Dharamsala, April 15
Vijai Singh Mankotia, senior Congress leader, said today that he would support party candidate from Kangra Chander Kumar if Kewal Singh Pathania, vice-chairman of the Forest Corporation, was removed from Shahpur.

He took the decision at a meeting of his workers at Shahpur. After meeting his workers, Mankotia said his supporters had agreed to back Congress candidate from Kangra Chander Kumar on this condition.

"My workers want Pathania away from the Shahpur Assembly constituency during the elections," Mankotia said. A resolution to this effect was adopted at the meeting.

Mankotia had been keeping away from the Congress campaign, alleging that he had been ignored in his own constituency for the past more than one year.

Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh had visited Mankotia at his residence to pacify him. After the meeting, Mankotia had maintained that he would decide after meeting his workers.

He alleged that Pathania was a "black sheep" who sabotaged his election from the Shahpur Assembly constituency. "I got the Congress ticket very late. However, despite that I got about 23,000 votes. I was defeated by a margin of just about 2,500 votes from BJP minister Sarveen Chaudhary. However, the sabotage by Pathania and his supporters in Shahpur was the lone reason for my defeat," Mankotia alleged.

When asked the state government continued to ignore him after elections, Mankotia threatened that if such a thing happened, "Asi ki taise pher denge". “Frauds in the Congress will not be tolerated,” he said.

Mankotia alleged that before the last Assembly elections, the Congress high command had intervened and helped bury the hatchet between him and Virbhadra Singh.

However, after he lost the elections, "badle badle se sarkar nazar aane lage" (People who matter, changed). He said, "Despite the fact that I was five-time MLA from Shahpur and two-time minister, I was reduced to the brink and the person who lost his deposit in elections was made over-all in charge of Shahpur. I was ignored even during the important functions as the visit of President in Shahpur for the Central University Himachal Pradesh's function."

Mankotia claimed that during the visit of Virbhadra Singh to his residence, I informed him that 23,000 voters, who voted for me during the last Assembly elections, were ignored. I went with proposals to the CM Office regarding the development of Shahpur, but none of it was implemented.

He said Vikramaditya was playing a more positive role in bringing people together in the Congress and was far more mature than his father.

Mankotia said he had discussed with the CM that why Pathania was being promoted by awarding him with a post of vice-chairman of the Forest Corporation. The CM said he had removed him from the post. However, he made it clear that it was due to GS Bali, Minister for Transport, that he was removed from the post.

Mankotia said, "I have told the CM that he will have to choose between me and Pathania."

Shimla, April 15
Downplaying the resignation of two-time MLA and former parliamentary secretary Urmil Thakur from the BJP, former Chief Minister PK Dhumal today said it would have no impact on the poll prospects of the BJP in Hamirpur. The entire party of former BJP stalwart Jagdev Chand was behind his son Narinder Thakur.

“It was at the instance of Urmil Thakur that the BJP readmitted Narinder Thakur in the party and she came along with him to the function where he announced his decision to rejoin the party and the family equations changed only after Narinder was given ticket from Sujanpur,” Dhumal said.

The decision to field Narinder from Sujanpur was taken on merit after conducting a survey that indicated that Narinder is the strongest candidate. The party had better prospects in Hamirpur than the Congress and Narinder, who enjoys Jagdev family's support, would definitely give an edge to the party, he added.

Urmil was seeking the ticket for herself or her son and denial of the ticket had prompted her to shift her loyalties and the public was aware of this truth. Though the exit of every leader had some impact on the party, it would not reflect in the elections and sooner or later she would also be back in the partyfold like other rebels, he said.

The bickering in the Congress over ticket had accentuated after the entry of Urmil which would benefit the BJP and put the Congress campaign in disarray, Dhumal claimed.

Kangra, April 15
The BJP is using the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA) to fight the Congress leadership and criticise Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh so much even the Governor is not spared by it.

Kewal Singh Pathania, Congress leader and vice-chairman, state Forest Corporation, levelled this allegation during a public meeting at Dhargela in Shahpur today. Pathania condemned the utterances of HPCA office-bearer against the Governor made recently.

He said the HPCA raised a hue and cry against the Chief Minister that his government did not permit to hold IPL matches at Dharamsala. The IPL chairman denied that the matches could not be held because of the ongoing poll in the state.

He said earlier IPL matches were held in Dharamsala during the Virbhadra government and asked the HPCA its contribution in promoting Himachali players during the last six years.

He alleged that only non-Himachalis were benefited by holding IPL matches.

He charged the previous Dhumal government with registering Sagar Katha and CD cases against the CM. He said the HPCA issue was part of the Congress chargesheet which had later on become the official government document.

Pathania asked people to vote and support the Congress candidate Chander Kumar for strong and secular government in Delhi.

Shimla, April 15
The Himachal Congress has ridiculed the repeated assertion of former Chief Minister PK Dhumal that the Congress-led government in the state will fall after the Lok Sabha poll results are declared on May 16. The unit has stated that it reflects his utter disregard for the Indian Constitution.

"It is surprising that two-time Chief Minister PK Dhumal is misleading people by making irresponsible statements that defy the Constitution's provisions. People know well that a duly elected majority government cannot be dislodged by resorting to unconstitutional acts," Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee (HPCC) spokesperson Naresh Chauhan said. He said land, education, cricket and mining mafia flourished during the Dhumal-led regime from 2007 to 2012 and owing to lack of achievement, he was resorting to lies and personal attacks, thus misleading the public.

Una, April 15
Convenor of the BJP Media Cell Satya Pal Jain today said the Congress had borrowed a former BJP leader to contest from Hamirpur and as per information, the party was also set to allot the Sujanpur Assembly ticket to a person who was a BJP leader.

Addressing mediapersons here, he said this proved that the Congress was politically broken in this segment.

Jain, who was on way to Hamirpur where BJP candidate Anurag Thakur is set to file his nomination papers on Wednesday, said Urmil Thakur, who claims to inherit the political legacy of late Jagdev Chand, should remember that her father-in-law had spent all his life fighting the Congress and was even jailed during the Emergency.

Jain said political parties could not allot tickets to all workers and Urmil should be satisfied that she had been allotted Assembly ticket on more than one occasion and suitably adjusted in the government. He questioned whether Virbhadra Singh would tender an apology to Thakur Jagdev Chand’s followers for having jailed the former BJP leader during the Emergency.

Taking exception to remarks by Rahul Gandhi and some other senior Congressmen on the private life of Narendra Modi, Jain said as Chairman of the BJP Legal Cell, he would like to inform the Congress leadership that the BJP had all information regarding the private lives of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, many Congress chief ministers and erstwhile kings and queens. He said while the BJP would not initiate any debate on the issue, if the Congress wanted, they could be given befitting replies.

Jain said prior to 2013, it was not mandatory to fill all columns in election affidavits. However, he said in 2013, the Supreme Court issued directions that all columns in election affidavits need to be filled and in compliance to the orders, Narendra 
Modi had mentioned the name of his wife in the relevant columns during these elections.

Referring to the two books recently published that raised a political storm, Jain said Sanjaya Baru and PC Parakh were not BJP workers. They were close to the Congress Prime Minister and the UPA Chairperson, he said, adding that the Congress had no answers to the questions raised in the books. He questioned why the high office of the Prime Minister was unconstitutionally demeaned.

Jain opined that while the initial poll surveys had projected 110 plus seats in favour of the Congress, fresh surveys had put down the figure to somewhere between 70 and 80. He claimed that while the BJP would win more than 300 seats on its own, it would form a government with its coalition allies and give a clean and stable government to the people under the leadership of Modi.

State BJP president and Una MLA Satpal Satti and district media cell in charge Hari Om Bhanot were also present.

Shimla, April 15
Veteran BJP leader Shanta Kumar today alleged that the process of bringing black money deposited in foreign banks was stalled by the UPA government after the name of a former prime minister allegedly surfaced on the list.

Talking to mediapersons here, he said the names were published in a magazine and if the allegations were true, the UPA government must come out clean, and if it was otherwise, they should tell the public why a defamation case was not filed against the magazine.

Shanta accused the UPA government of not acting even after the government of Germany gave a list of 17,000 Indians holding foreign accounts. It was revealed that Hasan Ali had deposited Rs 1.34 lakh crore in 10 accounts.

Ali later reportedly said the money belonged to three top UPA leaders, but the matter was shelved.

Shanta Kumar said the black money deposited by corrupt politicians in foreign banks was estimated between Rs 30 lakh crore and Rs 100 lakh crore by agencies such as Global Financial Integrity and the NDA was committed to bringing back the black money.

The issue of black money was directly related to corruption and it is unfortunate that even after signing the United Nation Convention against corruption, a legal document which authorised the countries to get back the foreign money, nothing was done by the UPA government. Twenty countries, including the USA, Germany and Zambia, got their black money back from “tax haven” countries, but India dithered on this issue.

It was a matter of grave concern that the black money was coming back to country through Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) via the Mauritius route and the data compiled by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion revealed that 42 per cent of the FDI from 2001-2011 was routed through Mauritius.

Attacking the UPA government for lack of defence preparedness, Shanta said in spite of former Army Chief Gen VK Singh’s warning that India did not possess adequate stock of arms and ammunition, the government did not wake up and they were apprehensive that the situation like the 1962 Chinese aggression may repeat.

He alleged that huge kickbacks in arms purchase had hit the defence preparedness and the process to acquire the latest weaponry to match the neighbouring countries had retarded, posing threat to national security.

Dharamsala, April 15
Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh today alleged that the sports had turned into gambling in the state. The game had been reduced to "satta" (a form of gambling controlled by underworld) in Himachal Pradesh, the CM alleged.

The Chief Minister said this while addressing public rallies in Dehra subdivision of Kangra district for Rajinder Rana, Congress candidate from the Hamirpur parliamentary constituency.

Virbhadra Singh welcomed the statement of senior BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi that there was no Modi wave in the country. He said the Modi campaign was just in the media. Devise politics being played by the BJP was not required in the country as it would destroy the secular fabric.

The CM also said the BJP was misguiding the people of Dehra regarding the location of Central University Himachal Pradesh (CUHP). BJP leaders had been claiming that if the NDA government was voted to power, the Central University would come up at Dehra.

The CM said allocating land for CUHP was the job of the Minister for Environment and Forests and no-objection certificate for it would be granted soon.

Virbhadra said the Congress government had reopened many schools across the state that were closed by the previous BJP government.

Viplove Thakur, Rajya Sabha member, criticised the BJP for making IPL matches in Dharamsala this year a poll issue. She said it seemed that the BJP was more interested in hosting the IPL matches rather than conducting Lok Sabha poll.

The IPL matches proposed in Dharamsala this year were shifted to other states as the state government expressed its inability to provide security for the purpose.

Keylong (Mandi), April 15
Mainline Rohtang Pass is still blocked with heavy snow. Thus, poll campaigning is still a low-key affair in the Lahaul & Spiti Assembly segment of the Mandi parliamentary constituency.

The area, which remains cut off from the rest of the country for nearly six months, is still experiencing intermittent snowfall. Many areas in the district are covered under 2 to 3 feet snow.

The Assembly segment, which will go to the polls on May 7, has about 22,000 voters and also what is called the highest polling booth in the world - Hikkim.

The only road link passing through Rohtang Pass, is covered under 25 ft snow at present, which is keeping candidates and their supporters away from this Assembly segment.

The Border Roads Organisation (BRO), maintaining highways in the area, has already opened roads to three valleys from Keylong and is trying to remove snow and clear the Rohtang Pass before the election.

Closure of the Rohtang Pass is keeping a large chunk of population (who are voters) away from the district. They migrate to Kullu-Manali and return after opening of the pass.

At present, Lahaul and Spiti Congress MLA Ravi Thakur and former BJP MLA Ram Lal Markanda are trying to reach out to voters in Lahaul area. Even they have not been able to reach Spiti.

Talking to The Tribune, Ravi Thakur said, “Main roads to three valleys have been opened. We are reaching the voters on foot as many villages are still covered under snow.”

“Nearly 2,000 residents, who had migrated to Kullu-Manali, have come back by helicopter flights and the Rohtang Pass is likely to be opened for light vehicles soon,” he added.

BJP leader Ram Lal Markanda said, “We are reaching villagers on foot, but our leaders and campaign material would reach here only once the Rohtang Pass is clear."

DC, Lahaul and Spiti, Beer Singh Thakur said, “Preparations are in progress for polling in the district on May 7 and 100 per cent duty staff participated in poll rehearsal two days back.”

He said, “Roads to three valleys have been opened. Efforts are on to open link roads and we are airlifting HRTC staff to start operating bus service in several parts.”

Public Relations Officer of BRO Col Mathur said, “It is still snowing in the area, which is hampering our work; we would have to clear 143 avalanches and it takes 10 minutes to walk a mile in snow.”

“It generally takes 45 days to clear Rohtang Pass and efforts are being made to open the road,” he added.

Shimla, April 15
Senior BJP leader Shanta Kumar today launched a frontal attack on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, accusing him of “eroding the authority and lowering the dignity” of high office of the PM and said he should not stay in the office even for one minute after his “helplessness” stood exposed by “revelations” made by Sanjaya Baru and PC Parekh in their books.

“There was a hue and cry when BJP leader LK Advani described Manmohan Singh as a weak Prime Minister, but the revelations have exposed how the PM’s Office buckled under pressure and played a second fiddle to extra-constitutional power centres,” he said.

“During the NDA rule, the authority of the PMO surged under the prime ministership of Atal Bihari Vajpayee, but the UPA government, headed by Manmohan Singh, presented a picture in contrast which is unfortunate for the nation,” he told The Tribune here today.

Regretting that the political discourse had derailed and a frivolous issue had taken precedence over the real issues concerning people and the country, Shanta Kumar said both politicians and media should share the blame for this.

“The media is more interested in the number and names of wives of politicians than serious problems such as the Naxalism, corruption and other basic issues which do not augur well for the larger interest of the country.”

Asserting that the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi raised the basic issues such as sanitation, water, education, security and employment, Shanta said these issues were taken over by personal accusations, mud-slinging and vilification campaigns.

Referring the reported remarks of BJP leader Murli Monahor Joshi that there was no Modi wave, but the BJP wave in the country, he said “Modi and the BJP are inseparable as Modi is the face of the party. The Modi wave is unprecedented and stronger than the Janata Party wave of 1977."

“The Congress will not get more than100 seats and being a leader of the largest single party, the President will have to invite Modi to form the government. Moreover, the post-poll scenario will be so different that small parties will vie to become part of the NDA,” he claimed.

He said even Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar would be left with Hobson’s choice to return to the NDA after the poll to save his own government in Bihar. However, Shanta said dismissing the Congress-led governments in the state was not the agenda of the government and it would respect the Constitution and democratic traditions and work for strengthening the federal structure of the country.

Una, April 15
Former Chief of the Army Gen VK Singh was given a warm reception by BJP workers as he reached Una late this evening.

Speaking to mediapersons, the General said there was a "Modi wave" in the country and that no power on earth could prevent Narendra Modi from becoming the next Prime Minister. He said a strong leadership in the country was needed.

The General said silence by the UPA government and its insensitivity on the brutal killings of Indian soldiers by Pakistani soldiers, besides infiltration of the Chinese army into the Indian territory, had discouraged the armed forces. He said the BJP had an ideology of nationalism and would deal with the internal and external security issues effectively after coming to power.

Gen Singh said the UPA government had failed to address the one-rank, one-pension issue for ex-servicemen during its decade-long rule, but cheated ex-servicemen on the issue by doling out an incomplete package at the fag end of its tenure. He said Anurag Thakur had made an impact as a young MP and that he deserved to win on the basis of his performances.

BJP state president Satpal Satti, former Chief Minster’s OSD Sanjeev Katwal and BJP media in charge Hari Om Bhanot were present.

Shimla, April 15
The 67th Himachal Day today was celebrated with fervour with Governor Urmila Singh hoisting the Tricolour and taking the salute from an impressive marchpast by contingents of the Himachal Police, Home Guards, NCC and NSS cadets on the occasion.

Speaking on the occasion, she said we were indebted to those who contributed and played an important role in the formation and development of the state. Since its inception, Himachal had made a rapid progress in all sectors and today, after 66 years, it stood as a role model of development and the credit went to people of the state.

HP Police women bikers exhibited their aerobatic skills followed by a dog show and a cultural programme by the police.

Mayor Sanjay Chauhan, Deputy Mayor Tikendar Panwar, Acting Chief Secretary P Mitra, DGP Sanjay Kumar, ADGP SR Mardi, Deputy Commissioner Dinesh Malhotra, SP Abhishek Dhullar and HPU Vice-Chancellor ADN Bajpai were also present on the occasion.

Kullu, April 15
Air-India will restart its flights from Delhi to Kullu with the aircraft ATR-42 from tomorrow after about two months since it stopped flying to this sector from February 20.

The station in-charge of Air-India at Kullu-Manali airport here said there was a large number of bookings already.

He said the flight would leave Delhi at 6 am and arrive in Kullu at 7.20 am. The full economy fare for one-way had been fixed around Rs 16,190, while the lowest ticket price will be around Rs 9,121. The Delhi-Kullu seats will cost less, around Rs 5,921, he added.

The flight was restored last year on May 15 after a gap of one year, but the operations ended soon on June 28, just after the Mandi Lok Sabha byelections. The operations were later restored from September 16 as a hue and cry was raised by people associated with the tourism industry.

Aviation experts have already mentioned that the air-worthiness of the old aircraft used by Air-India is a major factor for their less load-carrying capacity, making the operations commercially unviable. Lack of political will has been blamed. Sources say efforts are not initiated to acquire new aircraft.

Experts say while Air-India has a practice of offloading a few passengers due to weight restrictions, the left-out group will be prospective customers to the new airlines, Himalayan Bulls, operating daily return flights to Chandigarh from Kullu. Hotelier associations in Kullu and Manali have welcomed the announcement.

Travel agents in the district opine that the Air-India operation will not only boost tourism, but also keep Kullu's status as a tourism destination alive on the world map.

Solan, April 15
The annual cross-country Hodson run was organised at The Lawrence School, Sanawar, here today. Students of various age groups participated in the run. The event was organised on the Founders' Day of the school. The Lawrence School was founded by Sir Henry Lawrence in 1847 in the British-India of yore.

Shiva Keshavan, an old student of the 1998 batch and an Olympian, was the chief guest on the occasion.

Shiva Keshavan set his first world record at the age of 16 by becoming the youngest Olympian, a record he still holds. He has represented India in five Olympic Games, World Cup, World Championships and the Asian Games.

He is one of the only four Indian sportspersons to have taken part in five Olympic events.

A winner of the NDTV Outstanding Performer of the Year Award 2012, Shiva Keshavan, speaks over eight languages.

The Olympian appreciated the zeal and sportsmanship displayed by students of the school. Headmaster Praveen Vasisht bestowed a token of appreciation to the chief guest and extended his vote of thanks.

In the U-11 category, the winners included Shivaditya Singh Rathore, Dhruv Jamwal and Pavit Sidhu while in the U-12 category, Abhisaar Hudda was the lone winner.

In the U-13 category, Anandita Maini and Rahil Nazir were adjudged winners while in U-14 category, Sonam Wagmo and Tushar Nandi bagged the top position. In the under-16 category, Yukti Singh and Shivam Thakur were declared winners while in the open category, Kesang Tenzin Doma and Abhimanyu Shastri bagged the top spot and Himalaya House bagged the overall trophy.

Sundernagar, April 15
The work of four-laning between Swarghat and Nagchala is nowadays on. Residents between Bhawana and Pungh in Sundernagar sub-division are facing a problem as contractors dump soil by the side of the road or in the khud.

Residents of this 6-km-long patch brought this problem to the notice of government officials, but the problem persists.

Una, April 15
The Una police arrested Jasdeep, alias Jassia, of Ambota in Gagret block for allegedly possessing 2.13 gm of charas here on Sunday. The contraband was recovered from Jasdeep by a special investigation unit, headed by Head Constable Satish Kumar, said SP Anupam Sharma.