P R A D E S H
Thursday, September 16, 1999
|
H I M A C H A L P R A D E S H |
|
Thursday, September 16, 1999 |
| weather n
spotlight today's calendar |
 |
|
|
CM assures Congress |
 |
|
|
Congress promoting
regionalism: BJP BJP politicised Kargil: Mankotia Body of sadhu found INTUC to oppose BJP, HVC |
|||||
 |
||||||
CM assures
Congress of fair poll DHARAMSALA, Sept 14 — The Chief Minister, Mr P.K. Dhumal, has said that the apprehensions regarding poll rigging in Himachal was unfounded as the government had made elaborate arrangements to ensure free and fair elections in the state. Talking to newspersons at Bhairwain, near Chintpurni, Mr Dhumal, said that as has been the tradition in Himachal, the election process would be peaceful and fair. "In case the Congress has any apprehension of rigging. I have no objection to the deployment of the CRPF forces, and if the need be the Election Commission can even call them army," he stated. The Chief Minister said when the Congress was heading the government in Himachal, the BJP, was never so apprehensive of poll violence.In reply to a question regarding the alleged statements of certain BJP leaders that where Congress polling booths will not be allowed to be put up, Rs one lakh will be given from the MP Development Fund, Mr Dhumal clarified that he or his government had nothing to do with such elements. Disapproving of such irresponsible statements the Chief Minister said that he will ensure that the Congress workers do not find any difficulty in putting up their booth at the polling stations. Senior Congress leaders, including the PCC chief Mr Sat Mahajan, and the sitting MLA from Nagrota, Mr G.S. Bali, have earlier alleged that some of the BJP ministers had been threatening pradhans and government employees to favour their party in the elections, failing which vigilance inquiries would be initiated against them after the counting on October 6. Our Hamirpur correspondent adds: Prof Prem Kumar Dhumal has said that it would be a great insult to the nation if people votes for Congress to put Mrs Sonia Gandhi, a foreigner as the new Indian Prime Minister. Addressing a press conference at Sujanpurtira last night, he alleged that she always avoided to side with India during crisis. In 1971 war she left for Italy. In 1977, she got asylum in the Italian Embassy at New Delhi and come out only when she was assured by the then Prime Minister, Mr Moraraji Desai that she would not be harmed for the faults of Mrs Indira Gandhi. He dubbed Mr Karan Singh, who is contesting from Lucknow on the Congress ticket as a highly opportunistic man. He sold the interests of Jammu and Kashmir for his personal gains and would not be trusted by the people of Lucknow," said. He hit out at the
Congress for seeking votes on the plank of stability. He
said the party which was not stable, how that could
provide a stable government to the people. |
Kulu
Dasehra from October 20 KULU: The week-long Kulu Dasehra, known as international folk dance festival, will start from October 20 this year. The colourful rath yatra of Lord Raghunathji, the chief deity of the valley, led by Maheshwar Singh and Karan Singh, descendants of Raja Jagat Singh, will set off in the afternoon on October 20. This was stated by the Ashwani Kapoor, Deputy Commissioner, here. He said the festival would have a cultural troupe from all states of the country and a few from abroad also. A trade fair, besides an exhibition would be organised by the central and state governments. The festival offers tourists an opportunity to visit various temples of historical and archaeological significance. The temple of Lord Rama, the chief deity, at Raghunathpur has been revered since the 17th century when the idol was brought from Ayodhya. Another temple is the majestic Bijli Mahadev situated on a hill top at 7,500 feet, south-east of the Dhalpur ground. This temple is known for a phenomenon of bolts of lightning striking the "shiv-ling". The "wonder adhesive" used to rejoin the pieces of the "Shivling" is fresh butter. A stone temple in shikhara style dedicated to Lord Shiva and known as Visheshwar Mahadev on the Kulu-Manali highway at Bajaura, 15 km from here, is an 8th century structure and is noted for its stone carving. There are several other temples in shikhara, pahari and pagoda styles. While in the valley one must not miss a visit to Nagar, the old capital of Kulu princess. Apart from a few ancient temples, the place is famous for Mr Nicholas Roerich Art Gallery. Another village, Manikaran, is famous for hot water springs. The legend goes that Parvati, Lord Shiva's consort, lost her earring (karan mani) while bathing here. Lord Shiva later recovered that from Sheshnag and the spring is now looked upon with reverence by devotees. A historical gurdwara has also been constructed here. Water rafting,
paragliding, mountaineering, trekking and a drive to snow
points are some of the major attractions for the
tourists. A holy dip at the Beas Kund, Prasher Lake,
Chandertal and other mountain lakes attract the devotees
in large numbers. |
Ram
Lal’s assurance to apple growers SHIMLA, Sept 15 — A former Chief Minister and sitting Congress MLA, Thakur Ram Lal, has said that apple will be got deleted from the open general licence (OGL) list once the Congress came into power at the Centre. Thakur Ram Lal, who was talking to newsmen here today, held the ruling BJP responsible for inclusion of apple in the OGL list which had hit the economy of the growers in the hill areas. The local growers were facing the challenge of imported apple. The Congress would either get apple deleted from OGL list or impose a duty of 150 per cent on its import so that it became a luxury item. Apple was included in the OGL list on March 31, 1999, when the BJP was in power at the Centre and the state. The BJP did not keep the interests of apple growers in mind while including it in the OGL list. Apple growers were contributing 30.2 per cent share in the economy of the state. Thakur Ram Lal said that the report regarding the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, having casually taken the report of Army Headquarters regarding intrusion of Pakistanis in the Kargil sector had brought the truth out. He alleged that several hundred young soldiers lost their lives because of the negligence of the BJP government. These intrusions were taking place because of a weak BJP government at the Centre. It was for the first time that Pakistani intruders and militants have started attacking the camps of armed forces and paramilitary forces in the Jammu and Kashmir areas. Thakur Ram Lal, who has
just returned after an extensive election tour of the
Shimla Lok Sabha constituency, claimed that the Congress
was comfortably placed not only here, but also in the
three other seats of Mandi, Hamirpur and Kangra. |
Congress
promoting regionalism: BJP MANALI, Sept 15 — Mr Maheshwar Singh, a senior BJP leader and candidate for the Mandi Lok Sabha seat has charged the Congress candidate, Mr Kaul Singh Thakur, with promoting regionalism in Mandi constituency. While addressing an election rally here during the last leg of his extensive tour to the upper Kulu valley yesterday, he claimed that he had distributed funds from his local area development fund in all 17 assembly segments of Mandi constituency without discrimination during his nine-month tenure as MP. He accused Mr Kaul Singh Thakur of misleading the electorate by publicly claiming that 90 per cent of the HVC workers had sided with him. Mr Maheshwar Singh claimed that he was getting full support from the HVC in Mandi constituency. Mr Kunj Lal Thakur, a former minister and member of the National Council of the BJP, claimed that Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee had special attachment with the people of Manali and had been visiting Kulu-Manali since 1951. He said that the Congress "had no right to politicise" the apple issue and further blamed the Congress for the import of apples through open general licence (OGL) as Dunkel proposal was signed when Mr P.V. Narasimha Rao was the Prime Minister and Dr Manmohan Singh was the Finance Minister. Mr Chander Sen Thakur, the local MLA, claimed that the Centre had been generous in sanctioning funds for Himachal Pradesh in general and Manali in particular after Mr Vajpayee become the Prime Minister. He referred to the sanctioning of Rs 3.5 crore for a spacious parking lot in Manali. Prominent among those
who spoke were Mr Rajender Swami, a BJP leader from
Haryana, Mr Alam Chand, Chairman of the Zila Parishad and
district BJP president, Mr Dinesh Sen. Later, Mr
Maheshwar Singh addressed a press conference at the local
Circuit House. |
BJP
politicised Kargil: Mankotia PALAMPUR, Sept 15 — Mr Vijay Singh Mankotia, President, HP Ex-servicemen League, has criticised the BJP for politicising the Kargil issue and exploiting the sentiments of people of the state for getting political mileage in the ensuing Lok Sabha elections. Addressing a news conference here this morning, he said though the conflict was over, there was no end to the killing of jawans on the border and state was receiving body of a soldier daily. He criticised the Central and the state government for adopting pick and choose policy while granting compensation to the next of kin of the deceased jawans. He said there should be a uniform policy and government should avoid any disparity. Mr Mankotia said the jawans killed in operation `Vijay' or on the border of this nation should get a minimum compensation of Rs 10 lakh. Himachal Pradesh topped the list of casualties but the compensation granted by the state government was minimum as compared to other states. He asked the State
Government to publish the amount deposited in the Chief
Minister's Relief Fund collected for the welfare of
jawans or those killed in operation 'Vijay'. |
Body of
sadhu found JAWALAMUKHI, Sept 15 — A 25-year-old Sadhu today died here under mysterious circumstances. His body was today recovered by the police from a nullah near the famous Jawalamukhi shrine. The reason behind the death is not known but the police has registered a case. The sadhu is not identified but he was reportedly living here at Gorakhdibbi Temple which is said to be a place of Nath sadhus. In another incident
Patwari Gulam Mohammed (25) of Amb Tilla in Una district
posted at Dohag Dehrian village near here today
reportedly died after he was bitten by a snake. |
S.D.
Bushehri dead SHIMLA, Sept 15 — Mr Satya Dev Bushehri, a veteran freedom fighter and a former legislator, died at his native village of Cheweri, near Rohroo, today after a prolonged illness. He was 82. He is survived by a son and two daughters. Mr Bushehri was elected to the state Vidhan Sabha from the Rohru constituency in 1977 and 1982. The cremation will take place tomorrow. Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal, Chief Minister, has expressed grief over the death of Mr Bushehri. In a condolence message
to the bereaved family, Mr Dhumal said that Mr Bushehri
played a vital role in the freedom movement and the
services rendered by him to the state would always be
remembered by the people. |
INTUC to
oppose BJP, HVC SHIMLA, Sept 15 — Mrs Kanta Sood, president of the state unit of Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC), said here today that the working class would oppose the BJP-HVC combine in the ensuing poll because of its failure to fulfil the promises held out to workers and employees. Addressing a press conference here today she said that the ruling combine did not increase the daily wage as promised in the election manifesto. It also betrayed the employees by not giving various allowances on revised rate following the implementation of new pay scales. Besides, most of the
demands of employees like house rent to both husband and
wife on the Punjab pattern, raising the limit of hill
compensatory allowance to Rs 1000 and increasing the
capital allowance to Rs 500 had also not been accepted. |
Congress
anti-women, says Chandel SHIMLA, Sept 15 — The President of the state unit of the BJP, Mr Suresh Chandel, has accused the Congress of thwarting the passage of women's reservation Bill in Parliament had the party joined hands with the BJP the Bill would have been passed long back. In a statement issued yesterday he said it was regrettable that despite being headed by a woman, the Congress had been pursuing anti-women policies. Questioning the sincerity of the Congress on the issue, Mr Chandel said if it could extend full support to the Vajpayee government for passing the Insurance Bill and other enactments, why it could not do so in case of the women's reservation Bill? He said now that elections to Parliament were under way, Mrs Sonia Gandhi was trying to befool the women voters by holding out an empty promise of getting the Bill through if voted to power. If she was so sincere she should have supported the Bill in Parliament, he added. The BJP chief claimed
that the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) would get an
overwhelming majority in Parliament and promised that the
Bill would be passed even if parties, like the Congress
failed to support it. |
|
KANGRA, Sept 15 — Senior Congress leader Vidya Stokes and PCC General Secretary G.S. Bali in a joint press conference here last evening condemned the remarks made by BJP General Secretary Narinder Modi. Mr Modi had said the Congress was a issueless party and had won earlier polls over the bodies of Indira Gandhi and Rajeev Gandhi. Taking exception to the remarks both Congress leaders demanded that Mr Modi tender an apology. They asked the Chief
Election Commissioner to direct the BJP leaders to desist
from indulging in mudslinging.
|
 |
||
 |
| Nation
| Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir | Chandigarh | | Editorial | Business | Sport | | Mailbag | Spotlight | World | 50 years of Independence | Weather | | Search | Subscribe | Archive | Suggestion | Home | E-mail | |
