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Uttarakhand
civic polls
Uttarakhand civic polls
Rift comes to fore in Haridwar BJP
A blend of educated, illiterate nominees in Mussoorie
No decision yet on re-induction of expelled Qureshi into Cong
Symbols allotted to candidates
State to create relief fund for rape, acid attack victims
Annual plan pegged at Rs
8,500 crore
Dhasmana pledges to work for solving civic problems of Doon
Rajni Rawat claims support of various sections
Memo to Chief Secy on allocation of houses
Bahuguna meets Pawar, seeks sugarcane
research centre at Haridwar
Brothers Cricket Club win
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Anna threatens to return Padma Bhushan if graft not checked
Dehradun, April 16 Addressing a sizeable gathering at Parade Ground, Dehradun, as part of Jantantra Yatra's public meeting, Anna Hazare threatened to return his Padma Bhushan if the Centre failed to come up with effective laws like Jan Lokpal to check rising corruption levels in the country. ''I have returned the Padma Shree and I would now even not hesitate to return the Padma Bhushan as these awards do not matter to me if we cannot make a corruption free India,'' he said. He said his anti-corruption movement was aimed to awaken the people of the country. It has been over 2 years since Parliament adopted a resolution but an effective anti- corruption law like Jan Lokpal was still to come up in the country, he pointed out. Calling for weeding out wrong practises in electoral democracy, Hazare said it was generally seen that many vote during elections in lieu of a liquor bottle and cash. ''I feel sad. This is disgraceful and a disrespect to the sacrifices made by freedom fighters like Bhagat Singh,'' Hazare said, urging the masses not to vote under greed of liquor bottle or cash. Appealing to the youth in particular, Anna Hazare asked the youth to unitedly stand against corruption. He said he looked forward to the youth with much hope. ''I feel energised amongst you and feel like a 75-year-old youth,'' he said. Hazare said true democracy was still to come to India as political parties had only degraded it and stressed on people's right to reject candidates with criminal and corrupt antecedents. ''Today's power politics is for money and money is for power politics,'' he said, terming it as a matter of urgent concern for the country. Former Army chief VK Singh disclosed that while first phase of Jantantra Yatra in the country was concluding in Dehradun today, the next phase of yatra will cover other parts of Uttarakhand subsequently. He said the people of Uttarakhand were literate and aware, and he was very much hopeful of getting good response in the second part of the yatra in the state. Another speaker Maulana Sufi Jilani also called upon the people to strengthen Anna Hazare's movement against corruption. Despite Jantantra Yatra public meeting being held on short notice at Parade Ground in Dehradun, crowds did turn up in sizeable numbers, that, too, spontaneously. Uttarakhand Poorva Sainik Evam Ardhsainik Sanghatan had also extended its support to the public meeting.
Appeals to people to join his
anti-graft drive
Anti-corruption crusader and Jantantra Morcha patron Anna Hazare today appealed to the people to join his campaign against corruption in the country. Addressing mediapersons, Anna Hazare, who was here today as part of his Jantantra Yatra that started from Jallianwala Bagh, Amritsar, on March 31, said corruption had completely taken over the system in the country and the people were fed up with it. He said those want to bring about the change in the system must join his anti-corruption movement. He said Jantantra Yatra had been launched to garner support for the anti- corruption movement in the country. He said the first phase of the yatra concluded in Dehradun today. It extensively covered Punjab, Haryana, Western Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. He said they received good response from the people during the first phase of the yatra. "We are witnessing a huge turnout at the yatra," said Anna Hazare. He denied having any information about yoga guru Ramdev launching a party soon. "I am not aware of it. But I would say that who intend to fight corruption must come together for the betterment of the country," he said. Former Army Chief Gen VK Singh, Uttarakhand Convener of the Jantantra Morcha Surendra Singh Pangtey, Lt Gen HB Kala (retd) and PC Thapliyal were also present at the press
conference.
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BJP pulling all strings to ensure
smooth sailing for candidates
Succeeds in persuading rebels to withdraw Tribune News Service
Dehradun, April 16 It was the prompt action taken by the team comprising senior leaders that led to the withdrawal of nominations by around 21 candidates. ''These candidates had filed their nominations against the official candidates but were made to withdraw on the last day of the nominations,'' said Teerath Singh Rawat, Uttarakhand BJP chief. The BJP did not face much trouble on the prestigious mayoral seats in the six corporations. The candidates who had filed their nominations from nagar panchayats and nagar palikas and are now refusing to heed to the instructions of the senior leadership to withdraw are now proving to be a big headache to the BJP. According to the party leaders, there are around 7-8 rebel candidates who have filed their nominations in the different nagar palikas and nagar panchayats in the state who seem to be defying the party orders. ''Thanks to the persuasive skills of the party leaders, around 12 candidates from the Garhwal division and six from the Kumaon division have withdrawn their nominations. But we would be in a far better position if all the candidates withdraw in favour of the official candidates,'' said Rawat. The party is still recovering from the shock of having the candidature of Balram Tomar for the post of chairman of Jaspur Municipal Council being termed invalid by the returning officer. ''We still feel his papers were in order and the BJP was needlessly targeted by the officials at the behest of the Congress leadership,'' said Rawat.
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UKD mayoral candidate gets cup-plate poll symbol
Disgruntled elements create ruckus in party office Tribune News Service
Dehradun April 16 After getting the symbol, Lakhera first paid floral tributes at the Shaheedi Sthal. He was accompanied by senior leaders AP Juyal, Shashi Bhushan Bhatt and Vinod Uniyal. In the afternoon, he held discussions over election preparations with his supporters in Indira Colony, Chukhuwala and Dobhalwala. Juyal said the electoral preparations would start from the party office. He admired Lakhera, saying that the party fielded an honest statehood agitator as well as journalist for Mayor's position. Giving remarks on the intra-party conflicts over candidature of Lakhera, he said some selfish elements were unnecessarily stretching this issue and trying to damage the party. This came in the ambit of indicipline. Another party leader Mahavir Rana said UKD took the important decision by fielding Lakhera, who is son of the founder of the party, CM Lakhera. He reposed faith in the public about giving enough votes to Lakhera for victory. Meanwhile, the anger among the disgruntled elements in UKD office burst out in the form of slogans against party president Trivender Singh Panwar. Senior UKD leader Jay Prakash Upadhyaya had to withdraw his nominations. Upadhyaya said: ''The term of Panwar had ended long ago. However, he was able to impose his authority on us on one account or the other but we will no longer tolerate him in
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Rift comes to fore in Haridwar BJP
Haridwar, April 16 Kamal Johra alleged that last evening during a meeting of party leaders, Madan Kaushik used foul language and also manhandled him with the support of some of his supporters. The incident occurred when Johra accused Kaushik of pressuring the previous BJP state government to elevate the Municipal Committee into a corporation and abolish the committee headed by Johra. “Kaushik made derogatory comments against me, my community (Punjabi) and even warned of dire consequences if in future I try to speak on party forums,” said
Johra. Former municipal chairman also charged him with misusing the fund of the civic body along with some ward
ex-councillors. Johra will also take up this issue with state party chief Teerath Singh Rawat by writing a letter in this regard. Replying to the allegations of
Johra, city legislator Madan Kaushik refuted the allegations, terming these baseless and uncalled for. “This is totally baseless. As the Urban Development Minister in the BJP government, I tried to provide funds to the Haridwar Municipal Committee but it was Johra himself who was reluctant to utilise funds for development purposes. It was Johra who levelled allegations against me, still I didn’t reply, but now he is making false statements in the media” said Kaushik while talking to TNS.
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A blend of educated, illiterate nominees in Mussoorie
Mussoorie, April 16 According to nomination papers filed by the candidates, the BJP has fielded Leela
Devi, who is illiterate, from ward no 9 as its candidate this year. On the other hand, the Congress has fielded Ramesh Bharti from ward no 2 as its illiterate candidate. Such condition has arisen as there is no criterion of education fixed for contesting elections in the country. However, many candidates with graduate and law degrees are also contesting in the election for both ward and presidential posts. Speaking on the presidential post, one independent candidate has only passed class 3 while one candidate is MA,
LLB, BBA and B.Ed. For the Congress, out of the 3 ward candidates, one is graduate and one
LLB. The another one is below class 10. In the BJP, 3 candidates are postgraduate, 3 graduate and rest are below class X. Around 20 candidates are graduate while 18 are postgraduate contesting in these elections. Political experts believe that the lack of education among the public representatives shows the failure of various adult and primary education programmes that are run with much fanfare by the political parties which field such candidates in the elections.
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No decision yet on re-induction of expelled Qureshi into Cong
Haridwar, April 16 Pratap also questioned city unit chief OP Chauhan for taking a decision on his own of forwarding a letter to party chief for re-induction of expelled Qureshi into the party fold. He said that a city party unit did not have the power to challenge the party state disciplinary committee decision and in this regard only either state high command or national party high command can take a decision. ''He (Qureshi) was found indulging in anti-party activities and misbehaving with senior party leaders. He also filed his nominations against official party candidate for Mayor's post. How can one on his own plead for such a person,'' stated Pratap. Taking on OP Chauhan for disclosing to the media prior to official announcement of party candidate Swami Rishiwaranand, Pratap said that already Chauhan was under scanner for violating party norms and he now again is pressing for Qureshi. When contacted, city chief OP Chauhan said that he along with other office bearers of city unit had only appealed via letter to state chief for Qureshi's induction into the party. Qureshi had accepted his mistake of filing papers for Mayor's post as Independent. He also vowed in front of party observer Aaryendra Sharma and PCC treasurer Braham Swaroop Brahamchari of working for party causes from now on. ''We are not advocating or supporting him but have just forwarded a letter, which I don't think is in any way anti-party activity,'' said Chauhan. When contacted Naeem Qureshi said that he had been a loyal Congress activist, helping Haridwar parliamentarian Harish Rawat get maximum votes from minority-dominated suburban Jwalapur. The party should take this aspect into account.
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Symbols allotted to candidates
Mussoorie, April 16 Presidential candidate Manmohan Singh Mall has been alloted the symbol of the Indian National Congress (hand) and BJP candidate OP Uniyal has been alloted the
lotus symbol. The symbol of candle has been allotted to Independent candidate Megh Singh Kandari through a lottery system as Left-supported candidate Aslam Khan had also chosen the same symbol. Aslam Khan has been given brick as his symbol. Returning officer Dangi has asked candidates not to deface public property by pasting banners and posters. Stern action would be taken against the violators, he said. He said all candidates would have to submit their expenditure details in the Treasury on April 18, 23 and 26.
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State to create relief fund for rape, acid attack victims
Dehradun, April 16 For a wider perspective on state care for the victims, the government has also taken recourse to the similar Acts existing in Rajasthan, New Delhi and Himachal Pradesh. "By framing our own Act, we hope to evolve a broad framework for paying compensation to the victims of sexual assault and acid attack. The state would be responsible for the immediate treatment after and rehabilitation of the rape victims," said a senior official. While the Supreme Court has been urging the states to get their Act together in matters pertaining to women and crime, it has received greater urgency in view of the Delhi gang-rape case last year. In 2006, Dehradun was shook by the first-ever case of acid attack, when Rangoli, sister of Actress Kangana Ranaut, suffered grievous injuries in an acid attack. The Supreme Court had ordered that the states enact a mechanism for regulating the transport and sale of acid and also set up a separate compensation fund for the rehabilitation and relief of victims. "While the Act has to be first approved by the Cabinet and then the Legislative Assembly, the rules and regulations for the operation of the victim compensation fund, too, would be framed be the government," said Om Prakash, Principal Secretary.
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Annual plan pegged at Rs
8,500 crore
Dehradun, April 16 Though subject to approval, the proposed Annual Plan for the new financial year envisages a Rs 300 crore increase in comparison to the 2012-13 Annual Plan. According to the proposals for various departments for the new plan year, the allocation for the Transport Department has been pegged at Rs 1,184.01 crore, for Education (primary, secondary and higher) Rs 984.87 crore, for the Medical and Health Department Rs 879.92 crore, for Rural Development Rs 783 crore and for Irrigation and Flood Control Rs 783.11 crore. In 2012-2013, the Planning Commission had finalised the Annual Plan for Uttarakhand at Rs 8,200 crore. At that time, the state government had identified livelihood, economic and energy security, conservation of environment and forests as policy fundamentals for development.
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Dhasmana pledges to work for solving civic problems of Doon
Dehradun, April 16 Senior Congress leader Ashok Verma present appealed to people to make Congress victorious in Dehradun civic poll. Congress candidate for the post of councillor from Kalika Mandir Marg Harmeet Kaur said for the last 5 years the areas have been devoid of effective drainage mechanism. Congress Dehradun mayoral candidate Suryakant Dhasmana also addressed public meetings at Jhanda
Bazar, GMS Road and Khurbura areas of Dehradun. Later addressing Uttarakhand Women's Congress meeting at Congress
Bhavan, Dehradun, Suryakant Dhasmana asked party men to take good works done by incumbent Congress government before the people. He also asked them also to highlight the misdeeds of earlier BJP government. Dehradun City Women's Congress president Kamlesh Raman also appealed to party workers to ensure landslide victory for Congress candidates.
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Rajni Rawat claims support of various sections
Dehradun April 16 Speaking on this occasion, Rawat said:'' I am getting support of people of all the communities. None of the candidates of BJP or Congress stand a chance before me. The public will not be swayed by Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna, who ditched me,'' she alleged. While addressing media persons at her residence in Chukuwala, she said:''People had lost faith both in BJP and Congress because of their anti-people policies. People have already seen the functioning of the Mayors of both these parties who did not perform up to their expectations. The beautiful town has been defaced because of the wrong policies implemented so far. Since these leaders did not fulfil their promises, the public now feels cheated.''
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Memo to Chief Secy on allocation of houses
Dehradun, April 16 The president of the federation, Arjun Singh, said that though the Secretariat Colony at Kedarpuram was built for the employees and officers of the Secretariat, the government made it open, thereby allowing employees of other departments to avail the housing facilities in the colony. ''This open policy deprived our staff members of housing facilities. To overcome the problem the government should set aside certain number of houses in other department colonies so that the problem of shortage of houses could be overcome,'' said Singh. He said that in a new initiative, the government should allow the estate cell to take over all the government housing colonies that are under the different departments so that the houses over there could be allocated to other government officials and employees.
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Bahuguna meets Pawar, seeks sugarcane
research centre at Haridwar
Dehradun, April 16 He told the minister that the state government had identified land for the research centre. He also discussed the setting up of two plant nurseries for floriculture at Haridwar and the establishment of a national floriculturedirectorate/research centre in the state. Pawar responded positively to the Chief Minister’s request and approved 16 nurseries for floriculture and horticulture. He approved two nurseries for floriculture and one for horticulture at Haridwar. Pawar assured Bahuguna that action would be taken soon on other demands. The Chief Minister also stressed on a separate agriculture policy for the Himalayan states.
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The wait for entry into Congress Party mainstream will get longer for expelled Naeem
Qureshi, the heavyweight minority leader from Haridwar. While yesterday city party unit had informally inducted him into the party fold, today party spokesperson and secretary of disciplinary committee Dhirendra Pratap clearly stated that no decision had been taken in this regard.
Pratap also questioned city unit chief OP Chauhan for taking a decision on his
own of forwarding a letter to party chief for re-induction of expelled Qureshi
into the party fold.
Mussoorie returning officer NS Dangi today alloted symbols to 10 MC presidential candidates and 65 ward candidates for the civic bodies' elections.
An expenditure form mentioning the maximum limit was also given to all candidates. The expenditure limit for the presidential candidate has been set at Rs 3 lakh for municipal councils having more than 10 wards while for ward members it is Rs 30,000.
