This Week Haryana: Bhajan Lal clan reunited

Bhajan Lal clan reunited

Brothers Kuldeep Bishnoi and Chandermohan are now united. Chandermohan,who was once deputy chief minister under Bhupinder Singh Hooda,recently quit the Congress and joined the Haryana Janhit Congress founded by his father. Bhajan Lal had in fact disowned Chandermohan after the latters second marriage. Though he separated soon from Fiza Mohammad,Chandermohan lost the deputy CMs post following the marriage and was lying low until the recent reunion with his younger brother. This might not make much of an impact on the overall politics of the state,but should still leave a dent on the vote-bank of both the Congress and the INLD in some seats. Chandermohans decision follows his being sidelined by the Congress during allotment of the party ticket to the Panchkula Assembly constituency.

Back to Kamaraj

In 1963,K Kamaraj proposed that senior Congress ministers resign and concentrate instead on rebuilding the party,with morale low following the previous years war with China. Now,Chief Minister Hooda has suggested going back to the same plan and let new faces lead the party. The Kamaraj plan,backed by Jawaharlal Nehru,had seen the resignation of six Union ministers and six chief ministers and actually worked in revitalising the party. Hooda,whose party is struggling with factionalism,suggested going back to that plan at a recent Congress Working Committee meeting at Sonia Gandhi’s residence. This has ruffled several feathers in the party but the general view is that the idea is not entirely Hoodas,going by his proximity to 10 Janpath.

Hooda vs chautalas

Arch rivals Hooda and former chief minister Om Prakash Chautala of the Indian National Lok Dal have started to attack each other ahead of the 2014 elections. They have been at it at public meetings and project inaugurations. Chautala recently demanded Hoodas resignation saying he has no constitutional or moral right to continue as chief minister. Hooda responded,While Chaudhary Devi Lal used to call for national-level strikes,the Chautalas have restricted themselves to the village level and will soon call very localised strikes,shutting the doors of their own homes. Chautala and his sons Ajay and Abhey have been holding public meetings almost daily. All three have raised the issue of lawlessness,submitting memorandums to national commissions as well as the governor.

Shelter homes

Under pressure to act against alleged sexual exploitation in shelter homes,the government has ordered all deputy commissioners and superintendents of police to survey each such home,find out what is happening and ensure the security of those who live there. Policemen themselves have been accused of sexually assaulting women and children at such homes. The state has 96 shelter homes run by NGOs,and allegations of exploitation have been made one after the other in Gurgaon,Faridabad,Hisar,Rohtak and Yamunanagar.