Civic polls and after Elections to seven municipal corporations,billed as a warmup for the Lok Sabha and assembly polls next year,have seen the main opposition parties failing to win a single corporation. It is the Congress that has claimed victory in all seven,though it had officially not contested while allowing its local leaders to do so without the party symbol. The BJP and the Indian National Lok Dal had contested on their symbols,but separately; an alliance would have won them Yamunanagar. The Haryana Janhit Congress too had denied the symbol to its candidates,who fared poorly even in leader Kuldip Bishnois hometown of Hisar,winning one ward in 20. The Congress,for all its victory claims,saw its candidate lose in Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hoodas home ward. Birender vs Hooda Rajya Sabha member Birender Singh had seemed to have softened towards Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda after the Congress nominated the former to the upper house,but the patch-up has turned out to be brief. Last week,Singh demanded that Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment Kumari Selja,one of Hoodas fiercest critics,be made president of the state unit of the party. Present state chief Phool Chand Mullana had offered to resign following the partys dismal performance in 2009 polls,but thanks to Hoodas support he still holds that post. Hoodas opponents have frequently been making demands in public for Mullanas removal,before Singh joined the chorus. Realty crackdown The government has cracked the whip on real estate developers in the National Capital Region who have defaulted on payments. Two major housing projects have been handed notices cancelling their licences for failing to pay their dues in time. The state government had given a long time to these developers but they failed to respond to notices and their pending dues now run into several lakhs. A dozen more are in the firing line as the town and country planning department cracks down on developers thriving in the NCR and yet defaulting on dues. CMs principal secy The chief ministers principal secretary,Chhatar Singh,completes his three-month extension next month. Bhupinder Singh Hooda has already indicated who the successor will be,having appointed Sudeep Singh Dhillon as additional principal secretary. There are,however,others who fancy their chances.
