Rasta Aur Basta

CM Khattar during his  Jan Aashirwaad Yatra in Karnal.  (Image: Karnal Breaking News) With the slogan of ’75 plus’ and a target of winning his constituency Karnal with one lakh plus margin’, Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar kicked-off his campaign for assembly elections from Karnal in the last week of September. Local leaders had told Khattar to focus on the other parts of the state and forget about Karnal. Party leaders had assured him of a hefty campaign and a comfortable victory. In 2014, when the city voted for him as an MLA, he received 58.78 percent of votes and won with a margin of 63,773 votes. The voter turnout was 67.80 percent in the city. While in 2019 elections, Khattar bagged away 63.72 percent of total votes and won with a margin of 45,188   votes. But the victory margin of one lakh couldn’t be achieved.             The voter turnout in the state was 63.84 percent but only 52.29 percent of voters cast their votes in Karnal. BJP has built strong cadre nat

During 10 years of his rule, Hooda made Rohtak, Sonipat, and Jhajjar his fortress. (Image: @INCHaryana on Twitter)  In 2005, a new page was added to the political history of Haryana when Bhupender Singh Hooda became the 9 th Chief Minister of the state. Son of a freedom fighter, Ranbir Singh, who was also the prominent face of political circles in Rohtak, also contested from Kiloi a couple of times. But Bhupinder didn’t get the state’s throne because of his family, he earned it. While Hooda, who contested from Garhi Sampla-Kiloi, himself got 65.82 of vote share and won with 58074 votes, highest vote margin in the state. A month after factional changes, Congress performed well in the recently concluded elections winning 31   seats and getting 28.1 percent of vote share under the leadership of Kumari Selja and Hooda. Once again he is branded as an unchallenged Jat leader in the region. Senior Journalist from Rohtak and author of book ‘Chaudhar ki Raajniti’, Dr. Satish

CM Manohar Lal Khattar with Deputy CM Dushyant Chautala and Governor Satyadev Narayan Arya after the swearing-in ceremony. (Image: Twitter) After hours of speculations and political tussle, ruling BJP (with 40 seats) switched an alliance with ten-month-old Jannayak Janata Party (with 10 seats) and seven independents, taking the tally to 57, much beyond the half-way majority mark of 46 in the assembly. On Sunday, BJP’s Manohar Lal Khattar and JJP’s Dushyant Chautala took oath as Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister respectively at the Haryana Raj Bhawan.   Winning three consecutive elections after assuming power in the state in 2014 and an improved vote-share, the question remains. Is this the victory, BJP was aiming for? Here, I explored few prominent reasons for “a victory that isn’t”    Former Ministers Ram Bilas Sharma, Captain Abhimanyu, and O.P. Dhankar (L to R) at the swearing-in ceremony. Eight out of ten ministers lost their seats in the elections. (Im

Founded in December 2018, Jannayak Janata Party (JJP), an off-shoot of the farmer rights driven Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) is giving sleepless nights to Congress and INLD. On atleast 45-50 seats out of 90 assembly seats, JJP is also giving a close fight to the ruling Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP). Led by former Hisar MP Dushyant Chautala, JJP fought its first election in January 2019, Jind by-poll. Dushyant's brother Digvijay stood second as an independent, supported by the party since its registration was pending with the Election Commission. JJP's splendid debut performance was evident with many leaders braking away from INLD to join the newly formed party. Parting ways from the party, Dushyant had alleged that his uncle and younger son of party supremo Om Prakash Chautala, Abhay Singh Chautala misbehaved with him on many occasions. Dushyant's father, Ajay Chautala is in jail for JBT scam with OP Chautala. Dushyant grew from youngest MP to one of the senior lea

     With infants playing on tracks and encroachments getting closer, Hazrat Nizamuddin (NZN) Parikarma EMU crosses through Dayabasti, one of the few stations on Delhi’s “Ring Rail” network. Passing through some busy stations like New Delhi, Tilak Bridge, Kirti Nagar and Patel Nagar, this train operates twice a day, at 8 am and at 4:45 am from HZN and comes back to HZN itself doing “Parikarma.” The Delhi ring rail has a network of 21 stations and fetches around 4000 commuters daily.   For an adventurous ride, I boarded the EMU from Lodi Colony Station near INA Market. In the times of online ticket booking, I received a ticket on hardboard. Nostalgia? Yes! For a second, I went back like Sands of time. More than a decade back travelled from Karnal to Panipat in Rs 5 with the same ticket.        “Metro fares are really high now, the train is affordable. Earlier there used to be two more trains in the evening, but now there is only one train for office commuters. I fade

A student glancing at a notice board in Hansraj College Admission process for the first cutoff in the Delhi University ended Monday with at least 22.5% seats for undergraduate courses have been filled so far by Sunday. Miranda House saw the maximum number of admissions on first two days with BA (Honours) Political Science being the first choice, a media report suggests. Hindu, Hansraj, Stephens, SRCC, Ramjas…. are few colleges every student seeks admission to for undergraduate courses. With second cut-off to be out by Wednesday,  RastaAurBasta   went to DU’s North Campus and met some students to know their choices and miseries. Some anxious and some upset faces marked the last day of admissions for first cut off. Vinayak from Chittorgarh in Rajasthan scored 97.4% and has applied for BA (Honours) English in politically charged Ramjas College. “I am still waiting for confirmation as they have taken more students than the designated seats for the course. Let’s see”,

Savita is 68 and still earning. She travels daily from Sarojini Nagar to Paharganj and segregates potatoes for unofficial shift spanning across 8 hours. Having shifted from Nagpur around 15 years ago after her husband died of illness because of no money for treatment; she sleeps at a room of 10*10 provided by owners where she worked as domestic help for many years. “I came to Delhi with my two daughters, one in palms, in search for job” she said. “I’m living at the chawl near S.N. Depot from last one decade.” I offered her tea from one of the best tea seller at Minto Road Bus Terminal, to make her more comfortable. On what was shot in the arm for me, was her daily earning being equal to my single meal coupon at Brahmaputra Hostel in JNU. “ Kitna kama leti ho?” I asked. “ Din ka 50-60 rupees kama leti hun beta, mere liye bahut hai!” she said. “ Khane ka ho jata hai bas. ”   During the stopover, before going back to Poorvanchal Hostel, conductor of DTC route no 615, was keen to

Lakharwala Gumbad after restoration in 2018 at the Sunder Nursery  A narrow lane in Nizamuddin East with big white tourist buses on one side and a long stretch of cars on the other, honking relentlessly, takes you to Sunder Nursery. Just opposite to the back gate of Humayun Tomb, few  jhalmuri  counters will welcome you. Tickets costing Rs 30 for Indians and Rs 150, Rs 300 for ASEAN countries and other foreign counties tourist respectively, luckily I was exempted for being “ministry  wala”.  Kids’ rolling down the grass slopes, few old ladies singing at kitty party and families sharing lunch- Sunder Nursery is now a new Sunday picnic spot for Delhiites. Spread across 90 acres this is a UNESCO World Heritage site in Delhi and has a small area dedicated to “Organic and Lifestyle’ Market.”  After reading about it in  Times of India , I planned to spoil my Sunday morning snooze, but counted it as one of the fascinating Sundays!   The ‘organic and lifestyle’ market: 9 am t

Fatehpuri Masjid near Khari Baoli “Roads no matter how they are, they are always a story. Some give rest to the tired feet, some make you dream beneath the stars: Saransh Goila .” Founded as Shahjahanabad in 1639, when Shah Jahan, the then Mughal Emperor, decided to shift his capital from Agra. Starting from Luthian Road near Kashmiri Gate and ending around Feroz Shah Kotla, the region is surrounded by railway tracks culminating at New Delhi and Delhi Railway Stations on one side and Yamuna River on the other. Enclosing four assembly segments, it holds a population of around 14 lakhs. Other than cheap prices and scope for high bargaining, what brings people here?   Bookseller on Asaf Ali Road at Daryaganj  WHY OLD DELHI?   Tucked itself almost at the center of the national capital, this is Delhi’s favorite place for finger-licking teekhi chaat and savoring Shahi Tukda. Hundreds of people squeezed into narrow lanes where one has to be careful of not step

Students from the north-eastern states holding a banner highlighting the demands. One cold noon of Parliament Street outside Jantar Mantar witnessed thousands of student-youth from across the country rallying from Lal Qila. More than 50 youth groups, student unions and organizations came together for the Young India Adhikar March on 7th February   and stormed the streets demanding education and dignified employment. “Fulfill all vacant govt. job positions before election or enable unemployment allowance of Rs 18000 per month; spend at least 10% GDP on education; ensure girls’ hostels and effective anti-sexual harassment cells; end saffronization of education and uphold academic freedom; reject 13 point roster system ! Fulfill constitutionally mandated reservations and enact Rohith Act immediately and waive off education loan” reads a pamphlet distributed prior to the march.     Fahdzinjani and his associates from AMU.  Near the front stage a tall, elegant man weari