Rishikesh, January 23
In his second phase of election campaigning in Garhwal division of the state, today Congress national general secretary Rahul Gandhi came out strongly on the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance tenure and also at the current BJP government in the state.

Addressing a huge rally in Rishikesh, Rahul said the saffron party actually didn’t know how to govern and that is why when the elections were nearing, it tried to bank on ‘media advertisements' to put a veil on its corrupt governance.

He also related the failed ‘Indian Shining’ attempt with the current BJP’s promotional election media campaign titled ‘Khanduri Hai zaroori’ and said they were fake attempts to fool the people. On ground reality, no development had been taken place, he said.

He had a dig at Khanduri by saying, ”If Khanduri is so ‘zaroori’ (essential) for us and the BJP, then why the party replaced him 2 years ago? Back then he was sidelined by the BJP and now just before elections they deem him imperative. It is only done to come back to power and fill their coffers once again from public funds,” said the Amethi parliamentarian.

“They (BJP) are saying that Khanduri is essential, but we (the Congress) know that ‘rail’ (130 km long Rishikesh-Karanprayag railway network) is more imperative to people of the state,” added Rahul, who had done his schooling from Uttarakhand.

Blaming the BJP state government for not properly implementing the central funded schemes, Rahul said even the Rs 700 crore for Maha Kumbh were gulped down by the Nishank government.

Terming the ambitious Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act as a face-changing scheme in the rural India, he said if respective state governments ensure its corruption-free implementation, then there would be no one in villages without a job in hand.

Terming the UPA government as a government of ‘Aam Aadmi, Rahul said be it presenting of Lokpal Bill, Food Security Bill, the Right to Information Act or the UID-Aadhaar card, the Central Government was doing every bit to ensure common man’s benefit.

Union Minister of state for Parliamentary Affairs Harish Rawat and state party chief Yashpal Arya also addressed the rally.

Dehradun, January 23
During his second leg of electioneering in the hill state of Uttarakhand, Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi launched a scathing attack on the state Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government for alleged corruption scandals in looting the state coffers and treachery with the trust of the common man.

Addressing his first election meeting at Srinagar, Garhwal, Rahul said the BJP decided to change guard in Uttarakhand just before the Assembly elections to cover up for the wrongdoings of its state government under the previous Chief Minister.

Commenting on the BJP slogan of “Khanduri Hai Zaroori”, Rahul Gandhi said Khanduri was indeed needed by the BJP to cover up the acts of “thieves.”

“Khanduri is needed because the thieves need a cover-up (Khanduri isliye zaroori hai kyonki chron ko chhupna hai),” he said. He further said the BJP which had been talking about corruption had turned a blind eye to the corruption in the BJP-ruled states of Karnataka, Gujarat and Uttarakhand. He also mentioned about tainted BSP minister Babu Singh Kushwaha’s entry into the BJP in Uttar Pradesh.

He said the corruption had left Uttarakhand behind since the state BJP government has failed to utilise the funds given by the Central Government under various schemes. Rahul called upon the voters to bring in Congress government in the state for its overall development.

In Rishikesh, in a bid to puncture the ruling BJP's pro-Khanduri campaign, he asked why the current Chief Minister was removed in his earlier stint if he was so badly needed now.

"The BJP may need Khanduriji but people of the state don't need him. They need development. I want to ask the BJP if he (Khanduri) is so badly needed then why he was removed (in 2009)," asked Rahul, addressing an election rally here.

Haridwar, January 23
On the pious occasion of Somwati Amawasya, lakhs took a holy dip at Brahamkund, Har-ki-Pauri and adjacent ghats of the holy river Ganga.

Since the wee hours of the morning, devotees started thronging the Ganga ghats despite chilling, foggy conditions prevalent in the region.

But soon the foggy weather paved way for a bright sunshine, making the event more spiritual.

Devotees from various parts of the states took a holy dip and offered prayers to the Ganga and Sun God .

Pilgrims from Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and even far-off states such as Rajasthan and Bengal were seen in Haridwar.

In view of the festive bath, elaborate security arrangements were in place with the whole core mela zone of Har-ki-Pauri divided into five zones and 13 sectors.

Haridwar police chief Pushkar Sailal, city Superintendent of Police Dr Yogendra Singh Rawat and traffic chief Dr Kiran Lal Shaw monitored the whole day proceedings.

Nodal security officer Shahjahan Javed Khan said by evening almost a million took holy bathe in the Ganga and people were seen pouring in later.

In view of a heavy rush, the Railways and city roadways depot had put on additional coaches and buses to ferry the pilgrims coming from different party of the country.

Mussoorie, January 23
BJP national president Nitin Gadkari raised the political temperature of the sleepy hill town of Mussoorie by launching a frontal attack on the Congress Party stated that the Congress at the behest of UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi was indulging in petty politics by promising them 9 per cent quota from the share of Schedule castes and Other Backward Castes quota.

Nitin Gadkari, attacking Congress and Samajwadi Party on the issue of Muslim reservation, said that both parties had failed to address the real problems of Muslims, and now in the election were trying to mislead them by offering 9 per cent and 18 per cent quota in government jobs.

Nitin Gadkari elaborated further that due to the Supreme Court direction, the quota level could not be increased more than 50 per cent but both Congress and Samajwadi Party were trying to dabble with the reservation share kept aside for SC and OBC categories, and any such move will be opposed by BJP vehemently.

Reacting to UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh’s recent statements in which former chief minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank of Uttarakhand BJP Government was criticised on the issue of corruption and scams committed during his tenure as CM, he accused Congress of making false statements. Gadkari listed a series of scams that marked the United Progressive Alliance's (UPA) tenure at the Centre. He said: “ Sonia had lost the right of speaking on the issue of corruption after several ministers from her own government at the Centre were in jail and more were lining up, be it in the case of 2G, Commonwealth Games and Adarsh Society scam, to name few.”

Gadkari, defending former CM Nishank on corrupotion charges, said that all allegations levelled by Opposition have proved false and even the Supreme Court has given him a clean chit.

Stepping up the attack against the Congress, Gadkari also sought answers from the party and its economist prime minister on why both were silent on the role of Home Minister Chidambram in 2G scam. Gadkari also questioned the silence of the prime minister on the issue of adverse report given by Karnataka Lokayukt on the role of Foreign Minister SM Krishna in mining scam.

“ If Manmohan Singh chooses to remain silent on the issue of corruption being committed by his own ministers, then he should go and sing bhajans instead of continuing as prime minster of the country,” added Nitin Gadkari.

Gadkari also alleged that the prejudice shown by the Congress towards the BJP Government in the state was evident from the fact that it had cancelled the industrial package for Uttarakhand but had continued with same package for Jammu and Kashmir as it was sharing power with the National Conference.

Gadkari also tried to touch an emotional chord with families of ex-Army men by stating that senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh had hurt the sentiments of the martyrs by siding with international terrorist by calling him “Osama jee’ at Azamgarh.

Nitin Gadkari asserted said that these elections were not for deciding the future of Ganesh Joshi but to decide the future of people of Uttarakhand as it would provide a direction to the politics at national level. Therefore, it was necessary to vote in favour of BJP candidate so that it returns to power in the state once again. The national BJP president along with the national president of Bhartiya Janta Yuva Morcha Anurag Thakur pleaded to the people to vote for BJP and choose Ganesh Joshi as their MLA from Mussoorie and strengthen the hands of BC Khanduri Government.

Dehradun, January 23
The state unit of the Samajwadi Party issued its manifesto here today. It made promises of reforms in education, employment, health and starting policies related to minority committees, tightening bureaucracy and declaring Gairsain as the summer capital of the state.

SP state president Vinod Barthwal said the party would provide 35 per cent reservation to poor children in good English medium schools of the city. Higher education in foreign education institutions would be facilitated for meritorious students. The unemployed persons would be given Rs 5,000 as a monthly allowance and loan as per their qualifications. At least one person in a family would be provided a job.

The recommendations of Rangnath Mishra and the Sacchar committees would be implemented for the welfare of minority committies. The people of poor section would be provided medical treatment for serious ailments free of cost. The closed hydroelectric projects would be started. The Centre would be pressurised to float a Himalayan Development Authority.

Barthwal also lashed out at bureaucracy. He said the senior officials would be sent to far-flung areas for development work and the gulf between public and officials would be bridged. The foreign tours of bureaucrats would be controlled.

On the capital issue, he said Dehradun would be the winter and Gairsain would be the summer capital of the state.

He said a new Assembly house and Degree College would be constructed in his constituency, Raipur. He promised to provide a network of roads, clean water and power.

Haridwar, January 23
Assembly segment number-31, Mangalore, is surrounded by Khanpur, Jhabreda and Roorkee segments, comprising Libbarheri,Manglaur, Bhagwanpur Chandanpur, Banhera Tanda, Mundlana, Harjoli Jatt, Kagwali, Harchandpur, Mohammadpur Jatt, Kherajatt,Kalyanpur Urf Narsan Kalan, Nagala Salaru,Tikola Kalan, Nakibpur Urf Ghosipura of Mangalore municipal ward and a part of Roorkee tehsil.

Out of the 11 Assembly segments, Mangalore is witnessing a keenly fought contest, as all the three major parties of the state, Congress,BJP and BSP, are eyeing this seat.

Rashtriya Lok Dal is also in the fray owing to joining of the party by former legislator Yashveer Singh’s son Atul Chaudhary.

Having a voter list of 91,679, which comprises 41,330 female and 50,349 male voters, this segment has been a bastion of Qazi Nizamuddin, who has won all the Assembly elections since Uttarakhand was created.

Qazi Nizamuddin in 2007 as Bahujan Samaj Party candidate had defeated RLD’s Chaudhary Kulweer Singh, gaining 36.91 pc of polled votes, while in 2002 he had won the seat defeating Indian National Congress candidate Sarvat Karim Ansari upping his vote pc to 39.94.

This time, too, Qazi Nizamuddin is the hot favourite and is eyeing a hat-trick from this segment, banking on his clean, young, dynamic, development-oriented vision. Also his taking the issue in state Assembly regarding caste certificate has also made him popular in the region.

This time he is a Congress candidate and the traditional vote bank of BSP may be affecting his vote percentile.

Kaleem Ansari is BJP candidate and is the lone Muslim candidate in the whole state fielded by BJP since creation of Uttarakhand. He also has a long family political background with his grandfather Abdul Hamid Ansari being a legislator in Uttar Pradesh Assembly three times from Lakshar segment, followed by his uncle Saeed Ahmed Ansari, who remained legislator for three consecutive terms from 1956-69 from the same segment.

His father Mohammed Akhtar Ansari also remained municipal chairperson of Mangalore and his mother, too, Sarvari Begum, served for five years in the same capacity.

Giving a tough fight also is Rashtriya Lok Dal’s Gaurav Chaudhary, who is banking on his father’s political legacy. Ushering confidence of his victory with sizeable presence of peasants and labourers in this segment, Chaudhary says that he has joined politics only to improve the working condition of farmers and labourers.

Being from the Jat community, Gaurav Chaudhary is also eyeing the 15 pc voters of this community, who may play a decisive role in the election result.

Bahujan Samaj Party has now fielded Sarvat Karim Ansari, who left Congress owing to his ticket denial in favour of Qazi Nizamuddin.

Having been active in Mangalore politics for the past three decades will surely help him, and attributes the non-development of this segment to the previous lacklustre tenures of legislators.

On the issues that affect the local people is lack of educational institutions.

Health facilities, too, are not up to the mark despite the presence of a community health centre in the segment. There is a dearth of specialised medical practitioners in it and other government-run clinics. Similarly, during monsoon season instances of water choking further worsened by bad condition of roads makes commuting a major problem for the residents.

Erratic water supply is also a woe of the people as Mangalore’s water supply is still depending on several decades old single overhead tank, which has been neglected for years by elected representatives. Being a agriculture dominated area, the farmers also don’t get adequate supply for irrigation, which is also a major issue this time.

The seat is witnessing a quadrangular contest and all eyes are on Nizamuddin, whether he makes it a hat- trick of wins this time.

Dehradun January 23
Former Member of Parliament Salim (CPM) castigated BJP and Congress for overlooking the interests of people of minority communities and the poor. Salim was campaigning for CPM candidate for Sahaspur seat Shiv Prasad Devli at Shankarpur, Sabhawala and Sahapur today. He said both Congress and BJP sidelined the recommendations of Ranganath committee and Sachar committee, which belied their claims to be pro-minority and pro-poor.

The fund meant for development was lapsing, a fact which was explicit in Haridwar and Udham Singh Nagar. By complicating the process of formation of caste certificate, these parties were impeding the growth

opportunities for people of backward communities, he said, and added the candidates of their party would become the voice of the constituency.

Dehradun, January 23
YWCA of the India Project held a Rotary Club-sponsored medical camp in the YWCA premises at New Cantt Road in the city yesterday.

About 152 old patients benefited from the camp. The patients, with regards to complications related to eye, nose, ear, throat and teeth, consulted specialised doctors present in the camp.

The theme of the camp was devoted to parents and elderly people this time. Some 109 patients with eye-related problems were attended by the doctors, RN Singh and OP Gupta, and were also distributed spectacles.

Similarly, 152 ENT patients were also attended by the doctors. They were prescribed medicines while some of them were advised to come for the OPD run by the YWCA for proper treatment. Office bearers of the Vision Society of India, MM Kapoor and Kailash Guleri, also came on the occassion.

Dehradun, January 23
Sachin Kumar of St Joseph’s Tennis Academy won against Utkarsh Bhardwaj of Shanti Tennis Academy 5-3, 4-0 in the under-18 category final match of the 1st Rev. Bro. S.E.Coffey Memorial Tennis Tournament held at the St Joseph’s Tennis Academy here today.

In the boys under-14 (singles) finals, Utkarsh Bhardwaj of Shanti Tennis Academy defeated Ravi Sasi of Haridwar, 3-5,5-4 (7-5),4-2.

Brother AJ George, principal of the St Joseph’s Academy gave away the prizes. The umpires for the finals were Ashok Bhandari and Akbar.

Dehradun, January 23
Vidya Jain Cricket Academy, Delhi, defeated LCA, Lucknow, by 8 wickets to enter the semi-finals of the 4th Girish Bhadri Memorial Cricket Tournament played at Rangers College ground here today.

The Vidya Jain Cricket Academy team won the toss and elected to field first. Batting first, the LCA team scored 102 runs all out in 37.1 overs. Vipul Shukla was the top scorer with 27 runs. Karan Chaudhary took 3 wickets for 15 runs while Deepak Bansal and Shivam Sharma took 2 wickets each.

In reply, the Vidya Jain Cricket Academy team scored 104 runs for 2 wickets in 12.1 overs to win the match by 8 wickets. Opener Vivek Rana and Lokesh Sharma scored 44 and 39 runs respectively to steer their team to victory.

Gaurav took 2 wickets for 32 runs.