Chandigarh, October 20
The BJP may be rejoicing after wresting Haryana, but it will have to cut short its celebrations and get down to business sooner than it thinks.

While the party has its own “lofty” promises to fulfill, the immediate task for the new government will be to implement various Cabinet decisions made by the outgoing Congress government, which comes into force from November 1.

The Hooda-led government had hiked the pension under various social security schemes from Rs 1,000 to Rs 1,500 per month and had committed to give salaries and pensions on the Punjab pattern from November 1.

While the BJP leadership is under the impression that “winning” Haryana was a bigger challenge, many believe the real challenge will start only now since the Congress government “splurged” liberally on the people and employees in the last month before the state went to the polls, announcing sops for all sections of society without going into their financial implications.

Sources said while the treasury might need a “windfall” to meet the commitments of the last government, which have been stamped by the Cabinet and may be difficult to roll back, the BJP’s own manifesto could open a Pandora’s box for the party.

In its please-all “vision document” for Haryana, the BJP took a “leap” over its rivals and promised Rs 2,000 per month as old age and disability pension if voted to power, foodgrain at Rs 1 per kg on the lines of the scheme already in place in Madhya Pradesh and regularising daily wagers, contract employees and ad hoc employees.

Promising laptops to students of Classes X and XII, the BJP committed Rs 6,000 and Rs 9,000 to the educated unemployed of the state who have completed their Class XII and graduation, respectively, special buses to ferry girl students and deployment of guards in buses to assure security. The party promised loans up to Rs 10 lakh and Rs 1 crore to the unemployed looking to set up business and a subsidy of Rs 3 lakh on government guarantee.

Though the BJP government is at the Centre and an alliance partner in neighbouring Punjab, resolving the Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal may still be a problem contrary to its promise as much as providing round-the-clock power and water supply.

The party proposed special arrangements for irrigation of southern Haryana, a law making cow slaughter equivalent to that of humans among many others, including a daily wage of ~300 to labourers and setting up of the Haryana Premier League.

“If the party begins to implement its promises in Haryana, similar demands will come from other BJP-ruled states where pensions are much lower and some promises are exclusive to Haryana alone,” a source maintained. 

Chandigarh, October 20
Traditional politics in Haryana has given way to politics based entirely on strategy. It is purely the right caste calculations, cashing in on anti-incumbency against the previous Congress government and inability of the INLD to project itself as a viable option against the Congress that led the BJP to script its first majority win in the state.

To top it all, the “Modi wave” turned the swing in BJP’s favour. The party increased its vote share by around 24 per cent (from 9.05 per cent to 33.2 per cent) since the 2009 Assembly elections.

The consolidation of the non-Jat votes in rural areas coupled with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s appeal to the urban voters to ensure that the state gets a government that does not run on crutches ensured an absolute majority. Haryana is now hoping that Modi will deliver what he had promised — overall development as opposed to regional bias for which the Congress had to face the flak.

The state witnessed something similar to what happened in Punjab earlier this year during the parliamentary elections. Tired of the Congress and the SAD, people voted for the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), giving it a sizeable vote share and sending four AAP candidates to Parliament. In Haryana, too, the Congress suffered from anti-incumbency on account of two successive terms of the Hooda government, while the Congress media campaign reminded the people of the “misrule” of the INLD. This left people with no option, but to try an “untried” alternative that would be stable and could deliver. This is where the BJP fits in well as compared to other recently floated regional parties.

The state is influenced by politics in Delhi, especially the segments in the National Capital Region (NCR). With the BJP in the saddle in Delhi, several constituencies near Delhi such as Gurgaon, Faridabad, Bahadurgarh, Badli, Badshapur and Badhkal went with the “saffron tsunami”.

Modi consolidated the Jat and non-Jat votes in rural areas by wearing different hats, literally, in every area he visited. He appealed to khaps in the khapland, dera in Sirsa and different segments at other places he visited. The BJP already had a sway over the urban voters.

The margins in the urban areas by which the BJP led shows polarisation of the urban voters, mainly non-Jat, in favour of the BJP. It is not strange therefore that the BJP is now initiating a move to have a non-Jat Chief Minister to fulfil the sentiment of its urban voters.

New Delhi, October 20
A day after Congress’ disastrous performance in Assembly elections, outgoing Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda has come under sharp criticism from his detractor Kumari Selja.

“The CM was dictatorial and authoritarian. At no stage he allowed any dialogue. It was a one-way ticket throughout the election process. He must take the entire blame for the party’s rout in Haryana. Only one man is responsible for what happened and that is Hooda,” former minister Kumari Selja said today.

Selja is the first Central leader to openly target Hooda and insulate Congress president Sonia Gandhi and vice-president Rahul Gandhi from any consequences of loss after questions were raised about their non-aggressive campaigning. “Why should we blame anyone else?” Selja asked saying the CM left no room for “other voices”.

The election results in Haryana have placed the Congress at a poor third with the party. It failed to improve its position from the Lok Sabha elections where it had leads in 15 Assembly segments.

Selja said: “The CM had his way in ticket distribution. We fought in his name. If we had won, he would have got the credit. Now that we are third, why should he not take the discredit?” an aggressive Selja asked terming Hooda’s election campaign in the state “personalised”.

Calling for extreme measures to set the party’s house in order in Haryana, the Rajya Sabha member said the Congress leadership must weigh its options and take corrective steps as Jats voted for the INLD and non-Jats chose the BJP, leaving nothing for the Congress,” Selja said.

Officially, the Congress remained non-committal on who should take the responsibility for the defeat in Haryana. Party spokesperson and Kaithal MLA Randeep Singh Surjewala said it would be “too premature to pin the blame on anyone”.

Some Central leaders argued that 13 among the 15 victorious MLAs are “Hooda’s loyalists”, barring Kiran Choudhry and Surjewala. Surjewala explained the Congress’ loss in terms of 10-year anti-incumbency saying Hooda managed to form the government in Haryana twice in a row, something that had never happened.

“We will study the reasons for the defeat and comment on what went wrong and why. At this stage, it will be too early to blame anyone,” Randeep said taking heart from the fact that the BJP, which had leads in 52 Assembly segments in Lok Sabha elections, has been limited to 47. 

Gurgaon, October 20
With the BJP getting the lion’s share of seats in the Ahirwal region, it has strengthened Gurgaon MP Rao Inderjit Singh’s chances of being considered for the post of the Haryana Chief Minister.

The saffron party has won 12 out of the 15 seats in the Ahirwal region.

With BJP hinting at a non-Jat CM, Ahirs have started batting for Rao Inderjit for the top post. “I am happy at the results and thank everybody who supported the BJP. As for the CM’s post, the party will take the decision. I will serve the party in whichever way I am expected to,” Rao Inderjit said.

His father, Rao Birender Singh, was the second Chief Minister of Haryana. After him, no Ahir has assumed the top post. The Jat-Ahir feud never allowed any Ahir to come ahead, but things might take a different turn this time owing to Inderjit’s position in the party. He is the Union Minister of State for Planning, Statistics and Programme Implementation (independent charge).

With BJP winning all seats except the three Meo-Muslim-dominated constituencies — Nuh, Ferozepur Jhirka and Punhana — in the region, Rao Inderjit’s position has been strengthened in the state.

Rao Inderjit’ claim to the CM’s post gets bolstered because of the party’s poor performance in adjoining Faridabad, where the BJP managed to win only three of the nine Assembly segments in the Faridabad parliamentary constituency. These three segments include Tigaon that was represented by Krishan Pal Gurjar before he was elected to Parliament.

The failures in Mewat and Faridabad and good performance in the areas of Rao Inderjit’s influence has increased his chances.

What, however, may go against Rao Inderjit is the question of his acceptability among Jats and the fact that the majority of his political innings was with the Congress. He joined the BJP last year after severing his 35-year-old ties with the Congress. Besides, his name for the CM’s post could offend the old-timers.

Sonepat, October 20
The Jat belt of the district remained unaffected from the Modi wave and the BJP had to make do with only a single seat. On the other hand, the Congress did remarkably well, and emerged victorious on five out of the total six seats falling under Sonepat district.

The BJP failed to leave a mark in Gannaur, Rai, Kharkhoda, Gohana and Baroda, and the Congress won one-third (five) seats in Sonepat district from the total 15 seats on offer.

Interestingly Sonepat remained aloof from the Modi wave as the party failed to get even the bare minimum i.e. one-sixth (16.67 %) of the total valid votes polled on two seats, to save its security deposit at Kharkhoda and Baroda.

The lone seat was won by MLA Kavita Jain for the BJP, who emerged victorious second time in a row. Kavita defeated her nearest rival Dev Raj Diwan of the Congress with a margin of 25,810 votes. Interestingly there was a neck to neck contest in Rai, where Jai Tirath of the Congress won with a thin margin of three votes by defeating his nearest rival Inderjeet of the INLD. Krishna Gahlawat of the BJP came third at Rai

Rohtak, October 20
The Assembly results have revealed that the state voters had rejected khap leaders as well as political diktats issued by spiritual sects.

The BJP had fielded Baljit Singh Malik, head of the Gathwala khap of Malik gotra of Jats, from Baroda in Sonepat district and Shamsher Singh Kharkara, chief of the Athgama khap, from Meham in Rohtak district. While Kharkara lost to his Congress competitor, Malik even got his security deposit forfeited.

Kandela khap leader Tek Ram Kandela contested as an Independent candidate from Jind. Kandela khap is said to have influence in 24 villages there. However, Tek Ram finished sixth and lost his security deposit.

Dr Santosh Dahiya, women wing chief of the Sarv Khap Mahapanchayat, who contested on the INLD ticket from Beri in Jhajjar district, also lost the election and finished fourth.

Apart from the khap leaders, certain spiritual leaders also tried to influence the political decision-making of their followers by issuing specific edicts.

The Dera Sacha Sauda located at Sirsa had asked its followers to vote for the BJP in the recent Assembly elections. Though the BJP could not perform well in the Sirsa belt, the dera diktat is said to have had some influence on its followers residing in other parts of the state.

A dera head, Mahant Satish Dass, also contested from Meham on the INLD ticket, but lost the election and finished third despite his massive following in the area.

“The state electors have clearly rejected the khap and spiritual leaders. Moreover, the young generation now plays a greater role in making political decisions, and they are not easily influenced by khap diktats,” says Dr Satish Tyagi, a political analyst.

Noted social activist DR Chaudhry maintains that owing to their insecurities, certain political leaders bow before the khap leaders. “A certain section of the media also propagates that khap leaders enjoy a social influence and popularity. In reality, the khap leaders are merely paper tigers,” he remarks.

He further observes that certain spiritual sects also ask their followers to vote for a given political party or candidate, which is also a wrong and disturbing trend.

Rohtak, October 20
BJP leader and former MP Birender Singh has conceded that he was still keen to become the Chief Minister of Haryana, and has advised the party leadership to choose its Chief Minister very carefully if it wanted to have a stable government in the state.

Former Congress stalwart Birender, who was here today, hoped that the BJP Parliamentary Board would consider his candidature also for the post

Stating that the Haryana Congress had been reduced to “Hooda Congress”, Birender held former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda responsible for the party's rout in the state.

Birender’s wife, Prem Lata, who has been elected MLA from Uchana Kalan , said she would vacate her seat for him “in a second” in case the BJP leadership decided to make him the Chief Minister.

Faridabad, October 20
Candidates who had defected or turned rebel at the time of ticket allotment have proved to be duds when poll results were declared yesterday.

Chander Bhatia, a former senior BJP leader had left the party to join the INLD just before the polls after being denied a ticket by the party. He was fielded by the INLD from Badkhal. However, he could not live to the expectations of his supporters and polled just 8,777 votes to finish at fourth place. The seat was won by Seema Trikha of the BJP, who defeated Mahender Pratap Singh of the Congress by 36,609 votes.

Parvesh Mehta, another BJP leader had also defected to the INLD and was fielded from here. He came third by polling 12,237 votes while the seat was won by Vipul Goel of the BJP (72,679 votes) and Anand Kaushik (27,898 votes) was the runner up.

Rajender Singh Bisla, a three time MLA from Ballabgarh had joined the INLD last year after resigning from the Congress. He was contested from Prithla constituency this time. Pitted against the Congress, the BJP and the BSP, Bisla could poll only 20,967 votes to finish at fourth place. The BSP won from here.

Harsh Kumar, who had joined the BJP just before the declaration of polls, had to bite the dust at Hathin seat in Palwal district. He lost to Kehar Singh of the INLD by a margin of 63,72 votes. It is his second consecutive defeat as he had lost to Jaleb Khan an Independent in 2009 polls.

Chandigarh, October 20
As Haryana readies for a new government and ministers’ rooms are spruced up for the new incumbents, the state bureaucracy is abuzz with names of prospective “candidates” for key administrative positions.

Sources said the name of Ajit Mohan Sharan, the senior-most officer and presently on central deputation posted as Sports Secretary in the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, is doing the rounds for the post of Chief Secretary. The move comes despite the fact that present incumbent Shakuntala Jhakhu has a month of her two-month extension still to go. The outgoing Congress government had got a nod for the extension. Sources said Ashok Lavasa, a 1980-batch officer and presently holding the charge of secretary, Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India, is also in the reckoning.

With a major shake-up expected soon, the BJP leadership is expected to appoint a principal secretary to the Chief Minister of its choice, replacing the present incumbent, SS Dhillon. The “front-runners” for the post include Principal Secretary, Finance, Haryana, Rajan Gupta as also Rajesh Khullar, presently Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Finance, Government of India. Once the appointments of the CM office are out of the way, the focus will shift to a game of musical chairs among other crucial departments.

Besides this, the new government will “revisit” appointments to key posts in the Haryana Police as well and post its “own men”. Sources said the DG, Prisons, Yashpal Singhal, could be given a key assignment. The post of Director General of Police, DG, CID, ADGP (admn) and ADGP (Law and Order) are likely to be replaced. The sources said RC Mishra, ADGP (crime against women), could also end up with a “plum posting”.

They said the new government, having come to power on a non-Jat card, is likely to focus on key positioning of non-Jats among the officers.

Hisar, October 20
The Modi wave has had a palpable effect on all three Lal clans of Haryana. For the first time since the formation of Haryana in 1966, no member from the families of the three Lals - Devi Lal, Bansi Lal and Bhajan Lal - will not occupy the Treasury Benches in the 13th Assembly.

It was a norm that a member of the three Lal clans would be in power, while others lead the opposition charge on the government.

When Bhupinder Singh Hooda wrested power from the Lals in 2005, their relatives continued to call the shots on the both sides in the Assembly.

Bhajan Lal's son Chander Mohan was the Deputy Chief Minister, while Bansi Lal's son Surender Singh and later his widow Kiran Choudhry were powerful ministers in Hooda's first tenure. Kiran retained the Cabinet berth during the second innings of the Hooda regime, while Devi Lal and Bhajan Lal clans were in the Opposition.

This time, the situation is different. All elected clans of the three Lals will sit in the Opposition, as none is from the BJP. Devi Lal's grandson Abhay Chautala and granddaughter-in-law Naina Chautala have won from the Ellenabad and Dabwali, respectively, on the INLD ticket. Bhajan Lal's son Kuldeep Bishnoi (HJC chief) has won the Adampur seat, while his wife Renuka has wrested Hansi. Bansi Lal's daughter-in-law Kiran Chaudhary has won from Tosham on the Congress ticket.

A political observer, Pawan Bansal, who has written a book on the Lal troika titled "Haryana ke Lalon ke mashoor kisse', said the BJP's good show had brought a paradigm shift in the state politics. "The political scene has revolving around the persona of three Lals for more than four decades. It's for the first time that none of the Lal clans are in power. Now, it will depend on the capabilities of the progenies rather than legacies to retain the old glory of the Lals."

Panchkula, October 20
Haryana’s new Chief Minister is likely to take oath in Panchkula’s Tau Devi Lal Stadium in Sector 3 this week. Anticipating the same, the administration has started readying the stadium. Special lighting arrangements have been done and the work on cleanliness has also been started.

An official communication was received by the administration to book all deluxe rooms in the government departments in Panchkula for the day. A senior official said, “The rooms have been booked for the new MLAs.”

The BJP is likely to declare the name of their Chief Minister tomorrow.

Chandigarh, October 20
When the Haryana electorate voted for change in the October 15 Assembly elections, it reposed faith in first-timers and the “young turks”. There are 30 (one-third) first-timers and nine youngsters (below 40 years) in the new Haryana Assembly.

Besides, nearly half of the new legislators are below 50 years. While the youngest legislator Sukhvinder Sheoran (29) belongs to the BJP and is from Badhra, the oldest Hari Chand Midha (72) belongs to the INLD and represents Jind.

Chandigarh, October 20
Haryana Speaker and Congress MLA from Gannaur Kuldeep Sharma claimed today that the Congress and not the INLD would act as an ‘effective opposition ‘ in the 13th Vidhan Sabha.

Addressing a press conference here today, Sharma asserted that despite having 20 MLAs (19 of the INLD and 1 of SAD), the INLD would not be in position to act as an ‘effective opposition for a variety of reasons.

“The INLD would be afraid of the ruling BJP government in Haryana and at the Centre as it was apparent from the remarks of INLD leaders that the government investigation agencies worked under the influence of the governments,” he claimed.

Referring to the poor Congress show in the assembly poll, he blamed it on anti-incumbency despite unprecendented development works.

About his role as Speaker and allegations of giving little or no time to the Opposition to participate in debates in the House proceedings, he held debates were not on the agenda of the Opposition and its only agenda was to disrupt the House proceedings and question the institution of Speaker.

Gurgaon, October 20
A 15-year-old boy jumped from his private school building here today. His condition is said to be critical.

Himanshu, a Class-IX student of SN Sidheshwar Senior Secondary Public School in Sector 9 here, jumped off the second floor of the school building.

The reason behind the extreme step could not be ascertained as the victim was not in a condition to register his statement.

Chandigarh, October 20
In compliance with the Haryana Electricity Regulatory Commission order regarding the release of new connections to certain categories, UHBVN and DHBVN have decided to introduce a tatkal scheme.

An official spokesman said the new connections would be released to the domestic, non-domestic, low tension and industrial categories up to 20 KW load within seven days irrespective of the system constraints from the date of application. — TNS