Cricket in Hamirpur
Pit a cricketer against another one and watch the fun. If the Congress inHimachal Pradesh has its way, the Hamirpur electoral battle in the state will bebetween two cricketers. The foremost contender for the Hamirpur constituencyticket is Madan Lal veteran cricketer, who has emerged as a hopeful after PrietyZinta (owner of King’s IX Punjab IPL cricket team) refused. Congress isdesperate to get somebody from the cricketing world for Hamirpur because chiefminister Prem Kumar Dhumal’s son Anurag Thakur of the BJP who won the seat bya huge margin less than a year ago, in a bypoll, is a cricketer and presentlypresident of the Himachal Cricket Association. Thakur has managed anotherfeather for his cap by managing to get, for the first time, two IPL matches toDharamsala this season.
Trouble in the Family
Haryana’s strongman, and former chief minister the late, Bansi Lal’s clanhas ensured that their dad would be tossing in his grave this summer, as hisheirs engage in a public slugfest over his political legacy. The venue isBhiwani parliamentary constituency for which his socialite daughter-in-law KiranChaudhary, also a minister in the Haryana government, wants her 20-something,daughter Shruti to get the Congress ticket. Bansi Lal’s elder son RanbirMahendra (former BCCI president) who is a legislator from Mundhal Khurd is alsoangling for the same ticket. The two, Kiran Chaudhary and Ranbir, have also beenengaged in a bitter property battle in Bhiwani over Bansi Lal’s ancestralhouse. So far, Kiran has been on top, mainly due to her rapport with 10 Janpath.Even the chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda does not like to tread on hertoes. If Shruti does get the ticket, she will be pitted against Ajay Chautala,elder son of another former chief minister, Om Prakash Chautala of the IndianNational Lok Dal.
Arms and the Akharas
Come elections and it's time for district officials to get people to deposittheir arms with the local police. It turns out that there has been a steep risein the arms licenses made during the last six months, with the border districtsof Ferozepur and Taran Taran topping the list. Out of the 8,727 arms licensesissued in the last six months, Ferozepur accounts for 1145 and Taran Taran 1106.Owning a licensed weapon is the macho thing to do in Punjab, and election timeis a good time to pressure the local politician to help them obtain one. Buteven by Punjab standards, the huge number of licenses issued in the last fewmonths is making the electoral machinery sit up and take notice.
Ditto for Haryana’s famous ‘akharas’ who are have earned much notorietyfor supply well endowed wrestlers to politicians of all hues during elections.Mainly concentrated in the jat heartland of Rohtak, these ‘akharas’ havebeen put on watch by the police. The shady ones are being monitored and wellknown musclemen with previous electoral exploits to boast about are beingtracked.
BPL families and the Congress
The minions of the Haryana government were acting in good faith when theypainted the front gate and walls of houses of BPL families in the state, saffronwhite and green. They had initially marked these houses with a yellow rectanglebut when Haryana Janhit Congress formed by Congress rebel Bhajan Lal choseyellow for its party flag, the government machinery in the Congress led statequickly decided to paint the houses with the Congress colours instead. But theHJC went and promptly complained to the Election Commission and the state ishaving to do much explaining, says the Hindustan Times.