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Monday, September 16, 2002,
Chandigarh, India  
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Poonch, Rajouri all set for
poll Sikh bodies differ on
support
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Ration man plays truant Villagers block traffic Bandipora (Baramula), September 15 Even as the 10 Assembly segments of Baramula and another five of Kupwara district get ready for a major electoral show tomorrow, about 500 families from some villages in the Bandipora Assembly segment of Baramula might well be going without food for the third consecutive day today.
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Poonch, Rajouri all set for
poll Jammu, September 15 They said 300 of the 616 polling centres have been declared sensitive and additional security has been provided. Following reports regarding major threats to disrupt the poll by the militants 15 poling stations have been re-allocated in the two districts, which have seven Assembly constituencies. Mr Gupta said in addition to the usual security arrangements quick reaction teams had been deployed in sensitive areas. Mr Goswami said the polling material and staff had reached all polling stations. The battle between the bullet and the ballot will begin from tomorrow when six lakh voters in the seven constituencies in Poonch and Rajouri districts will decide the fate of 51 candidates. Nearly 200 companies of the paramilitary forces and commandos of the Punjab police have been deployed in the two districts. Mr P.J. Sebstian, DIG, BSF said “We have kept our forces ready to meet any challenge.” He added that reasonable polling was expected because of the tight security measures. Meanwhile, reports said though there was tension among the people of the two districts, those living in towns were gearing up to defy the separatist call for poll boycott. The government agencies feared poor polling in remote and hilly areas. Three civilians were killed in an ancounter between militants and security forces in the Thana Mandi area of Rajouri. Three militants had earlier been killed in the incident. |
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Sikh bodies differ on
support Jammu, September 15 While the Akali Dal (Mann) today announced its support for the National Conference candidate, Mr Harbans Singh, contesting the Gandhi Nagar constituency, the women wing of the Shiromani Akali Dal has pledged support to the BJP-SAD (B) candidate, Mr Charanjit Singh Khalsa. The working committee of the women wing of the SAD met here today with Ms Gurcharan Kaur Khalsa in the chair. The committee decided to support the National Conference candidate. The NC already has the support of the State Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee, the AISSF, Bhai Kanahiya Nishkam Sewa Society, and the Youth Akali Dal. The Akali Dal (Mann) also announced its support for the NC and its leaders Mr Jaspal Singh, Mr Ram Singh, Mr Malvinder Singh, Mr Makhan Singh, Mr Amrik Singh, Mr Ravinder Singh and Mr Dilbhajan Singh said that the working committee had unanimously decided to support the NC candidate because the National Conference was the only organisation with “secular credentials.” On the other hand, the women wing of the SAD (B) has asked the Akali Dal, Mr
H.S. Raina, to stop “misusing” the name of the party. It asked Mr Raina to change the nomenclature of his organisation as the Akali Dal (Harbans) and change the colour of his and his supporters’ turbans from blue to red as he had announced support for the NC and not the SAD-BJP candidate in Gandhi Nagar. Ms Gurcharan Kaur Khalsa, president of the women wing of the SAD, said at the national level and in the state there was an alliance between the BJP and the Akali Dal and not with the NC. She said on the one hand, Mr H.S. Raina had extended support to the NC in the Gandhi Nagar constituency and on the other hand announced support for the Congress candidate in the Marh constituency. Meanwhile, Mr Ashok
Khajuria, BJP candidate from the Jammu East constituency, organised a “padyatra” in his constituency today where he explained to the voters that the BJP was for an autonomous regional council in Jammu and Kashmir. He said the demand for the division of the state was a reaction to the “wrong” policies adopted by the NC and the Congress under which people in the region had received a raw deal. |
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Ration man plays truant Bandipora (Baramula), September 15 Thanks to the ever-evasive state government employee who is supposed to arrive at Nussu village every day at 11 am with the stock of ration for the government depot, the families living at Nussu and many of its adjoining villages have no food stock, as of now. Also, they are not in a position to arrange for grocery items from Bandipora market area, which falls about 10 km away from these villages. Dejected with the apathy of the state government, some 100 villagers of
Bandipora, which witnessed heavy canvassing until 4 p.m. yesterday when the campaign deadline ended, took to the streets, raising anti-election and anti-government slogans. They did not let vehicles pass by for well over an hour. Talking to the Tribune team, which was present on the spot, villagers said that the ruling party had made arrangement for a government depot for them at
Nussu. Said
Shamima, a vil ager: “The idea was to save us the inconvenience of going to far off places to buy food items and also to provide ration at concessional rates.” Villagers, however, added, that the man assigned with the job of bringing ration from Gurura and transporting it to the depot near Nussu ,which caters to over 500 families, was seldom seen. Even when he decided to come, no one knew when he was coming. This time, the villagers informed that he had not come since September 13. Today, being a
Sunday, was his day off. Villagers said that in the absence of buses, most of which have been diverted for election use, it was not possible to reach the far off market . The hapless residents, who had no food stock for themselves and their children, blocked the road outside Nussu and t criticised the poll process. They decried the poll process, which was consuming lakhs, even as they had no money to buy food. Said Ali Mohammad Sher, a protesting villager:
“We have been standing on the roadside, waiting for the ration man to deliver ration to us. But he never turns up. We are not concerned with elections. All candidates are well- fed and can afford to ask for votes. But we have other problems in life.” Another villager Aijaz Ahmad talked about the mockery which the state government had made of the system of distributing ration from fair price
shops. He said, “The man from Gurura is supposed to come at 11 am everyday. We gather around the depot and keep waiting for hours. He turns up at different timings: at 12 noon or at 4 p.m. "We, like fools wait upon him. No one will vote on an empty stomach.” The villagers added that similar was the case with other ration depots in the area. |
HANDWARA POLL OFFICIALS SHIFTED 20 BOOTHS RELOCATED 100 OFFICIALS REPRIMANDED DETAINEES TO VOTE 400 SCRIBES IN J&K RIFT IN APHC: OMAR |
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