder Singh. Similarly, INLD’s Kailash Bhagat had a battery of speakers, including party supremo Om Prakash Chautala, and SAD general secretary and MP Prem Singh Chandumajra rallying for his support.

However, Surjewala — the state government’s troubleshooter on many occasions – enjoys a good rapport with people of the constituency and addressed scores of meetings everyday in villages and different localities of Kaithal town.

Tohana (Fatehabad), October 14
BJP candidate from Tohana Subhash Barala has been booked under the Representation of People’s Act on a complaint filed by Hari Om Bishnoi, Tehsildar, who is the assistant returning officer of the Tohana assembly seat, for making an appeal for votes through voter slips.

JK Abhir, SDM, Tohana, who is the returning officer for the seat, said Barala had used his own pictures and those of Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah on voter slips that were being distributed among people.

As per the model code for elections, candidates are not allowed to use voter slips to make a vote appeal, he said. — TNS

Kurukshetra, October 14
A BJP worker was allegedly beaten up by some INLD workers in Pehowa last night. Ram Kishan Dua was rushed to Loknayak Jai Prakash Hospital after the incident.

The BJP worker alleged “some people attacked me with lathis last night and also tried to run over their jeep on me. I identified a couple of them and can identify the others too. They belong to the INLD as the vehicles in which they arrived were carrying INLD flags.

Pehowa INLD candidate Jaswinder Singh Sandhu said: “The allegations are politically motivated and the party has nothing to do with the incident.” A case has been registered. — TNS

Kuruksehtra, October 14
The casual announcers and programme executives (pexes) at All India Radio Kurukshetra are at loggerheads after the announcers accused executives of mental harassment.

The casual announcers alleged the programme executives have been allotting duties to female announcers at odd hours and not providing them transport facilities after their shifts end late in the night.

The pexes were also accused of asking the announcers to prepare tea and checking the mobiles of female announcers.

Causal announcers: Mahesh Sharma, Naveen Bhardwaj, Vikas Sharma, Kirti Gaba, Anuradaha, Dipti Agarwal, and Tamanna, said, “We have been asked to do the work, which is to be done by the programme executives themselves. The female announcers are being given night shifts and there is no transport facility to drop them home after their shifts end.”

Mahesh Sharma said, “The executives are pressurising us to purchase laptops so that we can prepare programmes at home and also download songs, which are not available in Aakashvani’s library. This is sheer violation of Copyright law.”

A female announcer said, “My duty was changed to a night shift. When I asked for a vehicle to drop me home due to safety reasons as it was 11:15 pm, I was told the Akashvani doesn’t have such facilities for ‘casual’ staff.”

Sharma said, “So far seven letters have been sent to the CEO and DG of Prasar Bharti, but to no avail. Moreover the pexes have canceled the duties of 22 announcers, who have been protesting against their misconduct. It has been decided if no action is taken and the programme executives are not transferred we will stage a dharna at the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting in the coming days and also approach the Prime Minister.”

Refuting the allegations, Programme Head and Executive Shivendra Srivastava, said: “I have recently joined and I have come to know that same allegations were levelled against the previous pexes too. They all were transferred following such allegations. All the allegations levelled by the casual announcers are baseless and no night duties were assigned to female announcers forcefully.”

He said, “They are defaming AIR for their vested interests. The casual announcers want to run the station according to their wish which is disturbing the working of the station.”

I joined recently and was informed that same allegations were levelled against the previous pexes. They were all transferred following such allegations. All the allegations levelled by the casual announcers are baseless and no night duties have been assigned to female announcers forcefully.

Shivendra Srivastava, programme head and executive

Ambala, October 14
Hundreds of bags containing paddy were damaged in various grain markets in the district following untimely rain showers today. This will further increase the moisture content in paddy, which is already much higher than the specification given by procurement agencies.

Most of the farmers and grain dealers were not aware of the rain as it poured in the wee hours today. Most of the paddy bags were lying in the open at the grain market here. Procurement agencies had filled the purchased paddy in jute bags, which were to be transported to rice shellers.

Haryana Agro, District Food Supply Department and HAFED have been procuring paddy from the grain markets of Ambala.

The grain dealers said it was the responsibility of the procurement agencies to cover the paddy bags. None of the employees of procurement agencies came in the grain market to take care of the damaged paddy. Around two lakh tons of paddy has already arrived in various grain markets of Ambala.

A grain dealer of the Ambala City grain market, Bharat Bhushan Aggarwal, said the rain showers had damaged a large quantity of paddy.

Hisar, October 15
Four persons, including two women, were killed and nearly 40 others injured when a Tata 407, in which they travelling, rammed into a tree near Badwa village on the Ambala-Jaipur national highway today.

They were agricultural labourers and were on their way to Hisar and Barwala. Eyewitnesses said the vehicle was filled to capacity. The driver lost control over the wheels on a curve, resulting into a mishap.

The deceased had been identified as Sonia (17), Madan Lal (45), his daughter Pooja (15) and Kuldeep (6). They were natives of Gadwa village in Bhiwani district. The injured were rushed to hospitals in Hisar. The condition of some of them is said to be critical.

Siwani police station SHO Jagdish Joshi said the police rushed to the spot and took the injured to the hospital for treatment.

Jhajjar, October 14
Residents of Silani village disrupted traffic on the Jhajjar-Rewari road near the village bypass for over five hours after a 23-year-old was killed in a mishap.

Pawan and his friend Mohan were coming to Jhajjar from Silani village on a motorbike. As they were crossing the bypass, a heavy vehicle hit the bike. Pawan reportedly died on the spot while Mohan sustained multiple injuries. He was rushed to general hospital in Jhajjar from where he was referred to PGIMS, Rohtak, in critical condition.

As news of Pawan’s death reached the village, a significant numbers of villagers assembled at the bypass and disrupted the traffic by sitting on the road. Villagers also dug the carpeted road by using a JCB machine to express anguish against the incident.

Villagers lifted the blockade after Jhajjar SDM Satyender Duhan visited the spot and promised to build speed-breakers on both sides of the bypass to check accidents. “Accidents have become routine at this bypass. We have several times asked the district authorities to either construct an overbridge or speed breakers to prevent mishaps, but no action has been taken,” said Ram Singh, a Silani resident.

Yamunanagar, October 14
Two persons were killed in two accidents in this district. Indrapal (21) of Ravi Colony was found dead on railway tracks near the local railway overbridge this morning.

The deceased’s uncle, Tilak Raj, told the Government Railway Police that his nephew had left home for the market around 7 am today. After some time they got information about his death.

The GRP handed over the body to the victim’s kin after a post-mortem at the civil hospital.

In another accident, Shahrukh Khan (19) of Raipur village was knocked down by a vehicle near Nagal village last night. Shahrukh was going home.on his motorcycle when he was hit by the vehicle. The Sadar police have booked the driver of the vehicle.