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CPM MLA escapes bid on life
PDP asks new govt to widen talks on J&K BJP suspects secret
NC-Cong poll pact Panthers’ Party
to file poll petition Cong defeat makes leaders think out Cong for criminal cases against Sushma, Uma |
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Geelani invited for OIC meeting Life in villages along LoC tough Sikhs hail Pakistan decision on gurdwaras Prisoners’ abuse by USA; team set up
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CPM MLA escapes
bid on life
Srinagar, May 17 However, an escort vehicle suffered minor damage in the incident. It was the second attempt on the life of Naik, who was attacked in the same area last month while campaigning for party candidate from the Anantnag Parliamentary constituency M.Y. Tarigami, they added. Meanwhile, militants barged into the house of a surrendered militant, Abdul Aziz Lone, at Warnoo in the Lolab area of Kupwara district and shot him dead. In the same village, Ghulam Mohammad Lone was killed on a charge of being an informer of security forces and his brother was also injured. In Pulwama town, militants injured Mohammad Amin Malik who was shifted to a hospital here in a critical condition. At Amlar in the Tral area of the district, militants injured Waheeda, who was also shifted to a hospital here with serious injuries, they said. — PTI
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PDP asks new govt to widen talks on J&K Srinagar, May 17 “We expect that the new government at the Centre would follow the NDA’s policies and further widen the process of dialogue on Jammu and Kashmir,” said senior PDP leader and Finance Minister Muzaffar Hussain Beigh here today. Addressing a press conference, Mr Beigh said the people of Jammu and Kashmir had endorsed the policies of the PDP-led coalition government in the state that was reflected in the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections. The PDP and the Congress are the main alliance parties in the coalition government in Jammu and Kashmir along with the Panthers Party, the CPM, Independents and the National Conference being in the Opposition. Replying to questions, Mr Beigh indicated that there was neither any proposal nor invitation to PDP president Mehbooba Mufti to join the Central Government. He pointed out that Ms Mufti was not willing to leave the affairs of the party in the state. Mr Beigh asked former Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah to desist from indulging in false propaganda of destabilising the coalition government in the state. He expressed hope that the National Conference would play a positive role and not destablise the government. The PDP-Congress combine emerged victorious in four of the six Lok Sabha constituencies in the recently held Lok Sabha elections. The National Conference won two seats of Srinagar and Baramulla in the Kashmir valley, while the PDP got that of Anantnag. Two seats of Jammu and Udhampur went to the Congress, while that of Ladakh went to the
LUTF, which was supported by the Congress. Giving details, the Finance, Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister said the Congress and the PDP had improved their vote bank by 8.5 per cent as compared to the last Assembly elections. He said votes polled by the two parties in the state were 9,58,353 against 4,93,795 polled by the National Conference, which registered 4,64,558 votes less than the ruling combine. In the
Baramullah-Kupwara constituency, out of 3,34,770 votes polled, the PDP and the Congress got 1,80,074 while the NC got 1,27,653 votes. The PDP has increased its vote tally by 16.4 per cent in the Baramulla-Kupwara constituency, by 2 per cent in the Srinagar-Budgam constituency and by 14 per cent in the Anantnag-Pulwama constituency, he said. |
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BJP suspects secret
NC-Cong poll pact Jammu, May 17 At a meeting of senior BJP leaders here last evening, party functionaries and poll managers said the BJP lost the two seats,considered to be its stronghold,because of the “secret understanding” between the Congress and the National Conference. The meeting, which was presided over by the party president, Dr Nirmal Singh, was convened to examine the factors that led to the defeat of the BJP candidates. The participants argued that a major chunk of the NC vote bank had gone in favour of the Congress candidates, Mr Madan Lal Sharma, and Mr Lal Singh, who contested from the Jammu and Udhampur seats, respectively. They said the National Conference had a vote bank in Poonch, Rajouri, Udhampur and Doda districts and it was in these areas that the Congress had taken the lead which helped it to elbow out
the BJP. The party managers also mentioned that a large section of BJP supporters had gone to participate in the Ardh Kumb Mela. A senior BJP leader told this correspondent that nearly 35,000 pilgrims from the Jammu and Udhampur constituencies had gone to attend mela and 90 per cent of them could not return by the polling day. Infighting was another reason for the BJP debacle.The BJP leadership had already suspended six party leaders, including Mr Chander Mohan Sharma, on a charge of anti-party activities. The suspended dissidents have replied to the show-cause notice issued by the party president. A BJP leader said the matter would be discussed by the party’s three-member disciplinary committee headed by Thakur Ranjit Singh, president of the district unit. Meanwhile, the dissidents have decided to hold separate meetings of their supporters where the demand for the replacement of the BJP president, Dr Nirmal Singh, will be renewed. A senior dissident leader said here today, “We have apprised Mr Arun Jaitley and Mr O.P. Kohli of
the wrong doings of Dr Nirmal Singh”. However,the party leadership in Jammu denied that it was under pressure from the BJP high command to revoke the suspension order served to six party leaders. It said only the disciplinary committee would take a decision on the matter. |
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Panthers’ Party to file poll petition
Srinagar, May 17 There were many irregularities and violation of election rules in all but one parliamentary constituency in the state. “We will challenge all elections except Ladakh, where the NPP did not contest,” party chief Bhim Singh said here. Casting aspersions on the functioning of Chief Electoral Officer of the state, he said the CEO was a government employee on a two-year deputation to the Election Commission. “How can we expect him to be independent when he has to return to the state government after completion of his tenure”. Claiming that programming of the evms was entrusted by the Election Commission to the state government which manipulated it to suit its candidates, he said barring Ramnagar Assembly segment, the software in all 16 segments was changed. Alleging that all Assistant Returning Officers in the constituency were hand in glove with the government, he said the BJP and Congress both misused vulnerable sections of the official machinery to their benefit. The BJP used village defence committee members while the Congress promised permanent jobs to special police officers to get them to work for them during the elections, he claimed. — PTI
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Cong defeat makes leaders think out Jammu, May 17 The worst has happened in the Jammu west constituency, represented by Mr Mangat Ram Sharma, who is instrumental in getting the controversial Daughters’ Bill passed unanimously in the Assembly. Dr Nirmal Singh led the Congress candidate by 12,257 votes in the constituency of Mr Sharma, who had refused to contest the Lok Sabha elections when he was asked to file his papers for the Jammu Lok Sabha seat. The Congress has also received a drubbing in the Jammu East constituency, represented by Mr Yogesh Sawhney, a minister. The BJP led in the segment with a margin of 9151 votes over the Congress. Although the lead of the BJP was only 2398 over the Congress in the Gandhi Nagar segment of the city, but Mr Raman Bhalla, a minister, miserably failed to sustain his previous performance during the Assembly elections when he polled 49.81 per cent votes against 4.98 per cent polled by the BJP. While Congress leaders and Ms Mehbooba Mufti, president of the PDP, are claiming that the people have rejected the opposition to the Daughters’ Bill. |
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Cong for criminal cases against Sushma, Uma
Jammu, May 17 In a statement, JKPCC spokesman Ravinder Sharma said some leaders of the BJP and its sister organisations were making provocative statements on the issue. Mr Sharma claimed that such statements had instigated a person in Karnataka to commit suicide and added this amounted to an offence under the Indian Penal Code. He said a criminal case should be registered against BJP leaders, particularly Ms Bharti and Ms Swaraj, and added that the BJP and its allied organisations were showing disrespect to the Constitution of India which does not prevent any person from occupying any positing in the Government of India no matter what his or her birthplace was. — PTI
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Geelani invited for OIC meeting Srinagar, May 17 Mr Geelani and another senior leader Ghulam Nabi Shaheen have received invitation from the secretary-general of the OIC for its 31st meeting beginning June 14 at Istanbul in Turkey, the spokesman said.
— PTI |
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Life in villages along LoC tough Batalik Sector (Along The LoC), May 17 Due to precarious location, these villages including Chullichang, Gurgud, Batalik, Darchik, Lalung, Silmu, Sarche and Sanache have peculiar difficulties. Travelling through the belt located within five km of the volatile LoC, you wake up afresh to the worth of development. These are the villages where children daily walk long distance to attend school, and on tracks that hardly qualify as roads. Water being scarce, the villagers tap streams to meet daily requirements. Development continues to elude the area, which has long borne the brunt of war. Facing the towering Jubbar Hills where the Pakistani intrusion was detected during the Kargil War, these villages remain primitive as ever. To secure their rights they voted in large numbers on May 10, hoping that participation in a democratic process would help them to some extent. However, despite strife and despair, these border villages are marked by strong societal affiliations that cut across communities. Although predominantly Muslim, the area presents a pleasant picture of communal harmony. While Gurgud has mixed Buddhist and Muslim population, Chullichang, Lalung and Batalik are dominated by Muslims. Sarche and Darchik have some Buddhist population. But besides demographic considerations people here have learnt to coexist peacefully. Together they pray for peace so that development may reach border areas. The conditions for the villagers here are unimaginably tough. Children of Gurgud village along the LoC have to walk eight hours daily to attend the only higher secondary school located far off in village Silmu. Although the Army provides them with transport whenever possible, they have to invariably walk these distances four days a week. Also, there are no roads in this belt. The only track villagers use is the one constructed by the Army to facilitate its operations. Border villages Chhulichang and Gurgud, situated right under enemy’s nose on the LoC, are particularly poverty-ridden. Lack of basic necessities like water, salt and vegetables has made life tough for villagers here. The Army is now helping them raise income. Besides opening schools for their wards, the Army is sourcing vegetables for its troops from these villagers. Earlier the vegetables were procured from Chandigarh, and these would often rot due to long travel time. So the Army has asked villagers to grow whatever vegetables they can in the given terrain and climate. The decision now helps villagers with income and troops with fresh vegetables. The Army has also provided for green houses, where leafy vegetables are grown under controlled temperature. |
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Sikhs hail Pakistan decision on gurdwaras Jammu, May 17 Mr Wazir demanded that representation should be given in the committee to different Sikh organisations in various parts of the world. The offerings made by the devotees should be utilised for the maintenance of the Sikh shrines in Pakistan, he added. |
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Prisoners’ abuse by USA; team set up
Srinagar, May 17 “We have constituted an 11-member team that will file a petition against the rights abuses and torture inflicted by the US-led coalition forces in Iraq,” NPP president Bhim Singh told reporters here. He said he might lead the team to The Hague to file a case against the coalition forces in Iraq in the International Criminal Court. “We are also thinking of filing a similar case in the European court at Brussels,” he added.
— PTI
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