India – Haryana – Indian National Lok Dal – Congress Party – Political Violence – Kumari Shelja – State Protection
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Refugee Review Tribunal AUSTRALIA RRT RESEARCH RESPONSE Research Response Number: IND34729 Country: India Date: 29 April 2009 Keywords: India – Haryana – Indian National Lok Dal – Congress Party – Political violence – Kumari Shelja – State protection This response was prepared by the Research & Information Services Section of the Refugee Review Tribunal (RRT) after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the RRT within time constraints. This response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. This research response may not, under any circumstance, be cited in a decision or any other document. Anyone wishing to use this information may only cite the primary source material contained herein. Questions 1. Please provide information on the current leadership and activities of the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) in Haryana. 2. Have there been any reports of INLD supporters in Haryana being targeted or harmed by Congress Party supporters? 3. Please provide any available information on the politician Kumari Shelja, her history and her activities. 4. To what extent is state protection available to members of the INLD and others in Haryana who experience political violence? RESPONSE 1. Please provide information on the current leadership and activities of the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) in Haryana. The Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) in Haryana is led by former chief minister Om Prakash Chautala. In order to challenge the ruling Congress party in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, the INLD has formed a new alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), following the disbandment of the previous INLD-BJP alliance in the 2004 elections, which had negative political consequences for both parties: …In the outgoing Lok Sabha, the Congress had nine seats while the Sonipat seat was won by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). That election result had come almost one year before the Congress government came into power with a thumping three-fourth majority in the 90-member assembly. Repeating or bettering the nine out of 10 Lok Sabha seats performance of 2004 will not be an easy task for the Congress this time. The Congress had polled over 42 percent votes in the 2004 general elections while it got 42.46 percent votes in the 2005 assembly polls. "We will win all the 10 seats this time. Our government has been development and people oriented. The state has not seen so much change in many years," Hooda said. But the opposition alliance of the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) led by former chief minister Om Prakash Chautala and the BJP have geared themselves to put up a good fight to the Congress. The INLD and BJP, which had been in an alliance prior to the 2004 general elections, had split and both suffered the political consequences. For this general election, both have got together to consolidate their votebank. "We will sweep this election. People are completely fed up with the policies of the Hooda government. This election will be a referendum on the present government," INLD leader Ajay Singh Chautala said (‘Haryana's Lok Sabha battle is for a bigger war’ 2009, Indo-Asian News Service, 20 April – Attachment 1). The polling for the current elections in Haryana will take place on 7 May 2009, and the results are due for release on 16 May 2009 (‘Constituencies: Haryana’ (undated) Indian Elections website http://www.indian-elections.com/haryana/index.html - Accessed 28 April 2009 - Attachment 2). In the current elections, the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) has nominated five candidates for the Lok Sabha seats it will share with the BJP in Haryana. The INLD- BJP combine will share ten seats, with the BJP announcing nominees for the districts of Ambala, Karnal, Sonepat, Gurgaon and Faridabad; and the INLD nominating candidates for Hisar (former Finance Minister Sampat Singh), Kurukshetra (INLD State President Ashok Arora), Sirsa (Dabwali MLA Sita Ram), Rohtak (Nafe Singh Rathee), and Bhiwani-Mahendragarh (INLD Secretary General Ajay Singh Chautala) (‘INLD announces candidates for 2 LS seats’ 2009, UNI (United News of India), 27 March – Attachment 3; Ahuja, R. 2009, ‘INLD names candidates for polls’, The Hindu, 30 March – Attachment 4; ‘210 in fray for 10 seats in Haryana’ 2009, The Hindu, 23 April – Attachment 5). An article dated 23 April 2009 indicates that INLD candidate for Kurukshetra, Ashok Arora, may be a strong contender for the Parliamentary seat, which has previously been thought of as “a safe seat for Congress.” INLD is giving a tough fight to Congress in the prestigious Kurukshetra constituency which was considered a safe seat for Congress. After the withdrawal of nominations there are 14 candidates left to fight out the elections for Kurukshetra Parliamentary seat. These include sitting MP Navin Jindal of Congress Ashok Arora President of state unit of INLD, Jaswant Singh of Haryana Congress (BL) Gurdial Sinfgh Saini of BSP Shri Pardhan of Samajwadi Party and 9 independent candidates. The main fight is between Ashok Arora of INLD and sitting MP Naveen Jindal of Congress. The other candidates of political parties and independents do not stand any chance to win the seat but they can damage the chances of main contenders. …Ashok Arora is highlighting the water and power problems being faced by the residents in the last five years. He is also highlighting the work done by him as transport Minister in Chutala Government. He claims that that in the present Congress regime no one from area got any job in Government department. [H]e is touring dozens of villages every day. Sources in INLD say that Kailasho Devi ex MP, who had been keeping aloof from the party activities after she was denied the ticket, has now come out in full support of the party candidate Ashok Arora. Sainis are in a large number in the constituency and their support is crucial for any party to do well (Gupta, V. K. 2009, ‘INLD gives tough time to Congress in Kurukshetra’, Punjab Newsline, 23 April http://www.punjabnewsline.com/content/view/16194/ - Accessed 28 April 2009 – Attachment 6). INLD Secretary General Ajay Singh Chautala, grandson of former deputy Prime Minister, the late Devi Lal, is considered to be “a mass leader to reckon with” who “is nowadays becoming the first choice of the public of State in campaigning and rallies” (‘Ajay Chautala emerges as star campaigner for INLD-BJP’ 2009, The Pioneer, 1 March – Attachment 7). Also the son of former Haryana chief minister Om Prakash Chautala, Ajay Chautala was instrumental in the organization of the INLD’s month long 600km protest march, which aimed to emphasise the INLD’s opposition to the ruling Congress government in Haryana. Ajay believes that the Congress party’s rule in Haryana has resulted in “mayhem prevailing in the state. Police is engaging in fake encounters, killing innocent people and indulging in various corrupt activities. The government is also busy in accumulating money by grabbing poor farmers' land, imposing new and increased taxes” (‘Indian National Lok Dal to start anti- government march’ 2009, India Info website, 11 January http://news.indiainfo.com/2009/01/11/0901111452_indian_national_lok_dal_start_ant i-government_march.html - Accessed 24 April 2009 - Attachment 8). On completion of the 30-day foot march, the INLD demanded the dismissal of the Congress government: Haryana’s main opposition Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) Thursday ended its 30- day, 600-km foot march across the state and its chief Ajay Chautala submitted a memorandum to Governor A.R. Kidwai, demanding dismissal of the Congress government. Ajay Chautala, INLD secretary general and son of former chief minister Om Parkash Chautala, was accompanied by over 50 supporters as he reached the Raj Bhawan and met the governor. “We have urged the governor to dismiss the government of Bhupinder Singh Hooda with immediate effect. We have made him aware of the mayhem prevailing all over the state under the Congress rule,” Ajay Chautala told mediapersons outside the Raj Bhawan. The Jan Akrosh Padyatra, or march to give voice to people’s resentment, covered 11 districts. It was organised by INLD in collaboration with the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) to protest against the state government. With the culmination of the foot march, a massive rally was organised later Thursday. It will be addressed by NDA leaders including Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Rajnath Singh, Janata Dal-United (JD-U) chief Sharad Yadav, and Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal apart from Om Parkash Chautala. Party supporters from across Haryana started gathering at the venue of the rally here since early morning. “We are expecting nearly 100,000 people at the rally. It could be the biggest rally in the history of Haryana,” INLD spokesman Ram Brar told IANS” (‘INLD completes foot march, demands Hooda government’s dismissal’ 2009, Thaindian News, 12 February http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/uncategorized/inld-completes-foot- march-demands-hooda-governments-dismissal_100154239.html - Accessed 24 April 2009 – Attachment 9). In addition, the INLD launched a new campaign in Haryana in March, which aimed to “reach out” to all voters in the districts of Haryana. The INLD leaders who have been placed in charge of the campaign in various districts are outlined in the following article: The opposition Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) has decided to start its campaign for the Lok Sabha elections in the state by launching a “Chalo matdata ki or” (let’s go to the voters) from March 12. …INLD president Ashok Arora said under the election campaign, the party will try to reach out to each and every voter in all the districts and Vidhan Sabha constituencies of the state. Under this plan, separate party coordinators have been named to lead the election campaign.