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Farmers, youth of Narwana unconcerned about battle royale
by Pankaj Yadav

     Narwana: All eyes are set on the Narwana Assembly constituency where two political stalwarts of Haryana - Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala and Congress' state working president Randeep Singh Surjewala - have crossed swords for the Feb 3 polls. The importance of the constituency can be gauged from the fact that following an "IB report" regarding Opposition's conspiracy to `eliminate' Surjewala, the Union Home Ministry has provided him with the Z-plus security. As many as ten commandos threw the security cordon around Surjewala on Saturday. Both the camps are indulged in intense campaigning even as the Jats wearing their traditional `pagri' mull over puffing `hookas' as to who should they vote for this time. While on the one hand, there is Chautala, their chief minister, on the other there is young Surjewala who is known to have a direct link with 10 Janpath, a fact which he doesn't forget to mention when wanting to get anything done for the sake of the people of Narwana.

     But, away from the political hustle bustle in the dusky town of Narwana, the villagers seem to be least bothered of the `battle royale'. They are busy with their daily routine, unconcerned about who wins or loses. According to them, their problems have been there all these years, and they will continue in future irrespective of who wins or loses the election. The main problems confronting the area are a scarcity of irrigation water, the non-availability of fertilizers, absence of proper educational facilities and absolutely no job opportunities. During the past five-and-a-half years under Chautala, the people here claim that only a select few families close to the CM, particularly the youth, have managed to get government jobs. A major stream of water flows through Narwana, but this is directed to Sirsa, leaving the farmers of Narwana , a VIP constituency for all pratical purposes, dependent solely on rains. Ishwar Singh, a shopkeeper standing in the town's main bus stand, says problems like adequate water will remain irrespective of who wins or loses the electoral battle. "Whether Chautala wins or Surjewala wins it's going to hardly affect the common man," he adds. Mansingh, a farmer, says, "we don't have any expectations from the political leaders..........let anybody win or lose...it's hardly going to affect our lives."

     Amar Nath, who earns his livelihood by ferrying fertiliser from Narwana to his village, says, "there is no fertiliser available in the market. Every morning I go to Narwana market to fetch fertiliser..........I wait all day long and in the evening I return without any fertiliser because there is none available in the market. You can see my cart is empty......it's my livelihood.......I can't earn anything." Satish Kundu, a youth who otherwise supports Surjewala, says, "Narwana is a backward area with no educational facilities, no engineering or medical college, no proper irrigation facilities, and no industry where the youths can get employment." He says that despite this constituency belonging to the CM, it lacks in overall development. When asked if any change would occur if Surjewala wins, "so far we haven't seen any major development in the area........this time I'm supporting Surjewala because I believe that he will do something for our area." In general, Satish too says that despite so much importance being attached to the constituency, life of the common man will continue as it's today once the political dust settles down.

A star studded campaign for BJP in Haryana (Go To Top)

     Chandigarh: BJP's star campaigner and former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee along with party president L K Advani, Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje and Sushma Swaraj would be luring Haryana voters in the next few days. Former Prime Minister Vajpayee will start his campaign by addressing a public meeting in Yamunanagar and Rewari today. Party Chief LK Advani is scheduled to tour a number of constituencies on January 27 and 29. He will be addressing various public meetings in Shahbad, Pehowa and Rewari on Thursday while on Saturday he will address the voters of Hisar, Narnaund, Gohana and Sampla. Senior party leader Sushma Swaraj is already on her campaign trail touring many constituencies across the state, while firebrand leader Uma Bharati is scheduled to address public meetings in Jind, Hansi and Meham. Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhra Raje is set to address public meetings at Loharu, Jatusana, Tauru and Sohana today. Th list of BJP's star campaigners includes M Venkaiah Naidu, general secretary Shivraj Singh Chauhan, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Rajnath Singh, Shanta Kumar, Kalyan Singh, Sahib Singh Verma and State BJP president Ganeshi Lal.

India, Bhutan ink rail link pact (Go To Top)

     New Delhi: India and Bhutan have agreed to establish a rail link between the two countries. "An agreement will be signed for establishing a rail link between Assam and West Bengal and some important places in Bhutan," Bhutanese King Jigme Singye Wangchuk said on Tuesday . He confirmed this news after being accorded a formal ceremonial reception in the forecourt of Rashtrapati Bhawan. This year's republic day chief guest, the Bhutanese King is on a four-day state visit to India which began yesterday. Apart from a rail link, another agreement to set up joint power projects in Bhutan will also be signed. The King further said that these steps would strengthen the economic ties between the two countries. According to him an agreement on two "very large" projects will also be signed.

Government to sell stake in BHEL, MUL (Go To Top)

     New Delhi: The Government will be selling its part of stake in Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) and Maruti Udyog Limited (MUL) in the next fiscal. Informing the decision, the Heavy Industries Minister, Santosh Mohan Deb said the government would sell 10 per cent of its stake in BHEL and less than 7.5 per cent in MUL. Through the sale, the government expects to raise Rs 1,600 crore. It is expected that the sale of stake in India's largest carmaker MUL will yield the government something between Rs 800 crore and Rs 900 crore. However, the issue of sale of stakes would be discussed at the Union Cabinet meeting on Thursday. Earlier, the Government has said that the IPO route could be one of the possible ways for the partial disinvestment of stake in BHEL and MUL. Government of India currently holds 67 per cent stake in BHEL. The rest is held by financial institutions and some held by the employees. However, the sale of the stake will not affect the management of the company, informed BHEL sources. The government will continue to have the control even after it sells its 10 per cent stake. It is expected that BHEL will touch a turnover of Rs 9,700 crore in the current fiscal. Meanwhile, there was a mixed response for the companies on the BSE after the news broke, while Maruti rose to a high of Rs 415, up by one per cent, BHEL was down marginally at Rs 680.