Dehradun, April 1
The objections registered by councillors in the office of Urban Development regarding reservation pattern over seats for the wards of Dehradun Municipal Corporation in the wake of civic polls will be sealed in the documents shortly. But the BJP councillors are keeping no secret of their resentment as they are openly venting their anger against the reservation.

Amita Singh, councillors, Mohit Nagar, said: ''As per the regulation, the big wards will be reserved for women candidates. This way my ward, which has some 17 to 18 residential colonies and has a population of some 18,000 residents, is among the biggest wards. This way it should

not be declared general.'' She said the Congress was deliberately tampering with the regulations as prescribed for reservation of the seats. ''Congress is least bothered about the reservation and openly flouting rules. Their main concern is to snatch away the ward from those BJP counsellors who have done a lot of work in their wards and have fair chances to win those seats again.'' She also emphasised that it still would not matter much to her as she would be preferred above other candidates by the residents of her ward.

Sachin Gupta, councillor, Yamuna Colony, whose seat has been reserved for women candidate, however, is not much worried. He said: ''I have been projected as bachelor by some newspapers, whereas I am very much

married. So I am not worried even if my ward has wrongly been reserved for women candidates as I would field my wife for the election to my ward. Not all are lucky as some bachelors who were doing good work and hopeful of repeating their victory have been denied a chance with their seats getting reserved for women candidates.''

Govind Mohan, councillor of Patel Nagar ward, said: ''The wards of middle rung are never reserved. In previous elections reservation was done in the ascending order of the wards, but this time, it is in descending order. Despite that my ward, which falls in the middle category, has been reserved, which is against the regulations.'' He said he was very disheartened with the politics played behind the reservation drama. ''I worked hard not only for my ward but for DMC as a whole. I pursued the issue of open tenders of hoardings, because of which the DMC began earning revenue, which increased from Rs 50 lakh to Rs 2.5 crore at present. My heart bleeds when I saw all my good work getting washed away in this nefarious game of reservation.''

Another councillor Abdul Aziz of Reetha Mandi says:'' My ward too has been reserved for women candidates against the regulation which says that those wards which have population less than 7000 would be declared general. But my ward which falls in this category has been reserved for women. Have the regulations been ignored to ensure victory by hook or by crook by Congress government?''

Mussoorie, April 1
Scramble for the coveted post of president in one of the richest Municipal Councils (MC) of north India has begun with the tenure of the present civic body in Mussoorie about to end.

More than 25 candidates from the BJP and the Congress have staked their claim to the post of MC president while 12 candidates each are vying for the posts of member. This has made it difficult for senior leaders to take a decide on probable candidates.

The sitting MC president, OP Uniyal, former Mussoorie BJP unit president Anita Saxena, advocate Mohan Petwal, regional film producer Rajendar Rawat, Uttarakhand joint convener of the BJP local bodies Vijay Ramola, senior BJP leader Dinesh Badoni, Ajay Bhandari, Anil Godiyal, Dwijendar Bahuguna and Satish Saklani have staked their claim to the post of MC president.

Political pundits believe that with so many candidates willing to fight election for the post of MC president all is not well in the BJP. This has brought to the fore infighting in the BJP which could affect the winning prospects of its candidates.

A section of BJP workers is vehemently opposing Uniyal for a fresh term this time alleging that he ignored them during his current five-year term.

Uniyal staked his claim to the post of MC president for the second consecutive term and said a section of party workers in connivance with the Congress was conspiring against him. They were trying to weaken the party by fielding a weak candidate in his place.

Meanwhile, party workers like Anil Godiyal and Rajendar Rawat said the image of the party had suffered immense damage during Uniyal’s tenure as MC president. Corruption allegations were being levelled against him and, therefore, it was necessary to field a candidate who was committed to the party and the common people.

The role of BJP leader, Ganesh Joshi, also becomes important as the Congress is also facing a similar problem with more than five candidates staking their claim to the post of MC president. The former MC president, Manmohan Singh Mall, has emerged the frontrunner but the political journey for him may not be easy this time with young leaders in the party like Megh Singh Kandari, Virendar Rawat, Satish Dhaundhiyal and Subhasini Bartwal also willing to contest election for the top post.

President of the Mussoorie Traders’ Association Rajat Aggarwal, who was also in the run for the MC president’s post, has withdrawn his claim and is now vying for the post of ward member.

Megh Singh Kandari, one of the contenders for the MC president’s post, said young party workers were not given important portfolios and now it is time that their voice was heard and they play an important role in the local bodies’ election.

Mall said as he was the senior-most leader in the Congress and had served on the post earlier, his claim should be considered seriously. However, he left the decision on the party and promised to work for the Congress candidates in the MC election.

The scramble for the posts of ward member is also intensifying with 12 candidates each from both parties willing to contest the election. However, residents of the town say only those candidates, who have a broad vision for development, will be preferred for the post of president and ward members irrespective of their party affiliations.

Dehradun, April 1
The Congress has started preparations for the civic election to be held this month.

More than 200 applicants, including sitting ward members of the Congress, thronged the Congress headquarters today to apply for the party nominations.

Tilak Raj Behad, former state minister and in charge of the party affairs of Dehradun city, took the applications and interviewed the candidates. Most of the Congress applicants had come with their supporters. Some of them even raised slogans in support of their respective leaders.

Behad said after the process of getting applications, the party leadership would scrutinise the applications and select the best possible candidates.

Suryakant Dhasmana, vice-president of the Uttarakhand Congress Committee, and also a prospective candidate for the post of Mayor, was also present on the occasion.

On the other hand, Ved Parkash, secretary, All-Indian Congress Committee (AICC), held a meeting with the leaders and party legislators from the Garhwal region for the civic poll in the state. He has been assigned to oversee the civic poll in the state. He also met the Congress district presidents and instructed them to submit reports about the possible candidates and the ground situation in various civic bodies of the Garhwal region within this week.

On Sunday, Maj Ved Parkash (retd) held deliberations with leaders, legislators and MPs of the Kumaon region. President of the state unit of the party Yashpal Arya, Mahendra Singh Mahra, Rajya Sabha MP KC Singh Baba, Finance Minister Indira Hridyesh and some of the legislators attended the meeting.

Maj Ved Parkash reportedly told the party leaders from the Kumaon and Garhwal regions that the civic poll should be fought sincerely to ensure the victory of the ruling party.

Dehradun April 1
The deadline for receiving objections over the proposed reservation pattern for seats of wards under the Municipal Corporations, six seats for the posts of Mayor, 28 seats for the posts of chairman of the Nagar Palika and 35 for the position of chairman of panchayat came to an end today.

Additional Director, Urban Development, Jugal Kishore Pant said the maximum of 131 objections came over the reservation in the wards of the Municipal Corporations. Among these, 64 objections were received for the Dehradun Municipal Corporation and 59 for the Haldwani Municipal Corporation.

The main objection hinged around reserving seats for women candidates. Pant said people of particular communities had registered objections that they did not have adequate population of women members in their communities, so they would not be able to benefit from the reservation made for women candidate.

However, there was hardly any objection from four other Municipal Corporations, Roorkee, Kashipur, Rudrapur and Haridwar. There were only 23 objections over the reservation of six seats of Mayor in the poll. Some 74 complaints came regarding the post of chairman for Nagar Palika and 64 for chairman of panchayat. Pant said people also raised objections for reserving Doiwala seats for woman OBC instead of only OBC. He said the objections had been sorted out.

Dehradun, April 1
The Forest Research Institute (FRI) has introduced a battery-operated cart for the movement of tourists within its campus. The first of such cart was inaugurated by Dr VK Bahuguna, Director General, Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education, here today.

The 11-seater cart will carry tourists from the gate to the main building and other tourist attractions of the campus such as Bamboosetum, Arboretum and Botanical Garden in shuttle trips.

The FRI is one of the major tourist attractions of Dehradun.

The majestic building of the FRI and the campus attract more than 75,000 tourists from across the world every year.

Speaking on this occasion, Dr Bahuguna said the institute was committed to preserving the environment of the campus and the operation of the battery- operated cart would reduce the smoke and noise pollution caused by tourists on the campus.

He said more such vehicles would be procured and used for increasing the tourist facilities in a sustainable manner.

Dr PP Bhojvaid, Director, FRI, said the institute had been trying to augment tourist facilities while preserving the environment of the campus and the battery- operated vehicle would also help the residents of the campus. Senior officers and scientists of the ICFRE and the FRI were present on this occasion.

Dehradun, April 1
Demanding better pay and perks, agitating class IV employees in the state today announced to teach the Congress a lesson in the coming civic election.

Class IV employees also resorted to a large-scale sloganeering against the state government at the Old Raipur bus stand dharna site here. Govind Singh Negi, president, Uttarakhand Class Four Employees Federation, alleged that despite several assurances in the past, nothing had been done by the state government to address their genuine concerns.

More than 55,000 class IV employees of the state government working in 36 government departments are on strike since March 4.

Dehradun, April 1
Malik Sports, New Delhi, defeated the Ajabpur Youngsters Club, Dehradun, by three wickets to enter the semifinal of the 5th All-India Uttarakhand Cup Cricket Tournament being played at Rangers College ground here today.

Batting first after winning the toss, Ajabpur Youngsters scored 162 runs all out in 34.4 overs. Rohit Dubey remained unbeaten on 28 runs. Arminder scored 25 while P. Mehra scored 24 runs. Amit Dahiya and Vicky Kumar took two wickets each for Malik Sports.

In reply, Malik Sports scored 163 runs for the loss of seven wickets to win the match by three wickets. Hari Kishan scored unbeaten 48 runs while Sandeep scored 40 runs. Arminder and Bharat Veer took two wickets each. 

DEHRADUN: The Rudra XI and the Rao Cricket Academy won their respective matches in the knockout stage of the 61st Dehradun District Cricket League played at the Survey Stadium here today.

In the first match, the Rudra XI defeated the Khalsa Cricket Academy by two wickets. The Khalsa academy team after winning the toss decided to bat first and scored 130 runs for the loss of all wickets in 25 overs. In reply, the Rudra XI scored 131 runs for the loss of eight wickets in 23.3 overs and won the match by two wickets.

In the second match, the Rising Star Club defeated the Rao Cricket Academy by six wickets. The Rising Cricket Club batting first scored 152 runs for the loss of nine wickets. The Rao academy scored 154 runs for the loss of four wickets and won the match. — TNS