Haryana 2022: Elections Keep Netas Busy, Neighbours Bicker, Athletes Bring Home Medals

Haryana wants the construction of the canal completed; Punjab insists that it has no water to share and seeks a reassessment of the decades-old deal.

Days after the Adampur bypoll, the result of the panchayat polls for zila parishads came as a jolt to the BJP with the party winning just 22 seats out of the 102 wards it contested in seven districts on the party symbol.

Source : Representational Image/Getty

Chandigarh: From panchayat and municipal polls to the Adampur assembly bye-election and Rajya Sabha polls, elections kept the main political parties on their toes in Haryana the past year even if there is still time for the big 2024 contest.

There was bickering with the neighbouring state over sharing of resources -– land in common capital Chandigarh for a separate Haryana Vidhan Sabha building and water from the rivers flowing in Punjab.

The Assembly passed a Bill against religious conversion through force, undue influence or allurement with Haryana following the template of other BJP-ruled states, like Uttar Pradesh.

The sports powehouse did the nation proud again. Its players won 20 of the country's 61 medals at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games, and the state also won the overall championship trophy at the Khelo India Youth Games.

The ruling BJP-Jannayak Janta Party combine won control over 25 of the 46 municipal bodies for which the elections were held in June. The alliance followed this with victory in the Adampur assembly bypoll in November, when former chief minister Bhajan Lal's grandson and BJP candidate Bhavya Bishnoi bagged the seat.

Bhavya Bishnoi’s father Kuldeep Bishnoi had resigned in August as the Congress MLA from that constituency -- held by the Bhajan Lal family over the past five decades -- and later joined the BJP along with his son and wife.

Earlier, in June, Congress leader Ajay Maken failed to secure a Rajya Sabha berth from Haryana after Kuldeep Bishnoi, who was then still with the Congress, cross-voted.

Bishnoi had been sulking after the Congress ignored him for the post of its Haryana unit chief in a revamp, which saw former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda-loyalist Udai Bhan taking over the reins from Kumari Selja. The reorganisation strengthened Hooda's grip on the party’s state unit.

The infighting in the state unit also saw Kiran Choudhry take on the Hooda camp, saying those who think she can be confined to her home district Bhiwani are mistaken.

Days after the Adampur bypoll, the result of the panchayat polls for zila parishads came as a jolt to the BJP with the party winning just 22 seats out of the 102 wards it contested in seven districts on the party symbol.

Of the remaining seats, the Aam Aadmi Party and the Indian National Lok Dal won some. And several Congress-supported candidates also claimed victory though the party did not contest the panchayat polls on its symbol.

Haryana's proposed move to set up an additional building of its state assembly in Chandigarh faced stiff opposition from parties in neighbouring Punjab, including the ruling Aam Aadmi Party, the Congress and the Akali Dal.

Water sharing between the two neighbours too remained a contentious issue. Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and his Haryana counterpart Manohar Lal Khattar failed to reach an agreement on the Sutlej Yamuna Link canal.

Haryana wants the construction of the canal completed; Punjab insists that it has no water to share and seeks a reassessment of the decades-old deal.

Punjab based-Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee opposed the Haryana government move to set up a committee on similar lines to manage Sikh shrines in the state.

Though the Supreme Court has upheld the constitutional validity of Haryana's 2014 law on this, the SGPC wants to retain control and claimed that the move was meant to divide Sikhs.

Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, who is serving a 20-year jail term for raping two disciples, figured in a row over the online ‘satsangs’ he held while on parole. Some of these sessions were attended by BJP leaders including Deputy Speaker Ranbir Gangwa.

Sonipat-based Maiden Pharmaceuticals came under the scanner after the World Health Organisation flagged the possibility that the deaths of about 70 children in The Gambia could be linked to cough syrups manufactured by the company.

Five people died in Bhiwani’s Dadam stone mining zone in January after a landslide. Months later, Tauru Deputy Superintendent of Police Surender Singh was allegedly mowed down by a dumper truck during an operation to check illegal stone mining in Nuh.

At its 50th foundation day event, the JJP appeared unhappy with senior ally BJP over the non-fulfilment of a poll promise to double the old age pension from the current Rs 2,500 a month. But as of now there appears to be no reason for the the BJP and the JJP to part ways ahead of the assembly polls in 2024.

The General Election is also due that year, and the AAP has signalled its intention to try and make it big in the state. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal chose Hisar to launch his party’s “Make India No. 1” campaign. 

 

(This story is published as part of the auto-generated syndicate wire feed. No editing has been done in the headline or the body by ABP Live.)