Haryana Diary: Police cop out, MLA Geeta Bhukkal calls up SP
Jhajjar: Local shopkeepers were taken by surprise when Congress MLA Geeta Bhukkal last week visited the main market on foot to take stock of the security arrangements in view of Diwali. She called up the SP on finding thin presence of police officials. A police official was at a loss for words when questioned about the number of cops deployed in markets and CCTV cameras in working condition. Her surprise visit ensured tight security in the market. A trader said, “Bhukkal’s visit put the police on their toes. Their presence in the markets increased.”
Unfazed in face of protest
Ambala: A spokesperson for an Opposition leader was cornered in one of the local markets in the run-up to Diwali when he questioned shopkeepers for allegedly taking money from small vendors, who had set up kiosks on pavements. The shopkeepers, in turn, accused the spokesperson of having disturbed the festive fervour by defaming the ruling party. Later, the Opposition leader said supporters of the ruling party got frustrated when his aide “exposed” the shopkeepers. The spokesperson gave a different spin to the incident. He said he must be doing the right thing, for shopkeepers raised slogans against him.
Bypoll lost, yet BJP upbeat
Hisar: The INLD’s win in the Ellenabad byelection notwithstanding, the BJP claims to have gained some ground in the Chautalas’ pocket borough. The ruling party is happy to have added about nine percentage points to its vote share as compared with the previous election. As for its candidate, Gobind Kanda, he is content with the fact that he polled the highest-ever votes (59,253) for the BJP in spite of the farmers’ protest, bringing down Abhay Chautala’s victory margin to 6,739 votes. On the other hand, Abhay, who polled 65,992 votes, said he had improved his vote percentage by 5.6 points compared with the previous poll.
Third Front? Chautala hopeful
Yamunanagar: Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) leader Abhay Chautala’s victory in the Ellenabad Assembly bypoll has boosted the morale of his father, Om Prakash Chautala, who is striving for a Third Front. “I will continue to make efforts for the Third Front and present a political alternative before the nation ahead of the 2024 General Election,” he told the media here on Sunday, sounding confident of stitching an alliance of like-minded parties.
Contributed by Ravinder Saini, Nitish Sharma, Deepender Deswal and Shiv Kumar Sharma
