Satya-Meo-Puram for votes

Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala is leaving no stone unturned to appease the electorate, especially after his INLD suffered a rout in the ...

Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala is leaving no stone unturned to appease the electorate, especially after his INLD suffered a rout in the Lok Sabha elections. The 20th district in the southern tip of the state has also come in the line of announcements by Chautala. Naming the new district was a difficult task for the CM, as he was trying his best to appease the Muslim population by creating a district dominated by the Meos. And the Opposition was sharpening its knives in case a Meo district was created. This was when one of Chautala’s aides had a brainwave. ‘‘Why not name it Satyamevpuram? At least, while pronouncing the name of the district, the word ‘meo’ would remind Muslims of the favour done by the Chautala government,’’ it was suggested. Satyamev Jayate!

Return of the prodigal

Former Haryana CM Bansi Lal, who had parted ways with the Congress and threatened many a journalists with defamation cases if they reported that he was rejoining the Congress, has meekly returned home. Bansi Lal has reportedly tried to brave the criticism over his rejoining the Congress by saying,‘‘Mein Congressi, mera baap Congressi and mera beta Congressi.’’

But his protestations have not deterred his detractors from reminding one and all about Bansi Lal’s diatribe on the issue of Sonia Gandhi’s foreign origin in the recent past. And also that before he floated the HVP in 1991, he had accused the former PM Rajiv Gandhi of ‘‘childish behaviour’’ and had preferred expulsion than backtracking on the statement. But the same Bansi Lal has now put his stamp of approval on his party’s merger with the Congress. Politics does make for strange bedfellows.

Cyber City takes shape

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The proposed DLF Cyber City is no more a dream project for the Om Prakash Chautala government. This much-hyped project had landed in rough weather after the Opposition had accused the government of acquiring 19.05 acres in Nathupur village at a throwaway price to be handed over to the DLF for developing the Cyber City.

Youth Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala first drew attention to irregularities in the project by leading a delegation to the Governor and raising doubts over the government’s ‘‘intentions’’. The government, meanwhile, has launched a manhunt to find out who had leaked the information on the land deal. This controversy was followed by another regarding the auction of commercial plots in Gurgaon. With elections near, the INLD is understandbly in need of funds, said one of Chautala’s detractors.