CITU seeks apology from minister
SHIMLA, Oct 6 — The Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) had demanded that the Minister for Town and Country Planning, Mr Harinarayan Singh, should tender a public apology for "threatening" a journalist.

Voters reject Cong in HP: Dhumal
Tribune News Service

SHIMLA, Oct 6 — Mr P.K. Dhumal, Himachal Chief Minister, said that total defeat of the Congress in the Lok Sabha elections showed that the people had rejected the leadership of Mrs Sonia Gandhi at national level and Mr Virbhadra Singh in the state.

He said that voters of the state had given a lie to the campaign of disinformation launched by the Congress during electioneering and reiterated their faith in the leadership of the Prime Minister Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee. They punished the Congress party for forcing the mid-term poll on the country which cost over Rs 10,000 crore to the country.

Mr Dhumal said that after having put their seal of approval on the BJP-HVC alliance government in last year's elections to state Assembly and Mandi parliamentary seat, the people had now again supported the programmes and policies of the government. He said that the three Congress candidates, who were sitting legislators, had even in their home Assembly segments and it was for them to decide whether to continue in the Assembly or resign after the refusal of the electorate to renew their mandate for them.

Having a dig at the former Chief Minister, Mr Virbhadra Singh, he said that Mr Singh was clever enough to engineer lame excuses to opt out of the electoral race, otherwise he would have met a fate worse than his candidate Mr Kaul Singh in Mandi seat.

Mr Virbhadra Singh said the victory of the BJP-HVC combine in Himachal was victory of goondaism, misuse of official machinery and money power.

He said never before in his long political career he had seen such blatant misuse of official machinery during elections. The abuse of money power by the BJP and its ally, the HVC cast a long shadow on the electoral scene.

Shilon Bagh set for motor rally
Tribune News Service

SHIMLA, Oct 6 — The picturesque Shilon Bagh is all set for the "raid the Himalaya" motor rally which aims to set new standards for Indian motor sports not only in testing the physical and mental endurance of the drivers and their machines but also in terms of safety and rule book accuracy.

The rally, which will be flagged of from Shilon Resorts on October 7, will cover a distance of 1,300 km in difficult hilly terrain in four days. The rallyists will pass through high mountain passes like Kunzum La (15,000 ft) and the cold desert of Spiti. The steep gradients, sharp curves and sub-zero temperatures, particularly in the third leg covering the tribal areas, will put the driving skills and mental toughness of the drivers to a severe test.

This will be the first event in India where geo positioning satellite navigation coordinates will be used to accurately pinpoint the position of the participant as part of the record book.

In all, 34 teams will take part in the event. Out of these, 16 will be on four-wheelers and 18 on two wheelers. The raid also has one all-women team on four wheels.

Starting from Shilon Resorts, the raid will pass through the Jalori pass to reach the Kulu valley and have a night halt at Manali. On the second day the rally will enter the tribal Lahaul valley via the 14,000 ft Rohtang pass and after covering about 200 km in the cold desert pass through Kunzum La to reach Kaza. Over the next two days the rally will traverse through the tribal area of Kinnaur district and terminate at Shilon Resorts on October 10.

The raid, being organised jointly by Shilon Resorts, the Himalayan Motor Sports Association and the Himachal Government, is an attempt to promote exciting events and revise the old colonial charm of the hills. The management of Shilon Resorts, which revived the Shimla Queen beauty pageant last year, plans to organise international conclaves and events like chess, billiards and bridge championships.

Abduction of RSS men decried
Tribune News Service

SHIMLA, Oct 6 — The state unit of the Bharatiya Kisan Sangh has condemned the abduction of four Rashtriya Swayam Sevak Sangh workers by the National Liberation Front of Tripura. It threatened to launch a nation-wide stir if the government failed to apprehend the abductors and get the hostages released.

Mr Roshan Lal Dulta, secretary of the sangh, alleged the abductors were connected with the Baptist Mission. The workers were taken away from Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram at Patnamani at gunpoint.

The front had owned responsibility for the abduction and put forward an unreasonable demand for disbanding the state Tripura Rifles, besides asking for Rs 1 crore as ransom.

The Tripura Government has miserably failed in curbing the NIFT's activities. He appealed to all those who stood for human rights and democracy to work for the release of the hostages.

‘Atal we love you’
From Our Correspondent

HAMIRPUR, Oct 6 — An interesting note was found in a ballot box of the Hamirpur Assembly segment of the Hamirpur Lok Sabha seat during the counting of votes.

The note said "Atal we love you. We are not voting for Chandel. We vote for you. We want nothing. You are very loveable person. You became Prime Minister first time for 13 days and second time for 13 months. We hope you shall become the Prime Minister for 13 years. Accept our congratulations."

CITU seeks apology from minister
Tribune News Service

SHIMLA, Oct 6 — The Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) had demanded that the Minister for Town and Country Planning, Mr Harinarayan Singh, should tender a public apology for "threatening" a journalist.

In a statement here yesterday, Mr Rakesh Singha, president of CITU, urged the Chief Minister, Mr P.K. Dhumal, to drop the minister from his ministry in case he failed to tender public apology.