H I M A C H A L   P R A D E S H

BJP re-admits Nanda; Gupta quits
Hamirpur, January 19
Even as the BJP has started a drive to woo dissidents, a party worker resigned following ticket denial. The BJP has readmitted Mr Kamal Nanda, one of the prominent party dissidents, to its fold. His expulsion orders have been withdrawn.

Women voters outnumber men
Shimla, January 19
As many as 46,88,844 electors are eligible for casting votes in the H P Vidhan Sabha elections, according to the latest publication of electoral rolls as in January, 2003. Of these, 20,51,449 are males, 20,06,716 females and 30,679 service electors.

Water, power crises in Hamirpur
Hamirpur, January 19
The district is in the grip of severe water and power crises these days and the worst affected area is the Hamirpur town. The unscheduled power cut imposed by the HP state power board had made the situation worse. During the past four days, power cuts were observed in the town for more than five times everyday during working hours.

Youth posing as drug inspector held
Solan, January 19
A local youth, posing as a drug inspector, was nabbed today by the Dharampur police when he allegedly tried to extract money from Dharam Pal Sharma, who practises ayurvedic medicine, in the Narayani-Pratha panchayat, near Pinjore, on the Himachal-Haryana border.

Amarinder’s remarks flayed
Shimla, January 19
The state BJP here today condemned the statement of Mr Amarinder Singh, Chief Minister of Punjab, in which he accused Mr P.K. Dhumal, HP Chief Minister, of amassing wealth to the tune of Rs 25 crore.

Transfer engineer, poll officer urged
Shimla, January 19
Mr Rajpal Chauhan, the Himachal Vikas Congress candidate from the Jubbal-Kotkhai Assembly constituency, has accused Mr R.C. Verma, Executive Engineer of the PWD of meeting Mr Narender Bragta, Horticulture Minister, at his residence.

Govt ignoring Sirmaur: morcha
Paonta Sahib, January 19
The Him Loktantrik Morcha president, Mr Mahinder Singh, said the party manifesto would be different from that of other parties. Addressing a public rally at Kishanpur village, he promised a job to a member of a family.

• R-Day function

BJP re-admits Nanda; Gupta quits
Tribune Reporters

Hamirpur, January 19
Even as the BJP has started a drive to woo dissidents, a party worker resigned following ticket denial. The BJP has readmitted Mr Kamal Nanda, one of the prominent party dissidents, to its fold. His expulsion orders have been withdrawn.

This follows a meeting between Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal and Mr Nanda at Shahpur recently and another meeting between Mr Nanda and Mr Jai Krishan Sharma, state BJP chief at Dhaneta, the home town of the dissident leader.

Mr Nanda, who is also the Pradhan of the Dhaneta Gram Panchayat, told The Tribune on phone today that he would not stop mittar milan sammelans. He would wait till January 25 the deadline fixed by him during his meeting with the Chief Minister.

He said the Chief Minister had assured him that his demand for ticket to all party dissidents would be considered on priority.

He said since local MLA Babu Ram Mandyal had ignored the grassroot party workers, they had been forced to launch mittar sammelans.

CHAMBA: However, in Chamba, Mr Kewal Krishan Gupta has resigned from the post of district president of the BJP and primary membership of the party amidst a crowded press conference soon after Chief Minister Dhumal announced the name of Mr B.K. Chauhan at the party candidate from the Chamba Assembly constituency. Mr Gupta was the party candidate from Chamba in the last elections and had contested against Mr Harsh Mahajan, a Congress stalwart.

Addressing a press conference here on Saturday evening, Mr Gupta said the foremost issue during this election would be the contribution of the BJP candidate in Chamba.

He said fielding a new contestant from Chamba was an act of deception with the people who dedicated their career to the BJP.

Mr Gupta alleged that no disciplinary action had been initiated against the BJP legislators who had been named in the state Assembly for their involvement in corruption. Though Public Works Minister Mohinder Singh had been removed from the ministry, his touts had been embraced by the BJP, he alleged.

Mr Gupta stated that he had lost faith in the BJP, adding that the concept with which he had joined the party held no value.

Women voters outnumber men
Our Correspondent

Shimla, January 19
As many as 46,88,844 electors are eligible for casting votes in the H P Vidhan Sabha elections, according to the latest publication of electoral rolls as in January, 2003. Of these, 20,51,449 are males, 20,06,716 females and 30,679 service electors.

The Lahaul-Spiti Assembly constituency has the smallest number of 21,255 electors in the state. Due to the snow factor, polling will be held there in June. Hamirpur district is female dominated with 1,59,719 females electors as against 1,45,093 male electors. All five Assembly constituencies have more female electors. Another district, which has more female electors is Mandi, which has 3,09,780 female electors as against 3,06,431 male electors. It has three female-dominated Assembly constituencies of Gopalpur, Dharampur and Jogindernagar. Female electors also dominate Gagret in Una district and Guler Jaswan, Pragpur, Jawalamukhi, Thural, Rajgir, Baijnath, Palampur, Sulah, Nagrota and Shahpur in Kangra district.

Water, power crises in Hamirpur
Our Correspondent

Hamirpur, January 19
The district is in the grip of severe water and power crises these days and the worst affected area is the Hamirpur town.

The unscheduled power cut imposed by the HP state power board had made the situation worse. During the past four days, power cuts were observed in the town for more than five times everyday during working hours.

The power cuts have also paralysed activities at the Zonal Hospital here. Due to frequent power cuts, no operation can be performed at the hospital causing great inconvenience to the doctors as well as the patients. Mediapersons, too, have been crippled due to power cuts.

A spokesperson of the state power board, on being contacted, said the power cuts were being imposed due to the non-availability of adequate power from the main grid. The power cuts have badly affected the supply of water in the town as well as in other parts of the district. Most parts of the town went without water today and yesterday as the electricity supply was cut off during night hours when water-lifting was done.

Mr R.N. Sharma, Superintending Engineer of the I&PH, said he was aware of the problems being faced by the people due to power cuts and non-availability of water. He said efforts were being made to provide water on a rotation basis in various localities of the town. He said the major reason for water shortage was the non-arrival of the rains, besides power failure.

Local residents have urged the Chief Minister, Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal, to extend them helping hand and provide them with power and water.

Youth posing as drug inspector held
Our Correspondent

Solan, January 19
A local youth, posing as a drug inspector, was nabbed today by the Dharampur police when he allegedly tried to extract money from Dharam Pal Sharma, who practises ayurvedic medicine, in the Narayani-Pratha panchayat, near Pinjore, on the Himachal-Haryana border.

Dharam Pal said he sensed foul play when the suspect, who identified himself as field drug inspector Ashish Mehra, had on the previous night directed him to meet the suspect at Modern Dhaba, Dharampur. The suspect also asked him to bring documents supporting his qualifications as an ayurvedic practitioner for verification.

Dharam Pal, however, called a local chemist, Mr Nayyer, for verifying the antecedents of Ashish Mehra. When the chemist failed to recognised the “drug inspector”, a call was made to the Drug Controller, Himachal Pradesh, Mr Sher Singh, who directed them to restrain the imposter till his arrival from Shimla.

Mr Sher Singh, who also failed to recognised the “drug inspector,” said the imposter appeared confident and argued that he had been serving in the area for the past three months. They, however, took the imposter to the local police station where he admitted that he was Iqbal Mehta, a Solan resident, and had tried to intimidate Dharam Pal under the influence of a JBT teacher, Murali Manohar Gupta, posted in the Narayani-Pratha panchayat, where Dharam Pal is the vice-president. The imposter said he posed as the drug inspector at the instance of Murali, who wanted to settle scores with Dharam Pal.

A case has been registered.

Amarinder’s remarks flayed
Our Correspondent

Shimla, January 19
The state BJP here today condemned the statement of Mr Amarinder Singh, Chief Minister of Punjab, in which he accused Mr P.K. Dhumal, HP Chief Minister, of amassing wealth to the tune of Rs 25 crore.

Mr Ganesh Dutt, party spokesman, termed the allegations as a conspiracy hatched by the Congress and asked Mr Amarinder Singh to apologise or furnish facts.

He said the Punjab Chief Minister had a “feudal mindset” and was crossing the level of decency in his campaign.

Transfer engineer, poll officer urged
Our Correspondent

Shimla, January 19
Mr Rajpal Chauhan, the Himachal Vikas Congress (HVC) candidate from the Jubbal-Kotkhai Assembly constituency, has accused Mr R.C. Verma, Executive Engineer of the PWD of meeting Mr Narender Bragta, Horticulture Minister, at his residence.

The HVC candidate said the Executive Engineer was conducting surveys of roads with the intention of garnering votes for the Horticulture Minister. The HVC leader added that the Executive Engineer did not mention the name of the local MP, Mr Dhani Ram Shandil, of the HVC, on the inauguration stone as the Keeth and Shulidhar road had been constructed under the MP development fund.

Mr Chauhan urged the State Electoral Officer to immediately transfer him from Jubbal block, as he was allegedly helping the minister.

Govt ignoring Sirmaur: morcha
Our Correspondent

Paonta Sahib, January 19
The Him Loktantrik Morcha president, Mr Mahinder Singh, said the party manifesto would be different from that of other parties.

Addressing a public rally at Kishanpur village, he promised a job to a member of a family. He attacked the Dhumal government for ignoring Sirmour district in development. He said people of the state wanted a change in the government and the Gujarat elections would not have any impact on the state.

He said there was no infighting in the party. He said a mahila convention would be held at Dharampur on January 24.

Mr Mahinder Singh said their party would win at least eight seats in Mandi, two in Solan and one in Sirmour district.

R-Day function
Tribune News Service

Shimla, January 19
Dr Suraj Bhan, the Governor, will preside over the state-level Republic Day function on January 26 at the Ridge Maidan, here. Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal, the Chief Minister, will unfurl the Tricolor at a district-level Republic Day function at Dharamsala.