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Wednesday,
September 11, 2002,
Chandigarh, India  
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NC, PDP trade charges on poster war BORDER CONSTITUENCIES 9 new faces in NC list for
S. Kashmir Panthers to launch movement 264 left in fray for second phase poll |
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Common issue, but not candidates JSM not to withdraw nominees Revoke transfer orders: Election panel Schools to remain closed for week 5 Pak soldiers killed AWWA’s gesture to Gujarat victims 162 Bangladeshis arrested
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NC, PDP trade charges on poster war Jammu, September 10 The state government functionaries attribute it to the militants on the plea that they have already given a call for poll boycott. According to them they are now circulating posters to issue threats of death to those who cast their votes, attend the pre-poll rallies and those who woo voters’ support by word of mouth. However, the PDP circles have put the blame on the National Conference saying that the ruling party, unnerved by the poor response of voters to their pre-poll rallies, has started creating a scare among the electorate because it is banking on poor polling as the key to its victory. The PDP leaders, including Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, say that NC leaders were using three “Ms”, money, muscle power and militants, to keep the voters away from the polling booths. Others alleged that the NC had set up a separate cell for framing and printing of posters issuing threats to the voters if they participated in the poll process. And to make these posters credible, they are being shown to have been issued by the Hizbul Mujahideen. In the meantime, the Army authorities have confirmed reports that militant groups, with the assistance of agencies across the border, were planning to scare away people, especially the voters, from the polling stations. This confirmation has been received through an intercepted message. According to a spokesman for the Northern Command, the intercepted message indicated discomfiture on the part of the militants and Pak agencies over the enthusiasm people have shown towards the poll process. The interception has revealed that militants have geared up their activities to tell people not to take part in the elections. “There is a lot of progress on people. We have also told the people not to take part in the elections. I think 20 per cent people will take part in the elections,” said the voice from Kashmir while informing at the other end about the latest ground situation. The voice from the other end said “keep up the pressure on them.” The man in Kashmir replied, “I have already sent letters to those members who are taking part in the election.” The voice from across the border sent a firm direction telling the agent, “OK. Make a good plan to carry out explosions during the election.” The ruling NC circles feel a bit upset over the Opposition charge trying to involve “our workers in the circulation of posters carrying death threats to those taking part in the polling.” A senior NC leader said, “We have no reason to indulge in such gimmicks. Our stand is clear. We have opposed militancy and those supporting it. We have not been hypocrites like some opposition leaders who favour dialogue with the militants and the separatists.” He said the PDP leaders were trying to involve the NC in the circulation of posters issue simply to find a cover for their possible defeat in the election. Meanwhile, security experts were convinced that a day or two before the polling days, militants would carry out a series of bomb and grenade or IED explosions to force the voters to remain indoors. |
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BORDER CONSTITUENCIES Suchetgarh (Jammu), September 10 Though some of the migrants have returned to their villages, a majority of them continue to eke out their living by working as labourers. These three constituencies with a total electorate of over 20 lakh have 45 candidates in the field, 16 in Bishna, 13 in R.S. Pora and 16 in Suchetgarh. It is a multicornered contest in each constituency but the primary players are those nominated by the Congress, the BJP, the State Morcha, the NC, the PDP and some Independents. In this constituency the main contest is between five candidates belonging to the BJP, the Congress, the PDP, the BSP and the National Conference. All three major parties have changed their candidates. The BJP has fielded Mr R.S. Chib who resigned from the National Conference recently. The National Conference has fielded Mr Taran Jeet Singh and the BSP Mr Mohan Singh. However, the Congress has retained Mr Gharoo Ram who had lost to the BJP candidate in 1996 by 136 votes. Though at present Mr Gharoo Ram has the edge over his rival, the entry of Mr R.S. Chib as the BJP candidate and Mr Trilok Singh Bajwa as the PDP candidate have posed a serious challenge to him. This time the NC candidate, Mr Taran Jeet Singh, is not as much a weakling as the party candidate was in 1996 when the NC polled only 719 votes out of the 30,161 votes polled. Mr
C.L. Sharma, a tea seller, said “the contest in this constituency is going to be neck-and-neck along the Congress, the PDP the BJP, the NC and the
BSP. In the 1996 poll the BSP candidate had finished fourth with 4968 votes. Besides the Congress support Mr Gharoo Ram being a Jat banks on the community votes whose number is sizeable like the Rajputs. But Mr Trilok Singh
Bajwa, also a Jat, has one advantage over his rivals. As president of the Kisan Union be has rendered great help to several thousand border migrants. Kapoor Singh, a migrant from Abdullian village, camping in government school building in
R.S. Pora, along with over 400 villagers, said “Trilok opened free langar for us. He provided fodder for our cattle. He is our preference and next to him is Gharoo Ram.” Another border refugee, Satya Devi said. “We will vote despite our prolonged tribulations. We have been ditched by all political leaders as nobody fulfilled our promises. We have not made our choice yet.” Mr
R.S. Chib, the BJP candidate, who has contested from this seat unsuccessfully for the past several years, said. “I am confident this time.” “I will win hand down as anti-BJP voters will be divided,” he said adding that “voters remember my services.” In the adjoining
R.S. Pora constituency, which has been a stronghold of the Congress, the party candidate, Mrs Suman Lata Bhagat has the edge over her 12 other rivals. The reason being that she is the daughter-in-law of legendary Bhagat Chajju Ram, a former minister, who was elected several times from this constituency. According to Mr Amar Singh, Congress block President, the party had lost the seat to Mr Ram Chand of the BSP because the Congress had fielded a wrong candidate. He said that a sizeable number of SC voters had helped the BSP poll 13,379 votes against 11,850 by the Congress in 1996 indicating that the Congress was a force to reckon with in
R.S. Pora. He said “the party has made the right choice this time.” This border belt has several thousand refugees from a Pakistan occupied Kashmir and West Pakistan. They have been given evacuee land houses which they in occupation since 1947-48. They have been enraged by the recent government SRP-215 under which the rent of the houses has been raised by 15 per cent and that of the agricultural land by 40 per cent. Mr Amar Singh, Mr Chiranji Lal said. “We will punish the NC for this order by voting in favour of any non-NC candidate. “They said the Resettlement Act, under which those who migrated to Pakistan could get back their citizenship rights and property if they returned to Jammu and Kashmir and unemployment will effect the NC in the poll.” In the Bishna constituency the NC candidate Kamal Verma is facing a strong threat from the state Morcha candidate, Mr Ashwani Sharma. In the 1996 poll he was an Independent candidate as the Congress denied him the ticket. This time also he was an aspirant for the Congress ticket after he was denied the ticket the RSS led State Morcha adopted him and nominated him its candidate. He had the edge over the Congress candidate, Mr Jagdish Raj
Dubey, who had won the seat as a Janata Dal candidate in 1996 poll. Later he joined the Congress. Bishna has not changed. Broken roads, poor sanitation and lack of basic amenities are being openly attributed to the poor performance of Mr
Dubey. His children are carrying out the Congress campaign as people are “angry” against Mr
Dubey. In 1996 the BSP had finished second with 9057 votes against the winning candidate, Mr Dubey, who had polled 10,941. But this time the BSP stands split. The most effective candidate of the party, Captain Hari Chand is in the field as a candidate of BSP Morcha and the BSP has fielded Mr Girdharai Lal Bhagat. Here Kamal Verma of the NC is not a lightweight as he had secured 7239 votes as an Independent candidate in 1996. As the NC candidate he has a fighting chance. But if the BSP Morcha lends secret support to the state Morcha Mr Ashwani Sharma can make it to the ribbon. It is in this constituency that the BJP too can play a vital role if it lends sincere support to the State Morcha candidate. There are over 77,000 electorate in this constituency and Brahmin voters can tilt the scale if they vote enbloc for any particular candidate. The contest in all these three constituencies is going to be keen. |
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9 new faces in NC list for S. Kashmir Srinagar, September 10 In a list of party candidates released today, more than half of candidates for 16 constituencies in the two districts are new faces, including a woman. For the first time the party released the list separately for the districts in the Jammu region and the Kashmir valley which are going to the polls in the third phase. The party had released the list for Udhampur and Kathua districts of the Jammu region on September 8. However, three ministers — Bashir Ahmad Nengroo (Pulwama), Sakina Itoo (Noorabad) and Ghulam Ahmad Shah (Devsar) — retained party tickets from their home constituencies in Pulwama and Anantnag districts. The new faces are: G.N. Bhat (Tral), Ghulam Nabi Bhat (Pampore), Ashia Nishat (Wachi), Ghulam Nabi Dar (Kulgam), Firdous Ahmad Tantray (Homeshalibug), Mehboob Beg (Anantnag), Syed Manzoor Ahmad (Dooru), Haji Abdul Gani Veri (Bijbehara) and Mohammad Rafi Mir (Pahalgam). Dr Mehboob Beg, son of former Deputy Chief Minister and close lieutenant of Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah, Mirza Afzal Beg, and Haji Abdul Gani Veri had contested the elections earlier. All new faces are facing the electorate for the first time. Prominent among those dropped are Mustaq Ahmad (Pampore), Gul Mohd Rafiqui (Homeshalibug), former minister, Safdar Ali Beg (Anantnag) and Abdul Kabir Bhat (Pahalgam). The NC has fielded a candidate, Mr G.N. Dar, from the Kulgam constituency, where it had supported the CPM candidate, Mr M.Y. Tarigami, in the 1996 elections.
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Panthers to launch movement Jammu, September 10 Releasing the manifesto here today, Mr Bhim Singh, Chairman of the party, warned that further exploitation of the Jammu region by the Kashmir rulers would not be tolerated. The movement would be launched in the same spirit as was done by the ruling National Conference (NC) in 1942 by launching the “quit Kashmir” movement against the Dogra rulers. The manifesto rejected the autonomy demand of the NC and the Congress on the grounds that any more autonomy to the state would amount to secession from the rest of the country. The draconian Resettlement Act, providing for the resettlement of Pakistanis here, would be abolished and an inquiry ordered to probe the assets of the present Chief Minister, Dr Farooq Abdullah, and all former Chief Ministers. The wealth spent on constructing his palatial house at Bhatindi here by Dr Abdullah would be thoroughly investigated, he said. The Panthers Party would initiate a dialogue with the genuine representatives of Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) to seek a peaceful and honourable resolution of the Kashmir situation. Steps would be taken to include the Dogri language in the eighth schedule and discrimination would be stopped by giving full representation to all sections of the society in the legislature, judiciary and administration. Basohli town in Kathua district would be connected with Himachal Pradesh and Punjab and a ferry service would be introduced. Mr Bhim Singh announced candidates for 15 constituencies of the Kashmir valley. |
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264 left in fray for second phase poll Jammu, September 10 The polling in these constituencies is scheduled for September 24. The highest number of contestants is 165 in Jammu district, followed by 70 in Srinagar district and 29 in Budgam district. A total number of 23.34 lakh voters are to decide the fate of these candidates. Of these, over 9.37 lakh are women voters. The highest number of electorate is in Jammu district having over 10.93 lakh voters. Srinagar and Budgam districts have together 60,126 migrant voters who are entitled to vote in polling stations set up outside the valley. Of these, over 56,000 voters are from the 10 constituencies in Srinagar district. The largest number of them are from the Habba Kadal constituency followed by over 11,000 in Amirakadal constituency. The lowest number is in the Beerwah constituency of Budgam district where there are 426 migrant voters. Prominent politicians left in the fray in the second phase include President, National Conference, Mr Omar Abdullah, contesting from Ganderal after his father, Dr Farooq Abdullah bowed out of the contest, Mr Ghulam Mohiuddin Shah, Mian Altaf Ahmed, Mr Ali Mohammad Sagar, Mr Ajat Singh Shatru, Mr Abdul Rahim Rather, Mr S.S. Slathia, Mr Ajay Sadhotra and Mr Govind Ram Sharma, all ministers in the Council of Ministers headed by Dr Farooq Abdullah. From the opposition side include Mr Mangat Ram Sharma, vice president of the Congress and Ms Mehbooba Mufti vice president of the PDP. The Election Commission has set up 2,099 polling stations in three districts — 1092 Jammu, 702 in Srinagar and 305 in Budgam district. During the scrutiny, nomination papers of 19 candidates, 13 from Jammu, five from Budgam and one from Srinagar, were found invalid. In the 28 constituencies, where polling is to be held on September 24, 16 sitting MLAs have been repeated by the National Conference and the Congress. While the BJP has replaced two MLAs the National Conference has not given party mandate to six sitting
MLAs. |
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Common issue, but not candidates Jammu, September 10 Polling for the first phase of the elections will be held on September 16, but at least four parties demanding statehood for Jammu have fielded candidates against each other. All these parties are trying to score a point and in the process the issue will be hit hard as the votes are bound to get divided. The seat adjustment between the BJP and the Jammu State Morcha (JSM) was announced after a meeting at the residence of the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, in Delhi last month, but both parties have fielded their candidates against each other. The Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party chief, Mr Bhim Singh, who had been trying to hammer out an understanding between another front of three parties demanding statehood for Jammu, himself came out with the demand in the manifesto of his own party. However, Mr Dhan Raj Bargotra, president of the Janata Dal (Secular), withdrew from the contest in the Nagrota constituency yesterday to prevent division of votes of the parties demanding statehood for Jammu. The state Panthers Party, which had split from Mr Bhim Singh’s party sometime ago, has also jumped into the poll arena with the demand of statehood for Jammu. With different parties contesting against each other but with an identical manifesto the confusion is more on the three seats of Jammu city as the BJP has fielded its candidates against the JSM. The town is considered as a stronghold of the RSS and the BJP. The RSS is backing the JSM and a situation of conflict between the two parties has been emerging here. The BJP, which had entered a seat adjustment pact with the JSM, was, however, against the demand of statehood for Jammu or trifurcation of the state. The National Conference and the Congress have also rejected the demand and have opted for greater autonomy for the three regions of the state. The JSM has alleged that the Jammu region is being given a stepmotherly treatment by the successive Kashmir-dominated state governments and the solution lies only in its separation from Kashmir. Although, the parties demanding statehood for Jammu quote the example of Ladakh where both candidates of the Ladakh Union Territory Front (LUTF) backed by all opposition parties have been elected to the Assembly unopposed, however, none of them is willing to make any adjustments among themselves for the demand of statehood for Jammu. |
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JSM not to withdraw nominees Jammu, September 10 The three candidates of the JSM, Mr Tilak Raj Sharma (Jammu East), Mr Virender Gupta (Jammu West) and Mr Omkar Seth (Gandhinagar) addressed a joint press conference here and accused the BJP of having fielded candidates on the seats earmarked for the JSM. They said the JSM had entered only into a seat adjustment with the BJP and not a poll alliance. They pointed out that though the JSM candidates had filed their nominations in these constituencies, the BJP fielded Mr Ashok Khajuria, a sitting MLA, in the Jammu (East) and a candidate of the Akali Dal in Gandhinagar. A sitting MLA of the BJP, Mr Hans Raj Dogra, filed his papers as an Independent in Jammu (West). Mr Virender Gupta said the efforts of the JSM to unite parties on the issue of consolidating pro-Jammu votes did not yield encouraging results. Mr Tilak Raj Sharma said people were disappointed with national parties which had always treated Jammu as a sacrificial goat. He alleged irregularities in preparation of voters’ identity cards. In most of the cases a sum of Rs 15 against each card was not being reimbursed to voters, he added. The leaders said it appeared as if the ruling National Conference and the Congress had started speaking in the similar voice on the issue of greater autonomy as had been described in their manifestos. Both parties were having similar views on the controversial Resettlement Act which provided for return of Pakistani nationals to the state. These issues would have serious repercussions on residents of the Jammu and Ladakh regions. They said the Jammu region couldn’t develop till it was part of Kashmir. |
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Revoke transfer orders: Election panel Srinagar, September 10 In a wireless
message to Commissioner Secretary Sports, Chief Electoral Officer Pramod Jain said the order passed on August 2, rescinding the transfer order of nine officers passed on April 4, was a violation of the model code of conduct, the sources said. In an earlier order, the Election Commission had clarified that the status quo as existing on August 1 should be maintained. The model code of conduct came into force on August 2 with the Election Commission announcing the poll schedule for the state and all administration orders have to be cleared only through the commission.
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Schools to remain closed for week Srinagar, September 10 An official spokesman said the schools would remain closed from September 11 in the border districts of Kupwara, Baramula, Kargil, Poonch and Rajouri. The Election Commission had approved a system of printing an additional outer seal for sealing the result section of the control unit of the electronic voting machines so that this portion could not be opened till the counting was taken up and any attempt to do so was immediately detected.
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5 Pak soldiers killed Kargil, September 10 The sources said five Pakistani troops and three civilians were killed in the Astor area across the Line of Control when the Indian troops retaliated to Pakistan’s heavy artillery shelling. The sources said the jawan was killed on Sunday in the Dras sector when a Pakistani shell hit the supply depot where he was working.
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AWWA’s gesture to Gujarat victims Jammu, September 10 The money has been handed over to the Self-Employed Women’s Association in Ahmedabad for development programmes, particularly those involving women and children. |
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162 Bangladeshis arrested Jammu, September 10 The Bangladeshis, including 64 children and 39 women, were arrested in Badial Bhranwar village, 4 km from the international border.
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