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Tuesday,
February 18, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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Gujarat incident raked up to tarnish Cong image:
Dhawan Make relationship public, Capt
dared BJP’s doublespeak exposed:
Cong ISSUES AND TRENDS — MONEY & POWER PLAY ISSUES & TRENDS —
DEVELOPMENT |
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BJP MANIFESTO ON CAMPAIGN TRAIL 23 Cong rebels
expelled
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Gujarat incident raked up to tarnish Cong image:
Dhawan Shimla, February 17 Addressing a press conference here, he said the alleged incident, which took place in December, was being raised after a gap of three months to tarnish the image of the Congress and its leaders. The ministers concerned had time and again denied any such incident and now they would initiate legal proceedings in the matter. The fact was that the BJP was desperately trying to divert the attention of the people from the corruption charges, which had put Chief Minister, P.K.Dhumal in the dock. The development plank of the party had fallen flat and it had no answer for its failure to fulfil the election promises. Having seen the writing on the wall, it was making last-ditch efforts to salvage the situation. The Congress leader asserted it was the BJP which was indulging in character assassination and not the Congress. He said raising the issue of corruption and misdeeds of the ruling party in the election could not be and should not be termed as character assassination, moreso because the allegations not only figured in the charge sheet submitted by the Congress more than two years ago but even some BJP ministers had raised an accusing finger against their own Chief Minister. Not only that the wife of the lone minister from HP in the Vajpayee Cabinet had also levelled serious allegations against the Chief Minister and now if the Congress was raising all these charges during electioneering these could not be termed as character assassination. Mr Dhawan said the action of the BJP was not unexpected as the party had been put on the defensive on the issue of corruption and its top leadership right up to the level of the Deputy Prime Minister, Mr L.K.Advani, had been forced to come out in Mr Dhumal’s defence. Most surprising was the fact that Mr Advani, who happened to be the Union Home Minister, and other leaders had given a clean chit to Mr Dhumal without even conducting an inquiry into the allegations. He came down heavily on the BJP for virtually holding out a threat to the people that the Centre would not give funds if the party was voted out of power. It was ridiculous and only underlined the fact that the NDA government discriminated against states on political considerations. It was the duty of the Centre to provide requisite funds to the state, Mr Dhawan said. He took exception to the remarks of BJP General Secretary, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi that Himachal would not be allowed to become a laboratory of secularism. What the BJP was up to?, he asked, The outcome of the poll would be a referendum on the non-performance and corruption of the BJP -led Government in the state and also on the policies of the Centre. |
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Make relationship public, Capt
dared Shimla, February 17 "The Punjab Chief Minister should clarify his relationship with the woman pilot and should resign for indulging in corruption and having relations with terrorists," senior BJP leader Madan Lal Khurana said here today. Mr Khurana released a confidential letter dated June 4, 1992, of Major Harvinder Singh Sekhon, father of the pilot, to the then Chief Minister, Beant Singh, accusing Capt Amarinder Singh of kidnapping his daughter. The BJP leader dared Capt Amarinder Singh to file the declared defamation suit for Rs 100 crore to give the BJP leader an opportunity to bring out more documents on the personal conduct of the Punjab Chief Minister. He also quoted the August 25, 1995, issue of the Frontline magazine, saying that Punjab minister Partap Singh Bajwa, who had been accused of being involved in the Gujarat scandal, had alleged relations with Devinder Pal Singh Bhullar, who had been sentenced to death in the bomb blast carried out against the then All-India Youth Congress President M. S. Bitta. Mr Khurana also alleged that Mr Bajwa's brother had been interrogated in connection with the bomb blast on Mr Bitta. |
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BJP’s doublespeak exposed:
Cong Dharamsala, February 17 Talking to mediapersons here, Mr Anand Sharma said this exposed the doublespeak of Mr P. K. Dhumal and other BJP leaders, who had always tried to take the high moral ground, misleading the people. Ridiculing the BJP promise of Rs 50,000-crore investment in the industrial sector for the development of Himachal Pradesh in the coming years, Mr Sharma questioned how could a Chief Minister create confidence amongst the industrial houses to invest in Himachal Pradesh when he himself had been investing his money in other states. He said 40,000 industrial units had been closed in the state during the last four years due to the wrong policies of the government and unemployment has crossed the one million mark. He said youths were disenchanted and the state was sitting on a time-bomb and there were ominous signs of unrest amongst the unemployed youths, who had been taken for a ride by the Dhumal government. The AICC spokesman said corruption was the major issue in the coming elections and BJP leaders who had looted the state would have to explain their conduct to the people. He said Union Rural Development Minister Shanta Kumar and many ministers in the Dhumal government and BJP MLAs had levelled charges of corruption against the government. He asked Mr Shanta Kumar and other ministers to clarify the reason for their change of heart and the reasons for giving a clean chit to Mr Dhumal. He said the Punjab state Electricity Board had clarified that no raids were conducted on the business premises of Mr Dhumal, but routine checking of various industrial and residential units was conducted, in which certain properties of Mr Dhumal were included without prejudice. He quipped that earlier Mr Dhumal had denied owning these properties, but was now trying to claim vindictive action against him. Mr Sharma said the issues of corruption and misgovernance raised by the Congress had been accepted by the people, which had rattled BJP leaders, who had started a malicious campaign to divert attention. He said it was a matter of shame that three Directors of Health Services had been put behind bars for corruption while the Health Minister who had handpicked these officers was roaming free. Blaming the BJP leaders for lacking vision, Mr Sharma said the Congress manifesto had tried to show the party's concern for the prevailing situation in Himachal Pradesh and had suggested ways to control unemployment and how to accelerate development by hydel-power generation and tourism.
Referring to the recent surveys which gave an edge to the BJP, Mr Sharma said the surveys were stage-managed and the truth would be before the people on March 1. |
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ISSUES AND TRENDS — MONEY & POWER PLAY Hamirpur The Congress has made a series of complaints and representations to the State Election Commission alleging misuse of official machinery and power by candidates of the ruling party in general and a few senior leaders of the BJP in particular. These complaints pertain not only to the posting of "close relatives" of the members of the Council of Ministers in their home districts beyond the established norms but also vesting in them powers of deputing staff to oversee the conduct of elections. "We have complained to the Election Committee that certain government employees, who are known to be pro-BJP, have been posted as Presiding Officers in various sensitive polling stations," complains Ms Anita Verma, a candidate from the Hamirpur constituency seat, alleging that a "close relative of the Chief Minister has been made in charge for deputing Presiding Officers and other election staff". The BJP has strongly denied such allegations maintaining that the Congress was in "habit" of making "false and provocative statements". There have been allegations and counter allegations about the use of power play. Some of these allegations are "routine and common during any election" and generally pertain to tearing of posters, removal of banners and hoardings or defacing of walls. Such complaints are frequent. The officials maintain that certain complaints are lodged on the basis of hearsay and on investigation are found to be "non-existent". For example, one complaint was lodged that one of the BJP candidates had forcibly got overnight an "inauguration stone" installed in a school but on verification, it was found that no such thing had taken place. "It is all peaceful here," says Mr Chamel Singh, Returning Officer of Bilaspur," holding that he has held meetings with all candidates and urged them to use restraint and avoid making use of polythene in their election material. "In certain pockets, voters are getting supplies of free liquor but it is very limited," remarked a senior official. Both the Congress and the BJP are not taking any chances. Leaders and workers of the two parties from neighbouring states are also here. These are the people who often take more liberties and often indulge in both "money and power play" but only in vulnerable areas. |
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ISSUES & TRENDS — DEVELOPMENT Shimla It is hardly surprising that the entire campaign during the current Assembly poll in the state is revolving around these two issues. The BJP has hyped the development plank to the extent of comparing the achievements of the Dhumal government in the past five years with the performance of the Congress over 45 years. The Congress has responded with equal force, dubbing the BJP-HVC coalition as the most corrupt regime in the history of the state. The BJP’s ‘mascot’ of development and progress, Mr
P.K. Dhumal, the Chief Minister, is being projected as the ‘symbol’ of corruption by the Congress. In the no-holds-barred battle, the leaders of the two parties have not even hesitated in punching the opponent below the belt. Political rhetoric apart, the BJP may take credit for providing a new thrust to infrastructure development, particularly the construction of roads and hydel-power projects. The upgradation of four state roads into national highways and the launching of the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojna will go a long way in improving and expanding the road network. The government claims to have laid 3,038 km of new roads over the past five years, though the Congress disputes the figure and maintains that many incomplete roads have been included. Similarly, the Dhumal government has started work on hydel-power projects with aggregate generation capacity of 8,000 MW, which, if completed by 2008 as planned, will bring an additional revenue of about Rs 1000 crore to the fund-starved state annually. The Congress, however, is critical of the government’s decision not to have any equity participation in even prestigious projects like the 2051 MW Parbati project and the 800 MW Kol Dam project. It has also alleged corruption and irregularities in the allotment of projects to private parties and termed the memorandums of understanding signed with private parties for execution of these projects as a sellout of the state’s vital economic interests. It has even declared its intention to review all
MoUs. The starting of work on the Rohtang tunnel, Swan channelisation, Shah
Nehar, construction of over 13,000 classrooms in primary schools and setting up of a university of information and technology, four dental colleges, six B.Ed colleges and an engineering college in the private sector are some of the other achievements. The BJP leaders claim that though every government reels out statistics, it is for the first time that development is visible on the ground. They maintain that if the people do not vote for the BJP this time, no party in the future will be concerned about development. The past experience, however, indicates that development as an election issue hardly appeals to the electorate, except in some remote backward areas. The highly awakened people of the state consider development as their right and not a special favour bestowed on them by the government. They may vote in protest against the lack of development, but they are not swayed by the achievements on the development front. The weapon of corruption has been effectively used to undermine the development plank in the past elections. Interestingly, it was the BJP which exploited the issue of corruption to its advantage in the 1998 Assembly poll. Nevertheless, the party is hoping that the development will enable it to reach the winning post. |
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BJP MANIFESTO Shimla, February 17 Having completed five years in the office for the first time, the party seems to have realised that fulfilling promises in a time-bound manner over a span of five years is a tall order. It has come out with a “futuristic” manifesto broadly outlining a long-term plan to make the state economically
self-reliant. In fact, the party has itself proclaimed that the document was not only an election manifesto but also a blueprint for the development of the state in the 21st century. It was an attempt to transform the Vision-2010, the party’s policy document for the multifaceted growth of the hill state, into a reality. The party has high hopes and expectations from the private sector for investment, which raises doubts over its implementation. The ambitious projects like development of two economic zones, Rohru-Parwanoo and Una-Manali, and construction of tunnels to link Jubbal with Kotkhai and Bilaspur with Una will take decades for implementation. The entire project, which also envisages construction of express highways, will require an investment of over Rs 30,000 crore over the next five years. The party has, however, not indicated how the funds would be arranged for the project. The government, which has been resorting to market borrowings to meet its the day-to-day expenditure, was in no position to invest. Obviously, the party was banking on the private sector to give realise its dream for a self-reliant and prosperous Himachal. It would be too much to expect from the private sector, as this kind of investment had not been made in even industrially developed states. In the previous elections, the party promised to create one lakh jobs and give employment to at least one person from families which did not have any member in the government job. This time it has resolved to wipe out unemployment by providing jobs to the over 13 lakh jobless persons registered with the employment exchanges. It anticipates that the recent package of incentives granted by the Centre will lead to an investment of over Rs 20,000 crore in the industrial sector to generate three lakh jobs and creation of another five lakh jobs in the hydel power projects on which Rs 35,000 will be invested. It has also promised to enact a law to make it mandatory for the industries to give employment to local people. A similar legislation was passed by the previous Congress government but it never got the president’s assent as it was discriminatory. The party has also promised to set up a separate department of employment under the direct charge of the Chief Minister to ensure effective implementation of its employment generation programmes. The party has tried to make amends for its failure to keep the promise that its legislators will make public not only their own assets but also of their relatives within three months of their election by promising to enact a law to make it mandatory for all the members of the Vidhan Sabha to declare their assets. The promise to make a transfer policy for government employees has been again found place in the manifesto like the last elections. The fact is that a policy already exists and only political will to implement it has been lacking. An effort has been made to woo women electorate by increasing the maternity leave to six months and launching a “Ridhi Sidhi” scheme under which easy loans will be provided for self-employment. The “Hindutva” agenda has also found place in the manifesto, which promises to enact a law to ban religious conversions in the state, besides setting up “gau sadans” for protection of cow and an autonomous trust for management of temples in the state. |
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ON CAMPAIGN TRAIL Dharamsala After her stint as a Rajya Sabha Member, she is trying to stage a comeback in state politics. She sets out to campaign every morning from her modest palace in the town by 9 a.m. Pitted against her is a three-time BJP legislator, Mr Kishan Kapoor. Accompanied by party workers, she leaves for Masred village to attend a meeting. During her entire campaign, she insists on holding corner meetings rather than big rallies as she feels door-to-door campaign works better. Attired in a plain cotton suit and her head covered, people still hold her in awe as they are aware that she is the “bahu” of the erstwhile Katoch rulers of Kangra. As she addresses a corner meeting where she is welcomed with ‘dhol’ and ‘nagaras’, she chooses to touch issues like steep increase in the price of cooking gas, kerosene and other commodities, which concern women. “Being the All-India Mahila Congress President, I had to devote a lot of time in Delhi and now when I have made up my mind to serve the people of my area it is for you to decide on giving me a chance,” she makes an earnest request to the people, a majority of whom are women. As she leaves, she hugs an old woman and stops at the house of a village barber making an appeal to vote for her. As the meeting is over, she rushes back to Dharamsala to participate in last rites of a party worker. In order to save time she skips lunch to be back in the same panchayat in Mandal. She reaches the next venue where she is accorded a rousing welcome by Mr Ranjit Chaudhary, who had contested against her in the 1993 poll. “It is only when I came in close contact with her that I discovered that she was far from an inaccessible Maharani, that she is made out to be by her opponents, within and outside her party,” he explains. Accompanying her is a senior party colleague, Mr Chander Kumar, who being on OBC himself tries to impress upon the people that they must not be misled by the BJP propaganda. “Yes there was a time when it was impossible for the common man to even get a glimpse of Maharanis and royal members but here is a lady who despite having an illustrious background is very simple and down to earth,” he says. Hailing from the Jodhpur royal family she was married in Kangra, after which she started her political career by winning the Assembly election from Bamsan in 1972. After again winning in 1982, she contested the Lok Sabha election in 1984. After losing from Dharamsala in 1993, she was nominated to the Rajya Sabha. Her tenure completed just a few months ago. After, another meeting in an adjoining village, she returns home only by 9 p.m. Then start unending meetings to chalk out the strategy for the next day. |
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23 Cong rebels
expelled Shimla, February 17 Those expelled include Mr Arun Bhandri(Chopal), Mr Sohan Lal(Kusumpati), Mr Gurdasu Ram(Arki), Mr Karnesh Jung(Paonta ), Mr Dharmender Thakur (Kot Kehloor), Dr Biru Ram (Gherwin), Mr Prabhat Chaudhary(Nadaun), Mr Manjit Dogra(Nadaunta), Mr Rajinder (Chintpurani), Mr Jagroop Singh (Santokhgarh), Mr Mohinder Pal (Kutlehar), Mr Ranjit Bakshi (Nurpur), Mr Ashok Chimba (Gangath), Mr Sanjay Rattan (Jwalamukhi), Mr Pritam Chand and Mr Raj Kumar (both Rajgir), Mr Ram Swaroop (Dharamsala), Mr Daulat Chaudhary (Kangra), MrKuldeep Pathania (Bhatiyatt), Mr N.K. Chauhan (Rajnagar), Mr Dharmvir and Mr Charan Das (both Kulu) and Mr M.R. Chaudhary (Balh). |
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Dhumal in the dock: Kidwai PALAMPUR: AICC General Secretary Mohsina Kidwai said here on Monday that the issue of corruption had emerged as the main poll issue in the state, which had put the BJP on the defensive. Addressing a news conference here, Ms Kidwai said allegations of corruption levelled against Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal by Congress leaders had virtually put him in the dock and Mr Dhumal had failed give satisfactory explanations. OC Poster war picks up Rajnath alleges mudslinging State ‘on brink of bankruptcy’ |
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