Dehradun, March 14
Finding candidates for the Haridwar Lok Sabha seat has become problematic for both Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as well as the Congress in Uttarakhand.

While the BJP has decided to change its candidate to accommodate the growing pressure of the Sant Samaj and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), the Congress also finds itself in a bind following indecision of senior party leader Harish Rawat to contest from the seat.

The BJP has tried to wriggle out of the situation created by opposition by the Sant Samaj to the candidature of Uttarakhand Education and Sugarcane Minister Madan Kaushik. Spearheaded by VHP supremo Ashok Singhal, the Sant Samaj had been exerting pressure on the BJP leadership to give party ticket to Swami Chinmayanand, a former union minister of state for internal security in the NDA government. But as a compromise, the name of Swami Yatendranand Giri, a disciple of Swami Satyamitranand of Bharat Mata Mandir, was being cited as BJP candidate.

On the other hand, former Uttarakhand Congress chief Harish Rawat had been active in the constituency and was interested in fighting from Haridwar as his native Almora Lok Sabha seat has been reserved in the fresh delimitation. Harish Rawat was encouraged by the addition of three Dehradun assembly segments namely Rishikesh, Doiwala and Dharampur in the Haridwar Lok Sabha seat in the delimitation.

However, Harish Rawat developed cold feet following pitching of strong candidates by Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the rumblings in the BJP. Haridwar seat is held by the Samajwadi Party which had emerged triumphant on the plank of exclusion of Haridwar from Uttarakhand in the 2004 Lok Sabha polls. The BSP was second while the BJP and Congress were third and fourth respectively.

This time, the Samajwadi Party has fielded Ambrish Kumar, state president of the party who had been a legislator from Haridwar, while the BSP has given party ticket to Shahzad, leader of the BSP Legislature Party in the Uttarakhand assembly.

Interestingly, the BSP has six legislators from Haridwar in the state assembly. The district has a sizeable population of Scheduled Castes and Muslim voters who had been voting for the BSP and SP in the past. Congress leaders believe that with Swami Yatendranand Giri in the field as the BJP candidate, the contest could turn communal with BSP fielding a Muslim candidate. In the given scenario, the supporters of Harish Rawat are sceptical about his chances of success with the BSP and SP sure to get the traditional votes of SCs and Muslims.

This has led to delay in the announcement of the candidate. In case, Harish Rawat backs out, Brahm Swarup Brahmchari will, in all probability, get the party ticket, according to party sources.

Dehradun, March 14
Buckling under the pressure of the Sant Samaj, the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) central leadership is considering changing the party’s candidate from the Haridwar parliamentary constituency.

According to party sources, deliberations are on among BJP’s Central Election Committee members to replace Madan Kaushik with Swami Yatendranand Giri.

The BJP’s general secretary (organisation) Naresh Bansal said that Kaushik has sent a fax message stating that he would not have any objection if the party wants to change the candidate. “I have forwarded the fax to the party central leadership,” he said while confirming that some exercise to review the Haridwar candidate is on among the party leadership in Delhi.

Ever since Kaushik, who holds the portfolio of Education Minister in the Khanduri government, was named the party nominee from Haridwar, the Sant Samaj and Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) have been exerting pressure on the party’s central leadership to replace Kaushik with Swami Chinmayanand, who was the former union minister of the state of home in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government.

As per party insiders, VHP chief Ashok Singhal himself is lobbying for Chinmayanand. It was learnt that yesterday, Singhal had met the top brass of the BJP, including its prime ministerial candidate LK Advani, to demand the replacement of the Haridwar candidate.

Swami Hans Daas, representative of the Sant Samaj, had recently conveyed to Advani and BJP’s national president Rajnath Singh that Swami Chinmayanand should be given the opportunity to contest the election from Haridwar.

Notably, after BJP leader and prime ministerial candidate LK Advani endorsed the candidature of Kaushik during the party’s Vijay Sankalp Rally held in Dehradun on March 8, it was being assumed that there will be no change in the candidature. However, party sources said that in view of the fact that since the days of the Ram Temple agitation, the Sadhus and the Sant Samaj in Haridwar had a deep influence on the BJP, the party’s top leadership was not in a mood to annoy the Sant Samaj.

The party sources added that in the ongoing tussle between Kaushik and Chinmayanand, it is Swami Yatendranand Giri, who has emerged as the consensus choice for Haridwar constituency.

Dehradun, March 14
Congress activist Rupesh Agnihotri, along with his supporters, joined the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) during a function held here today. The Uttarakhand unit of BSP's chief Surajmal presided over the function.

On the occasion, Surajmal said the BSP is emerging as one of the most preferred party in the entire country. He added that popularity of the BSP and its supremo Mayawati has increased tremendously because of the development-oriented approach of the party leaders. "We are sure that the party will perform well in the coming general elections," he said, while adding that preparations for the party's election rally, to be held in Rudrpur on March 25, are in full swing.

He informed that Mayawati would be addressing the rally, which is expected to attract a crowd of around 50,000 persons. "The tide is in favour of the BSP and leaders from various parties are joining our fold. This is a clear indication of the fact that the BSP is emerging as one of the main political parties in the country," he claimed. 

Dehradun, March 14
Candidates of various political parties and their supporters who use mobile text messages as a medium for campaign will have to remain cautious during the ensuing general elections, as the expenses of bulk SMSes will now be included in the election expenditure of respective candidates.

Besides, the Election Commission has also imposed a ban on bulk political SMSes on mobiles 48 hours before polling. While issuing directions in this regard, the Election Commission of India has shot-off letters to the Chief Electoral Officers (CEOs) of all states to ensure implementation of the guidelines framed with respect to the political SMSes. The EC will also be issuing directions in this regard to all the service providers.

Additional Chief Electoral Officer of Uttarakhand Hemlata said they had received a letter from the EC that clearly mentions that expenses of mobile text messages will be included in the election expenditure of respective candidates. “The bulk SMSes sent during the campaign period for electioneering will be reported by the Returning Officers to the CEOs, who will find out the cost involved from the service providers and apportion it to the candidate concerned,” mentions the EC orders. The EC orders further mention that although there is no restriction on sending SMSes, but in case any candidate or political party is found sending a message containing something objectionable, including an SMS on religious lines, legal action will be taken against them.

“Those who send communally-sensitive, derogatory or defamatory messages vitiate the process of a free, fair and peaceful election. Hence, any SMS, violating the provisions of election laws, model code of conduct and the commission’s directions would invite legal action,” mentions the instructions issued by the Election Commission. 

Dehradun, March 14
The measures taken by the State Education Board to curb the practice of unfair means during the board examinations proved successful as very few cheating cases came into light this year.

The Uttarakhand School Education, director, Pushpa Manas, said this time just eight copy cases have been registered in the state, with Dehradun topping the list with three cases being registered against Class 10th students, two from Uttarkashi and one each from Haridwar, Pauri Garhwal and Pitthoragarh districts.

“But otherwise the figures this time have been very low as compared to the last year, when Government Inter College at Langa, an examination center, was completely debarred,” said Manas.

The Board, in all has formed 1,125 examination centers through out the state, with 37 sensitive centres being identified. Cameras were installed at the sensitive centers to curb the menace. These areas have also been brought in the notice of the flying squad to keep a special check on these centers, said Manas.

Pushpa Manas, said that strict measures has helped them in curbing copy menace during examinations this time.

There was no copy case found from 12th board examinations through out the state.

Dehradun, March 14
A two-day seminar on the ‘Role of Higher Education in Women’s Empowerment’ began today at the Mahadevi Kanya Pathshala, PG College here.

Former surveyor general, Survey of India, Lt Gen (retd.) GC Agarwal said only education could empower women.

“Good education opens several options for women. They get financial independence and self reliance,” said Agarwal.

He said in the past women were revered as Durga, Saraswati and Lakshmi but the degradation in societal values affected the position of women in the society.

“We need to bring the societal norms back, and women should stop banking on others and they need to chalk their own path,” he said.

Dr Indu Singh, principal, MKP PG College said education instills confidence in women and completes then as an individual.

She said the college has been imparting education to women for the last several years.

While Dr Zainab Rehman, the convener of the seminar, said the word empowerment began to be used after researchers and women movement leaders began canvassing for equal rights to women.

“In India, the governments too have become sensitive on the issue of women empowerment.

“It is the primary objective of Indian planning in the 21st century. Several policies are being framed for the purpose,” she said.

“The primary objective of the Ninth Five -Year Plan was to introduce empowerment policy for women. The tenth plan too set specific targets for achieving women goals.” Rehman said.

She said that despite the efforts being made for women empowerment, the condition of women continues to be dismal.

Crime against women saw a rise in the recent years.

The seminar is expected to deliberate on the status of women and their education, government polices and the role of society and family in encouraging education and removing hindrances.

Dehradun, March 14
On the World’s Consumers Day tomorrow, ex-acting chairman State Consumer Redressal Forum, Surinder Aggarwal said, “The state government is not judiciously focusing on this sector, and despite the directions of the Central government and Bagla Committee, (the committee keeps a check on the working of the consumers forums), the district forums here are lacking in infrastructure and staff, which has automatically created backlogs and lack of awareness amongst the masses,” he said.

“Central government is providing huge budget to the state government for implementing schemes, but it’s the common man who suffers the most due to the lack of initiative by the state authorities,” Surinder said.

However, the Consumer Protection Act, which came into existence in December 1986, is one of the most important steps in protecting the rights of consumers and promoting a strong consumer movement in the country.

“The act applies to all kinds of goods and services, covers all sectors and assures the consumers certain rights such as right to safety, right to be informed, right to choose, right to be heard, right to seek redress, and right to consumer education,” said Brig. KG Behl (retd), president, All India Consumer Council (AICC), Dehradun chapter, Uttarakhand.

“Awareness can definitely help people move forward and express their issues. Government should provide funds, organise awareness camps and form consumer clubs so that public get to know about their rights and not exploited,” said Aggarwal.

“Due to inhibitions people generally avoid going to the courts, which results in exploitation.

“However, a state level council and grievances cells definitely encourage people in to come forward and express their problems. Meticulous planning and pro-active nature of the government would also help in establishing proper infrastructure and facilities in the forums,” said Behl.

The consumer movement in the state is still in its infancy and needs to be strengthened.

“The movement has to be developed on a voluntary basis through greater participation of voluntary consumer organisations. At All India Consumer Council, we hold meetings every month and discuss matters with the concerned authorities and even invite heads of various departments to solve the problems.

“We also streamlined cable rights in the city which has lead to trouble-free viewing of channels,” said Behl.

“Welfare societies would aware people to take the receipts, and in return force government to establish laboratories to get the samples checked and not waste money and time in sending it to other states and would also reduce corruption here,” said Behl.

Meanwhile, CM Khanduri in his message on the eve of World Consumer Day called upon the consumers to be aware of their rights and various non-government bodies working in the field to be pro-active.

Dehradun, March 14
As many as 32 applicants received HAM radio operating licences after successfully clearing the exam undertaken by Union Science and Technology ministry.

The HAM radio has a special significance for Uttarakhand, which has been prone to disasters like landslides and earthquakes.

Uttarakhand State Council For Science and Technology (UCOST) had conducted a training programme for these HAM radio aspirants.

UCOST in assistance with the Ministry of Science and Technology had imparted training to 52 National Service Scheme office-bearers and volunteers for operating HAM radio in various districts of the state.

Following this, the Union Ministry of Communication and Technology conducted an exam for awarding HAM radio operating licenses.

Successful students come from Dehradun, Haldwani, Kotdwar, Pauri, Uttarkashi, Kashipur, Jaspur, Rudrapur, Mussoorie, Nainital, Pithoragarh areas.

Greeting the applicants, Director of UCOST Dr Rajendra Dobhal said in a state like Uttarakhand HAM radio assumes a lot of importance as it can prove to be a credible source of communication in cases of disaster, when other lines of communications get snapped.

He informed that UCOST would be conducting refresher workshops in both Kumaon and Garhwal divisions in June.