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H A R Y A N A |  |
 Friday, August 6, 1999 |
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Ajay Chautala to contest
from Bhiwani BJP may contest all LS seats |
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Relief
fund: villagers contribute pension Statewide fund-raising campaign by
BJP Restoring honour of all, Chautala
govt's aim Arrest of spy exposes Haryana CID INLD MLA Balbir Singh arrested Congress President in a bind Governor to unfurl flag at
Panchkula HVP-BSP pact on two Haryana seats Nirmal Singh to join Cong Balmiki Samaj’s plea to CM |
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Ajay Chautala to contest from
Bhiwani HISAR, Aug 5 — Indian National Lok Dal leader Ajay Chautala today expressed confidence over the smooth finalisation of the INLD-BJP pact in Haryana. Although he was not forthcoming about the contentious Rohtak seat, he sought to clarify, "it is immaterial to discuss who will be the candidate, the real thing is that whosoever will be the candidate, will fight to see Mr Vajpayee as the Prime Minister. Mr Ajay Chautala, who is the eldest son of Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala, is once against trying his might from Bhiwani. He lost to Mr Surinder Singh son of Mr Bansi Lal in the previous elections by a slim margin of less than 10,000 votes. During a conversation with TNS today, Mr Ajay Chautala claimed, the BJP-INLD alliance would sweep the polls in Haryana. He expressed confidence about his victory in Bhiwani, claiming that people had been giving a massive response to his public meetings. He said, he would be filing his nomination papers from Bhiwani on August 14, which would be preceded by a public rally in the Kirrorimal Park. Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala will also address the rally. Considered to be traditional stronghold of former Chief Minister Bansi Lal, this time Mr Ajay Chautala has made it a point to defeat his son Surinder Singh from there only. He claimed that during the last elections, the administration had acted in a partial manner. He said, the administration would remain impartial this time. He apprehended that the HVP leadership, who according to Mr Chautala is desperate, might resort to violence to defame the government. He assured that Bhiwani would witness peaceful elections and the administration would take all necessary measures to ensure that. There are about 670 villages in the Bhiwani Lok Sabha constituency. He said in the first round he had covered more than half of the villages, at an average of about 20 villages in a day. Mr Chautala said national and local issues were figuring in the campaigns but admitted that the national issues were dominant. He said people were equally concerned about the local issues. He alleged, the HVP government had created a mess in the state. Referring to some issues raised by the people, he said, although his party’s government had already taken over in the state but due to the moral code of conduct enforced by the Election Commission all commitments could be fulfilled after the elections. He denied the charges,
of misusing the government machinery for election
purposes. The government is doing its own job and the
elections are being managed by the party workers, he
claimed. |
BJP may contest all LS seats GURGAON, Aug 5 — The Haryana unit of the BJP has urged the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, and the central leadership of the party to allow it to contest all 10 Lok Sabha seats in the state alone if the ruling INLD continued with its rigid stand of not giving it five seats, including the prestigious Rohtak seat. Senior BJP leaders have been lobbying with the members of the party high command for the "go alone" move for the past one week as the INLD was willing to part with not more than four seats. The four seats that the INLD has offered to the BJP in a possible INLD-BJP alliance are Faridabad, Mahendergarh, Ambala and Karnal. The BJP had won the Faridabad seat in the last Lok Sabha election. The state unit is understood to have already started exploring the names of prospective candidates for all 10 constituencies in the contingency of contesting the elections alone. Stalwarts of the Haryana unit of the BJP, including Prof Ram Bilas Sharma, Mr Sitaram Singla, Mr Manohar Lal and Mr Kailash Sharma met the party president, Mr Kushabhau Thakre, last Tuesday, recommending the case for going to the elections alone. According to sources, Mr Thakre chided the BJP leaders from the state saying that they should have got a firm commitment from the INLD for five seats before extending support to it to form the government after the fall of the Bansi Lal regime. He particularly questioned Prof Sharma, who is reported to have assured the leadership that the INLD would give five Lok Sabha seats to the BJP before the party extended support to Mr Chautala to form the INLD government. Mr Thakre met both Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee and Mr L.K. Advani yesterday, a day after the Haryana leader met him on the issue. The response of Mr Vajpayee and Mr Advani could not be ascertained. However, the central leaders of the party are cautious on the issue in the face of the toughening stand of the Haryana unit. According to sources, the BJP leaders from Haryana have argued that in the last two Lok Sabha elections, the party had contested six seats in alliance with the BJP. The party had also won four seats in the 1996 elections. Therefore, the party would willingly consent to shrink its base in case it settles for only four seats with the INLD. Also, the state leaders are said to be unhappy with certain developments in the about one-month old INLD government. They feel the ruling party and the Chief Minister were methodically trying to humiliate the BJP and its leaders in the state. Also, by supporting the INLD government there was constant threat of the BJP becoming unpopular among the voters in the urban belts, considered to be its strong base. The BJP leaders cite the INLD MLA from Meham in Rohtak district reportedly misbehaving with the Deputy Commissioner of the district, culminating into registration of criminal cases against him a few days ago. Also, at a recent public meeting in Mahendragarh, Prof Ram Bilas Sharma was not allowed by a section of the public to speak on the occasion. The public meeting was to be jointly addressed by Mr Chautala and Prof Sharma. Mr Chautala had to intervene with the public saying that it should be considerate towards Prof Sharma as he had helped the INLD form the government. Incidentally, Mahendragarh is the home district of Prof Sharma and he represents Mahendragarh in the Haryana Assembly. There is a feeling in a section of the BJP that the INLD was behind the ugly episode with Prof Sharma. A few days ago, Mr Chautala publicly alleged in Gurgaon that Mr Sitaram Singla had not allowed raids in his shop during the Bansi Lal government. He was referring to the raids in connection with theft of power in Gurgaon township. Mr Chautala made utterances against Mr Singla in his presence. Senior leaders of the BJP, including Col Ram Singh, were also present on the occasion. As if to rub the BJP
leaders the wrong way, Mr Chautala made a sarcastic
remark that his party would "grab" all 10 Lok
Sabha seats from the BJP after he made the utterances
against Mr Singla. |
Former workers of NFL lose hope PANIPAT, Aug 5 — As many as 426 former workers of National Fertilisers Limited, here whose services were terminated about 16 years back, seem to have lost all hope as their efforts for reinduction into the service have not yet yielded results. They have been organising indefinite dharnas, demonstrations and gate meetings, but all efforts have so far proved in vain. The NFL plant was set up at Panipat in 1977 and it started urea production in 1979. In the begnning, unemployed youths were imparted six-month training and were absorbed in the plant. In 1980, the Workers Union demanded the regularisation of services of these 426 workers. When it was refused by the management of NFL, the union filed an appeal in the high court. The high court on February 9, 1983 have a decision that this case falls under the Industrial Act and advised to send the case to the Industrial Labour and Reconciliation Board. Before the board could give any decision, the management of NFL, forcibly ousted the workers from the plant premises. Since then the workers have been agitating. According to General Secretary of the Haryana NFL Mazdoor Congress Satender Singh, the workers agitations started on July 1, 1983, and during the agitation 45 workers were arrested by the police. The police framed criminal cases against union leaders. Mr Satender Singh said in 1987 workers organised a padyatra from Panipat to Chandigarh and met the then Chief Minister, Mr Devi Lal, and also pleaded their case with the then Labour Minister Subash Katyar. The demands have also been raised at various platforms in the Union Government and a 13-day dharna was staged at Boat Club, Delhi in January 1990. The matter was raised in the Parliament in 1990 by Mrs Susheela Gopalan, but the government replied that the matter was sub-judice. He said the workers lost the case in the Panipat Court and now an appeal was pending in the high court at Chandigarh. When contacted, the
management of NFL said as the matter was sub-judice, the
management would not comment on this matter. |
Relief fund: villagers
contribute pension YAMUNANAGAR, Aug 5 — Yamunanagar district has contributed Rs 78.59 lakh towards the Chief Minister War Heroes Relief Fund. Mr Rajiv Sharma, Deputy Commissioner informed here today that a demand draft of Rs 1.37 lakh has been received today out of which Spring Field Public School donated Rs 36,000, Guru Nanak Khalsa College Rs 33,000, Lions Club Yamunanagar-Jagadhri Rs 21,000, Sapphire Hotel Rs 11,000. PANIPAT: Beholi villagers who are getting old age pension have donated their one month pension to the Prime Minister's relief fund. Residents of Dadlana village also collected Rs 14,011 and sent it to the Prime Minister's Relief Fund. The Adarsh Yuva Mandal of Ahar village has sent a donation of Rs 15,710 to the Haryana Chief Minister's War Heroes Fund. Residents of Hathwala village have also sent a donation of Rs 10,850 to the Army Welfare Fund. Students of Hindu School of Education in Hathwala village have also raised a donation of Rs 1,100 for Prime Minister's Relief Fund. PATIALA: In a novel gesture the General Insurance Employees Association (GIEA) and the Northern Zone Insurance Employees Association have offered free insurance to kin of Kargil martyrs for 10 years. Mr Vinod Dhundia, President of GIEA in a press statement said the insurance employees had donated one day's salary to the funds meant for the welfare of the families of the Indian soldiers which amounted to Rs 14 crore. At a joint meeting of
the two associations held here on Wednesday rich tributes
were paid to Kargil martyrs. |
Statewide fund-raising campaign by
BJP CHANDIGARH, Aug 5 — The Haryana BJP has launched a statewide four-day campaign to raise funds for the coming Lok Sabha poll. According to Mrs Rekha Sharma, Media Adviser of the party, the campaign, which started today, will continue till August 8. The party has changed its strategy to raise funds from this year. Earlier funds were raised by the district units which distributed these among the block units for meeting the electoral expenses. However, now the party has decided that each block unit should collect funds as per its needs. Party workers have been given receipts of denominations ranging from Rs 10 to Rs 100. They will go from door to door to collect donations as well as to distribute party literature among the voters. For bulk donations senior party leaders would approach party sympathisers in these four days. Meanwhile, the general
secretary of the INLD, Mr Pradeep Chaudhary, has claimed
that the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance will win
all the 10 Lok Sabha seats in Haryana.This, he said, was
clear from the fact that while the interest of the HVP
was limited to only Bhiwani from where it had fielded Mr
Surender Singh, son of a former Chief Minister, Mr Bansi
Lal, the Congress too had not been able to decide its
candidates so far. |
Restoring honour of all, Chautala
govt's aim CHANDIGARH, Aug 5 — The Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, today said the endeavour of his government would be to restore honour of all communities in the state. Mr Chautala was addressing a gathering of Punjabi Sabha who had come to compliment him on giving representation to the members of the Punjabi samaj in his Cabinet and for electing a Speaker of the Haryana Assembly from among them. He assured the sabha that he would work to eradicate corruption in administration and create atmosphere of amity, fraternity and friendship. Mr Ashok Kumar, Speaker, Haryana Vidhan Sabha, presented a cheque for Rs 33,740 to the Chief Minister on behalf of doctors and employees of Government Hospital, Kurukshetra, towards the Haryana Chief Minister's War Heroes' Relief Fund. Mr M.C. Gambhir (Punjabi
Sabha) told the Chief Minister that the sabha would
honour Mr Ashok Kumar and other members of the Punjabi
community like Mr Bhim Sein Mehta and Mr Ram Singh Brar
on August 22 at Hansi. |
Arrest of spy exposes Haryana
CID SONEPAT, Aug 5 — Arrest of Dharamvir Singh, resident of Khanda village, recently by the Delhi police on the charge of spying for Pakistan has exposed failure of the Haryana CID and police administration in keeping watch on anti-national activities going on in the state. Dharamvir Singh was nabbed by the special branch on July 28 last when he was on his way to the Pakistan High Commission to hand over sensitive defence documents. Several sensitive documents including some maps, were recovered from the accused. Dharamvir Singh, during interrogation, is reported to have disclosed names of his accomplices. The accused had been working as a clerk in the Defence Ministry. He and his brother Ishwar Singh had to look after large family as their father died a few years ago. Ishwar Singh is a clerk with a lawyer in the Tis Hazari courts, Delhi. The accused owned a house in Bawana village (Delhi) and used to visit Khanda village thrice a month by car. Official sources, said that the CID had been keeping a close watch on the activities of the accused for the past several months and his telephones were also tapped. It was also revealed that despite poor condition of the family, the accused used to visit his village by car. The accused also
revealed that more documents supposed to be passed on to
Pakistani officials were still lying at his house. |
INLD MLA Balbir Singh
arrested ROHTAK, Aug 5 — The Indian National Lok Dal legislator from Meham, Mr Balbir Singh alias ‘Bali Pehalwan’ was arrested today, in connection with the case registered against him on charges of misbehaviour and threatening the Deputy Commissioner. He was released on bail, a little after. Mr Balbir Singh was produced in the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate this morning. A criminal case under various sections was registered on Monday against the MLA on charges of intimidating the DC on Sunday in his office. Meanwhile, the Haryana
Pradesh Congress chief, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda has
condemned the misbehaviour with the DC by the MLA. He
said it was an attempt by the INLD to put a kind of
pressure on the district officials, so that the INLD
leaders and workers could use it in their favour in
coming Lok Sabha polls. |
Brahmins want Karnal seat KARNAL, Aug 5 — The Congress high command is in a fix over the allottment of ticket in Haryana to a Brahmin for the coming parliamentary poll. Highly placed sources told TNS that though the party is keen to protect the interests of this major caste in the state, yet it has be come a hard task for it in the present political scenerio. Brahmins constitute 18 per cent of the population of the state. It is next only to Jats who are 22 per cent of the population. Therefore, in view of the caste-ridden politics of Haryana, it is becoming very difficult for the Congress to ignore the claim of Brahmins. Thus far, the Karnal parliamentary constituency used to be considered a Brahmin-dominated one. Brahmin nominees have always been returned from this constituency except on three occasions. Stalwarts like Pandit Madho Ram Sharma, Mrs Subhadra Josh Pandit, Bhagwat Dyal Sharma and Pandit Chiranji Lal have won from this constituency. Leaders of other castes who have won from here are Swami Rameshwra Nand (Jat), Mr Mohinder Singh Lather, son-in-law of Mr Devi Lal and Mr Bhajan Lal (Bishnoi) who was elected during the 1998 poll. Mr Bhajan Lal successfully manoeuvered to get the ticket from Karnal by shifting Mr Kuldip Sharma, son of veteran Congress leader Chiranji Lal, to the adjoining Kurukshetra constituency. The Brahmin community then accepted the situation as a Brahmin was nominated from Kurukshetra. But the nomination of Mr Bhajan Lal upset the community. Even the BJP has always given ticket to a Brahmin from here. On three occasions it fielded Mrs Sushma Swaraj. She lost on all three occassions. During the last two elections, the BJP nominated Mr Ishwar Dev Swami, a retired IAS officer. Mr Swami lost to Mr Bhajan Lal in the last election. It is almost certain, according to the sources, that Mr Bhajan Lal will be renominated from Karnal. This time, the political situation in Kurukshetra is very different. It is reported that Mr Om Parkash Jindal, an industrialist, has put high stakes for the seat. A hefty donation for the party is understood to have been offered. If Kurukshetra is also offered to a non-Brahmin, there is no other seat in Haryana which can be offered to a Brahmin. It is learnt that senior leaders like Mr Jitendra Prashad and Mr Pranab Mukherjee are upset over the matter. The high command is reported to be toying with the idea of fielding Dr Arvind Sharma from the Sonepat seat. The doctor has once won
this seat as an Independent. |
Governor to unfurl flag at
Panchkula CHANDIGARH, Aug 5 — The Governor, Mr Mahabir Prasad, will unfurl the National Flag at Panchkula on August 15 and will also host ‘At Home’ at Panchkula on the same evening. The Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, will unfurl the flag at Bhiwani. Mr Ashok Kumar, Speaker, Haryana Vidhan Sabha, will unfurl the Tricolour at Yamunanagar; Mr Sampat Singh, Finance Minister, at Hisar; Mr Jagan Nath, Agriculture Minister, at Jind; Mr Dhirpal Singh, Town and Country Planning Minister, at Rohtak; Mr Narbir Singh, Transport Minister, at Rewari; Mr Brij Mohan Singla, Industries Minister, at Kaithal; Mrs Krishna Gehlawat, Social Welfare Minister, at Jhajjar and Mr Kartar Singh Badhana, Cooperation Minister, at Faridabad. Mr Faqir Chand, Deputy Speaker, Haryana Vidhan Sabha, will unfurl the National Flag at Sonepat; Mr Jaswant Singh, Minister of State for Public Health, at Narnaul; Mr Bhim Sain Mehta, Minister of State for Printing and Stationery, at Panipat; Mr Raj Kumar Saini, Minister of State for Sports, at Kurukshetra; Mr Akram Khan, Minister of State for Wakf at Ambala; Mr Kailash Chand Sharma, Minister of State for Revenue, at Gurgaon, Mr Om Parkash Jain, Minister of State for Tourism, at Karnal and Mr Jaswinder Singh Sindhu, Chief Parliamentary Secretary, at Sirsa. All Subdivisional
Officer (Civil) will unfurl the flag at their respective
subdivisions. Where a tehsil headquarters is different
from the subdivision, the same duty will be performed by
the respective tehsildar. |
HVP-BSP pact on two Haryana
seats CHANDIGARH, Aug 5 — The Haryana Vikas Party (HVP) and the BSP have reached an electoral understanding regarding at least two Lok Sabha seats in Haryana. The two parties will support each other in Bhiwani and Ambala. According to the senior vice-president of the Haryana unit of the BSP, Mr Jagpal Choudhary, the party supremo, Mr Kanshi Ram, will address a public meeting in Bhiwani on August 8. The meeting has been organised by the HVP to formally launch the poll campaign of its candidate, Mr Surender Singh. The HVP president, Mr
Bansi Lal, has also convened a meeting of his party
workers at Jagadhari on August 10 to extend support to
the BSP candidate from the Ambala Lok Sabha constituency,
Mr Aman Kumar Nagra. |
Nirmal Singh to join Cong AMBALA, Aug 5 — Mr Nirmal Singh, MLA from Naggal, considered to be an adopted son of former chief Minister Bansi Lal, has decided to join the congress. At a meeting of his supporters here today, he decided to join the congress. Mr Nirmal Singh has been a supporter of the Bansi Lal government since its formation. His wife Naib Kaur is the president of the local unit of the HVP. Sources close to Mr
Nirmal Singh said he met the leaders of the congress high
command, Mr Jitender Prashad, Mr Ahmad Patel and Mr
Pranab Mukherjee two days back in Delhi. The sources said
the Congress high command had agreed to readmit Mr Nirmal
Singh in congress. It is also learnt that Mrs Naib Kaur
would resign from the HVP after her husband join the
congress. |
Balmiki Samaj’s plea to CM FATEHABAD, Aug 5 — The Bharatiya Balmiki Dharam Samaj has urged the Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, to do away with the condition of minimum of 50 per cent marks for the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe students seeking admission to JBT, OT and B.Ed courses. It has also demanded a relaxation of 5 per cent marks for those categories. In a press note issued
here yesterday, Mr Raj Kumar Anarya, president of the
district unit of the samaj said, Dalits had already been
enjoying these relaxations but the former Chief Minister
refused to relent. He appealed to the new Chief Minister
to reconsider the decision of his predecessor as it
affected the Dalits in the State. |
Students protest against ban ROHTAK, Aug 5 — Students and staff members of various educational institutions run by the Baba Mastnath Trust, Asthal-Bohar, today took out a procession and held a demonstration to protest against the ban imposed by Maharshi Dayanand University on admissions to all professional courses run by the trust. Carrying placards outside the university gate, the demonstrators raised slogans against the Vice-Chancellor. The agitators later took
out a procession through the main bazars and submitted a
memorandum to the Governor through the Deputy
Commissioner in which the trust had levelled serious
allegations against the Vice-Chancellor. It alleged that
the Vice-Chancellor had stopped admissions as the
president of the math had declined to meet the
‘illegal’ demands of the Vice-Chancellor. |
CPM to contest Bhiwani LS
seat ROHTAK, Aug 5 — The CPM will contest the Bhiwani Lok Sabha seat. It has decided to oppose the INLD-BJP candidates in the ensuing Lok Sabha election scheduled to be held on September 5. The state secretariat of the CPM which met here yesterday recommended the name Of Mr Parbhat Singh, give-president, CITU and general secretary, the Lal Jhanda Bhatta Mazdoor Union from the Bhiwani parliamentary constituency. Bhiwani has the largest brick-klin workers (about one lakh) in the state. The party in the 1996 and 1998 parliamentary elections had fielded its candidate from the Hisar constituency but failed to win. This time it decided to field a candidate for the Bhiwani seat. Although the CPM has announced to opposed the INLD-BJP candidates, it has not made clear as to which party it would support. Insiders however, believe that the CPM may support the congress candidates in the remaining constituencies. Mr Inderjit Singh, secretary, state unit CPM said that his party would launch a campaign to highlight the failures of the Vajpayee government and the mis-rule of the HVP-BJP in Haryana. His party, he said, would also appeal to the people to defeat the candidates of the INLD-BJP which came to power by horse-trading and defections. He said that the CPM and
the CPI would jointly contest the ensuing parliamentary
election. The CPI is likely to contest the Karnal Lok
Sabha seat. |
Man shoots mother, kills
himself SIRSA, Aug 5 — A man gunned down his mother before shooting himself to death in the local Mela Ground here today. According to a police press note today, the incident took place early in the morning. Davinder shot dead his mother, Reshma with a licensed gun and later committed suicide with the same gun. According to information available, the reason behind the incident is feud over family property. Davinder was living with his parents after the property division, but was insisting on getting his father's share too. Davinder's 12 year-old
son said his father had a tussle with his grandmother at
night. Later, his father shot dead his grandmother and
then shot himself. Davinder's wife also confirmed the
tussle. Davinder's father was out of station when the
incident took place. A case under Section 302 of the IPC
has been registered against Davinder. |
Class III staff give Rs 1.6
lakh to war heroes CHANDIGARH, Aug 5 — The Haryana Civil Secretariat Class-III Employees' Association today contributed Rs 1,59,400 to the Haryana Chief Minister's War Heroes' Relief Fund. The Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, expressed his gratitude to the association for the gesture. The Haryana Government Retired Officers' Welfare Association also contributed Rs 15,000 to the fund. The amount was presented to the Chief Minister by the general secretary of the association, Mr Ram Narain. Mr Ashok Kumar Arora,
Speaker of the Haryana Vidhan Sabha; Mr O.P Jain,
Minister of State for Tourism; Mr Jaswinder Singh, Chief
Parliamentary Secretary; Mr Vishnu Bhagwan, Principal
Secretary to the Chief Minister; and Mr Sanjeev Kaushal,
Additional Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister,
were present. |
Directive to MDs, chairmen CHANDIGARH, Aug. 5 — The Haryana Government has directed all Managing Directors, Chairmen of all boards and corporations in the state that all lawyers working as legal advisers and standing counsel with their boards, corporations, municipal committees, municipal corporation of Faridabad, cooperative banks and land development banks or any other government undertakings (whether whole-time or part-time or per case basis) will cease to function as such with immediate effect. The state government has
also removed all members, including chairmen and
vice-chairmen, of market committees in the state with
immediate effect. |
Haryana withdraws orders on CL CHANDIGARH, Aug 5 — The Haryana Government has withdrawn instructions issued earlier regarding curtailing the member of casual leave of the employees to eight days. Now, the government employees will be able to avail of casual leave as per the rules applicable to them prior to these instructions. The employees with 10 years service or less will be entitled to 10 days' casual leave in a calendar year. Similarly, the employees with more than 10 years service but less than 20 years service can avail of 15 days CL and those with 20 years' service will be entitled for 20 days casual leave. The women employees in
service will be entitled for 20 days casual leave in a
year, irrespective of their length of service. |
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