|
|
|
|
|
BJP may opt for non-Jat
CM
Two N-E youths attacked in Gurgaon
Women ‘outvote’ men in 4 districts
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Record voting throws up rural-urban
divide
Day after elections, candidates relax
Multiple plot allotment case Illegal mining: HC raps authorities CBI willing to probe Haryana forest scam
CISF, state police maintain vigil over EVMs in Panipat
Sirsa does it once again, tops in turnout
Mewat admn recommends repoll in five Ferozepur Jhirka booths
BJP demands repoll at four Hisar booths
poll-related violence
Three-tier security for safety of EVMs
High
turnout Low turnout: Thanesar let down K’shetra
Mandis receive 14.15 lakh MT of paddy
In Karnal, efforts to raise women participation
pay
Two held for casting bogus votes
Youth stabbed to death
8 taken ill after consuming tea
|
|
BJP may opt for non-Jat
CM
Chandigarh, October 16
“The possible win for the party coming close on the heels of its stupendous performance in the recent Lok Sabha elections is set to revive the party in the state,” state BJP president Ram Bilas Sharma told The Tribune here today. He said the party high command would take a call on the top post after October 19. Ram Bilas claimed that the Modi wave and heavy anti-incumbency against the Hooda government would go a long way in the formation of a government by the BJP on its own for the first time in Haryana’s electoral history. The sources said the lobbying for the post of Chief Minister had already begun within the saffron party as there are several contenders, including Ram Bilas Sharma, Capt Abhimanyu, ML Khattar and OP Dhankar, for the top post. While Ram Bilas, a four-time MLA, had been a minister twice in the state, other contenders such as Capt Abhimanyu and Dhankar are yet to taste victory. Khattar has been an RSS man and fighting election for the first time. It was during the stewardship of Ram Bilas that the party, which was considered primarily a urban party, had been revived with the result that it won seven of the eight seats it contested in the parliamentary elections. Besides, it led in the 52 Assembly segments in the Lok Sabha elections. Sushma has a bright chance
Will Rohtak retain its chaudhar? State’s socio-political circles as well as social media are abuzz with whether Rohtak, the hometown of two-time incumbent CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda, would be able to retain its “chaudhar”. Political observers say while ML Khattar belongs to the Rohtak area and Capt Abhimanyu is also a resident of Rohtak. Hence, in case any of these gets installed on the coveted post, the town may continue to be called CM city. A social media enthusiast said Rohtak would in any case retain its “chaudhar” as the state BJP is headquartered here. — Sunit Dhawan
|
|
Two N-E youths attacked in Gurgaon
Gurgaon October 16 The incident happened in Sikanderpur area which has been notorious for such incidents in the past. The victims were returning home late when they were intercepted by a group of sozzled youngsters. The latter first hurled abuses at them and then caught hold of them and tried to pour liquor in their mouths. When the duo objected, they beat them with cricket bats and hockey sicks. “My brother Aloto and his friend Awang were forced to have liquor while they were returning home last night. They were attacked when they refused to drink. Awang was also hit with beer and whiskey bottles. He suffered head injuries while Aloto’s hair was cropped forcibily,” Awang’s brother Sujoy said in his complaint to the police. Awang was first admitted in the government hospital here but later shifted to Safdurjung hospital as his condition was stated to be critical. Following this, all the tenants from the North-East were allegedly later told to vacate their premises by the local residents. A case under the relevant sections of Indian Penal Code and Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act has been registered at DLF Phase 1 police station. “We are investigating the case and the culprits will be arrested soon,” said ACP, Dalbir Singh Yadav. The first following this incident came from Congress MP Ninong Ering, who hails from Arunachal Pradesh. He condemned the assault and stated that only by passing a law and imposing strict penalties can racial attacks be stopped. “I have heard that people of Sikandarpur will not allow NE youngsters to live there. The NE is an integral part of India and we do like to addressed as citizens of China,” he said. “I will speak to Home Minister Rajnath Singh about this racial discrimination. The Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju is also from the NE. We demand the same respect that people living in the country accord to their brothers, sisters and children,” he added.
|
|
Women ‘outvote’ men in 4 districts
Chandigarh, October 16 In Bhiwani, 78.96% females cast their votes as compared to 78.18% males. Similarly, in Jind district, 81.14% female voters exercised their right to franchise as against 80.9% males. In Kurushetra district, 80.98% women voters voted as compared to 80.33% men voters. In Mahendragarh district too, the percentage of women voters was higher at 79.69% as against 76.46% male voters. In Kaithal district, the percentage of male and female voter was 82.47% and 82.46, respectively. In the 2009 Assembly elections, the percentage of the female voters was higher in the districts of Kurukshetra and Mahendragarh. While In Kurukshetra, the voting percentage for women was 77.55 as compared to 77.29% for men. In Mahendragarh district percentage for the male and female voters was 72.42% and 74.93%, respectively.
|
|
Record voting throws up rural-urban
divide
Chandigarh, October 16 The rural-dominated districts of Sirsa (84.2%), Fatehabad (82.4%) and Kaithal (82%) topped the voting percentage chart even as the highly-urbanised districts — Faridabad(62.1%), Gurgaon(68.1%), Jhajjar(71.2%) and Panchkula(71.6%) — lagged far behind, data compiled by The Tribune revealed. While 12 rural-dominated districts clocked a voting percentage above the state average (76.20%), nine ‘urbanised’ districts registered a voting percentage below the state’s average. Those registering the voting percentage more than the state’s average are Yamunanagar, Jind, Kurukshetra, Palwal, Hisar, Mahendragarh, Mewat, Bhiwani and Ambala. The districts, which recorded voting below the state’s average included Panipat, Rewari, Karnal, Sonepat and Rohtak.
“In the past also, rural districts such as Sirsa, Fatehabad and Kaithal had traditionally voted in large numbers while highly-urbanised districts like Gurgaon and Faridabad had lagged behind in voting,” Walgad added. In the 2009 assembly elections also, Sirsa had topped the voting chart with 84.19%. Fatehabad with 80.34% and Kaithal with 79.32% were also among the districts with a heavy turnout. However, Faridabad (62.55%), Gurgaon (62.94%) and Jhajjar (66.20%) were among the districts which reported a low voter turnout. Experts said “emotional connect” of local leaders with voters, specially regarding preparation of voter identity cards and casting of votes were primary reasons for a high turnout in the villages. However, in the case of urban areas, a sizeable floating voter population and “emotional disconnect” with voters were reasons for a lower voter turnout.
|
|
Day after elections, candidates relax
Jhajjar, October 16 “I sought votes on the basis of Jhajjar’s development by the Congress regime during the past decade. I am confident that people had cast their votes keeping this aspect in mind,” she told The Tribune. Her husband Dalbir Bhukkal expressing gratitude to party workers, especially those engaged in booth management. BJP’s Badli nominee Om Prakash Dhankar woke up an hour late than usual today. After breakfast, he met hundreds of party workers who had toiled during the three-week-long campaigning, discussing election trends. “After the opinion polls, the exit polls have proved that the BJP is going to form the government comfortably. We are expecting a much better result than the exit polls,” Dhankar, BJP Kisan Morcha chief, said. Congress stalwart Capt Ajay Yadav, in the fray from Rewari for the seventh time, too met his party workers at his house in
Rewari. Anxious wait for result starts Karnal: The fate of candidates sealed in EVMs, the focus shifts to results to be declared on October 19. The anxious wait for it was palpable on the faces of candidate a day after the polling. INLD candidates Manoj Wadhwa and Narinder Sangwan, Congress’ Surinder Narwal, Independent candidate Jai Parkash Gupta, BJP's Harvinder Kalyan and several others today met workers who reassured them of their win. They discussed the impact of high turnout and caste combinations. Candidates tried to get some clues about the CID and IB reports on the voting trends. — Parveen Arora
|
|
HC directs HUDA to place on record its policies Tribune News Service Chandigarh, October 16 Besides, Justice Daya Chaudhary asked for the submission of a fresh status report on the FIRs and other related issue. Details were also sought on the action against two estate officers in the matter. The court was also told that HUDA Chief Administrator AK Singh had been allocated a plot in Gurgaon, though he was a Uttar-Pradesh-cadre officer. As the case came up for resumed hearing, Justice Chaudhary was told that the condition of not allocating a second plot, after the allocation of first to a spouse, was not in existence earlier. The claim was made in connection with the allocation of two plots in the name of IAS officer TC Gupta and his wife. The complainant’s counsel, Dr Surya Parkash, on the other hand, contended that the clause did find a mention when the plot was allocated to Gupta’s wife in 1998, indicating a change in the policy sometimes prior to the date of allocation. He also sought the production of the previous and existing policies for resolving the controversy. Dr Parkash also sought a CBI probe into the matter again after contending that fair investigation could not be expected from the state due to the involvement of high-up in the multi-crore scam. He also argued that the government had embarked on the process of cancelling the second plot allocated to multiple plot holders. Some of these plots had been purchased by bona fide buyers, who were not at the receiving end due to the cancellation process. This, he argued, was not the requirement of justice. Haryana Advocate General Hawa Singh Hooda, meanwhile, claimed that the state was competent to investigate into the matter. Justice Chaudhary during the course of hearing made it clear that the court was not satisfied with the progress made in the matter. Initially, two months were given for the completion of probe, but two years had passed without substantial progress. Another counsel in the case, Jasjit Singh Bedi, had earlier submitted that some HUDA officials may be involved in the matter, keeping in view large number of multiple plots. He also argued that the HUDA could not be expected to conduct fair investigation, as it was one of the respondents in the case.
|
|
|
Illegal mining: HC raps authorities Chandigarh, October 16 The High Court also gave an opportunity to the Rohtak Divisional Commissioner and the Karnal Deputy Commissioner to initiate action. The case will now come up for hearing on November 20. Taking up the matter, Justice Surya Kant and Justice Shekher Dhawan asserted: “…there appears to be some collusion between the authorities and the affluent persons who are in possession of land in excess to their land-holding. Before we propose to order independent probe, we would like to give one opportunity in the interest of justice to the Divisional Commissioner, Rohtak, and the Deputy Commissioner, Karnal, as well as other officers of Karnal district to take action in accordance with the law and submit a compliance report on the next date of hearing.” The directions came on a petition filed by Amardeep Singh against the State of Haryana and others through counsel Ram Niwas Sharma. Earlier also the issue of land grab and illegal mining in the Karnal district was raised before the High Court by Roop Singh and other villagers. In the petition filed in public interest, they were seeking directions to the respondents to stop illegal mining in the area to protect the environment and maintain the ecological balance in the Yamuna river bank area in Bishangarh village. The petitioners had contended that the land mafia was indulging in illegal mining activities in the area and some persons were also grabbing land for personal use. The development is significant as the National Green Tribunal, too, has directed Haryana to file a status report on FIRs lodged over alleged illegal cutting of trees and sand mining in the state. In the petition before the Bench of Justice Swatanter Kumar, the Noida Lok Manch and Ashok Kumar had alleged that illegal sand mining was continuing in Faridabad’s Tilpat area, with the authorities doing nothing to prevent it despite complaints from villagers. |
|
|
CBI willing to probe Haryana forest scam Chandigarh, October 16 In an affidavit filed in the apex court in
connection with an ongoing case, Tarun Gauba, SP. Ant-Corruption Bureau, CBI, Chandigarh, said: “The CBI is
willing to take over investigation into the matter provided the requisite legal requirements are complied with”. “The issues raised by the petititoner (Sanjiv Chaturvedi) were analysed by the CBI
and were found to be worthy of an independent probe. It was felt that the the CBI could probe such matters provided notifications under relevant rules were issued by both central and state governments,” the affidavit said. It may be recalled that the 2002-batch Haryana-cadre Indian Forest Service officer had to face 12 transfers within five years(2005-10), suspension and departmental chargesheets after he unearthed irregularities in plantations under various centrally sponsored schemes. However, the President came to his rescue and revoked the chargesheets against him. Earlier, on Chaturvedi’s representation, the
Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) constituted a high-level committee, which recommended a CBI inquiry against the then
Forest Ministers and certain senior bureaucrats, including those in the Chief Minister’s Office. Chaturvedi had also moved the Supreme Court for a CBI inquiry. |
|
|
Exit polls wrong, INLD will form
govt: Abhay Sirsa, October 16 “In the 2009 Assembly polls, were shown getting merely nine seats but ended up with 32 seats. In Punjab, the Congress was shown getting a clear majority and Capt Amarinder Singh had even started finalising his cabinet but people gave their mandate in favour of the SAD,” he pointed out. Questioning the credibility of such polls, Chautala said a hung Assembly was shown in but the results were totally opposite and the Mulayan Singh’s SP formed the government, he added. “I am surprised how those conducting could an exercise can reach to a conclusion just an hour before polling ends. Even people like us who have contested several elections cannot make an assessment before we speak to our agents at various polling stations,” he said. |
|
|
CISF, state police maintain vigil over EVMs in Panipat
Panipat, October 16 Sitting legislators Krishan Lal Panwar (who was elected on INLD ticket in 2009, but recently joined the BJP after denial of ticket) and Dharam Singh Chhoker (who was elected on the HJC ticket but later joined the Congress) are among the candidates from Israna and Samalkha, respectively. KL Panwar (BJP) is locked in triangular contest with Balwan Singh Valmiki (INLD) and Balbir Valmiki (Congress) in Israna (reserved), whereas Dharam Singh Chhokhar (Congress) faces a tough fight from Ram Bhateri Rawal (INLD), Shashikant Kaushik (BJP) and Ravinder Machrouli (Independent) in Samalkha. Meanwhile, according to final data, 75.7 per cent of voters exercised their franchise in all four Assembly segments. The highest turnout of 81.9 per cent was recorded in Samalkha. The lowest turnout was registered in Panipat City (68.6 per cent). Deploy CRPF outside strongrooms, says Vij
Ambala: MLA and BJP candidate from Ambala Cantt Anil Vij protested against the deployment of the local police outside the strongroom where EVMs of Ambala Cantt polling booths were kept. The counting of votes for the Ambala Cantt assembly segment would be held in Kalpna Chawla Polytechnic, Ambala City, on October 19. Ambala Cantt EVMs were brought there late last evening. Vij staged a dharna outside the strongroom till 3 am today. ADC and returning officer of Ambala Cantt Aurbind Sharma rushed there and informed Vij that paramilitary personnel would be deployed there. Vij left the polytechnic only after the deployment of paramilitary personnel there. |
|
Sirsa does it once again, tops in turnout
Sirsa, October 16 A record 89 per cent voters cast their vote in Ellenabad seat where senior INLD leader Abhay Singh Chautala’s fate has been sealed. In 2009, 86.27 per cent cast their vote while in the recent Parliamentary poll, 80.76 per cent polling was witnessed.
Rania, where another member of the Devi Lal clan, Ranjit Singh, is trying his luck on the Congress ticket, saw 87.90 per cent voting. In 2009, 86.99 per cent voters exercised their franchise while 80.51 per cent voted in the recent parliamentary poll. In
Dabwali, where Naina Singh Chautala’s fate was sealed, 83.9 per cent voted. Banwala and
Munnawali, two villages of this constituency, witnessed 93 per cent polling. In
Kalanwali, where SAD (Badal) fielded Balkaur Singh in alliance with the
INLD, 83.80 per cent voted. Here, the turnout was 83.55 per cent in 2009 Assembly polls and 80.55 percent in Lok Sabha polls.
Sirsa, where ex-minister Gopal Kanda’s fate has been locked in EVMs with that of former minister LD Arora’s daughter Sunita Setia
(BJP) and Makhan Lal Singla (INLD), the turnout was 77.1 percent, almost the same as 2009. Meanwhile, authorities have made elaborate arrangements for the counting of votes for
Fatehabad, Ratia and Tohana seats to be held in the Government College for Women, Bhodia
Khera, on October 19. Deputy Commissioner-cum-District Election Officer Rajiv Rattan said the EVMs were placed in the
strongroom. Counting would begin at 8 am amid security. |
|
|
Mewat admn recommends repoll in five Ferozepur Jhirka booths
Gurgaon, October 16 The re-polling shall be done in booth no. 91, 101, 102, 107, and 108. "There were reports of bogus voting that came to the observer's attention and thus the recommendation was made," said DC Sanjay Joon. Yesterday the situation was tense at Ferozepur Jhirka as supporters of Congress candidate Azaad Mohammad and Independent candidate Maman Khan came to blows in Purani Tehsil. It was in the afternoon when Mamman Khan got a tip-off that agents of Azaad Mohammad were casting bogus votes. He rushed to the booth along with his supporters and had an altercation with Congress supporters. He first charged at the polling officials and allegedly overturned the table of the presiding officer and bashed him. A clash then broke out between Maman Khan and Azad Mohammad supporters and they resorted to stone pelting and thrashing each other. The police reached the spot and was soon joined by the CRPF and turned the rioters away from the polling station. The presiding officer filed a complaint against Maman Khan. |
|
BJP demands repoll at four Hisar booths
Hisar, October 16 In a complaint to the district returning officer, polling agent of BJP nominee Kamal Gupta, Praveen Kumar Jain alleged polling was recorded from 81% to 95% at booth numbers 103, 106, 114 and 115. In the complaint he alleged, “Booth capturing, malpractice, abusing status and use of money and muscle power by the sitting MLA Savitri Jindal was adopted at these booths. Bogus votes were polled including the votes of persons serving the Armed Forces, living outside Hisar, were polled on the basis of bogus identification documents.” He alleged the actual voters were not allowed to exercise their franchise. The complaint said a large number of antisocial elements were also present at the polling booths to create terror among the voters. The agent alleged he had filed a complaint to the returning officer and other officials over the phone, but no action was taken. Rampant bogus polling
|
|
Miscreants attack Keorak sarpanch’s house
Satish Seth
Kaithal, October 16 Surjewala claimed the assailants were BJP workers, who were irked with the sarpanch, as he had asked the villagers to cast their votes in favour of the Congress, from the Kaithal seat. The Congress leader claimed some BJP workers also intimidated two Dalits: Rakesh Kumar and Lakshmi Valmiki in Keorak Basti of Kaithal. They also threatened to kidnap them as they too had voted for the Congress. The district police registered a case against seven persons and other unidentified persons in this connection. Surjewala said the incident had been recorded on the Election Commission’s cameras. He said, “The BJP has started following the footsteps of the INLD even before coming to power.”
|
|
Three-tier security for safety of EVMs
Karnal, October 16 DC-cum-District Election Officer Balraj Singh said that while the CRPF will guard the inner circle, the state armed police will comprise the second tier and the outer ring would be manned by the local police. The EVMs of Karnal Assembly segment have been kept at DAV College, Nilokheri (SC) at Dayal Singh College, Gharaunda segment at the Karan Stadium skating hall, Assandh segment at SBS Senior Secondary School and those of Indri at DAV Senior Secondary School. Abhishek Garg, SP, said that the police officers were visiting the strong rooms to supervise the security arrangements. |
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
trends, and assessing the ground reality by meeting their supporters and party workers.
Since the Congress and the INLD are seen as the parties which invariably come up with Jat faces as the CM candidates, the party may like to break the tradition by nominating a non-Jat for the top post, the sources said.
Commenting on the higher turnout in the rural-dominated areas, Haryana’s Chief Electoral Officer Shrikant Walgad said the districts having a majority of rural population had followed the last assembly elections’ pattern of a heavy turnout. 
The scam:
During his stint as Divisional Forest Officer(DFO), Jhajjar, Sanjiv Chaturvedi (in pic) exposed a scam in Haryana where funds from international agencies and the state government were allegedly embezzled in 2009. His report stated that the plantations existed only on paper and no work had been done on the ground. Based on the report, an intensive inquiry was done which resulted in the suspension and charge-sheeting of 40 persons, including five forest range officers.