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Thursday,
February 13, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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Venkaiah
Naidu sounds BJP poll bugle
Advani
warns Congress Cong
disputes BJP claim on growth DISTRICT ROUNDUP—UNA |
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DISTRICT ROUNDUP—SOLAN 3 killed in road
mishap
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Venkaiah Naidu sounds BJP poll bugle Solan, February 12 Accusing previous Congress governments of being unsuccessful in curbing the menace of terrorism, which had spread its tentacles in various states like Assam, Tamil Nadu, and Punjab, he said it was surprising that the Congress was still opposed to the idea of imposing POTA in terrorists-affected states. He questioned the wisdom of the Congress-supported PDP government in Jammu and Kashmir, which was freeing terrorists on the pretext of providing a healing touch. Launching an indirect attack on the AICC chief, Mrs Sonia Gandhi, he said the people should vote for Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee’s BJP as he was a ‘swadeshi’ and not a ‘videshi’. A state which had the same party in power as the Centre was always at an advantage to receive special support, he said, adding that the Prime Minister had special liking for Himachal Pradesh. He came down heavily on previous Congress governments and said the party was no longer a party of principles, but had been fragmented into regional parties, which had lost their identity. The Congress had come a long way from Mahatma Gandhi’s Congress and had now been reduced to a party deep in scams and scandals, he alleged. The BJP had kept its record clean and had provided all-round development in the country, he claimed. He gave details of road construction, healthcare facilities, telecommunication network expansion uplift of the poor and women through various state and Central Government schemes. SHIMLA:
The BJP here on Wednesday sought to expose the Congress decision on its candidate for the Chief Ministership of Himachal Pradesh saying the voters did not know whether they were voting for Mr Virbhadra Singh to become the Chief Minister or Mr Vidya Stokes, while the BJP had made Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal its choice. The "voter does not know, if he votes for the Congress, who will be the Chief Minister," BJP General Secretary Pramod Mahajan said while addressing a public meeting in favour of the party candidate from Shimla, Mr Ganesh Dutt. In a speech laced with satire and humour drawing analogies from the Mahabharata and cricket matches, Mr Mahajan said the people had to see difference in leadership of the two parties at national, state and constituency levels. Taking a dig at All India Congress Committee President Sonia Gandhi, he said despite having remained in politics for four years, Ms Gandhi was still a "reader" (referring to his reading speeches) and had not become a "leader." Senior BJP leader Sunil Shastri condemned the Congress for raising a bogey of development despite, what he called, having been deep into corruption and having ignoring development. HAMIRPUR: Union Health and Family Welfare
Minister Sushma Swaraj on Wednesday dubbed the Congress as a party of liars. Its leaders were spreading baseless rumours only to stage a comeback in Central and state-level politics, she told a gathering at Bijlen village of Hamirpur district. She also gave a call to women to side with the BJP in the coming elections. She said the party was for giving women 33 per cent reservation in democratic institutions but many other parties, including the Congress, were not interested. Launching the election campaign in favour of Mr Baldev Sharma from the Nadaunta Assembly constituency, Mrs Swaraj exhorted people not to be misled by the false propaganda of Congress workers and leaders. The Congress was playing a dirty game of character assassination and was bent upon polluting atmosphere in the state but the BJP would not allow the former to succeed in its nefarious designs and work for maintaining communal harmony. BILASPUR:
Union Rural Development Minister Shanta Kumar claimed on Wednesday that the BJP would come to power in the state with a comfortable majority. Addressing mediapersons here before addressing a BJP election rally at Kandraur, near here, he said the state would always remain indebted to Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, who considered Himachal Pradesh as his “own home” and had extended financial help and approved projects worth crores of rupees for the state, apart from meeting all demands put before him by Members of Parliament from Himachal Pradesh. He said Himachalis were known to elect the state government of the same party which was in power at the Centre. He claimed that the BJP was contesting the elections on the issue of development while the Congress was not prepared to talk on this issue and was fighting shy of discussing it during the elections. He expressed confidence that the people of Himachal Pradesh would not break the process of development in Himachal Pradesh. Mr Shanta Kumar asserted that no single party was capable of forming a government at the Centre and coalition governments would be the order of the day. He added that the BJP had accepted this political reality and that was why it had formed an alliance with other like-minded parties. He condemned the PSEB raids on the industries connected with Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal at Jalandhar and said these raids were proof of the desperation and acceptance of defeat by the Congress in Himachal Pradesh. He denied that there was division in the party. He asserted that the elections were being contested unitedly. He claimed that ‘Mitars’ had no capacity to harm the BJP. SUNDERNAGAR:
Mr Madan Lal Khurana, ex-Chief Minister of Delhi and Chairman of the standing committee of Parliament of Defence, addressing an impressive public gathering in the BBMB Colony here said that by including the issue of “one rank, one pension,” a central subject, in its manifesto, the Congress was trying to mislead ex-servicemen. The present Central Government had already accepted the long-standing demand of ex-servicemen regarding the medical facilities in the December, 2002, the decision would be implemented from March 1. He clarified the issue of “one rank, one pension” pertained to three ministries and would be decided soon. He urged the people to elect Mr Roop Singh for the sixth time. Mr Roop Singh Thakur, Forest Minister and other BJP leaders, also addressed the gathering. MANDI:
BJP leader Madan Lal Khurana warned Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh against stooping very low in politics, adding that such tactics could boomerang on him. Addressing a public meeting at Seri Pavilion here on Wednesday evening, Mr Khurana lamented that “wild and baseless” allegations were being levelled against Himachal Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal near the election merely to tarnish his image and to get political mileage. He ridiculed the Congress for making corruption as the main issue. “Probably the Congress has forgotten that two of its Prime Ministers, a few Chief Ministers and a couple of ministers were involved in corruption cases”. CHAMBA:
Ms Uma Bharti, a former Union Minister, on Wednesday Described Mrs Sonia Gandhi as a foreigner and said she did not deserve to be the Prime Minister of India. While addressing an election rally of the BJP at Chamba, Ms Bharti said the 21st century belonged to the BJP and there was no hope of the resurrection of the Congress. She said the BJP led by Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, Prime Minister, had brought the country on a par with the world powers. Accusing the Congress of fanning casteism and regionalism, and promoting a one-family rule in the country Ms Bharti appealed to the people to vote the BJP to power to enable it to ameliorate the situation. Ms Bharti lambasted Capt Amarinder Singh, Punjab Chief Minister, for indiscreet remarks and ill-founded allegations against the Himachal Chief Minister, Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal. She asked the people to vote the BJP to power in the name of development. She said Mr Vajpayee had great love Himachalis. Earlier, the BJP candidate for Chamba constituency, Mr Balkrishan Chauhan, spoke about his local poll issues. Mr Kishori Lal (Bhattiyat), Mr Mohan Lal (Rajnagar), and Mr Tulsi Ram (Bharmour) were also present on the occasion. |
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Advani warns Congress Kulu, February 12 Mr Advani, however, made it clear that the BJP would not remain silent if the opposition tried to attack the party on contentious issues. He was addressing a group of journalists at the airport here ahead of launching the BJP’s formal election campaign from here. "I am really surprised over the allegations being levelled against Mr Dhumal. These allegations are baseless and will prove to be counter-productive for the Congress in the coming poll", he said. "Those who have accused Mr Dhumal have themselves realised that they are wrong. They are now appreciating the good work done by the Chief Minister in the past five years", he said. Asserting that the BJP’s main poll plank would be security and good governance, Mr Advani said, "If the Opposition tries to attack us on Hindutva or any other issue, we will be forced to respond". Replying to a question whether the Hindutva card would be played in the Himachal poll too, Mr Advani maintained, "The BJP intends to focus on security and performance alone. But if opposition parties try to dub us communal, we will give them a befitting reply". Mr Advani hastened to add that Hindutva encompassed all religions and symbolised united living of people belonging to all religions. Asked to explain what the BJP meant by the phrase "to win the polls on Gujarat pattern", Mr Advani said it meant to contest the Himachal poll unitedly and win convincingly like in Gujarat. Replying to a question whether Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi would be the star campaigner of the BJP in Himachal Pradesh, Mr Advani said, "He will be one of the many star campaigners. The BJP is fortunate to have a galaxy of campaigners unlike the Congress and other opposition parties". He replied in the negative over the suggestion that whenever there were elections, the Sangh Parivar outfits like the VHP had the tendency of raising the Ayodhya temple issue. |
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Cong disputes BJP claim on growth Shimla, February 12 Addressing a press conference here today, he said it was “foolish” to make such a comparison, particularly when the people were quite aware that it was the Congress which created Himachal, granted it statehood and provided all support necessary for its development and economic growth. For instance the road length increased from a meagre 220 km to 19,500 km during Congress rule but the BJP was bragging about 3000 km of road constructed over the past five years. Similarly, area under agriculture swelled from 84,000 hectares to 9.50 lakh hectares but the BJP was making much of the 8,582 hectares added during its five-year rule. Further, only five villages had electricity when the state came into being but the Congress ensured 100 per cent electrification by providing the facility to 15,809 villages. The Congress leader maintained that the BJP claim of securing record financial assistance from the Centre was also misleading. If it was so the state’s debt liability would not have increased three-fold to Rs 15,000 crore over a short period of five years. Not only that unemployment had increased over the period at an alarming rate with the addition of almost 3.5 lakh more persons to the live registers. Referring to the ideological issues he said the BJP attempt to equate nationalism with “Hindutva” was fraught with danger and not in the interest of the country’s internal unity. He said the country’s security could be ensured only by strengthening its internal unity but the BJP was pursuing its communal agenda. |
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DISTRICT ROUNDUP—UNA UNA: Elections to five Assembly segments in this district have thrown up a mixed profile of candidates. The nominees of major political parties range from party presidents; first timers; sitting MLAs; a senior minister of the Dhumal Cabinet; even a journalist and a family member of a trustee of the famous temple of Mata Chintpurni. Not to miss the rebels who have been denied the ticket. Some of them are important and can wean away a major chunk of the votes, making it a neck-and-neck fight. The five segments – Una, Santokhgarh, Chintpurni, Kutlehar and Gagret ( SC) – have a combined list of 3.23 lakh voters with an equal sprinkling of Brahmins and Rajputs, pockets of backward classes, a small number of Sikhs, and a couple of thousand of Muslim Gujjars. Already the district is witnessing a hectic activity with senior leaders of both parties coming in for campaigning. In the last elections the Congress had got two seats and was edged out in the Kutlehar seat by a mere three votes with BJP’s Ram Dass Malangar defeating Mahender Pal, thus giving the BJP an edge in the overall tally in Una. This year also the race is a fight to the finish with both major parties – the BJP and the Congress – leaving no stone unturned. Una, once part of Hoshiarpur district of Punjab, joined Himachal Pradesh in 1966 and had been long ravaged by floods thanks to the uncontrollable Swan river. Today this is an important stopover for leaders heading for Kangra, Chamba or Hamirpur. One of the keenly fought seats will be Chintpurni. Here, Mr Praveen Sharma, Himachal Excise and Taxation Minister and right hand man of the Chief Minister, Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal, is pitted against Mr Rakesh Kalia of the Congress. The Congress has denied the ticket to its old war horse, Mr Hari Dutt. Both are going whole hog. Mr Kalia, is also using his lineage. His family members are the among the trustees of the Mata Chintpurni temple where offering run into several crores of rupees each year. Mr Sharma, who had won by 653 votes last time, is harping on development. The constituency has 59,314 voters and seven candidates. Bordering Punjab, is Santokhgarh. Here the Himachal BJP chief, and sitting MLA, Mr Jai Kishan Sharma, is pitted against the Congress candidate, Mr Mukesh Agnihotri, who is a journalist of a Hindi newspaper having resigned from his job to contest elections. Last time the Congress had fielded Mr Omkar Sharma, father of Mr Agnohitri, who lost by 2,311 votes. The working president of the Himachal Vikas Congress, Mr Vijay Joshi, is also in the fray. The last time he was fourth, behind the BJP, the Congress and the BSP candidates. Though the HVC may take away a few thousand votes, the contest is mainly between the Congress and the BJP. The constituency has 70,531 voters and nine candidates. In Kutlehar – remember the place become famous over the long publicised court battle over the rights for use of immense forest produce of the area – the contest has two new candidates from the BJP and the Congress. The BJP has surprisingly denied the ticket to Mr Ram Dass Malangar, Deputy Speaker of the Assembly, and the Congress did not ask Mr Mahender Pal, who lost by just three votes last time, to contest. The BJP has fielded Mr Virender Kanwar while the Congress has opted for Mrs Saroj Thakur. This constituency will clearly see a major four-pronged contest with Mr Malangar and Mr Mahender Pal having their own loyalists capable of making a dent in the fortunes of the BJP or the Congress. The constituency has 59,480 voters and six candidates. The largest constituency is Una with 77,877 votes but has only four contestants. The Congress has backed its sitting MLA, Mr Virender Gautam, while the BJP has denied the ticket to Mr Subhash Soharh, who lost elections last time, and infused young blood by opting for Mr Satpal Singh Satti, who is about 40 years of age. For the Congress a factor will be the entry of the last time HVC candidate, Mr O.P. Rattan, into the party. Mr Rattan was expelled from the Congress only to join the HVC and in the last elections he had polled 12,283 votes, a close behind the BJP’s tally of 12,427. His votes could go either way. He was also one of the contenders for the party ticket but the Congress retained Mr Gautam. Here it is clearly between the BJP and the Congress the deciding factor may be the caste lines as Mr Gautam is a Brahmin while Mr Satti is a Rajput. The reserved constituency, the Gagret, was held by the Congress last time, and the party has retained its winning candidate, Mr Kuldeep Kumar. The BJP has replaced the last time loser, Mr Satpal, with Mr Balbir Singh. The constituency is the smallest in Una with 55,881 voters and six candidates in the fray. Despite being a reserved segment, the fight in the past also has been between the Congress and the BJP with an inconsequential number of votes being cast in favour of the BSP candidate. |
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DISTRICT
ROUNDUP—SOLAN SOLAN: The BJP which had opened its account in Solan district in the 1998 Assembly elections is faced with rebels in both constituencies — Solan and Nalagarh — that it had won. While former Transport and Tourism Minister, M.N. Sofat who has made his presence felt in the region in the past over a year by organising ‘mitar milans’ has emerged as a potential threat for the BJP from the Solan seat. Mr Lakhwinder Rana who is also contesting as an Independent from Nalagarh after being denied the party ticket has also entered the fray with full preparations. The Congress which had captured the three remaining seats in the district has once again fielded all sitting MLAs — Mr Lajja Ram from Doon, Mr Raghu Ram from Kasauli and Mr Dharam Pal from Arki. Ms Krishna Mohini who has lost in the 2002 byelections has also been fielded by the Congress despite stiff opposition from party workers. The BJP on the other hand has introduced two new faces — Mr Govind Sharma from Arki and Mr Dhyan Singh from Doon — both of whom resigned their respective government jobs to enter the fray. Like the Congress, the BJP too has retained its two sitting MLAs — Dr Rajeev Bindal from Solan and Mr H.N. Saini Minister for Town and Country Planning in the dissolved Assembly, from Nalagarh. While old rivals, Mr Rajeev Bindal and Ms Krishna Mohini are pitted against each other in Solan a three-cornered contest is likely to be witnessed with M.N. Sofat emerging as another strong candidate. No candidate has won for the second time from Solan except Congress’ Keshav Ram who had won for two consecutive terms in 1962 and 1967. While Mr Bindal is harping on the development works carried out by the government Mr Sofat is attracting a sizable chunk of electorates by his ‘mitar milans’ comprising mostly rural masses. Ms Mohini who has just started moving out is yet to make her presence felt and is depending on the party cadre vote which too is yet to emerge from the resentment of her being granted the ticket. Others in the fray include HVC candidate Mohinder Sharma, a newcomer, Him Loktantrik Morcha’s Harminder Thakur and two Independents. In Kasauli, BJP’s Virender Kashyap has not lost hopes of winning despite his repeated unsuccessful attempts. He is gearing up to face Congress candidate Raghu Raj who has been the party’s MLA since 1982 and had lost only in 1990 following anti-Congress wave. Mr Kashyap has the rare record of losing twice in the Assembly elections, — once in 1982 when he contested as a Lok Dal candidate forfeiting his security by gaining only 10.02 per cent votes and also in 1993 by 5,794 votes. Mr Kashyap has also lost thrice in the Shimla Parliamentary seat elections to Congress candidate K.D. Sultanpuri. His closeness to the Chief Minister got him the ticket and he is banking on the development works executed by him as Chairman Marketing Board. Raghu Raj’s image, who has procured the ticket on the basis of him being a sitting MLA, has taken a drubbing due to his lackadaisical attitude towards development activities. He is banking on the traditional cadre vote in this reserved constituency. The BJP has failed to pierce this traditional Congress seat. It had won only once in 1990 when Mr Sat Pal Kamboj was the BJP candidate. Also in the fray is Ms Kiran Bala Gawehli from the Bahujan Samaj Party, Vinod Kumar from the HVC, Shakun Chauhan from the SP and Independents, including a former Congressman Jai Ram Tomar and an 86-year-old Bacchan Singh. Mr Dharam Pal, a Congress candidate from Arki, is now endeavouring for his third consecutive victory and faces a BJP newcomer Govind Sharma. The Congress has always faced the BJP as its major contender here and non-Rajputs have never won from Arki. Mr Dharam Pal had defeated BJP candidate N.C. Pal by 578 votes in 1998 and 5,727 votes in 1993. He had unsuccessfully contested in 1985 when he had forfeited his security by procuring a mere 0.31 per cent votes. Mr Gurdass Ram, a zila parishad member, contesting as an Independent, is being seen as another candidate with some hold on the masses. As many as nine Independents, highest in the district, are also contesting from Arki besides candidates from the HVC and the SP. Congress candidate Lajja Ram is trying to get re-elected for the fourth time from the Doon constituency. He faces a BJP newcomer Dhyan Singh who had joined the party on January 10 at Nalagarh during BJP’s ‘vishwas yatra’. The BJP has only been fielding a token candidate from here and has failed to open its account till now. Except on one occasion, the BJP candidate has always forfeited its security here. Ms Vinod Kumari Chandel, who had stood second in 1998 by securing 12,854 votes is being seen as a keen contestant. She is contesting on the Him Loktantrik Morcha ticket. Amarnath Kaushal, HVC district president, is also in the fray who had contested unsuccessfully in 1998 and 1982 when he had forfeited his security. Other contesters include a CPI candidate and an Independent. BJP’s H.N. Saini is endeavouring for a second term from Nalagarh. He faces Ms Sukrit of the Congress, wife of MLA for five terms Bijender Singh who had lost to Mr Saini in 1998 by 5,530 votes. The seat which was traditionally a Congress one was snatched by Mr Saini in 1998 who is now banking on development works carried out by him in the past five years, including sinking of tubewells laying of roads and setting up schools. Mr Saini who had contested unsuccessfully in 1993 on a BSP ticket was inducted into the BJP on the insistence of Mr Shanta Kumar. A three-cornered contest is likely here with a BJP rebel, Mr Lakhwinder Rana, also in the fray. Peeved at being denied the party ticket, he is now making all out efforts to make his presence felt in the region. Being the only candidate from the Changer region he is optimistic of making a sizable dent in the BJP and Rajput votes which comprises a major vote share. |
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Sonia rallies on Feb 18, 19
Parties rely on youths
Khurana ‘misleading’ ex-servicemen 6 BJP men to join HVC Cong opens media centre |
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Vets seek probe into recruitments Dharamsala, February 12 In a statement issued here today, press secretary of the association, Dr Anish Kumar, alleged that due to gross interference by political bosses, technical affairs related to cattle breeding in the state had passed into the hands of non-technical and ill-qualified persons and with a result the programme had suffered reverses. He said the state had 1,900 veterinary dispensaries but there were only 300 veterinary doctors to man them . He said due to unrealistic approach of the powers to be , though the number of veterinary institutions had risen fast, no recruitment of qualified doctors had taken place. The dispensaries were not only without doctors but also lack infrastructure and medicines, he added. Dr Anish Kumar said due to such unplanned opening of veterinary dispensaries, unqualified persons had been entrusted with such responsibilities which were beyond their comprehension. This was leading to a large scale infertility amongst the milch cattle and decline in breed improvement programmes. An alarming rise in the number of stray cattle was also a fallout of this haphazard planning, he alleged. |
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3 killed in
road mishap Bilaspur, February 12 The injured were rushed to a hospital here. The deceased have been identified as Bangaliran (60), Preetlal (23) and the driver, Ravinder Kumar (24). Dense fog is said to be the cause of the accident. |
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In video: The Congress intensifies campaign for the February 26
elections in Himachal Pradesh. (
