Haryana: Lals dominate political scene

Chandigarh, Dec 30: The death of one of the three famous 'Lals' of Haryana Bansi Lal, the resignation of state Congress president Bhajan Lal and the CBI raids against opposition leader Om Prakash Chautala hogged political headlines in the state during 2006.

However, it was a five-year-old boy -- Prince-- who caught the attention of the country by surviving a two-day ordeal in a 50-feet deep borewell in which he had fallen while playing at Haldheri village near Kurukshetra.

TV viewers all over the nation were glued to their sets with prayers on their lips, as army men dug up the tunnel and rescued the boy, son of a labourer couple, from the narrow and dark 16-inch pit after about 50 hours on July 23.

Apart from politicians, NGOs and wellwishers pouring aid for the ''lucky survivor'' the villagers hailed him as the ''Vikas Purush'' as Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda declared that the village will be developed as a ''model village.'' Former chief minister Bansi Lal, known for his proximity to late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and her son Sanjay during the Emergency days, died on March 28 this year, at the age of 79.

Bansi Lal, considered to be the architect of modern Haryana, was elected to the state assembly seven times. He was responsible for much of the state's industrial and agricultural development.

He, however, left Congress in 1996 and set up Haryana Vikas Party (HVP). His campaign for prohibition brought him to power in the assembly polls the same year. Interestingly, prohibition turned out to be his party's nemesis which could win just two seats in 2000 assembly elections.

Ahead of 2005 assembly elections, he merged his party with Congress again but did not contest the polls. His sons Surendra Singh and Ranbir Singh Mahendra were elected to the state assembly. Surendra Singh became a minister in the Hooda government but died in a helicopter crash last year, following which his wife Kiran Chowdhry became a minister.

Bansi Lal's death, however, left the families of Mr Mahendra and Ms Chowdhry fighting a bitter battle over his property.

The year also saw the complete sidelining of senior Congress leader Bhajan Lal in state party unit by the Hooda faction. Mr Lal finally resigned as the state party president on July 1, alleging that 'genuine Congress workers' were being neglected.

After his resignation, Mr Bhajan Lal came out openly against Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda at various 'tea parties' organised across the state. His MP son Kuldeep Bishnoi was even more vociferous in his attack on the Hooda government, especially its much-publicised deal with Reliance to set up a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in the state.

There have been speculations that Mr Bhajan Lal would quit the Congress and float a new party but the veteran leader has so far scotched such rumours.

The CBI raids at offices and residences of former Chief Minister and Indian National Lok Dal supremo Om Prakash Chautala and his two sons Ajay and Abhay Chautala on May four also made headlines.

The CBI, which has registered cases against the former chief minister for acquiring wealth beyond his known sources of income, conducted raids at 21 places in Delhi, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chandigarh.

The Bureau claimed to have unearthed properties worth Rs 1,400 crore during these raids conducted at a time when Mr Chautala was away in the United States undergoing treatment.

The Hooda government meanwhile went ahead with its industrialisation drive in the face of two-pronged criticism -- by the opposition as well as dissident Congressmen -- and finalised the SEZ deal with Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL).

Besides, an MoU was signed with Hotmail founder Sabeer Bhatia to set up a Nano City in the state.

The goverment also had some embarrassing moments when cabinet Minister Venod Sharma had to resign following the re-trial of his son Manu Sharma in the Jessica Lal murder case in the Delhi High Court.

The government also announced a number of steps to uplift socio-economic status of all sections of the society and special thrust was given to boost education in rural areas.

North India's first ever Women University was set up at Khanpur Kalan in Sonepat district and Deen Bandhu Sir Chhotu Ram State College of Engineering, Murthal was upgraded as a University of Science and Technology through a legislation.

The Government got work initiated on two major canals in the state. These were Rs 260 crore Bhakra Main Line Hansi-Butana multi-purpose canal to ensure equitable distribution of canal water in the state and Rs 267 crore Dadupur Nalvi canal to basically recharge ground water.

In case of power sector, the 1000/1200 MW coal based plant at Hisar was put on track under the state sector. An MoU was signed between NTPC, Haryana and Delhi to set up a 1500 MW plant in Jhajjar from which Haryana and Delhi would get 750 MW each.

Towards the end of the year, the Chief Minister led an official-cum-business delegation to five European countries including Netherlands, France, Germany, UK and Spain and succeeded in reaping an investment of Rs 12,000 crore.

UNI