 |
Wednesday,
January 22, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
|
Amarinder attacks
CM BJP raking up Ayodhya issue:
Virbhadra Paswan:
BJP playing communal card
Cong ticket seekers rush to Delhi Sacked secys to oppose Congress Rajnath harps on Hindutva concept |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
32 village leaders
join HVC Violence vitiates poll atmosphere SFI activists burn Dhumal’s effigy 3 panchayat chiefs quit
SADA Fires destroy forest wealth Unannounced power cuts
in Kulu Press not to be closed
down Resignation of ministers
accepted IAF recruitment rally at Chowari
|
|
Amarinder attacks
CM Shimla, January 21 Although senior Congress leaders like Mr Virbhadra Singh and Ms Vidya Stokes have been repeatedly saying that corruption would be the party’s main poll plank, but they have never attacked the Chief Minister directly. Mr Virbhadra Singh has often described Mr Dhumal as the “fountainhead of corruption” but has refrained from making any personal allegations against him. Capt Amarinder accused Mr Dhumal of amassing wealth and building property worth Rs 25 crore in Jalandhar at a public rally in Hamirpur, his home district. While Mr Dhumal has so far not responded to the allegations. Mr Ganesh Dut and Mr Khushi Ram Balnatah, spokesperson for the state BJP, have levelled serious charges against the Punjab Chief Minister. This has further angered Congress leaders who are now demanding a proper inquiry to ascertain the assets build by Mr Dhumal and his family in Jalandhar over the past five years. Mr Virbhadra Singh maintained that Capt Amarinder was a responsible leader and the charges made by him were serious. Mr Dhumal should come clean on the issue by making public the details of the assets of his family members at the time when he became the Chief Minister and the additions made over the past five years, he added. Ms Vidya Stokes, the Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee chief, said the Congress had, from time to time, highlighted various scandals which took place during the present regime. The “Mr Clean” of BJP would be made a symbol of corruption and nepotism by the Congress during the campaign, she said. Some BJP ministers and legislators had also levelled corruption charges against their own government and referred to the health purchase scam, irregularities in recruitment to government jobs and allotment of hydel projects to private parties. |
|
BJP raking up Ayodhya issue:
Virbhadra Kangra, January 21 Mr Virbhadra Singh was talking to mediapersons here last evening. He was here in connection with a public meeting at Dari village. He said Ram temple for the BJP was a political issue and not religious one. He further said the BJP should have called a joint Parliament session on Article 370, but being insincere they preferred to be in power than to sort out these issues. He alleged that Kangra district had suffered in development due to the infighting between the Chief Minister and the Union Minister for Rural Development, Mr Shanta Kumar. He made it clear that the Congress MLAs would elect their leader and no person would be projected as Chief Minister during the poll. He reiterated that he had no complaint against the present system and would obey any directive of party. He added that Mr Sukh Ram was trying to go in for an alliance with the Congress for his political survival. He said if the HVC was eager for an alliance with the Congress then it should have withdrawn support to the BJP government and parted ways at least a year ago. He criticised the state government for burdening the state by raising loans to the tune of Rs 15,000 crore. He said Mrs Sonia Gandhi would address at least 10 rallies in the state. The rally was also addressed by Ms Mohsina Kidwai, Mr Moti Lal Vohra, and Ms Vidya Stokes. Mandi, January 21 He added that to my knowledge Mr Dhumal is not officially entitled to call himself a professor. He did teach for a few months at Doaba College, Jalandhar, but then he cannot call himself a professor. He added in a lighter tone that on coming to power the Congress would have to examine the veracity of the title professor. |
|
Paswan: BJP playing communal card Nahan, January 21 He said the BJP-led alliance was set to complete five years at the Centre, but still the temple had not materialised. He said the riots in Gujarat were orchestrated. The incident occurred at Godhra, but the bodies were taken to Ahmedabad to spark the riots. He said his party would fight the forthcoming Vidhan Sabha elections slated for February 26 on its own and without getting into an alliance with any political party. The rally was also addressed by former Union
Minister Arif Mohammed Khan and local LJP leaders. The occasion was marked by the inclusion of many BJP and Congress activists in the party fold.
UNI |
|
|
Cong ticket seekers rush to Delhi Shimla, January 21 The 17-member Election Committee headed by Mrs Vidya Stokes, state chief, will recommend a panel of up to three names in the case of seats where there is no unanimity on the choice of candidates. In all, 561 candidates have applied for the party ticket for 68 seats. The maximum number of 26 aspirants have applied for the Shimla seat, whereas there is only one aspirant from three seats: Mr Virbhadra Singh from Rohru, Mr Kaul Singh from Darang and Mr Singhi Ram from Rampur. Similarly, there are two aspirants from certain other constituencies. They are Mr Harsh Mahajan and Mr S.C. Nayar from Chamba, Mrs Viplove Thakur and Ms Veena Kumari from Jaswan, Major Vijay Mankotia and Mr Kewal Pathania from Shahpur and Mr Ishwar Das and Mr Moti Ram from Ani (reserved) seats. While Mr Virbhadra Singh, Legislature Congress Party leader, is in favour of granting the party ticket to all sitting MLAs the rival Stokes’ camp feels that some of them should be denied the ticket to counter the local anti-incumbency factor. It cites the example of Gujarat, where almost 80 per cent of the sitting legislators lost the elections, to drive home the point. According to party sources the high command is keen on fielding as many new faces as possible, but that did not mean denial of the ticket to many sitting legislators. The strategy would be to replace those who had been defeated more than once or lost the elections with large margins by new candidates with good winning prospects, although the axe may fall on a few sitting legislators. The party high command will also take into consideration the reports of its own observers to have a objective view while deciding the candidates. As the party high command is keen on projecting a united image of the party, it will try to decide the candidates by taking the rival Stokes’ and Virbhadra Singh camps into its confidence. As the party is also holding talks with the HVC on seat adjustment, it may take some time to decide the candidates. The party high command will be in a position to decide the candidates only after taking a final decision on having alliance with the HVC. The recommendation of the Election Committee will be put before the Screening Committee, which is likely to meet in Delhi on January 26. The final list of candidates is likely to be approved by the Central Election Committee by the end of the month. |
|
|
Sacked secys to oppose Congress Shimla, January 21 Mr Kuljeet Singh, vice-president of the Nav-Niyukta Panchayat Secretaries Association, said here today that the victims of the Congress government in Punjab had been left with no option but to come out against the party and ensure its defeat. He said the panchayat secretaries, who were appointed after following the proper selection process, had been thrown out by the Congress government only because they were given jobs during the Badal regime. He said the sacked secretaries would stage protest along with their family members at the election meetings to be addressed by Capt Amarinder Singh, Ms Sonia Gandhi and other Congress leaders. The association also staged a demonstration here and warned the Himachal employees not to support the Congress. Mr Ganga Singh, president of the state Non-Gazetted Services Federation, expressed solidarity with the Punjab employees and said his organisation would lend all possible support to them. |
|
Rajnath harps on Hindutva concept Nurpur, January 21 Referring to the Hindutva concept of the BJP, he said it did not recognised a communal state. Moreover, India could never be a communal state, he said, adding that the minorities should come forward to expose the deceptive politics of the Congress, which had always played with the sentiments of the minorities and misled them. Mr Rajnath Singh, categorically denied that there was any rift in the Himachal Pradesh BJP and claimed that the party would contest the coming Assembly elections unitedly. He claimed that the BJP would be again voted to power. The BJP leader is on a two-day tour of the state to activate the party cadre by holding,
grassroots worker meetings. Asked about the offer of Union Rural Development Minister Shanta Kumar to resign from the post of convener of the state BJP poll campaign committee as reported in a section of the press two days ago, Mr Rajnath Singh denied knowledge of any such offer. |
|
32 village leaders
join HVC Bilaspur, January 21 Addressing mediapersons here yesterday, state party spokesman and state organising secretary Gianchand Rattan said the leaders included Mahila Mandal Bhaeol president Pushpadevi, Mahila Mandal Kutheda president Krishnidevi, Subedar Kartar Singh and Subedar Brij Lal (both from Kutheda), Mahila Mandal Paplah president Premidevi, Gram Panchayat Marhana members Omprakash, Bakshiram, Promiladevi and Madanlal, Yashpal, Pritam Singh (all from Maloth), Premanchal Arora (Ghandalwin) and Ravi Kumar Sharma (Dalwan). |
|
|
Violence vitiates poll atmosphere Solan, January 21 Though the SDM described the incident as a stray occurrence and ruled out any tension in the area, he said a meeting of all political parties had been convened on January 23 to ensure the maintenance of peace. The Deputy Commissioner, Mr Bharat Khera, termed the allegations levelled by the BJP against the Congress of having hired goons from Punjab to vitiate the atmosphere as exaggerated and said the situation was under control. |
|
SFI activists burn Dhumal’s effigy Shimla, January 21 Vijinder Mehra, state president, and Manoj Kumar, state secretary, today said the SFI had launched a week-long campaign to expose the irregularities and corruption prevailing in Himachal Pradesh University. The SFI has demanded the immediate revocation of
expulsion of 23 students from the university, failing which the Vice-Chancellor and other university authorities would have to face consequences.
PTI |
|
|
3 panchayat chiefs quit
SADA Kumarhatti, January 21 Mr Ramesh Chauhan, Mr Prem Chand and Mr Sukh Ram, the presidents of Chewa, Dharampur and Barog panchatats, respectively, were selected as members of the body. SADA was formed by the state government in August, 2000 under the Town and Country Planning Act, 1977 to check and regularise the unplanned construction activities along the Kalka-Shimla national highway. The trio accused that their recommendations regarding construction activities in their areas were being ignored by SADA, which was functioning in a partial manner. They said on numerous occasions, SADA has issued no-objection certificates to those who had applied for new constructions without the approval of the panchayat concerned. Moreover, no secrecy was maintained in case the panchayat informed SADA about the illegal construction activities in area, they alleged. Confirming the action, Mr Prem Chand told this correspondent that they had submitted conditional resignation letters. |
|
|
Fires destroy forest wealth Kulu, January 21 The Conservator of Forests here, Mr Veenit Kumar, denied incidents of big fire but confirmed that there had been huge losses due to fire during the past many years. But this year, despite prolonged dry weather, the losses due to fire had been comparatively much less (figure given was Rs 17,750). Mr Veenit Kumar lauded the work done by the guard staff of the department for controlling fires. Contrary to Mr Veenit Kumar’s claims many villagers told this correspondent that forest fires had caused big losses of forest wealth as well as private properties. A villager from the Bhang area of Manali said he reported an incident of fire in the forest behind Vashisht to the Forest Department in Manali and sought help as his house was near the jungle. But the forest authorities told him that due to the shortage of staff, nothing could be done and asked him to pursue villagers for controlling the fire. Asked why the whole of Kulu valley was engulfed with thick smoke, the Conservator of Forest said local people as a ritual burn old dried grass to have better grass next
season.Meanwhile, today was the 14th day when no commercial flight could reach Kulu due to poor visibility. Mr Satinder Kumar, Station Incharge of Jagson Airlines, here said the minimum required visibility needed at the Kulu Manali airport was 5 km as per the VFR (visual flight rules), whereas the maximum visibility due to the smog was below 3 km during the past fortnight. The dry weather had not only caused worries to the farmers of the area but also to the people in tourism trade as well. |
|
|
Unannounced power cuts
in Kulu Kulu, January 21 HPSEB officials Pravesh Thakur told this correspondent that power had been cut by the power controller from Shimla. This area under the 132-KVA sub-station at Bajaura had been allocated a cut of 9 MW and that was why the power cuts had been imposed. |
|
Press not to be closed
down Shimla, January 21 Hailing the decision Mr Ganesh Dut, party spokesperson, said the Centre had agreed to reverse the decision to close down the press on the plea of Mr P.K. Dhumal, Chief Minister. The central BJP leaders, Mr Arun Jaitley and Mr O.P. Kohli, also played a role. Employees of the press had been agitating ever since the Centre took the decision to close down the unit in October last year. |
|
Resignation of ministers
accepted Shimla, January 21 The portfolios of Food and Civil Supplies and Social and Women’s Welfare had been allocated to Mr Roop Das Kashyap, Minister of State for Urban Development, and that of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj to Mr Ravinder Singh Ravi, Minister of State for Technical Education. |
|
|
IAF recruitment rally at Chowari
Chandigarh, January 21 Candidates should be domiciles of these two districts or have completed their Class X from a school in these districts. They should have been born between July, 1, 1984, and July,1,1987. They should have scored a minimum of 45 per cent marks and passed English.
The rally will be held at the Community Hall near the SDM office, Chowari from 8 a.m. onwards. Candidates should report at the venue with three passport size photographs, a willingness certificate from parents or guardian and all original certificates like domicile, NCC or sports wherever applicable. |
 |
| Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir | Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs | Nation | Editorial | | Business | Sport | World | Mailbag | In Spotlight | Chandigarh Tribune | Ludhiana Tribune 50 years of Independence | Tercentenary Celebrations | | 122 Years of Trust | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
