Tug of war to woo ex-servicemen
Cong fields Lt-Gen Gambhir Singh Negi (retd) to counter the influence of Khanduri and TPS Rawat
SMA Kazmi
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, January 18
Servicemen and ex-servicemen families in Uttarakhand, which form the single largest chunk of voters numbering more than 20 lakh, are having a different kind of battle at hands in the coming Assembly poll.

Because of their large numbers, every political party is trying to woo them. However unlike in the past, the ex-servicemen find themselves divided in different political camps. Uttarakhand Chief Minister BC Khanduri, an ex-serviceman who was one of the tallest leaders of the state and natural choice for the ex-servicemen and service voters and their families, is facing a tough challenge from his own ex-servicemen.

A tug of war has been going on between ex-servicemen belonging to the ruling BJP, the main opposition Congress and the Uttarakhand Raksha Morcah floated by Lt-Gen TPS Rawat (retd) to influence their community.

Rawat, who started his career from the Congress, later shifted to the BJP joining hands with Khanduri in 2007. Both Army Generals formed a formidable combination and was natural choice for the ex-servicemen and their families.

However, last year, Rawat also left the BJP to start his own political outfit the Uttarakhand Raksha Morcha and has been mainly banking on the goodwill of the service voters, ex-servicemen and their families.

On the other hand, the Congress has also fielded Lt-Gen Gambhir Singh Negi (retd) to counter the influence of Khanduri and Rawat.

A war of words has also started to get votes of ex-servicemen. Khanduri claims to have done the maximum for the ex-servicemen and their families by raising the grants for gallantary awardees, increasing the pensions of the Second World War veterans, giving liberal loans for housing and education and providing employment for ex-servicemen.

However, the Uttarakhand Raksha Morcha refuted the claims of the BJP. “There are a few Gallantary awardees and there are allegations of nepotism and favourtism in the UPNAL, a corporation for the welfare of ex-servicemen. Khanduri is taking credit for raising two battalions of the eco-task force but it is a central government project,” said Col PC Thapliyal (retd) of the Uttarakhand Raksha Morcha.

He charged that ex-servicemen of the state were neglected due to want of opportunities and employment.

Both ruling BJP and Congress had organised sainik sammelans in Pauri Garhwal, Almora and Pithoragarh districts having a sizeable population of servicemen and ex-servicemen in the past two months.

Lt-Gen Gambhir Singh Negi (retd), a former Commandant of the Indian Military Academy and former Chairman of the Uttarakhand Public Service Commission, will be spearheading the Congress campaign as far as service voters and their families are concerned.

Tiwari’s presence hots up political scene in Haldwani
Rajeev Khanna
Tribune News Service

Haldwani, January 18
The presence of former Chief Minister Narayan Dutt Tiwari in Haldwani has sent the political temperature in the region soaring.

Tiwari’s visit and his decision to camp in the town for three days has caused a turmoil in the political circles. His visit has both been dramatic and led to certain significant political developments.

To begin with, former chairperson of the Haldwani Municipal Board Renu Adhikari who had recently switched over to the BJP from the Congress created a commotion when she landed at the venue where Tiwari was to meet the media yesterday.

She met Tiwari but later stay put at the venue despite the Congressmen thronging it. She could be seen talking to the Congressmen and saying that he had blessed her with victory.

To get over the commotion caused by her, Tiwari was whisked away to another venue where he held a briefing in support of the Congress candidate and former Cabinet Minister Indra Hridayesh.

Hridayesh is known to be an old-time protégé of Tiwari. The briefing not only saw Tiwari supporting her, but also witnessed the senior leader of Tiwari-backed Nirantar Vikas Samiti Mohan Pathak coming out in support of the Congress.

Pathak had contested the previous election to the state Assembly in 2007 and caused immense damage to Hridayesh who had subsequently lost to Bansidhar Bhagat of the BJP.

Another interesting political aspect of Tiwari’s visit has been the Congress rebels on Kaladhungi and Lal Kuan seats turning up to meet him and seek his “blessings’’. Both Mahesh Sharma and Harish Durgapal are learnt to have met him. The two have defied the Congress diktat and have filed their nominations as Independents from the two seats.

Wednesday morning saw Tiwari participating in a road show in support of Hridayesh. He went to the Muslim-dominated Vanbhoolpura area seeking support for the Congress candidate. Interestingly, the Muslim votes will be a key factor in the contest as their number

of votes is considerable and the Samajwadi Party candidate Abdul Mateen Siddiqui has a stronghold among the community.

Tiwari has been known as “Vikas Purush” in the Terai area of the state. Credited with having ushered in an era of industrial development, he commands immense respect and political patronage in the region.

BJP flags off 13 jeeps for campaigning
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, January 18
Armed with “nukkad natak” teams and publicity material, a total of 13 Mahindra jeeps would now travel the length and breadth of 70 constituencies in Uttarakhand, informing the people about the work undertaken by the BJP and exposing the Congress.

The 13 vehicles were today flagged off by national BJP spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman, Mayor Vinod Chamoli and BJP spokesperson Vishwas Dawar.

Nirmala Sitharaman said the teams would stage five plays in one place and inform the masses why Khanduri and BJP are necessary in Uttarakhand. She said in view of the inclement weather, the party would be using print media and local television channels to reach the voters.

Songs, streetplays perk up BJP poll campaign
Neena Sharma
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, January 18
Don’t be surprised if you are suddenly confronted by a group of artistes performing a song and dance item as part of their streetplays, conveying the efforts made by the Khanduri Government in Uttarakhand to usher in transparency and good governance, for, these are artistes are a part of BJP campaign blitzkrieg launched in the poll-bound state.

Through the medium of nataks, the BJP hopes to deliver a body blow to the Congress efforts of staging a comeback in the state and also reach out to the voters by explaining to them the benefits of right to service and atal khadyan yojana.

The local artistes belonging to Sanskritic Ek Samajik Sansthan, who are part of the campaign, have already started getting ready audiences in the hills. “As we are local artistes, the people know us. Our team was specifically asked to design a campaign for the BJP and then enact it through the medium of street corner plays. As soon as we begin reciting the lines - surat badalney key liye Uttarakhand ka swaraj dekho - people begin to gather around us. As soon as we have their attention, we try hard to educate them about the programmes launched by the BJP Government in the state. In between we also try to highlight the misrule of the Congress-led UPA Government in the centre and the scams that have tainted the leadership,” said Girsih Pahari, member of the troupe.

The focus of the BJP’s election campaign in the state revolves around Chief Minister B.C Khanduri, with the tag line “Khanduri Hai Zaroori.” “As we have already projected B.C Khanduri as our Chief Minister, the foucs of our publicity campaign is entirely on him. We have successfully put into practice of focussing our election campaign on a strong leader, as was done in Gujarat. We expect the formula to work here and we have a winner at our hands,” said Dharmender Pradhan, organising secretary(national) BJP, who has also been entrusted with the task of overseeing the Uttarakhand elections.

The troupe has also composed several songs that were part of the Hindi hit films “Dirty Picture” and “Bodyguard.” Now these songs have been re-hashed with pahari tunes.

The song, “Kar diya sudhar” that talks about the efforts taken by the BJP to improve the state is inspired by the “Bodyguard” film theme song, “Aa gaya hai bodyguard.” These songs can be heard all across the state perking up the BJP campaign.

Post-delimitation interesting contest in Dharampur
BJP’s Dhyani faces sitting Lakshman Chowk MLA
Neena Sharma
Tribune News service

Dehradun, January 18
This is the first Assembly elections to be held after delimitation and the political scene on many seats have changed to such an extent that it has upset the calculations of many political leaders.

Ironically, the new Dharampur Assembly seat does not include the Dharampur area and is part of Dehradun district.

In the pre-delimitation period, Dharampur was part of the Doiwala Assembly segment that too has been redrawn. Now, 75 per cent of the erstwhile Laxman Chowk Assembly seat areas have been included in the Dharampur constituency, including about three gram sabhas from Sahaspur, two wards from the Doiwala seat and the Clement Town Cantt area.

Experts say post-delimitation the change in demography may have an impact on the election results. As caste is an important factor in the hills, political parties have fielded candidates belonging to two major castes, according to their demographical domination, while in Dehradun district it is not a major factor. But with delimitation a new set of voters has emerged, which may have a different voting pattern.

“In the Dharampur seat, Muslims comprise 15 per cent and Garhwali voters 60 per cent and they may tilt the scale in the favour of any candidate,” says Jay Singh Rawat, a senior journalist.

Among the four major parties, which have fielded candidates from Dharampur, the fight is mainly between the BJP and the Congress. Both BSP and Samajwadi Party have fielded Muslim candidates and it will be interesting to see whether there is a perceptible shift in the voting pattern, feel political observers.

Promises of better roads, sewerage and a sewage treatment plant have the potential of sending the Congress graph soaring, claims sitting MLA from Laxman Chowk Dinesh Agarwal. The Congress has fielded Agarwal from the Dharampur seat. He had won the Laxman Chowk seat twice.

However, BJP candidate Prakash Suman Dhyani, who is contesting the Assembly poll for the first time, says Agarwal failed to fulfil his promises, including construction of a park and an auditorium. He also failed to utilise his Local Area Development Fund of Rs 25 crore. Dhyani is banking on BC Khanduri’s popularity to emerge victorious.

Samajwadi Lohiyawahini Party chief joins Cong
Tribune News Service

Haridwar, January 18
More than 50 workers of the Samajwadi Lohiyawahini Party joined hands with the Congress today. Welcoming them into the party fold, Uttarakhand Congress Committee treasurer Braham Swaroop Brahamchari said the Congress was the only party that catered to the needs of all segments of society.

State chief of the Samajwadi Lohiyawahini Party Amit Saxena who along with his supporters joined the party affirmed their faith in the Congress ideology.

From today itself, these new members began campaigning for Haridwar city Assembly segment candidate Satpal Brahamchari.

Saxena said they had mutually decided to be part of the Congress.

Brahamchari claimed that the Congress was the oldest party in the country that had played a pivotal role in the pre-Independence movement and every worker was treated equally.

Among others who joined the party are Amjad Ali, Iqram Siddiqui, Mohammed Kamil, Vijay Shahrwal, Rajeev Bharma, Kurban Ali, Mohammed Muqaram, Rao Sadakad, Manish Dhasmana, Rajendra Saini and Mohammed Islam.

SP leader Hussain, too, shifts loyality
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, January 18
Senior Samajwadi Party (SP) leader from Uttarakhand Hussain Ahmed along with his supporters joined the Congress in Dehradun today.

Vice-president of the Uttarakhand Congress Suryakant Dhasmana welcomed Hussain Ahmed into the party fold and said his induction would benefit the party in the ongoing Assembly elections. He said there was an undercurrent in support of the Congress in the state. Congress MP from Tehri Vijay Bahuguna said Hussain’s entry into the Congress was an indication of the growing popularity of the party among minorities. He said the Congress would form the next government in the state. Associate in-charge of the Uttarakhand Congress Anees Ahmed referred to the initiatives taken by the Congress-led UPA government at the Centre for the betterment of the minorities. Mohammad Saliq, Abid Ali, Mohammad Tazdin, Azam Ali, Wasim Ali, Subhash Kumar and Gokul Rawat were other prominent Hussain supporters who also joined the Congress.

Poll snippets
Candidates ordered to carry campaign items with permission

Nainital: Election officials in Udham Singh Nagar have asked the contestants to take permission from the office of the Chief Eletion Officer in Dehradun for transportation of campaign material. District Election Officer PS Jangpangi has stated that it is being found that drivers of several vehicles transporting such material are found not to be in possession of required documents. Every candidate has been given permission to use only one vehicle across the state to transport such material.

Bacchi’s disappearance irks BJP men

Nainital: A prominent face from the political scenario in the state of Uttarakhand Bacchi Singh Rawat is not being seen anywhere amid the campaigning. Questions are being asked by the people about his current status in the BJP and what he has been doing. Party supporters are expressing surprise that ‘Bacchida’, as he is fondly known, has been on the sidelines ever since he lost the last Lok Sabha poll from the Nainital seat. On being asked, BJP sources have revealed that the senior BJP leader who has been a former state unit president and former union minister would be seen addressing public meetings from January 24 across Kumaon.

People turn crazy for publicity

Nainital: People crazy for seeing themselves on the television screens are having a great time participating in the television debates being organised by various channels. Almost every channel is organising political debates across various towns and important junctions. People are having an opportunity of seeing themselves on the screen. Television channels are all out to secure more TRP ratings.

Shinde, Virbhadra to address rallies

Dehradun: The Congress on Wednesday released a canvassing schedule of party senior leaders, who are also central ministers. Union Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde will be reaching Uttarakhand on January 24. He will be addressing public meetings in Pratap Nagar, Dhanolti Narendra Nagar and Rajpur constituencies. Similarly, Union Minister Virbhadra Singh will be reaching Dehradun on January 26. He will be addressing public meetings in Narendra Nagar, Pauri and Rishikesh Assembly constituencies in favour of Congress candidates.

Congress targets Team Anna

Dehradun: In anticipation of Team Anna’s visit to Uttarakhand, the state Congress has now started targeting Team Anna. Party spokesman Surendra Kumar questioned Team Anna’s silence over non- appointment of Lokayukta in Gujarat. He said Team Anna had never raised the issues of corruption committed by the Uttarakhand BJP government.

The Big Picture
Govts have failed to exploit tourist potential of the state
Seema Sharma
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, January 18
The successive state governments in Uttarakhand have not been able to devise a single clear-cut policy on tourism in the last 11 years. Being a small state of which 67 per cent part is covered with forests, tourism emerges the as the most viable option to generate revenue and employment. Sadly, all the state governments have floundered in harnessing this potential.

Unlike other states, the Tourism Department in the state stands divided among various entities, which has only resulted into utter chaos and blame game. The proposal of their unification fizzled out whenever floated.

The corporations, the Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam (GMVN) in the Garhwal circle, and the Kumaon Mandal Vikas Nigam (KMVN) in Kumaon circle were handed over the charge of manning the tourist rest houses built by another wing, the Uttarakhand Tourism Development Board (UTDB), and various small industries and gas agencies. Given to the ban on quarrying in the state in year, the GMVN lost a major source of revenue and its other industries, too, closed down one after another. Of the total 91 rest houses, most opened at the behest of politicians related to the state government to placate voters of their segment. Only 26 are running into profit; the rest are lying dilapidated and incurring major losses. People at the helm, president and vice-president, both political posts in GMVN and KMVN, employed their near and dear ones in these revenue- strapped corporations. The top bureaucrats, managing directors and general managers are usually given several other additional senior posts and are hardly seen in the corporation offices. The employees remained on roads most of the time, demanding salaries and regularisation of jobs.

The corporations have sought improvement in the condition of worn out rest houses. AK Dwivedi, Joint Director, UTDB, refused admitting that GMVN and KMVN had failed to pay the lease instalments frequently.The department would rather prefer private companies to take control of the rest houses.

The infrastructure on Chardham route is equally disappointing. The state government has been cashing on religious tourism where people in several lakhs visit Yamunotri, Gangotri, Badrinath and Kedarnath from May to November each year. Since the devotees are driven by religious sentiments regardless of facilities, the number of tourists has not risen significantly on the route in all these years.

Prakash Suman Dhyani, adviser to UTDB, accepted the serious lapses, saying: “In the last 11 years, we have not been able to provide good connectivity, including roads, bridges etc all around the char dham route. The tourists do not get decent eateries, lodging or toilet facilities for long stretches. Each year, the tourists or pilgrims get stranded because of landslides for several days together during rainy season. It is because we do not have alternate routes. We may churn out a horde of policies regarding destinations and circuits but the ground picture is quite dismal.”

Char Dham Vikas Parishad, another wing, headed by a politician of the state government, also turned to be an exercise to please those who could not be accommodated in the state government directly. All the pronouncements regarding boosting tourism during winter season by giving incentives and lucrative packages to visit winter abodes of the deities of Char Dham proved a damp squib. The state, which is replete with untapped and unexploited potential of natural sightseeing sites and with unlimited scope of adventure tourism, could not raise the tourism business during winter. UTDB’s idea of corroborating with the Department of Eco Tourism to offer beat destinations in parks and wildlife sanctuaries in the state during winter, too, remained confined to the files.

Since any travel activities inside the forest area comes under the Forest Department and is termed as eco tourism, the department has made many forest officers in-charge of eco tourism. They seemed least interested in tourism and have not done much beyond releasing new maps of Haldwani and Binsar, besides organising some sightseeing tours for groups of students and volunteers. Their apathy has led to the mushrooming of commercial hotels/resorts within the prohibited area of Corbett National Park.

Despite myriad possibilities available for evolving several tourist destinations as big as those developed by Britishers, such as Nainital and Mussoorie and popularising traditional fairs and festivals in the interior region through slick marketing, the state government has faltered on all these fronts badly. Barring Auli, no other destination, which was developed later, comes into sight.

The emblem of adventure activity in the state, rafting, remains embroiled in a controversy whenever it is the time to issue permits to rafters in September. The rafters blame the government for never backing them up with infrastructure or funds when they were struggling to establish the activity along the stretches of the Ganges from Shivpuri to Kaudiyala in Rishikesh. They remained on the boil this year on being demanded 20 per cent entertainment taxes, though they had no hesitation in continuing to pay permit high permit fee to both UTDB and Forest Department. The government has not been able to break the deadlock with rafters till date.

The brouhaha over ushering in village tourism with the collaboration of commercial giant Mahindra Tour & Travels, too, ended in mere din three years ago. Even now the government brags about starting this project on its own in a couple of villages such as Trivugi Narayan in Rudraprayag and Aadi Kailash in Nainital but on ground it is too little. The villagers complain about lack of proper training, infrastructure and tourist arrivals. It is also a pity that the government has not been able to provide even a single five star hotel to cater to its high-end tourists in the state.