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Thursday, September 19, 2002,
Chandigarh, India  
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Council for Jammu
possible: Sushma Campaigning at a low ebb
Defections
galore in J&K |
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‘Indifferent’ voters await polling day Higher polling in areas bordering PoK Centre will restore autonomy: Omar ‘Cong will bring peace to J&K’
Sonia arrives in Srinagar today Congress expels seven NC, JSM have
'secret pact’ Poll: educational institutions
to be closed
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Council for Jammu
possible: Sushma Jammu, September 18 Mrs Sushma Swaraj, who was talking to mediapersons here, said that the BJP and the Jammu State Morcha (JSM) were of the opinion that the successive governments, including the present National Conference regime of Dr Farooq Abdullah, had discriminated against the Jammu region. However, the BJP considers that the solution has to be found within the present framework by setting up a statutory regional council with administrative, financial and political powers to meet the aspirations of the people instead of trifurcation of the state. Mrs Swaraj, who is
campaigning for the BJP in Jammu district scheduled for polls on September 24, said the legislators of the BJP and the JSM would have an alliance. She said that various states had been reorganised. Three new states of Uttaranchal, Chhatisgarh and Jharkhand were carved out by the centre on the basis of resolutions passed by the respective state Assemblies. However, no such resolution has been passed by the J&K Assembly for a separate Jammu state. The other route for carving out a new state was with two thirds members of both Houses of Parliament adopting such a resolution. But the BJP alone does not have that majority, she said. She denied that the Centre was responsible for the discrimination against Jammu. Mrs Swaraj said that the current Assembly elections would be a milestone in the direction of solving the Kashmir problem. Earlier, Mr Chaman Lal Gupta, Minister of State for Defence Production, accused the successive governments of discriminating against the Jammu region. He said that the Gajenderagadkar Commission had suggested that development boards should be set up for balanced development of the three regions, but the recommendation was never accepted. |
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Campaigning at a low ebb Srinagar, September 18 Those in the fray seeking re-election from these districts, comprising the Srinagar Lok Sabha constituency, include the National Conference President, and Union Minister of State for External Affairs, Mr Omar Abdullah, and four ministers in the Farooq Abdullah Cabinet. They include the Housing and Urban Development Minister and the seniormost National Conference leader, Ghulam Mohiuddin Shah, from the Batamaloo constituency in Srinagar district. The others are the Works Minister, Ali Mohammad Sagar, from Khanyar and the Health Minister, Mian Altaf, from the Kangan constituency, all in Srinagar district. The Finance Minister, Mr Abdul Rahim Rather, is also seeking re- election from the Chrar-e-Sharief constituency in Budgam district. As many as 8,76,626 voters would decide the fate of 91 candidates in the fray for 15 Assembly segments in Srinagar and Budgam districts. In Srinagar district, 5,88,317 voters will decide the fate of 70 candidates in the fray for 10 Assembly constituencies. Similarly, in five Assembly segments of Budgam district, an electorate of 2,88,309 will decide the fate of 21 candidates. There are a total of 1,007 polling stations in the two districts, of which 702 have been set up in Srinagar district and 305 in Budgam district. There are 59,027 migrant voters in the 15 constituencies, of whom 55,533 belong to Srinagar district and 3494 to Budgam district. The highest number of migrant voters is 23,233 in Habbakadal, followed by 11,213 in Amirakadal in Srinagar district. The lowest number of 458 migrant voters is in the Zadibal constituency in Srinagar. Mr Omar Abdullah, who is already representing the Srinagar parliamentary constituency, is pitted against five other candidates in the Ganderbal constituency, represented by his father, Dr Farooq Abdullah, consecutively for three terms. This is regarded as the most prestigious constituency as it has elected Chief Ministers for four consecutive terms since 1977. The seniormost National Conference leader and minister, Ghulam Mohiuddin Shah, is pitted against eight other candidates, including four Independents in the Batamaloo constituency of Srinagar. The most interesting feature in the Amirakadal constituency is the fielding of the sitting NC MLA, Mohammad Shafi Bhat, this time by the opposition Congress party. He had been denied the ticket by the ruling National Conference following which joined the Congress. At present all 15 seats are represented by the ruling National Conference. The Habbakadal seat fell vacant following the death of the NC MLA and then Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Pyare Lal Handoo, last year. Of the 14 sitting members, the National Conference has given the ticket to nine members only. |
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Defections galore in J&K Jammu, September 18 The defectors included at least six sitting MLAs and three former ministers from major parties like the ruling NC, Congress and the BJP. The NC and the Congress witnessed defections by five leaders each while four left the BJP in the run up to the four-phased elections, primarily because of denial of ticket to contest the poll. Mr R.S. Sharma, sitting Congress MLA from the border Nowshera constituency of Rajouri district of Jammu region, had a peculiar reason for defecting to the NC prior to the poll. “The Congress has always remained in opposition in the state. Development work in this constituency, bordering Pakistan, cannot be done if the MLA is sitting in the opposition benches,” he said, justifying his defection to the NC. “The government support is essential to get things done and it will be easier if I am in the ruling party,” Mr Sharma said expressing confidence that the NC would emerge victorious in the elections. Jammu and Kashmir Congress President Ghulam Nabi Azad rubbished Mr Sharma’s argument alleging that the NC had “gone bankrupt” and was “depending on stolen candidates”. Another Congress stalwart to quit the party was a five-time MLA from the Nowshera constituency, Mr Beli Ram. Former minister and Congress spokesman Beli Ram quit ostensibly because of being ignored by the party for ticket and is now posing a challenge to Congress candidate Moula Ram as a Panthers Party candidate from the Raipur-Domana constituency. Incidentally, Mr Beli Ram’s son Romesh Chander Sharma is contesting as a Congress candidate from his native Nowshera constituency. Others to dump the party were Mr Ramesh Mottan, contesting against Congress nominee Suman Bhagat from the RS Pora constituency as a Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) candidate, the party secretary Mr Liyaqat Ali, contesting as an NC candidate from the Darhal constituency, and Mr Tasaduq Hussain, who is now a nominee of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) from Nowshera. The NC lost former minister RS Chib, who defected to the BJP and was contesting from the Suchetgarh constituency. Another former NC minister Rafeeq Khan quit the party to contest as an independent from the Mendhar constituency against NC’s official candidate Javed Rana. Sitting party MLA Mohammad Shafi Bhat resigned from the party after being denied ticket from his previous Amira Kadal constituency and is now a nominee of the Congress from the same seat. While quitting the party, Mr Bhat was particularly critical of newly-appointed NC President Omar Abdullah for denying him ticket, questioning the “youngster’s” knowledge of politics. Senior leader Hamid Manhas quit the NC and is pitted against party’s official nominee and MLA Mushtaq Bukhari. The BJP also had its share of defections, with three sitting MLAs quitting the party in the run up to the elections, primarily following the party’s “seat-adjustment” pact with the newly-floated RSS-backed Jammu State Morcha. Mr Prem Lal, MLA from Hiranagar, who deserted the BJP to join the NC, is now its candidate from the same constituency. Mr Hans Raj Dogra, MLA from Jammu (West), was expelled from the BJP after he rebelled and filed nominations from the same constituency as an independent against official party candidate. Chowdhary Sham Lal, a block president of the BJP, who left the party, is contesting as an Independent against party’s official nominee R.S. Chib from Suchetgarh. BJP MLA from Gandhinagar Piara Singh also quit the party to join the NC.
PTI |
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‘Indifferent’ voters await polling day Ganderbal, September 18 “It has been a victory for the first family of Kashmir in all the elections, but not for those who made it possible through voting”, said Abdul Rashid, a local resident, adding that the people were not able to approach their MLA even for the attestation of important documents. “For attestation they have to approach the Chief Minister for which one has to pass through a high security network”, adds Abdul Rashid. “We cannot meet our MLA for our problems. The tragedy is that for that we have to approach the Chief Minister” adds another resident. The Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister, Dr Farooq Abdullah, representing this constituency, was elected from here in 1983, 1987 and 1996. His father and founder of the National Conference, Sheikh Abdullah was also elected from here in 1977. This time, however, the Chief Minister opted out of the contest and paved the way for his son and the Union Minister of State for External Affairs, Mr Omar Abdullah, to contest the prestigious constituency. An electorate of 59,374 voters including 926 migrant voters, will decide the fate of Omar Abdullah and five others on September 24 for which 66 polling stations have been set up. Other candidates in the fray are Qazi Mohammad Afzal (PDP), Abdul Rashid (BJP), Peer Ali Shah (Awami League) and two Independents Abdul Rashid Rather and Ghulam Hassan Shah. Irrespective of their sympathy with any political party residents of the town, 25 km from Srinagar, lament over the dilapidated condition of the roads, poor drinking water facilities and power supply. “There are places in the area which present a picture of the 1930s”, said a bank employee from the area. The local power house, established in 1955, hardly generates 8 mw of power although it is one of the premier power projects after the Mohura power station near Baramula. “But that does not help us”, said Shabir Ahmad, a resident of the town. He adds that the people were “looking for both political and electric power” in the area. The area, like other parts of the valley, is categorised into five segments on the daily power cut schedule and has to face power cuts. Even as a number of the ruling National Conference workers move around in vehicles fitted with loudspeakers and wrapped in party flags in the area, the voter here seems to be indifferent, opined a resident near the party office. Farooq Abdullah has hardly been visiting the area while the new contestant is equally “inaccessible” for being highly protected, claim residents. Omar has visited the area twice during the campaign and that too under a high security cover, said Shabir Ahmad. The Chief Minister had nominated Sheikh Ghulam Ahmad Saloora as his representative to look after the problems of the people. But that has overtly led to factionalism in the party at the local level with differences arising with his rival Mohammad Ashraf. Opposition candidates of the Congress and Peoples Democratic Party are going to give a tough fight to the ruling NC candidate. “The PDP candidate draws more crowds in the area followed by the Congress candidate,” said a resident. There is a good number of candidates as compared to the 1996 election when there were only four candidates in the fray. “May be it is NC’s plan to divide the votes for emerging victorious”, said Bashir Ahmad, a resident. |
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Higher polling in areas bordering PoK Srinagar, September 18 The overall poll percentage was 47.28, which is above the national poll percentage, Deputy Chief Electoral Officer B.S. Jamwal said here today. However, it was Zanaskar in Kargil district which took the lead having recorded 78.74 per cent of total electorate followed by Gurez 76.70 per cent. The Kargil Assembly segment, which hit the headlines across the globe in 1999 after about two-month long conflict, registered 74.89 per cent polling, about 4 per cent lower compared to 1996 elections. Karnah, which is almost daily shelled by the Pakistani troops, also recorded 70.98 per cent polling followed by Uri 66.56 per cent, Poonch-Haveli 65.60 per cent, Mendhar 60.65 per cent, Nowshera 58.19 per cent, Pattan 55.92 per cent, Sonwari, a stronghold of surrendered militants, 55.85 per cent, Kupwara 54.84 per cent, Langate 53.63 per cent, Rafiabad 52.39 per cent, Handwara 50.64, Kalakote 50.49 per cent, Gulmarg 50.18 per cent, Darhal 46.59 per cent, Surankote 35 per cent, Bandipora 31.22 per cent, Rajouri 27.16 per cent, Sangrama 24.75 per cent and Baramula 24.06 per cent polling. The lowest 7.83 per cent polling was recorded in the Sopore Assembly constituency, a stronghold of jailed Hurriyat Conference leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani who represented this seat in 1972, 1977 and 1987.
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Centre will restore autonomy: Omar Srinagar, September 18 Addressing a series of rallies here, Omar said the very fact that a BJP-led government at the Centre had initiated a dialogue with the state government on the issue of autonomy was a big leap towards the goal. Omar, who led a procession of several boats in the Dal Lake, said his party had not been demanding anything which went against the Constitution. “The day is not far when the Central Government will be compelled to restore autonomy to the state,” he said. “The Centre, though late, has realised this. If our government is voted back to power we will ensure that the dream and aspirations of the people come true, he added.
PTI |
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‘Cong will bring peace to J&K’ Gadigarh (Jammu), September 18 “There is an urgent need to give a healing touch to the people of state, so that they will forget about the decade-long turmoil and under-development by installing a friendly government at the state level, Dr Manmohan Singh told a gathering in the Sikh-dominated Gadigarh-Chatta belt. After holding the assembly elections in 1996 with massive people’s participation, the ruling NC along with the BJP-led NDA government at the Centro had failed to give a healing touch to the people and bring them out of the uncertain situation, he alleged. Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Digvijay Singh, who was also campaigning for party candidate Raman Bhalla, charged the BJP and the RSS with dividing the state on communal lines.
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Sonia arrives in Srinagar today Jammu, September 18 Ballots will be cast in 28 constituencies in Srinagar, Budgam and Jammu districts on September 24. The polling was held on 23 seats on Monday. The remaining seats in the 87-member Assembly will go to the poll on October 1 and 8. Among others, the next week’s polling will decide the fate of the ruling National Conference President Omar Abdullah. He is contesting from the Ganderbal seat here that his father Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah won thrice, last time in 1996. Mrs Gandhi and other top party leaders had earlier avoided campaigning in the state ahead of Monday’s first round of balloting, in five districts bordering and Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK). Mrs Gandhi cancelled her tour to the state earlier this month after terrorists killed Kashmir’s Minister of State for Law Mustaq Ahmed Lone.
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Congress expels seven Jammu, September 18 Mr Kundal, Mr Ramesh Motton, Laxmi Dutta, Mr Krishan Lal Gupta, Ashwani Sharma, Rajinder Kumar and Thakur Puran Singh have been expelled from the Congress for their anti-party activities by the state unit chief, Mr Ghulam Nabi Azad, party’s chief spokesman Amrit Malhotra told reporters. While Laxmi Dutta recently joined the National Conference after being denied the ticket from the Marh constituency, the others had filed nominations as Independents or as Jammu State Morcha candidates, Congress sources said.
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NC, JSM have
'secret pact’ Jammu, September 18 In a statement here, Panthers’ Party chief Bhim Singh claimed that the JSM president had entered into an understanding with the NC to wreck the BJP’s chances and improve the NC’s performance. Alleging that the JSM chief wanted to gain personal mileage out of the “deal”, he threatened a PIL petition in the high court to “seek record as to why” the state Financial Corporation was not taking action against the JSM president for defaulting on a loan he had taken to set up an industrial unit. In a separate statement, he threatened to withdraw his candidates in the valley in the next 24 hours if adequate security was not provided to them.
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Poll: educational institutions
to be closed Srinagar, September 18 The educational institutions in Jammu, Srinagar and Budgam districts would remain closed from today till September 25, while the institutions in
Anantnag, Pulwama, Udhampur and Kathua districts would be closed from September 24 to October 2, the sources said. In the militancy-infested Doda district, which is going to the polls on October 8 in the last phase of elections, the institutions would remain closed from October 1 to 9, they added. PTI |
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Sikh front to back BJP Jammu, September 18 According to the vice-president of the front, Mr Sukhdev Singh Raina, the BJP has supported the cause of the Sikh community and “it is our duty to support them.” The front leader appealed to the voters to vote for the BJP candidates in order to keep the Congress and the National Conference away from power. |
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CEC to visit valley today Srinagar, September 18 Meanwhile, the security arrangements in the valley are being tightened in the wake of the second phase of polling in 15 assembly segments of Srinagar and Budgam districts on September 24. On September 20, the CEC will have a meeting with commanders of the paramilitary forces. |
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JKPDP candidate hurt in mishap Srinagar, September 18 Sources said Mr Mir was on the way to Awantipora when his car had a head-on collision with a truck. His driver Ghulam Hassan Khan from the security wing of the police was killed on the spot, sources said, adding that his security officer and another person were also injured.
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