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Thursday,
September 5, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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105 throw hat into poll
ring Shah: govt betrayed Kashmir
Committee Cong list for Jammu
dist J&K poll: another BJP list out |
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Omar Abdullah files his nomination papers in Srinagar for
the Ganderbal constituency on
Wednesday. — photo Amin war LJS list for second phase Nominees’ detention illegal: JKNPP Another SHO transferred Seven parties to get
airtime on TV, radio Acting chief of JKLF
arrested MoD for ban on open sale
of Army uniforms BSF jawan
cremated Case against cops in scribe beating case Drive against charas cultivation
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105 throw hat into poll
ring Srinagar, September 4 The Baramula Parliamentary constituency comprising the twin border districts, is represented by the National Conference in the Lok Sabha and has its members on 13 seats in the state Assembly. The Sonawari constituency in Baramula district is represented by militant leader-turned-politician Kukka Parray while the Langate constituency in Kupwara district is represented by a member of former Union Home Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed’s Peoples Democratic Party
(PDP). The seat was bagged by the NC in the 1996 elections, but due to the killing of its member Abdul Ahad
Kar, leading to byelections, the seat was bagged by the PDP. One seat of Rafiabad in Baramula district was won by Mohammad Dilawar Mir of the Janata Dal in the last Assembly elections who later joined the ruling party and has again emerged as the ruling NC’s nominee in the forthcoming elections. Out of the 105 contesting candidates after the withdrawal of nomination papers on Monday, 59 candidates are left in the fray in Baramula district and 46 in Kupwara district. The main Baramula constituency has the highest number of 13 candidates, while the lowest number of two contestants are each in Gulmarg and Uri constituencies, followed by three in
Sonawari. The main contestants from the ruling party include the Speaker of Legislative Assembly, Mr Abdul Ahad
Vakil, from Sopore, and ministers Mushtaq Ahmad Lone from Lolab, Choudhary Mohammad Ramzan from
Handwara, Mohammad Shafi from Uri, Dr Mustafa Kamal from Gulmarg and Moulvi Iftikhar Hussain Ansari from
Pattan. A tough fight is in the offing in the one-to-one contest between a minister and an Opposition party in Gulmarg and Uri constituencies. The Industries Minister and younger brother of the Chief Minister, Dr Mustafa
Kamal, is pitted against the lone Opposition candidate, Ghulam Hassan Mir, of the Peoples Democratic Party
(PDP). Mir had unsuccessfully contested the 1996 Assembly elections as Congress candidate against Dr Mustafa Kamal in a triangular contest. The third contestant, Ghulam Rasool Dar, of the Janata Dal also contested the elections from the Gulmarg constituency in 1996. Similarly in the Uri constituency in Baramula district, the Education Minister, Mr Mohammad
Shafi, is pitted against the lone Opposition candidate, Taj Mohiuddin of the Congress. Mr Mohammad Shafi has emerged victorious from this border constituency consecutively in all the four elections since 1977. In the last Assembly elections from this constituency, he and the Congress candidate, Mr Taj
Mohiuddin, were in a five-cornered contest with three Independent candidates. In the Pattan constituency of Baramula district, the main fight is between the ruling National Conference candidate, Moulvi Iftikhar Hussain
Ansari, and the Congress nominee, Dr Abdula Ahad Yattoo, apart from a candidate of Kukka Parray’s Awami League. The Congress and NC candidates have swapped their positions since the last elections. It was the Congress candidate, Moulvi Iftikhar Hussain
Ansari, who emerged victorious from Pattan in 1996 against Dr Abdul Ahad Yatto of the National Conference. Moulvi Iftikhar later joined hands with the ruling NC and became a minister. He was subsequently expelled from the Congress and has since formally joined the National Conference. Dr Yatto has joined the Congress recently and has been nominated by the party to fight against the veteran Congressman, Moulvi Iftikhar Hussain
Ansari. |
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Shah: govt betrayed Kashmir Committee Srinagar, September 4 “We had said earlier and again say that we are ready for a peaceful dialogue to resolve the Kashmir issue and if anyone is going to back out, it would be the Government of India,” Shah said a day after his arrival here from Delhi where he met leaders of several political parties and held the second round of talks with the Kashmir Committee. The Centre was “just looking for lame excuses” to refuse to meet his delegation in Delhi, Shah alleged. Shah said it was “sad that the government had even betrayed the Kashmir Committee after authorising it to hold talks” with the separatist leadership. Asked if his party would start an anti-election campaign, he said a decision would be taken only after the party’s apex body meets tomorrow. “Today, we met the district presidents and other prominent activists of the party and briefed them about our talks in Delhi,” Shah added. Shah alleged that Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah pressurised Mr Advani not to meet the DFP leaders. Mr Shah said the dialogue process with the Kashmir Committee would continue. The next round of talks would be held here or in Delhi in October, he added.
PTI, UNI |
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Cong list for Jammu
dist Jammu, September 4 Mr Sharma, who is senior vice-president of the PCC, had represented the constituency in 1987. Later, he became a Lok Sabha member from here. The list of 13 party candidates for Jammu district was released here today by Mr Ved Prakash, AICC secretary. The polling for the second phase will be held on September 24. Mr Tara Chand and Dr Jagdish Dubey, MLAs, have been given ticket for the Chhamb (Reserved) and Bishnah seats, respectively. Mr Yogesh Sahni, president of the state Youth Congress, will contest from the Jammu (East) constituency. Others who have been given ticket are Mr Raman Bhalla (Jammu cantonment), Chaudhary Abdul Hamid (Nagrota), Mr Madan Lal Sharma (Akhnoor), Mr Mula Ram (Raipur-Domana), Mr Balwan Singh (Marh), Chaudhary Garu Ram (Suchetgarh), Mr S. Bhagat (Ranbirsingh Pura), Mr Prakash Sharma (Vijaypur) and Ms Swaran Lata (Samba). Meanwhile, in a sharp deviation from the past, the Congress has overlooked the Sikh community while distributing ticket, resulting in resentment among the 4,00,000-strong community in the Jammu region. A Sikh Congress leader, on the condition of anonymity, said: “In all previous elections they gave ticket to members of our community. I do not say that there is anything communal about this, but we would have been glad, if we had been given ticket,” he said. Asked to comment on the matter, Major Ved Prakash (retd) clarified that the party leadership had assured that in case the party won substantial seats, then at least one member of the Sikh community would be nominated member of the Legislative Council. “We have given ticket to a Sikh from the Tral constituency in the Kashmir valley,” he added.
NC MLA joins Congress Srinagar, September 4 Mr Shafi, who was not given ticket by the National Conference this time, will now contest on the Congress ticket from the Amira Kadal constituency, a Congress spokesman said. The National
Conference has fielded Ghulam Nabi Mir from this constituency. Confirming Mr Shafi’s entry into the Congress, his family members said he would file his nomination papers as the Congress nominee today.
UNI
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J&K poll: another BJP list out New Delhi, September 4 The candidature of Mr Wali Mohammad Wani has been cleared for the Khanyar constituency, Mr Bali Bhagat for
Ramban, Mr Pawan Gupta for Udhampur, Mr Prithvi Chand for Chenani, Mr Ashok Khajuri for Jammu (East), Mr
R.S. Chib for Suchet Garh and Mr Ram Swaroop Sharma for Akhnoor. The candidates for the remaining seats to be contested by the BJP will be named shortly, BJP spokesman and General Secretary Arun Jaitly said in the statement here. |
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Omar files papers from
Ganderbal Srinagar, September 4 Talking to mediapersons at his residence, he said the forthcoming elections were challenging than those held in 1977. He said the party would decide about the chief ministerial candidate only after the elections were over and in the event of the party getting majority in the 87-member House. “I am filing nominations as an MLA and the party will decide on the future course of action”, he said. Mr Omar Abdullah, contesting elections from the Ganderbal constituency represented by his father, Farooq Abdullah thrice since 1983, said he would focus on the performance of his party during the past six years. The NC President was accompanied by Works Minister Ali Mohammad Sagar and Finance Minister, Abdul Rahim Rather to the Deputy Commissioner’s office for filing the papers. This is for the first time that Mr Omar Abdullah, who represented the Srinagar parliamentary constituency in the Lok Sabha for the second consecutive term, filed his papers from an Assembly constituency. |
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LJS list for second phase Jammu, September 4 State General Secretary of the party, Mr Joginder Singh Manhas, said the names of the candidates were finalised by party chief and former Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan at a high-level meeting held here recently. As per the list, the seven candidates are Mr Joginder Singh Manhas (Jammu West), Mr Pankaj Kohli from Jammu East, Mr Swaran Das from Gandhinagar, Mr Gurnam Bhagat from Raipur Domana (reserved), Mr Narender Magotra from Bishnah, Mr Sanjeev Manmotra from Vijaypur and Ms Tripta Vaid from Nagrota. UNI |
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Nominees’ detention illegal: JKNPP Srinagar, September 4 In a written complaint to the state Chief Electoral Officer, the JKNPP said Mohammad Abbas Malik and Mohammad Ashraf Shah, who are the party candidates from Shopian and Wachi constituencies respectively, had been “illegally and unlawfully” detained by the Jammu police. It said though a Jammu court had granted bail to them in the first week of August, the authorities have not released them so far. The party called for their immediate release to enable them to contest the elections.
UNI |
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Another SHO transferred Srinagar, September 4 This information was given by Deputy Chief Electoral Officer B.S. Jamwal during a daily press briefing here today. With this transfer, 11 police officials — three subdivisional officers and seven station house officers — have been shifted after the EC directed the state authorities to shift all police and revenue officials who have completed four years at their present place of posting, he said. However, he said, the list of revenue officials up to the rank of tehsildars was not yet completed as it was a very hectic job to identify revenue officials who had completed four years at their present place of posting. But he added that a meeting would be held with the state authorities in a day or two to order the shifting of these officials. The EC has also directed the Uttar Pradesh government to recover flight charges from UP Forest Minister Jaiveer Singh who took Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Kanshi Ram to Jammu for election campaign in state-owned aircraft, he said. This was a violation of the model code of conduct and the EC had taken a serious note of it, he said, adding that it had also urged all political leaders to strictly adhere to the model code of conduct. In reply to a question, he said the Election Commission awaited reply from the state government on the issue of food subsidy announced by it after the model code of conduct came into force.
UNI |
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Seven parties to get airtime on TV, radio Srinagar, September 4 The parties which would be given airtime were the BJP, BSP, NCP, CPM, CPI, Congress and National Conference, Deputy Chief Electoral Officer B S Jamwal told reporters here. Asked why regional parties like the People’s Democratic Party led by former Union Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed were denied airtime, Mr Jamwal said “we are only giving airtime to national or state recognised parties. These guidelines have been framed by the Election Commission.” Giving details of other preparations for the elections, he said the election symbols had been allotted and the printing of ballot papers had been completed. He said 20 candidates filed their nomination papers yesterday for the second phase of elections taking the total to 36 contestants. In Jammu, 14 candidates filed their nominations while five in Srinagar and one in
Badgam. The nominations for the second phase would close tomorrow. PTI |
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Acting chief of JKLF arrested Srinagar, September 4 A Hurriyat spokesman said Mir, acting chairman of the JKLF, was arrested when he was on his way to Sopore where he was scheduled to launch an anti-election campaign. Mir and three others were being detained in Parimpora police station. The Hurriyat Conference on Friday launched an anti-poll campaign from different areas of the valley. Hurriyat chairman Prof Abdul Gani Bhat addressed a Friday congregation at Sopore Jamia Masjid while former chairman Mirwaiz Moulvi Omar Farooq addressed followers at the historic Jamia Masjid in the downtown area. Although the amalgam has not issued any direct election boycott call, it had asked the people to keep away from the process. Moulana Abbas Ansari, another executive council member of the amalgam, yesterday launched the anti-poll campaign from Nabadnara in central Badgam district, a Shia-dominated area. Describing the election as futile, he said this would not help to resolve the Kashmir issue.
UNI |
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MoD for ban on open sale
of Army uniforms Jammu, September 4 The ministry authorities in the Northern Command have expressed concern over the non-enforcement of ban on the sale of service material, including uniforms in the open market which had allowed a chance to militants to carry out strikes in the Army fatigue to “malign and defame” the troops. The move, it may be recalled here, on banning olive green cloth sale in the civil depots and shops was initiated by the Defence Ministry in 1989. The move was, then, examined by the Ministry of Textiles which had referred it to the Ministry of Law and Justice. However, the proposal was not accepted. In August, 1994, the Ministry of Defence brought to the notice of the Union Home Ministry that a number of civilians and civil security organisations had been using service pattern uniforms and vehicles. The Union Home Ministry, then, issued instructions to all states and union territories on October 24, 1994, and again on January 18, 1999, to take appropriate measures and issue directions for the immediate stoppage of the open sale, stitching and use of service uniforms and vehicles. Accordingly, the authorities, especially the police, directed shopkeepers to maintain a register indicating that the service cloth was sold to servicemen only after verification of their identity cards. The shopkeepers, however, refused on the plea that either the ban should be enforced strictly and only canteen service depots be allowed to sell service uniforms or limited shops be registered for the sale of service uniforms and cloth. |
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BSF jawan
cremated Jaisinghpur, September 4 Jagdish Chand and another BSF jawan from Bihar lost their life in the mishap. Jagdish’s body arrived at his native village today. He is survived by his wife and three sons. Jagdish’s elder son, Manoj Kumar, lit the pyre. BSF jawans and a police contingent fired in air as a mark of respect to the martyr. The SDM, Jaisinghpur, Mr Rakesh Sharma, laid a wreath on his body on behalf of the Governor. |
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Case against cops in scribe beating case Srinagar, September 4 In the FIR SP, (East Kashmir), Rafiqul Hassan and his escort have been accused of beating Jaleel here on Saturday night. The DIG (Srinagar-Badgam) was already probing the incident, they said, adding that the police had been trying to reach a mutual settlement in the case.
PTI |
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Drive against charas cultivation Srinagar, September 4 Charas cultivated in nearly seven acres of agricultural land in the Simthan and Gunjbagh areas of the district has been destroyed by an Excise Department task force, a spokesperson of the department said today. Bhang farmers have been asked to destroy the illegal crop voluntarily within a week. Otherwise, the erring persons would be booked under NDPS Act, he added.
PTI |
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