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Congress comfortable in state, says Wasnik
BSP candidate Dhauni a dark horse
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Caste factor likely to play major role in Almora
Poll staff on way to 7,000-ft high booth
Rebels may dent Cong, BJP’s vote bank
BSP leader eyes 40 seats
Poll snippets
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Haridwar, January 27 Khanduri called upon the people to cast vote in a large number in favour of honest candidates and the BJP, as it was the only party that was sincere about eradicating corruption. He said as Uttarakhand was a new state, stern anti-graft measures were needed so that corruption did not set in deep into the system and affect development and the Vision 2020 programme of the party. “Each one of us should ensure that we neither give bribe nor take any. The Chief Minister is also under the purview of the Lokayukta. If the BJP returns to power in the state, more stern measures will be taken to make the state totally corruption-free,” said Khanduri, who is the star campaigner of the BJP in the election with slogan “Khanduri hai Jaroori” renting the air. Khanduri attacked the Congress-led UPA government at the Centre and said it was responsible for rising inflation and corruption. He added whether it was the issue of an industrial package, a provision of central aid or five MPs from the state, the Congress had always ignored the interests of the people of the state. “Bring us back to power in Uttarakhand and then at the Centre, we will show what good and honest governance is all about. We will address the issues of the common man, the poor, farmers and all other sections of society,” said Khanduri. Aadesh Chauhan in his address assured the people of development in this newly carved out Assembly seat. |
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Congress comfortable in state, says Wasnik
Pithoragarh, January 27 The minister said during the campaign in 2007, the Congress had to answer to the people for the performance of the government but this time the BJP was answerable to people on the big question of frequently changing Chief Ministers. “The political instability, created by immaturity of the BJP high command in Uttarakhand, has made the state backward by stopping development initiatives of the Congress during its rule,” said Wasnik. “The posts of 11,000 schoolteacher, created due to the retirement of teachers, have not yet been filled by this government forcing the schools in the rural areas into a one-teacher school,” said Wasnik. He further charged that the money sent by the Union Government under the “Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan” had also been used by the state government on other heads by keeping the schools without teachers. The minister said the Central Government initiatives in the state for IIT, AIIMS and hotel management institute had been sidelined by the government forcing the state go 20-year back in the spheres of development. “Besides these, the BJP has also kept the money allotted for the SC and ST categories unused.” “The money shown by the state government as used under these programmes had been actually misused,” said the union minister, who reached the district on his campaign for the Congress. |
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BSP candidate Dhauni a dark horse
Pithoragarh, January 27 The Bageshwar Assembly seat has 96,822 voters and out of these, the number of male voters is 48,780 and female voters are 48,042. These voters are divided into more than 100 polling booths, some of them are at heights beyond easy accessibility. Congress candidate Ram Prasad Tamta, a former minister, banks only on the main plank of his party that the development works initiated by the earlier Congress government five years ago have been abandoned by the BJP government thus stopping the pace of development of the district . “We have initiated a new drinking scheme for the town in place of the lifting scheme, which is 30 years old. But the BJP government has dumped that scheme,” alleged Tamta. The Congress candidate was of the view that the Congress is the only hope for the Dalits and weaker sections of the hill area of the state as it understands the real plight of these people here. “The local craft based on bronze metal in this town has taken a back seat. My priority is to revive it as I think that it can stop migration of youths by providing jobs in the trade”, said Tamta. BJP candidate and sitting MLA Chandan Ram Das has hopes on the image of his leader and Chief Minister Bhuwan Chandra Khanduri for wining the seat this time again. “Our party is committed to giving a corruption-free administration in the state” said Das. Another candidate, not to be taken lightly is BR Dhauni, a senior leader of the BSP in the Kumaon region and third contestant in Bageshwar, who will make effect on the voters of Bageshwar by making strong plea in favour of Mayawati as the district has been created by her in 1995. “We want to check the migration of our youths from the hill areas to the plains by giving employment to them in the district,” said Dhauni. According to the BSP candidate, the people of Bageshwar this time will vote for him. Despite this apathy on the part of main contestants, the people of Bageshwar are suffering from basic problems of “Pani, Sarak, Bijli”. The temple town, where lakhs of tourists throng during the Uttarayani festival every year, is without sewerage facility and base hospital as well as women hospital,” said Ghanshyam Joshi. Joshi added that the degree colleges established in the Congress rule had no buildings and the town lacked sufficient drinking water facility. The villagers have also started to react seeing the vote seekers around them. “The villagers of Tarmoli have decided to boycott the election this time as Seraghat to Kathpuriacheena road has not been completed yet despite been sanctioned in 1977,” said Balam Singh, a villager in Kathpuria in the Bhaisiyachana area of district. “We are still travelling 41 km for primary medical treatment and more than 10 km for the high school,” said a Tarmoli villager.
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Caste factor likely to play major role in Almora
Almora, January 27 It has also given political ideologues like PC Joshi who was the general secretary of the undivided Communist Party of India. At present, the constituency is all set to witness a multi-cornered battle in which caste equations are expected to play a big role. Manoj Tewari of the Congress is fighting with his back against the wall to repeat his performance of 2007 and emerge victorious once again. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has fielded RS Chauhan. But his nomination has led to a vertical split among the party cadres as Kailash Sharma was expected to be in the fray but was denied the ticket. Sharma is now contesting as an Independent candidate and is known to have a sizeable support base. Also in the fray is Shekhar Lakhchaura of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). Known for his organisational skills, he has been working hard in the constituency for quite sometime. The Uttarakhand Parivartan Party (UPP) has fielded Govind Lal Verma. He has a very powerful personal reputation. In terms of the caste break-up, the constituency is dominated by the Rajputs, better known as Thakurs, in this part of the country. They account for almost 40 per cent of the total electorate. The Brahmins and the Dalits are evenly distributed accounting for about 50 per cent of the voters. The minorities and others account for the remaining electorate. Despite having fielded a Thakur, the BJP’s campaign and its voter base is being dented by its rebel, Kailash Sharma. The other candidates are looking for the right caste combination to click. Although Almora has several local issues that need to be addressed by the political class, none of these has become a poll issue till now. In terms of the urban issues, Almora continues to cry for a scheme that would address its water concerns. Despite the Kosi river flowing in the close vicinity, the authorities have not been able to make the optimum use of its water resources till now. Then there are a whole lot of civic issues. In the rural areas, the problems pertaining to the lack of basic facilities like health, education, irrigation etc are the key areas to be addressed along with the continuing migration of the jobless youth. The scars left by the 2010 rain-related disaster are still visible. Almora had suffered the most in terms of losses of lives and infrastructure. As for the voter, he is maintaining a stoic silence, thus posing a challenge to political pundits to interpret it properly. |
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Poll staff on way to 7,000-ft high booth
Pithoragarh, January 27 “We have invented a new route to reach the highest polling booth at Namik situated at 2,880 metres from the sea level and 27 km from the main road. The new route goes from Bageshwar district and covers only 5 km by road,” said the election officer. He said the route to Namik village had become accessible as snow had melted. If fresh snowfall did not occur in the next two days, the poll parties could reach the Namik booth and return by the same route. “Besides the Namik booth, routes to other booths at high altitudes have also become accessible due to a friendly weather,” said the election officer. He said the chief election officer and the Chief Election Commissioner had assured the district administration of providing helicopters in case of emergency . |
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Rebels may dent Cong, BJP’s vote bank
Mussoorie, January 27 The presence of the party rebels may harm the prospects of both national parties. Due to the dereserving of the seat under new delimitation procedure, 13 candidates including Chait Ram alias Chaitu, Chintamani Khanduri, Yashveer Arya, Gulab Singh Rawat, Devendra Prasad Chamoli and Usha Panwar are contesting independently, along with Somvari Lal from the Uttarakhand Raksha Morcha, Suraj Mani from the Samaj Party and Mohan Lal from the Bahujan Samaj Party, harming the prospects of the candidates from the BJP and the Congress. The rebel candidates Jot Singh Bisht and Rajesh Nautiyal from the Congress and the BJP are also making a dent in the party cadre votes. |
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BSP leader eyes 40 seats
Pithoragarh, January 27 Addressing a party rally here today, Daddu Prasad claimed that the BSP would soon emerge as a strong political force in the state. “After coming to power, the party will provide government job to one person of each family as has been done by Mayawati in Uttar Pradesh,” claimed the BSP leader. Lashing out at the Congress and the BJP, he said both parties had “ignored” the Dalits and the poor in the state. The BSP leader further said the Ambedkar village model adopted by Mayawati in UP during her regime in 1995 had proved a boon for the poor. He said the same model was needed to be replicated in Uttarakhand as the condition of the Dalits in the state was very poor. He said as the cultivable land was only 7 per cent of the total area of Uttarakhand, the state needed more government jobs. Meanwhile, addressing the rally, BSP candidate Ram Dutt Joshi gave an assurance to the voters that if he was elected to the Assembly, his main focus would be to ensure the availability of potable water in each village and open an Army recruitment centre.
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Poll snippets
On the occasion of R-Day, the poll staff held an awareness drive among the voters. Besides hoisting of flags and parades, there were events persuading voters to make use of their right to franchise. These events included puppet shows in which characters warned the voters that they would be the sufferers if they do not cast their votes. The voters were also told not to be lured by cash or liquor. There were also poster exhibitions explaining the entire procedure of casting the votes. Targeting rival by proxy
Newspapers these days are full of advertisement campaigns for and against various political parties and candidates. However, there are allegations that one of the major political parties has been targeting its arch rival in the state by proxy. It has been issuing advertisements hitting out at its rival in the name of another party which has little presence in the state. It is being debated whether this is true and why this is being done. Secrecy on poll staff deployment
The poll panel has decided that the order of the deployment of poll staff to a particular destination will be given just before departure. This is being done to ensure the secrecy of the polling procedure. At the same time, the returning officers have been asked to carry out a study of the area that is being supervised by them so that there is no confusion on the day of polling. |
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Chief Minister Bhuwan Chandra Khanduri, who is credited with enacting the Lokayukta Bill in the state, feels that still much is needed to be done in this regard as corruption is deep-rooted in the system.
BSP candidate BR Dhauni is the only candidate who has local agenda in this election. The contestants from the mainstream parties are fighting on the party manifesto, said Ghanshyam Joshi, a local political activist in Bageshwar.