H I M A C H A L   P R A D E S H

Shanta, Dhumal to campaign jointly
New Delhi, December 24
In a demonstration of the united face of the party ahead of the Assembly poll in Himachal Pradesh, the BJP has decided to launch its formal poll campaign with a joint public meeting of two top Himachal leaders — Shanta Kumar and P.K. Dhumal at a date yet to be decided.

Modi ‘charisma’ won’t work in HP
Nurpur, December 24
The BJP’s plan to utilise the “charisma” of the Gujarat Chief Minister, Mr Narendera Modi, will have no impact on the Assembly elections scheduled to be held in February next year, Mr Sat Mahajan, chairman of the HP Congress poll manifesto committee, told mediapersons here last evening. He said Mr Modi’s presence will not be a factor as Himachal Pradesh was not a “communally sensitive state”.

• BJP’s Theog unit dissolved

Will snow oblige Xmas revellers?
Shimla, December 24
The key hill resorts of Shimla, Manali, Dharamsala and Dalhousie are bustling with activity as winter revellers from neighbouring plains make a beeline in the hope to experience the thrill of a snowfall on Christmas.

10 kisan union leaders booked
Mandi, December 24
The police has registered a case against 10 Kisan Union leaders, including its President under various sections of the IPC for obstructing government work and locking the main gate of the mini secretariat.

Shanta, Dhumal to campaign jointly
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, December 24
In a demonstration of the united face of the party ahead of the Assembly poll in Himachal Pradesh, the BJP has decided to launch its formal poll campaign with a joint public meeting of two top Himachal leaders — Shanta Kumar and P.K. Dhumal at a date yet to be decided.

A decision to this effect was taken at a two-hour high-level meeting here, chaired by party President Venkaiah Naidu and attended by Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani and other top leaders of the state and Centre.

The party Central leadership, however, deferred the final decision on the composition of the Election Campaign Committee for the time being. It is expected to be constituted during the four-to-five day visit of General Secretary Arun Jaitley to Himachal Pradesh beginning December 31.

During the meeting, Mr Advani and Mr Naidu sounded a warning to state unit leaders against factional feud and asked them to unitedly work for the party to retain power in the hill state.

The meeting also drew the preliminary list of leaders, both central and states other than Himachal, who would campaign for the party and help organise and manage poll-related work.

The meeting was attended, among others, by Mr Jaitley, Himachal Chief Minister P.K. Dhumal, Union Minister Shanta Kumar, BJP Himachal unit president Jaikishan Sharma, Secretary in charge of Himachal O.P. Kohli, MPs Suresh Chandel and Maheshwar Singh.

The BJP leaders also deliberated about the strategy to be employed in the state and had a frank opinion from the Himachal leaders about the various issues which could have its impact on the coming poll, party sources said. Mr Naidu directed the state unit leaders to project the various developmental activities carried out by the Dhumal government.

Modi ‘charisma’ won’t work in HP
Our Correspondent

Nurpur, December 24
The BJP’s plan to utilise the “charisma” of the Gujarat Chief Minister, Mr Narendera Modi, will have no impact on the Assembly elections scheduled to be held in February next year, Mr Sat Mahajan, chairman of the HP Congress poll manifesto committee, told mediapersons here last evening. He said Mr Modi’s presence will not be a factor as Himachal Pradesh was not a “communally sensitive state”. He said BJP’s such plan would harm its own performance in the elections as it would enhance the bitterness and intensify infighting between two factions of the party.

Referring to the rapprochement between the CLP leader and former Chief Minister, Mr Virbhadra Singh, and the PCC chief, Mrs Vidya stokes, Mr Mahajan claimed that this unity would lead to the rout of the ruling BJP in the elections.

He said Mr Virbhadra Singh and Mrs Stokes would address a public rally from a common dais at Raja Ka Talab, near Nurpur, on December 28.

The rally would be presided over by the AICC General Secretary and in charge of Himachal Congress affairs, Ms Mohsinha Kidwai, he added.

BJP’s Theog unit dissolved
Tribune News Service

Shimla, December 24
Mr Jaikrishan Sharma, state BJP chief, today dissolved the Theog constituency unit of the party. He disputed Mr Ram Swaroop, secretary of the party, to look into the complaints against the unit.

Mr Sharma also appointed Mr Subhash Thakur of Bilaspur president of the BJP Kisan Morcha. He was earlier the general secretary of the morcha. The post of president has been vacant ever since Mr Chander Sen took over as president of the Kulu district unit of the party.

Will snow oblige Xmas revellers?
Tribune News Service and Agencies

Shimla, December 24
The key hill resorts of Shimla, Manali, Dharamsala and Dalhousie are bustling with activity as winter revellers from neighbouring plains make a beeline in the hope to experience the thrill of a snowfall on Christmas.

With snow increasingly becoming scarce in recent years, it is not often that tourists are fortunate enough to enjoy a white Christmas. In fact, snow has been eluding revellers on Christmas for the past almost one decade. There was a time when hill resorts invariably experienced snow around Christmas and New Year. However, the wanton destruction of green cover and haphazard construction have brought about a sea change not only in the landscape but also in the weather.

Dark clouds, which have been hanging around in the sky for the past two days, have indeed raised the hope of a white Christmas. In fact, higher reaches of the state have been experiencing snow since last night. Sun has been playing hide and seek even as the hoteliers and others connected with tourist trades are praying to the weather god to oblige with a snowfall.

The influx of tourists has been on the lower side compared to previous years. A timely snowfall could make all the difference between a lean and a busy season. Normally winter revellers start arriving on the Christmas Eve and the rush continues on New Year when all hotels are full to the capacity.

As usual State Tourism Development Corporation and some big private hotels are organising “dance and dine” programmes with live music. The corporation has come out with special packages for its different hotels located in various hill stations across the state. However, most of the packages are for the New Year eve celebrations. Only Hotel Holiday Home and Ashiana restaurant on the Ridge here, will have live music from Christmas to New Year Eve.

The package for December 30 and 31 is the most expensive for the Holiday Home and for a couple the charges will range from Rs 8550 to Rs 11.550. It would include board, lodging and even drinks. For non-residents, the charges would for the "dance and dine" on December 31 will be Rs 5000 a couple. On contrast, at Peterhof the charges will be Rs 2000 a couple, which is quite affordable.

Similarly in Dhauladhar and Bhagsu Hotel in Dharamsala the charges range from Rs 2500 to Rs 3299 and in Manali from Rs 2200 to Rs 2975 per couple. In Chamba, which does not attract many winter revellers, charges are lowest at Rs 1150 to Rs 1574 a couple. Private hotels organise musical nites only on the New Year Eve.

Mr Umesh Akre, Vice-President of the Himachal Hotel Association, feels that there would be more tourists after December 28 as New Year would be preceded by weekend. The trend of advance bookings also indicates this.

He rued the government decision to remove all the roadside hoardings and said the tourists were finding it difficult to locate the hotels where they had bookings in absence of any signboards.

10 kisan union leaders booked
Our Correspondent

Mandi, December 24
The police has registered a case against 10 Kisan Union leaders, including its President under various sections of the IPC for obstructing government work and locking the main gate of the mini secretariat.

The Kisan Union had yesterday held a massive demonstration in front of the mini secretariat to protest against the alleged anti-farmer policies of the BJP government.

The union wanted to give a memorandum to the Deputy Commissioner. But when no one turned up to receive their memorandum the farmers flared up and locked the main gate of the secretariat.

The situation was later defused on the intervention of the Additional Deputy Commissioner.