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Sunday,
February 10, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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BJP may
have edge in Dehra Dun Jyotiraditya
harps on Madhavrao’s legacy UP poll:
INLD on sticky wicket Amitabh
brings ‘Deewar’ to Lucknow
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Mulayam
wary of touching Rudrapur Spotlight
on Ranjit Singh’s secular face New
hybrid crop varieties released Zero
cattle pox
programme?
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BJP may have edge in Dehra Dun Dehra Dun, February 9 Although mood of the BJP appears to be upbeat, especially after an impressive rally of Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee on Thursday last, political observers here predict a neck and neck contest between the two main parties-- the BJP and the Congress. While the BJP is focusing on issues like national security, economic development and better Centre-State relations, its arch rival Congress is raising the issue of coffin scam and promising a transparent, efficient and corruption-free government. Observers believe that this time in majority of the nine seats it will be the image of the candidates rather than the party to which they belong will be the deciding factor. LAKSHMAN CHOWK: In this constituency, where the BJP has fielded former Chief Minister Nityanand Swami, the challenge is expected to come chiefly from Dinesh Aggarwal (Congress) and BJP rebel Prem Batta. Aggarwal is the President of the Bar Association and will be looking for a windfall from his community, which exercises much influence in this area. Vinod Chandola, a Congress rebel could well upset Aggarwal’s applecart but the big question is: Whether the voter will consider their challenge in the face of Swami’s undisputed stature? CHAKRATA: A tough four-cornered contest is likely among Pritam Singh (Congress), Murat Ram Sharma (BJP), sitting MLA Munna Singh Chauhan (UJP) and Neena Nautiyal (wife of former Zila Panchayat Chairman, Ram Sharan Nautiyal), who is contesting as an independent. The constituency lies in remote mountainous area of the district and is mostly inhabited by the Jaunsari tribal population. Munna Singh Chauhan holds charismatic sway over the constituency but Pritam Singh is also being considered to have an edge over his main rivals. Neena Nautiyal hopes to secure her husband’s vote base, which corresponds with that of the Congress. A rebel candidate, she has vowed to defeat the party in this constituency, and is therefore expected to impinge upon Pritam’s chances. VIKASNAGAR: The contest mainly is expected to be among Navprabhat (Congress), Ramsharan Nautiyal (Independent), Munna Singh Chauhan (UJP) and Sahdev Pundeer (BJP). Here, BJP is said to have made Navprabhat’s ascent easier by pitting a weak candidate. Nautiyal’s campaign, however, will most likely cost Navprabhat precious votes. Could Munna Singh Chauhan benefit? His former outfit, the Samajwadi Party (SP) has put up Dilip Singh, and the traditional vote base of this party will have to think seriously about where to cast its vote. SAHASPUR: The main contenders here are Pradeep Kumar (BJP) Dayaram (SP) and Sadhuram (Congress). This is a reserved seat. It’s going to be a tough battle between the SP and Congress candidates and BJP candidate might spring a surprise if the dalit votes gets divided vertically among the other two parties. DEHRA DUN (CITY): The prestigious Dehra dun (City) Assembly constituency has the formidable Harbans Kapoor (BJP) who is locked in a direct fight with Sanjay Sharma (Congress). The other candidates do not seem to be in the same league. Sanjay Sharma is a long time youth and trade-union activist in the traditional Congress mould. An excellent orator, he is expected to put up good fight, if the party cadres unite behind him. This constituency, however, is supposed to be the surest seat for the BJP in the entire state. RAJPUR: This Himalayan foothill constituency perhaps could witness a most interesting contest. The BJP has put up a veteran party man, Khushal Singh Ranavat against the energetic Hira Singh Bisht of the Congress. But Uttarakhand agitationist Sushila Balooni will be squaring up to them as well as against Congress rebel Suryakant Dhasmana, who is contesting on the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) ticket. MUSSOORIE: In the snowy reaches here, BJP Sports Minister Narayan Singh Rana will surely get a boost from his shooter-son, Jaspal Rana, who has been hotly campaigning for him. He will be ranged mostly against Congress stalwart Jot Singh Gunsola. Although Rana has had a good stint in office, he will have to face dissidence from within his own party ranks, and of course Jot Singh’s local roots. However, Jot Singh’s men, too, are crossing lines in support of Rana. The Congress candidate is an unknown entity in this area that extends into the Dehra Dun valley. DOIWALA: There area large number of 27 candidates in the fray including several "dummy" candidates and others having a "nuisance value". But this constituency promises to be another keenly contested one where State SP President Vinod Barthwal will seek re-election against Trivendra Singh Rawat of the BJP, Virendra Mohan Uniyal of the Congress, and Virendra Bhandari of the CPM. It will be a close fight here but the number of ‘secular’ parties in fray could allow the BJP vote to consolidate. RISHIKESH: BJP’s youth activist Sandeep Gupta will contest against Shoorvir Singh Sajwan of the Congress. Former Chairman of the Palika, Virendra Sharma, and Sudha Rani Pal of the SP are also hoping for a look in. In the district, the breakup of the number of candidates for the nine seats is: Chakrata-5, Vikasnagar-19, Sahaspur-18, Lakshman Chowk-23, Dehra Dun-10, Rajpur-17, Mussoorie-14, Rishikesh-18 and Doiwala-24. |
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Jyotiraditya
harps on Madhavrao’s legacy Shivpuri (Guna), February 9 There is no mention of his rival BJP candidate; no accusation is hurled at the BJP. Mr Jyotiraditya does not talk of Congress policies or the work Congress government is doing in Madhya Pradesh. Urging voters to turn up in large numbers on the polling day, he reminds them of the work done by late Madhavrao Scindia in the past 30 years in Guna and Gwalior constituencies and promises to complete the unfinished task. Dressed much in the way his father did in white kurta-pyjama, black jacket, sports shoes, Jyotiradiyta (32) leaves his home by 10 a.m. for electioneering. About a dozen villages are covered by him everyday with his sister Ms Chitrangda Singh and mother Ms Madhvi Raje Scindia also moving out to different destinations for convassing. The family is making the best of the 22 days of canvassing period and hope to cover 90 per cent of the nearly 1,300 villages in the twin districts of Guna and Shivpuri which form part of the Guna Parliamentary constituency. Though he does not say it, Jyotiraditya is aiming at winning the seat from a margin higher than that of his father. As the cavalcade of cars stops at Gopalpur village in Shivpuri district at about 12 noon, Mr Jyotiraditya is greeted by a village band. Crackers burst as he is surrounded by men and women carrying garlands. Some women apply “tilak” and offer coconuts as a gesture of goodwill. A few even break down as they come near to bless him. Though the crowd in the villages is royalty-adoring, there are a few BJP supporters also. Mr Bashir Baksh, district vice-president of the BJP Minority Morcha, says Mr Jyotiraditya is not referring to development issues. “He is only seeking votes on an emotional plank,” Mr Baksh says. An MBA from Stanford University, Jyotiraditya did his graduation from Harvard. “I was always politically inclined and have been helping my father in elections from 1984,” he told The Tribune. Congress president Sonia Gandhi is also scheduled to address a rally in Guna on February 16 — perhaps the first time she will be addressing a gathering in a Lok Sabha byelection. Madhavrao Scindia started his political career from Guna in 1971 Lok Sabha polls and won four elections from here, the last being in1999 by over 2.30 lakh votes. |
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UP poll: INLD on sticky wicket Meerut, February 9 The BJP-RJD alliance and other major players in the UP politics — the SP, the BSP and the Congress seem to have dawned on the INLD even as the initial euphoria of “successful rallies” for the “Kisan Pradesh” in the past one year has vanished. In fact, now the party has identified about 30 constituencies from where its candidates can make a fight of the contest and even with few seats. Party sources said under a new strategy, Mr Chautala and the election in charge for the UP and INLD MP, Mr Ajay Chautala, would focus all their attention on at least 10 seats for the next couple of days. The INLD was locked in a “direct” contest on these seats, the sources said, adding that efforts were on to persuade certain Independent candidates to withdraw in favour of the INLD candidates. And even as the INLD leadership put up a brave front, the odds seem to be going against Mr Chautala who is testing the political waters in the rough and tumble of the UP politics for the first time on the slogan of the separate state for the accelerated development of the area. “All INLD candidates are going to lose their security deposits and the creation of the separate “Harit Pradesh” has been on the agenda of our party for a long time and Mr Chautala had hijacked our issue”, Mr Mukesh Jain, the RLD spokesman told TNS. Observers felt that opening of account in the UP Assembly was going to be an uphill task for the INLD as it was all alone. In fact a tour by the correspondent of Muzaffarnagar, Meerut and Bhagpat districts, which are considered stronghold of the “Chhota Chaudhury” Mr Ajit Singh, revealed that INLD had failed to make the “Kisan Pradesh” an election issue. Though the people had emotional feeling for the separate state, the caste and community equations had put the issue of the separate state on the back burner. The INLD candidates in at least two constituencies in Baghra (Muzaffarnagar) and Hastinapur (Meerut) seem to be locked in a close contest. Mr Yogesh Malik, brother of the UP unit chief, Mr Harinder Malik, is pitted against Ms Anuradha Chaudhury (BJP-RLD), Mr Uday Pal (SP) and Mr Ved Pal (BSP). In the reserve constituency of Hastinapur, a former MLA, Mr Gopal Kali, is giving a tough fight to a political novice, Ms Geeta Prakash, fielded by the BJP-RLD. Mr Kahli was local Congress MP Avtar Singh Bhadana’s choice for the Congress ticket. However, he switched over to the INLD when denied the Congress ticket. |
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Amitabh brings ‘Deewar’ to Lucknow
Lucknow, February 9 Dressed in deep blue, the superstar termed SP General Secretary Amar Singh “my backbone” and said it was he who had helped him learn to fight the hurdles of life. “He (Amar Singh) gave me courage to choose my path when I had lost my way....” The superstar called Mr Yadav a father figure, and dedicated to him a couplet from “Madhushala” - “Chalta ja tu, isi dagar par, pahunch jayega tu madhushala”. As expected, Bachchan did not make any direct appeal for support to SP candidates, but said he and his wife were “solidly behind my father figure, Mulayam Singh.” In an obvious reference to the former Union Defence Minister’s ongoing campaign, Bachchan said: “Mulayam has vowed to rid society of crime and criminals... I am with him... What about you all.” Seeking to justify his participation in a blood donation camp, organised by the Central Bar Association, he said he could never forget that following an abdominal injury in 1982, during the filming of “Coolie”, doctors attending on him had needed 60 bottles of blood for transfusion to save his life.
UNI |
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Mulayam
wary of touching Rudrapur Rudrapur, February 9 The reasons for his absence from Uttaranchal are not difficult to judge. Residents of the state, particularly those staying in the hill areas, have not foregotten how the Uttar Pradesh police had treated local people going to Delhi to stage a dharna there in support of their demand for the creation of a new state. They were not only beaten up but women agitators were also molested, some of them were even allegedly raped by policemen near Muzzaffarnagar when Mr Mulayam Singh was the Chief Minister of the parent state. No action was taken against the erring policemen despite widespread protests against human rights violations. Even today Mulayam Singh is a hated name in the hilly region of the state. Mr Kulbir Singh Hooda, a political activist of Bazpur in Udham Singh Nagar district, says the Samajwadi Party leader, in fact, wanted that a separate state of Uttaranchal should be created so that his hegemony in the remaining part of Uttar Pradesh would increase as he had no base in the hilly areas of the state. He deliberately incited them so that they would further firm their demand for a separate State. It is not to suggest that Mr Mulayam Singh is without any sympathiser in the new State. His party has a strong presence in district like Udham Singh Nagar and Hardwar. It is not without reason. The people of these districts are not happy with the BJP, which, they feel, is responsible for inclusion of these areas in the new state, much against the wishes of their residents. Sikh farmers of Udham Singh Nagar had sought the help of the Punjab Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, to use his influence with the BJP Government at the Centre, for not including their district in Uttaranchal. Mr Badal and other Akali leaders did make loud noises. The Sikhs here feel that for some ulterior motives, the Akalis later on did not take up their cause as vigorously as they should have done. However, Mr Mulayam Singh had openly supported the demand of the Punjabi settlers in Udham Singh Nagar. Today he has a large number of sympathisers in parts of Udham Singh Nagar district, like Jaspur, where the Punjabi settlers are in a good number. No wonder the BJP, in the hope to curtail the support base of the Samajwadi Party among the Sikh farmers settled in the district, has fielded Mr H.S. Cheema, President of the Uttaranchal Shiromani Akali Dal, from Kashipur on its own ticket. The local Akali leaders are trying hard to convince the Sikh farmers in Jaspur to support the BJP candidate from there, Mr Rajiv Aggarwal, who was shifted from Kashipur to adjust Mr Cheema. |
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Spotlight
on Ranjit Singh’s secular face New Delhi, February 9 “Maharaja Ranjit Singh encouraged the setting up of industry and ruled the kingdom on secular principles. His rule was based on modern principles of governance,” said Dr Prithipal Singh Kapur, former Vice-Chancellor of Punjabi University, Patiala. Participating in a seminar on “Remembering Maharaja Ranjit Singh” organised by the Thakurdwara Trust and Nityanand Shastri Kashmir Research Institute, he said “much is known about the military feats of Maharaja, but little attention has been paid by researchers on other aspects of his rule like secularism, justice system, industrial policy, areas of state control, encouragement of private entrepreneurs.” The chairman of Food Corporation of India, Dr Bhure Lal, in his address emphasised on the administrative technique adopted by legendary ruler of Punjab which united small
principalities and turned these into a force to take on the mighty kingdoms of that era. Dr Kapur and Dr Bhure Lal emphasised that Maharaja Ranjit Singh during his lifetime was formally never crowned, but the people accepted him as their supreme ruler and the British addressed him as ‘raja’ and later ‘maharaja’ as his might was a force to reckon with. Mr Virinder Singh Jauhar, chairman of the Thakurdwara Trust said Maharaja Ranjit Singh should not seen as Sher-e-Punjab but as Sher-e-Hind. “The king by his rule not only laid the seeds for the emergence of a modern Indian state, he brought in the modern principles of governance. He established him kingdom at a time when the principalities were ready to be subservent to the British rule,” he said. Mr Jauhar said the Maharaja checked the onslaught from Afghanistan by extending his kingdom till Khyber Pass. Maharaja Ranjit Singh got Kohinoor diamond from the Afghans, which presently is the prized possession of the British crown. The seminar participants later passed a resolution requesting the Britain to return the Kohinoor diamond as it was the rightful possession of India. |
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New hybrid crop varieties released New Delhi, February 9 The varieties, which include two of wheat, three of rice, two of field peas, one of bajra, and two of mangoes, besides two varieties of vegetables and 11 of flowers, have been developed by the IARI to meet the needs of enhanced productivity, disease and pest resistance. The new wheat varieties are HW 2045 for cultivation in north-eastern plains of Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Assam and HD 2781 for growing in rain-fed areas of peninsular zone comprising Maharashtra and Karnataka. The new rice varieties are basmati hybrid RH-10 for cultivation in Uttaranchal, Western Uttaranchal, Delhi and Haryana and high-vielding aromatic rice varieties Pusa Sugandh-2 and Pusa Sugandh-3. |
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Zero cattle pox programme? Hanumangarh, February 9 Under the ‘zero cattle pox’ programme of the Central Government, surveys and vaccination programmes were being conducted in the far-off areas of the state by the Animal Husbandry Department. The department conducted surveys and vaccination programmes in 2000-2001 in 479 of the 912 villages in this district, 1234 of the 1377 villages in Sriganganagar district, 683 of the 1625 villages of Barmer district and in 316 of the 580 villages of Bikaner district. Of the 37,878 villages of 34 districts, the vaccination and surveys were done in 37,109 villages. A strip was to be established by conducting surveys and vaccination programmes in an area of 40 km of
Jaisalmer, Barmer, Bikaner, Hanumangarh and Sriganganagar districts for controlling the cattle diseases. |
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In video: Film icon Amitabh Bachchan mesmerises crowds as he
campaigns for the Samajwadi Party for the forthcoming polls in Uttar
Pradesh.
