|
|
|
|
|
BJP promises jobs to 10 lakh youth
It’s bundle of false achievements: Cong
Met Dept head is most sought-after man
|
|
|
Fresh snowfall in state mars electioneering
 Congress president Sonia Gandhi reached Dehradun today to start her election campaign on Tuesday. Keeping in view inclement weather , Sonia Gandhi flew in at Jollygrant Airport at 4.30 pm. She will be addressing election rallies at Roorkee and New Tehri on January 17. She will be flying to Roorkee to address an election rally and then would go to Tehri before flying back to the national capital.Sonia Gandhi
Spouses of candidates take on campaigning task
Khanduri BJP’s CM candidate: Rajnath
Senior BJP leader Rajnath Singh and Chief Minister BC Khanduri, along with other leaders, address a gathering in Dehradun on Monday. A Tribune photograph
Unemployment honorarium to youth
UBC to observe Friday as protest day
Call to save oil and gas
Farewell for Doon varsity’s VC
UKD(D) leader Chufal left in the lurch
|
|
BJP promises jobs to 10 lakh youth
Dehradun, January 16 Steering clear of reckless populism, the BJP remained focused on providing corruption-free administration for which they also reiterated the party’s commitment to bring a whistleblower’s protection Bill, along with setting up of special courts for trying out corruption cases. Instead of competing with its competitor, the Congress, that had recently promised to provide allowance to the unemployed youth, the BJP promised to provide jobs to 10 lakh youth of the state in five years in the government/non-government and private sector. “As in the BJP, there is no difference between our words and deeds, we are firm to deliver on the promises made to the people in the next five years”, said Rajnath Singh. The BJP intends to maintain the robust growth by initiating investment through the public private partnership mode in key areas (industries, infrastructure, energy, health, education etc) and hopes to bring an investment of Rs 50,000 crore in the next five years. Revisiting its 2007 poll promise of making Uttarakhand a power-surplus state, it also announced a 3 percent increase in power output by focusing on gas and other sources of energy in the next five years. In its manifesto, the BJP also announced the setting up of an education commission, a state youth commission and a kisan commission. For the uplift of the craftsmen, the BJP also announced credit cards for craftsmen on the lines of the Kisan Credit Card. Taking a leaf from the Gujarat Government, the BJP also promised to set up a separate department for the non-residents of Uttarakhand (NRU) and also declared to hold a yearly jamboree for the NRU. To give impetus to investment in the rural sector, the BJP has pledged to allocate 60 per cent of the budget in the rural area and also give status of the industry to film.
It’s bundle of false achievements: Cong
Dehradun, January 16 Party spokesperson Surendra Aggarwal said here today that the state government that had promised to provide a clean corruption-free government had changed the Chief Minister amid corruption charges. Aggarwal said the BJP had based its manifesto on the Centre’s scheme but unfortunately, the government had even failed to utilise the funds provided under various schemes by the Centre.—TNS
|
|
Met Dept head is most sought-after man
Dehradun, January 16 He is not an astrologer or a soothsayer, but the Director, Uttarakhand Meteorological Department, Dr Anand Sharma. With the weather becoming one of the most important factors in the Assembly elections slated for January 30, political parties are banking on his advice. The office of Congress president Sonia Gandhi has been in constant touch with him since she was to address an election rally at Tehri Garhwal on January 15. However, Dr Anand Sharma predicted that the weather would be rough with the possibility of snow and rain through the region on January 15 and 16 that forced the Congress to postpone the rally to January 17. However, tension mounted for Congress leaders as it was still raining on January 16. According to reports, Sonia Gandhi will be arriving in Dehradun today, a day earlier, as she does not want to take any chance with her election rallies. Already her visit to Haldwani on December 23 was cancelled due to bad weather conditions. With only 12 days left for the poll campaigning and the weather playing truant, most of the political parties, particularly the Congress and the BJP, are worried about the election rallies to be addressed by their star campaigners. With hilly terrain, most of the star campaigners use helicopters to reach far-off places. However, the weather becomes the deciding factor in flying helicopters. Chief Minister BC Khanduri, one of the star campaigners of the ruling BJP, has been provided with a helicopter exclusively by the party to campaign. Beside him, BJP star campiangers, Hema Malini, Shatrughan Sinha, Smriti Irani, party chief Nitin Gadkari, Sushma Swaraj, Rajnath Singh, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and Arun Jaitley are supposed to campaign in the next 12 days. Similarly, from the Congress, Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and many senior Central ministers are also expected to address 65 meetings through the length and breadth of the state. But it all depends on weather conditions that permits the flying of helicopters in the hilly areas. “Congress leaders as well as Chief Minister BC Khanduri are in touch with me regarding the weather prediction for the next fortnight,” said Dr Anand Sharma. He has been trying to explain to the politicians about the western disturbance which caused widespread rains and snow but they are eager to now that when the weather will improve and the sun would shine. “They only want to know that when the weather will be clear to fly,” he added. However, he did not disappoint them and predicted that western disturbance will weaken and the weather hopefully would clear in the next 24 hours.
|
|
Fresh snowfall in state mars electioneering
Dehradun, January 16 The cold wave conditions gave a setback to candidates who were unable to hold rallies, with the people mostly remaining indoors. The intense cold has raised demands from various political parties to postpone elections by at least another fortnight. While the BJP wanted the elections to be postponed by nearly 15 days, the Congress said that it would honour any decision taken by the Election Commission in this regard. Significantly, Chief Minister B C Khanduri had earlier voiced his concern over the prevailing harsh winter conditions in the state and had asked the Election Commission to postpone elections. However, a top official of the state Election Commission said the election will be held as per the schedule. — PTI
|
|
Dehradun , January 16 She had not been able to make it at the Haldwani party rally on December 23 due to bad weather. Earlier also, she missed the date with the voters when she failed to turn up at Gauchar in Chamoli district on November 9, 2011, to inaugurate the laying of railway line from Rishikesh to Karanprayag. With only 12 days left for election campaigning in the state, Sonia Gandhi made it a point to arrive in Dehradun a day earlier as snow and rain continued to lash Uttarakhand for the past 48 hours. — TNS
|
|
Spouses of candidates take on campaigning task
Mussoorie, January 16 Former mandi parishad president Upendar Thapli, whose wife Godavari Thapli is contesting as an Independent candidate from the Mussoorie constituency, was in here to seek support of the voters for her wife despite the inclement weather. Upendar began the door-to-door campaign from Library Bazaar and after meeting different sections of voters, sought support in the coming elections for his wife today. While speaking to mediapersons later, Upendar said due to the paucity of time in the elections, both he and his wife had divided the areas in the constituency so that they could cover a large section of voters in a single day. He said since they both had been involved in the active politics for past several decades, therefore they had a better coordination and understanding of the constituency in comparison to other nominees in the fray. He further said his wife was very sensitive to gender issues and understood the problems faced by them in the constituency, which have not been addressed even after giving opportunity to Congress candidate Jot Singh Gunsola for two terms consecutively. Batting for his wife, Upendar said his experience in the political field would come handy for her wife in addressing various problems such as housing, parking and restoring the status of the town as an important tourist destination of the state, which had received a serious blow during the tenure of incumbent MLA Jot Singh Gunsola. Wife of BJP candidate from Mussoorie Ganesh Joshi was also seen canvassing for his husband in the wards that have been included in the constituency after the delimitation by election commission. Nirmala Joshi, visited the areas around the Vijay Colony, Dakpathar and Kyarkuli amid heavy downpour and sought support for his husband. She said the election campaigning had become difficult due to fresh spell of snow in the constituency but despite that she was trying her best to convince voters in favour of her husband and the party so that the BJP is able to form the government once again. She also said she had been working closely with her husband in understanding the needs of the people and would play a major role in bringing the constituency back on the path of development. Joshi, acting like a seasoned politician, targeted Congress MLA Jot Singh Gunsola for neglecting the constituency and impeding the development and leaving the people empty handed. She also assured to the voters that the BJP would return to power with thumping majority. The spouses of the candidates contesting as Independents or from political parties are trying every possible course of action in portraying themselves as the best choice for the state assembly elections.
|
|
Khanduri BJP’s CM candidate: Rajnath
Dehradun, January 16 For once, it has put to rest speculations in the BJP about “Kaun Banega Mukhmantri in 2012” though here have been two other contenders for the Chief Minister’s post, including former Chief Minister BS Koshiyari and Dr Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank. In the political circles, the rumours had gained currency that Khanduri may be on the way out after the elections as Koshiyari was keen to take a shot at the hot seat. However, with endorsement coming from the highest party echelons, the BJP believes that by projecting Khanduri once again as the next Chief Minister, the party is in an advantageous position vis-a vis the Congress and it will pay rich dividends in the elections. There are several contenders in the Congress who are eyeing the top job in the Congress, including Agriculture and Food Processing Minister Harish Rawat, Uttarakhand Congress president Yashpal Arya and senior leaders and MPs Satpal Maharaj and Vijay Bahuguna. Besides in the 2002 elections, the Congress had forced senior leader ND Tiwari on the people of Uttarakhand as Chief Minister that was resented by the party. “We believe Khanduri’s clean image and his commitment to corruption-free and transparent government will be match winners. If you look at the Congress, it has not declared their chief ministerial candidate and has been defensive on the issue,” said Nirmala Sitharaman, BJP spokesperson (national), who has also been entrusted with the election responsibility in Uttarakhand.
|
|
Unemployment honorarium to youth
Dehradun, January 16 “According to the employment record, there are around 6 lakh unemployed youth. Even if the monthly unemployed allowance is pegged at between Rs 750 and Rs 2,200, conservative estimates suggest a yearly spending of Rs 16,000 crore. It is difficult to imagine from where they would get this amount,” he said. He also raised doubts about the party’s decision to reduce VAT on petrol and kerosene. Khanduri also rejected assertions about the BJP government’s inability to channelise hydro power potential of the state in the past five years and now again the party has promised to increase the utput to 3 per cent.
|
|
UBC to observe Friday as protest day
Dehradun, January 16 While speaking at a press conference convened at the office of the Bar Association, Dehradun, Chauhan said the Bill was against the provisions of the Advocate Act, 1961. “The state government was deliberately bringing in this Bill to wrest the powers from the State Bar Councils (SBC) and BCI. By giving licence to foreign law firms to fight legal cases in the country, it was severely affecting the interests of advocates and applicants. With this Bill, the way to affordable and easy justice would be blocked. The foreign law firms will work in autocratic manner. The BCI and SBCs would exercise no control over them. Therefore, we will observe Friday as protest day and also the chairpersons of all the SBCs and BCI will prepare a strategy to deal with this challenge and put pressure on the Union government on this day in New Delhi,” added Chauhan.
|
||
|
Call to save oil and gas
Dehradun, January 16 The fortnight is organised under the aegis of the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas by the Oil Sector Industries in India to educate the masses about the importance of conservation of energy. The ONGC has taken an initiative to spread the message of oil and Gas Conservation among masses. Many programmes are being organised at all ONGC work centres from January 15 to 31. Addressing a gathering, Dr SS Sandhu advised the participants to practise oil and gas conservation and spread the awareness for energy security. He said the media should play an important role in spreading message of energy conservation to the masses as it was one of the most effective modes of any awareness drive. He further added that to harness the power of the youth, especially the students, who have very impressionable minds, should be more aggressively involved in this movement. He also administered the oil and gas conservation pledge to the audience. B Ram, Executive Director, Chief Technical Services, ONGC, speaking on the occasion, said the ONGC as a responsible corporate was always on the forefront to lead this national movement which was so important to all humanity. He reiterated, “Energy conservation is a 365-day job, but this fortnight we rededicate our commitment towards this noble cause and provide a platform to share and adapt new developments in the field of energy conservation”. R K Bahuguna, in charge, Corporate Energy Cell, ONGC, Dehradun, welcoming the participants, highlighted various programmes planned for the fortnight. A film on car pooling to save precious fuel was screened highlighting the importance and means to save fuel. "SAVE FUEL yaani SAVE MONEY" was the message conveyed by this film. The programme was attended in large number by ONGC officers and staff. To spread the message of the oil conservation to a wide spectrum of society, many programmes for rural population, students, drivers and housewives are being arranged by the Energy Cell, ONGC, Dehradun, during the fortnight.
|
||
|
Farewell for Doon varsity’s VC
Dehradun, January 16 Presenting the VC with a memento (a miniature of Badrinath shrine), Uttarakhand Governor Margaret Alva said during his limited tenure, Prof Pant had taken the university to new heights and his contribution to establishing the university as a centre of excellence would always be remembered and appreciated. Prof Pant thanked the Governor and all others present on the farewell.
|
||
|
UKD(D) leader Chufal left in the lurch
Dehradun, January 16 Earlier, Chufal had entered into an agreement with Uttarakhand Jan Manch (UJM) and Uttarakhand Parivartan Party to form a front and fight Assembly elections together on January 9. But the collective efforts failed drastically within a short period with stark opposition coming to it from president of the UJM, Kuldeep Rana, against the initiative taken by his general secretary Rajan Todriya. The second jolt came from Diwakar Bhatt, who did not allocate his party symbols to dissident leaders and members for the Assembly elections. Hence, Chufal, who had shifted to Diwakar Bhatt’s faction after the break-up of the party and was among the 21 candidates whose names were announced for the Assembly electionS by his party in the month of September, was crestfallen after Bhatt and another MLA Om Gopal Rawat joined hands with BJP and decided to fight on BJP’s ticket. The party got fragmented with city president Parveen Dobhal joining UKD (P) with some of his men and others joining small parties or fighting as Independents. Trivender Panwar, president of UKD (P), too, did not offer the olive branch to Chufal to join their party. “Trivender Panwar had a good opportunity to win me back to his party. Since I was not alone and had 150 supporters with me, I would have strengthened his hands. Together we could bring old glorious days back to UKD.” There are two groups in UKD (P), one is in support and other against having Chufal back. The opposition is indeed domineering. NK Gusain, district president, UKD (P), said: “We had opposed entry of Parveen Dobhal and others in the party, who deserted us and joined the other faction when the party split up.” Panwar, however, had shown resilience for Dobhal but was not ready to accommodate the senior rebels,
including Chufal. Within the party, a group was upset about the way Panwar had been skirting the issue of taking the senior rebels from other parties into the party fold. “There had been many instances when the party was on the verge of having veteran leaders like present Chief Minister BC Khanduri and president of Uttarakhand Raksha Morcha TPS Rawat in the party, but Panwar did not let that happen each time, which reflected his deep entrenched insecurity.”
|
|
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | E-mail | |
Focusing on consolidation and continuation, the Uttarakhand BJP today promised to provide corruption-free and transparent
administration.
The spouses of various candidates contesting from the Mussoorie constituency are leaving no stone unturned in popularising them.
They have earnestly started door-to-door campaigning despite biting cold here today.
Senior BJP leader and Uttarakhand in charge Rajnath Singh endorsed the candidature of Chief Minister BC Khanduri as the one who will be taking over the reins of the state, once the BJP comes back to power. Even the party manifesto too has pitchforked Khanduri in the centre by prominently displaying his image on the front with the tagline, “Samridh evam swabhimani Uttarakhand ke liye Khanduri Hai Zaroori”.
Chairman, Uttarakhand Bar Council, Prithvi Raj Chauhan, decided to observe Friday as protest day to support the call given by Bar Council of India
(BCI) against the move to bring proposed Higher Education and Research Bill in the Lok Sabha by the Government of India.
