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Saturday,
January 19, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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Stokes
camp to make Kangra rally a success BJP meeting to focus on indiscipline Roads for
HP villages in three years: Dhumal |
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Solan
Panchayat Parishad formed Surrender surplus land, princely families advised Armed men
beat up BBMB chowkidar Health
campaign in Sirmaur from Feb 1 Himachal sets up Sanskrit academy
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Stokes camp to make Kangra rally a success Dharamsala, January 18 Though the organisers of the rally had claimed that they had extended invitations to all senior leaders, including Mr Virbhadra Singh, a statement by the CLP leader that he has not been invited and got to know of the rally through the newspapers. This has exposed the split in the party, right up to the grassroots level. The statement of Mr Virbhadra Singh has indicated that the party rally will now be a show of strength by the Stokes faction, which is desperately trying to build its base in the biggest district of the state. Even if the leaders owing allegiance to Mr Virbhadra Singh choose to attend the rally they will merely mark their presence and not gather crowds for the rally’s success. Interestingly, supporters of the All-India Mahila Congress President and Rajya Sabha member, Mrs Chandresh Kumari, are maintaining a low profile and keeping away from the preparations of the
rally. In the past one year, Mrs Stokes and Mrs Chandresh Kumari have drifted apart, with the latter joining the Virbhadra camp. It is the Kangra DCC President, Mr M.R. Goma, and a former minister, Mr Vijai Singh Mankotia Singh, who are making all arrangements for making the rally , the first major public show by the Stokes faction in Kangra, a success. On the other hand Virbhadra loyalists , including MLAs Mr Chander Kumar and Mr B.B.L. Butail, are keeping themselves away from the preparations of the show. Both MLA’s are diehard loyalists of the CLP leader and have held impressive rallies for Mr Virbhadra Singh, in their Guler and Palampur constituencies. The congress MLA from Nagrota, Mr G.S. Bali, is learnt to have joined hands with the Stokes faction for the rally after a meeting with Mr Mankotia. Mr Bali, has been doing a tight rope walk, eversince the infighting in the Congress intensified, by maintaining equal proximity with Mrs Stokes and Mr Virbhadra Singh. Political observers point out that with Mr Mankotia, projecting himself as the senior-most leader of the newly merged areas, the Stokes faction has very few Congress leaders who are loyal to the PCC Chief. Infact, some of the Congress leaders who had lost the last Assembly election , had projected Mr Mankotia, as a potential Chief Minister. It has become a necessity for Mrs Stokes to build up her own base in Kangra, which plays a major role in deciding the Chief Ministership issue,” said a Congress MLA. Supporters of Mrs Stokes, admit that Mr Virbhadra Singh has a
considerable following in Kangra, which has 16 Assembly segments. It is only now that PCC Chief has directed her efforts towards building her base here. “Instead of giving political mileage to the party, the Kangra rally will only expose the factionalism and bickerings within the party, at a time when the Chief Minister, Mr P.K. Dhumal, is arriving for the annual winter sojourn of Kangra region,” commented a party office-bearer. He added that all efforts to sort out differences between Mr Virbhadra Singh and Mrs Stokes had proved futile, a fact which would prove to be the biggest advantage for the BJP in the Assembly elections, due next year. All senior Congress leaders, including the Congress Legislative Party Leader, Mr V.B. Singh, all ex-HPCC presidents, MPs and MLAs from Kangra and DCC and BCC general House members have been invited to the Congress rally to be organised at Kangra on January 21. Ms Stokes has sent special demi official letters to all senior leaders of the party and special fax message was sent to the CLP leader, Ms Chandresh Kumari and Mr Anand Sharma and other senior leaders. |
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BJP meeting to focus on indiscipline Shimla, January 18 Top party leaders Prem Kumar Dhumal and Mr Shanta Kumar have buried the hatchet but that has not completely solved the problem of dissidence in the party. The seven Shanta loyalists who raised a banner of revolt against Mr Dhumal in February last have been maintaining a low profile. The Chief Minister has also been giving due weightage to them in important matters and keeping them in good humour though there are still some issues to be sorted out. There is, however, no problem in the legislative party. But all is not well at the lower level. Senior party workers have come out openly against party legislators in several constituencies. The party has been forced to expel and suspend some leaders and issue notices to others. Incidentally, Una, the home district of party president Jai Krishan Sharma, and Hamirpur, the home district of Mr
Dhumal, have been hit the most. In fact, Mr Jai Krishan Sharma has been virtually confined to his own constituency
Santokhgarh, with several local leaders revolting against him. Among those issued show-cause notices for creating indiscipline are Ms Shakuntla
Kanwar, a member of the state executive, and Maj S. Jaswal, an office-bearer of the ex-servicemen cell. In the Nadaunta constituency, Mr Dhyan
Chand, ex-president of the local party unit, and some other senior workers have been expelled from the party for raising a banner of revolt against Hamirpur district president and local party legislator Baldev Sharma. In Sirmaur district, Mr Chain Singh, district convener of the other backward classes cell, has been expelled for creating indiscipline. With elections just 14 months away, the party could not afford dissidence at any level. The state executive is likely to take a serious view of indiscipline and give clear directions to the rank and file not to take party matters to the media. Besides, it would take a view on the Kainthla Commission report, which had indicted Congress legislative party leader Virbhadra Singh and some other Congress leaders. According to party sources, a resolution urging the government to register cases against the leaders was likely to be adopted. The executive will also review the “Vikas
Yatra” and evaluate response of the people. Corrective steps will be recommended to remove the shortcomings in the functioning of the government. A programme will be chalked out to activate the party machinery with an eye on the next assembly poll. |
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BJP MLAs attend Shanta’s feast Shimla, January 18 The feast has come into focus as 11 of the 12 BJP MLAs of Kangra district participated in it. Four of them, including the Minister of State for Power, Mr Ravinder Singh Ravi, and the Chairman of the HPTDC, Mr Rakesh Pathania, were considered as confidants of the Chief Minister, Prof P.K. Dhumal. The lone absentee was Ms Sarveen Chaudhary, Parliamentary Secretary. Mr Dulo Ram, a staunch supporter of Mr Shanta Kumar, is the president of the district unit of the party. The Congress circles claimed that the large scale participation in the feast indicated that some of the Dhumal supporters had now started drifting towards Mr Shanta Kumar as he was a stalwart of the Kangra area and his support would matter in the coming Assembly elections. However, the Excise and Taxation Minister, Mr Parveen Sharma, today denied and motive behind the participation of the MLAs and said it indicated that the BJP was united, while the Congress was divided. He said the MLAs had gone to Palampur to attend a meeting of the Kangra district unit of the party and Mr Shanta Kumar hosted the lunch. Mr Sharma said there was no group rivalry in the BJP and the party would gain further because top leaders of the Congress were quarrelling among themselves. Meanwhile, a controversy has triggered in the Congress as the CLP leader, Mr Virbhadra Singh, said he had not been invited to the party’s rally which would be held in Kangra on January 21. On the other hand, Mr A.N. Bazwaria, permanent secretary of the PCC, today claimed that not only the DCC chief of Kangra, but also the PCC chief, Ms Vidya Stokes, had sent letters inviting all senior leaders to the rally. A fax message had also been sent at the residence of Mr Virbhadra Singh. Mr Virbhadra Singh, however, said he did not want to enter the controversy and he had not received any invitation so far. |
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Roads
for HP villages in three years: Dhumal Hamirpur, January 18 This was stated by Prof Prem Kumar Dhumal, Chief Minister, while addressing a public meeting at Bhota Kaswa, 14 km from here, today. He said a road between Una and Bhota was under construction and Rs 3.80 crore had been given by the Central Government for this purpose. With the completion of this road, the district would have three national highways, he added. Earlier, he dedicated to the people a Rs 14-lakh training-cum-Lab wing of the Bhota centre of the HP University of the Horticulture and Forestry. He said the regional centres of the university at Bhota and Neri would become fully operational at a cost of Rs 5.80 crore in the coming years. The Chief Minister hit out at a Hindi daily for publishing an election survey in the state one year ahead of the elections. The Education Minister, Mr Ishwar Dass Dhiman, the Forest Minister, Mr Roop Singh Thakur, and the Minister of State for Horticulture, Mr Narendra Bragta, and Dr R.P. Awasthi, Vice-Chancellor of the Dr Y.S. Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, also addressed the meeting. Prof Dhumal announced that a kisan bhavan would be constructed at a cost of Rs 10 lakh at Bhota. He also inaugurated a Rs 16.50-lakh HIMFED godown at Sohari in the Nadaunta area late last evening. The Chief Minister also visited the house of sepoy Sushil Thakur of the Mangroli village who was killed while defending borders of the nation on January 5. He gave a cheque for Rs 3 lakh to the widow of the martyr. |
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Solan Panchayat Parishad formed Kumarhatti, January 18 The SPP presidents for each block of the district would be announced soon after consultations with panchayat representatives of these blocks, Mr Chauhan said. The following are the other office-bearers and executive members of the SPP approved by Mr Budhi Singh, chairman of the HP Panchayat Parishad. Vice-president — Mr Baldev Singh, member of Zila Parishad, Solan; Mr Shankar Lal Sharma, member, Zila Parishad, Kunihar; Mr Sher Singh Thakur, member, BDC, Dharampur block; Dr Dalip Singh, president, gram panchayat, Chunari; Nalagarh block; Mr Rajesh Sharma, president, gram panchayat, Sanhol, Solan block. General secretaries — Mr Gobind Ram Bhardwaj, vice-president, gram panchayat, Sairi, Kandaghat block, Mr Manoj Sharma, president, gram panchayat, Kishan Garh, Dharmapur block. Secretaries — Mr Nand Lal, president, gram panchayat, Kabakalan, Solan block; Mrs Janab Chandel, president, gram panchayat Ganagughat, Kunihar block, Mrs Leela Singh, president, gram panchayat, Chamia Dharampur block, Miss Sheela president, gram panchayat, Seri, Solan block; and Mr Ram Parkash Sharma, president, gram panchayat, Jukhari Nalagarh block. Mr Roshal Lal, vice-president, gram panchayat, Deothi, Solan block, has been appointed as the treasurer of the
SPP. |
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Surrender surplus land, princely families advised Shimla, January 18 The ministers claimed that about 30,000 bighas was in the possession of princely families over and above the permissible limit under the HP Land Ceiling Act. They said Congress leaders had been claiming that Mr Virbhadra Singh had been given a clean chit by the CBI but added that now Mr Virbhadra Singh himself had accepted before the revenue court that he owned surplus land proved that he was guilty. They demanded that he should tender an apology and surrender this surplus land at once. |
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Armed men beat up BBMB chowkidar Dharamsala, January 18 According to the Additional SP, Mr N.D. Sareen, the chowkidar, an employee of the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB), told the police yesterday night that he was beaten up by four armed men at Rehri Kithera village, close to the Sansarpur Terrace area in the Jwali subdivision of Kangra district. The chowkidar said one person, attired in Army uniform came to him and asked for food and drinks. The chowkidar is learnt to have told the police that since the person hailed from Haryana, his own home state, he went to fetch food and liquor for him. When he (chowkidar) returned the man was joined by three others in civil dress. They demanded more liquor from chowkidar. When he refused to provide them with more drinks he was beaten up. The chowkidar told the police that these persons were armed with SLR guns. The chowkidar immediately informed the SHO at Jwali, who rushed to the spot with his force. The SP, Mr Sanjay Kundu, and the DSP, Jwali, had been camping in the area along with a huge force to get some trace of these armed men. |
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Health campaign in Sirmaur from Feb 1 Nahan, January 18 The Chief Medical Officer (CMO) disclosed that polio immunisation drops would be administered to children on January 20 in the district. The District AIDS Awareness Programme Officer, Dr Sanjay Sharma, said there were 10 HIV positive cases in Sirmaur district. The Deputy Commissioner said a mobile X-ray plant would be installed in the hospital. It was also decided to have a printer for the ultrasound scanning and an auto-analyser for tests in the hospital. |
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Himachal sets up Sanskrit academy Shimla, January 18 The academy will be headed by Mr P.K. Dhumal, Chief Minister, and have the Education Minister as working president. The Director of Education will be its vice-president and the secretary, finance, and the Director Language, Art and Culture will be its members. |
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