Haryana Diary: BJP focuses on migrant workers for Bihar poll

Karnal: With an aim to increase voter turnout in Bihar elections, the BJP has focused on migrant workers in Haryana by arranging special trains to ferry workers from various industrial hubs back to Bihar for the first phase of the state elections. Thousands of migrants boarded these trains over the weekend, many of them travelling home to cast their votes for the first time in years. The BJP functionaries have been in touch with industrial units across several states for months, persuading factory owners to grant paid leave to employees hailing from Bihar. The initiative, they said, was part of a larger effort to ensure maximum participation of Bihari voters working outside the state. Reports suggest that the workers were told about the party’s expectation of their support for the NDA. It remains unclear how many additional trains will be arranged for the second phase of polling, but the strategy has already drawn both praise and criticism—supporters calling it an effort to strengthen democracy and opponents viewing it as a politically motivated mobilisation.

Abhay Chautala’s firm stance draws attention

Rohtak: The recent INLD demonstration in the city drew attention not for raising farmers’ concerns but for Abhay Chautala’s firm stance on submitting the memorandum addressed to the Governor only to Deputy Commissioner Sachin Gupta. When the protest reached the Mini-Secretariat, the ADC and the SDM came there to receive the memorandum, but Abhay refused and gave the DC a 30-minute ultimatum to receive it. The DC later arrived to accept the memorandum, but Abhay prompted him to make a public announcement that it would be forwarded to the Governor.

Agri Minister’s son fast cultivating fan base online

Yamunanagar: Nepal Rana, son of Haryana Agriculture Minister Shyam Singh Rana, is fast cultivating his fan base online! The young heir to the 76-year-old minister’s political turf in Radaur has turned social media into his new campaign ground. His reel—cruising a modified tractor through golden fields to a catchy Haryanvi track—has already crossed nearly one lakh views on Facebook and Instagram. Youths are hooked, farmers are impressed. From tilling ancestral land in Chanalheri of Kurukshetra’s Pehowa to trending online, Nepal’s blend of horsepower, heritage and hashtags is sowing a new kind of political harvest in Haryana.

HSGMC staff unhappy with members’ disputes

Kurukshetra: As growing differences and disputes among members of the Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (HSGMC) are affecting the committee’s management, employees working at different shrines under the committee have begun expressing concern. The employees even accuse the members of working for their vested interests and not attending important meetings instead of working for the smooth management of the committee.