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Suresh Chandel files papers for Hamirpur seat Mr Suresh Chandel, BJP nominee for the Hamirpur Lok Sabha seat, files his nomination papers on Thursday. He is flanked by former Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal (left). Shanta opposed creation of state, says CM Cong govt will fall on its own: Shanta |
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BJP candidate Kashyap files papers Development one of the issues, says BJP BJP’s Mahila Morcha defends Modi’s remarks Cong ridicules BJP’s charges HVC leaders defend merger with Congress Himachal Vikas Congress leaders of Bilaspur district have supported the merger of the HVC into the Congress party extended support to Congress candidate Ramlal Thakur from Hamirpur parliamentary Constituency. Disgruntled HVC group gets
EC nod on symbol Security beefed up in border areas CEC to visit Himachal HC orders fresh interviews for posts of Asst Engineer Youth
with stolen traveller’s cheques held Charas, brown sugar seized, three arrested 6 injured in fire
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Suresh Chandel files papers for Hamirpur seat Hamirpur, April 22 He said this while addressing an election rally here today after Mr Chandel filed his nomination papers. Prof Dhumal, former ministers, ID Dhiman, Ramesh Dhwala and Jagat Prakash Nadda accompanied Mr Chandel when he went to the office of the Deputy Commissioner to file his papers. Prof Dhumal, Mr Dhiman, Mr Dhwala and Mr Sat Pal Singh Satti, all MLAs filed four sets of papers in the name of Mr Chandel. Deputy Commissioner Devesh Kumar administered the oath of election to Mr Chandel. Earlier, the BJP leaders were brought in a procession to the district courts by party workers. At the rally, Prof Dhumal urged the people to be united to face the “nefarious” designs of the Congress and its leaders. He cautioned the people that if they voted for the Congress, they would be digging their own graves. Prof Dhumal claimed that a pro-BJP wave was discernible all over India and it had been recently proved by the exit polls released after the first phase of polling. Mr Chandel, addressing the rally, assured the people that he would spare no effort to accelerate the pace of development in the state in the fields of rail and telecom services. He gave details of the projects undertaken and completed during his tenure as MP. Meanwhile, Mr Mohar Singh Mastana, BSP nominee also filed his papers for the Hamirpur Lok Sabha seat. With this, the total number of persons contesting the seat has gone up to nine. |
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Shanta opposed creation of state, says CM The Congress today gave a united show as various party leaders, including Mr Virbhadra Singh, HPCC chief Vidya Stokes and former HVC supremo Sukh Ram, addressed a gathering after the filing of nomination papers by the party nominee, Mr Chander Kumar. "How can a person who as a Jan Sangh leader opposed the creation of Himachal Pradesh and merger of hill parts of Punjab into the state at the time of its reorganisation in 1966 protect the interests of its people," he quipped. Mr Virbhadra Singh said BJP leaders like Mr Shanta Kumar and Mr P.K. Dhumal were trying to misguide the people that after the formation of the NDA government at the centre, the Congress government in Himachal would be dismissed. "India has a Constitution according to which a government having two-thirds majority cannot be dismissed," he said. Taking the BJP leader to task on reservation for OBCs, Mr Virbhadra Singh said during his tenure as Chief Minister, Mr Shanta Kumar had gone to the Supreme Court against the recommendations of the Mandal Commission. "It is the Congress which protected the interests of the backward classes and constituted the Backward Classes Commission, on whose recommendation the community was initially given 10 per cent reservation, which has now been raised to 18 per cent," he said. The HPCC chief, Mrs Vidya Stokes, also lashed out at the BJP for misguiding the people with its propaganda against the Congress. Mr Sukh Ram, expressing happiness over his homecoming, also addressed the gathering. Earlier, Mr Chander Kumar filed his nomination before the Returning Officer. He filed four sets of nomination papers. |
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Cong govt will fall on its own: Shanta Kangra, April 22 Mr Shanta Kumar was speaking at a meet the press programme organised by Trigarth Press Club here today. In reply to a question, Mr Shanta Kumar said the Congress was shattered due to serious divisions within the party and hostile attitude of the party high command towards Mr Virbhadra Singh was enough to see the Virbhadra government out of power in the state soon after the poll and there was no need for the NDA government to sack it. He said Mr Virbhadra Singh was humiliated by the Congress high command over the issue of Ms Pratibha’s nomination for the Mandi seat when the high command adopted a delay tactics in announcing her name. Explaining the sources of his assets, he declared yesterday while filing his nomination papers, Mr Shanta Kumar said he and his wife had authored 23 books on Hindi literature and Indian cultural heritage and had earned lakhs of rupees as royalty of these books. |
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BJP candidate Kashyap files papers Shimla, April 22 BJP workers assembled at the Indira Gandhi Sports complex and came in procession to the Deputy Commissioner’s office. Mr Suresh Bhardwaj, state BJP chief, Dr Radha Raman
Shastri, Mr Narinder Bragta and other senior party leaders were also present. They later, held a rally near the central telegraph office. Mr Kashyap is a former administrative officer. The two non-Congress candidates who had won the seat were retired officers. Mr Balak Ram, first non-Congress candidate to win the seat in 1977, was father-in-law of Mr Kashyap. Dr Dhani Ram
Shandil, a former Army officer who joined the Congress last month, won in 1999 as
BJP-HVC combine candidate. He said the seat had been held by the Congress all through, except two terms of seven years since 1952, yet it was the most backward region of the state. The Congress had three Chief Ministers, including present incumbent Virbhadra Singh, but they did nothing for the people. The BJP would pay special attention to the development of interior areas of Sirmour and Shimla district which had been neglected. Mr Kashyap said he would bring funds from the Centre for civic amenities in towns like Shimla, Solan and Nahan. He would also get special schemes formulated for the uplift of the Trans Giri belt, the most remote and backward area of the state. Mr Som Nath also filed nominations from Shimla as a BSP candidate. Mr Kashyap declared assets of Rs 36.50 lakh which included jewellery, land, house, bank deposits and bonds. BSP candidate Som Nath’s assets were valued at over Rs 65.20 lakh, which included two trucks, bank deposits and farm land. |
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Development one of the issues, says BJP Mandi, April 22 He said for the first time a big project under the Pradhan Mantri Gramin Sadak Yojna to link villages with metalled roads had started in the state. A total of Rs 213 crore had been spent on link roads. He said the Chief Minister was spreading canards that the Centre was discriminating against the Congress government in Himachal Pradesh by not providing adequate funds. The fact was that the fund-starved state was surviving only on the central grants and assistance. When the Prime Minister came to Manali, Mr Virbhadra Singh made an appeal for financial assistance. State BJP leaders also pleaded with Mr Vajpayee that the people of the state should not suffer merely because the Congress had come to power. The Prime Minister gave a special package of Rs 353 crore to Himachal. The Assembly had also adopted a unanimous resolution expressing gratitude to the Prime Minister. He said the Central Government gave an assistance of Rs 532 crore under the Sara Shiksha Abhiyan to Himachal Pradesh in which hundreds of new schools were constructed. But the irony was that the Chief Minister and his colleagues, while laying the foundation stones or inaugurating the institutions, exploited the occasions for delivering political speeches and corrupting the minds of children. The Centre also provided Rs 131 crore for Mandi district. He also alleged that crores of rupees coming from the Centre were being squandered by the state government and the people were totally disillusioned with the Virbhadra Singh government. Describing the ensuing election as historic he pleaded that the vote should be cast with utmost consideration. Mr Balnahta, BJP leader, described the coming elections as crucial and asked people to decide before casting vote whether they wanted Mr Vajpayee or Ms Sonia Gandhi to lead the country. He said it was amusing that the arch rivals — Mr Virbhadra Singh and Mr Sukh Ram — had come closer because one was suffering from “Patni Moh” and the other was from “Putra Moh”. Mr Sukh Ram had pledged to root out feudal ruler and Mr Virbhadra had taken a vow not to make any compromise with corruption. Both had failed to keep their words. The Congress had expelled Mr Sukh Ram when he was arrested in a corruption case and readmitted him after the charges had been framed against him. |
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BJP’s Mahila Morcha defends Modi’s remarks Kangra, April 22 She was replying to the questions of mediapersons here today. She said Mr Narendra Modi did not use the derogatory remarks against the Congress President. Whatever he had said was with a different perspective. She said for becoming the Prime Minister of India it was necessary to know the Indian culture. She said Ms Sonia Gandhi, a woman of foreign origin, was lacking this qualification. So she was not acceptable to them. Ms Sethi said the Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Ms Mehbooba Mufti planned to get a law passed in the state which was against the women of Jammu and Kashmir. She said the BJP Mahila Morcha had condemned this move and sought appointment with the President of India, Mr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. She said a delegation of the morcha would call on the President after May 10. Earlier addressing its members in the local Tondon Club ground today, she said the NDA government had proved that it was pro-women and was taking care of the women. She said the law against female foeticide,
enhancement of the women pension from Rs 100 to Rs 300 and wages of the Anganwari women workers from Rs 150 to 500, besides the implementation of the Rape and Evidence Act were some of the achievements of the Vajpayee government. She said in Himachal Pradesh, a team of 10 women for each polling booth had been constituted for door to door campaigning. |
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Cong ridicules BJP’s charges Dharamsala, April 22 Mr Dewan said that poor attendance during filing of nomination by former Union Minister Shanta Kumar on Tuesday had rattled BJP leaders, including president Suresh Bhardwaj. Mr Dewan said that absence of former chief minister P.K. Dhumal during the filing of nomination Mr Shanta Kumar proved that the BJP was a house divided. The Congress spokesman demanded independent audit of funds of Vivekanand Medical research Trust headed by Mr Shanta Kumar as there were
allegations of irregularities by a former managing trustee of the trust. He said there were doubts in the minds of donors and residents of Kangra that the money had not been used
properly. |
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HVC leaders defend merger with Congress Bilaspur, April 22 Addressing media-persons here yesterday four HVC leaders Mr Shivram Sharma, Mr Gianchand Rattan (Ghumarwin), former MLA and Party Kisan Mazdoor Wing State President Krishankumar Kaushal and district Youth Wing President Baldev Thakur said the merger was “a political necessity” and it would strengthen the Congress to make it an instrument of change in the Central government and checking forces of regionalism, communalism and privatisation. |
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Disgruntled HVC group gets EC nod on symbol Shimla, April 22 Mr Des Raj, working president of the faction, who returned from Delhi after presenting his case before the commission, said a final decision would be taken on the matter after hearing Mr Sukh Ram, who was instrumental for the merger of the party despite a stiff opposition from workers. He said the commission had contacted Mr Sukh Ram on telephone yesterday and asked him to file his reply by the evening. |
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Security beefed up in border areas Chamba, April 22 The Additional Superintendent of Police, Chamba, Mr N.D. Sharma, said here today that out of 54 hypersensitive polling stations identified in Chamba district, 42 were adjacent to the militancy-infested belt of Jammu and Kashmir. He said out of 502 polling stations, in the district, 115 had been declared ‘sensitive’. He said five assembly constituencies in the district, Bhattiyat, Banikhet, Rajnagar, Chamba and Bharmour (tribal), would go to the polls on May 10. He said the services of 159 village defence committees, consisting of 1,440 trained members and 476 special police officers, were being utilised to gather intelligence inputs. The security forces were constantly combing the border areas, he said. |
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CEC to visit Himachal
Shimla, April 22 He will be accompanied by Dr Noor Mohammad, Deputy Election Commissioner, and other officials. Mr Krishnamurthy will meet representatives of various political parties to listen to their complaints and suggestions.
— TNS |
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HC orders fresh interviews for posts of Asst Engineer Shimla, April 22 A controversy had arisen when an HPPSC member, Mr V.K. Malik, complained to the state government that irregularities had been committed in the selection process for the post. After this complaint, the state government had stopped the appointment of the assistant engineers selected and ordered a probe by the criminal investigation department (CID). After this episode, two selected candidates approached the High Court. |
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Youth
with stolen traveller’s cheques held Dharamsala, April 22 Kangra S.P. Zahoor Zaidi told mediapersons that the culprit tried to encash the traveller’s cheques at a money changing counter in McLeodganj, but fudging in the passport raised suspicion and the alert shopkeeper immediately informed the police. When the youth was questioned, the police seized an identity card issued in Delhi in his real name while the passport belonged to Mr John Cho Ding. According to Mr Zaidi, the youth appeared to be a member of an international gang which supplied forged documents and sold stolen traveller cheques. The youth was remanded to police custody till April 24. |
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Charas, brown sugar seized, three arrested Kangra, April 22 Kangra district police chief S. Zahoor H. Zaidi said a police party stopped three persons on a scooter last night. A search led to the seizure of the charas and brown sugar. Dinesh Kumar, resident of Gorakhpur and employee of the MES at Holta Palampur, Ashrafi Lal and Ravi Kumar were arrested in this connection. The SSP said that Dinesh Kumar was the kingpin of the gang and had been smuggling brown sugar from Nepal via Gorakhpur. The charas was collected from Barrot in Mandi district. He said Dinesh Kumar had been serving with the MES for the past eight years. |
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6 injured in fire Kumarhatti, April 22 While Sheela (30), her husband Devi Ram (36) and Shubham (10), the son of Devi Ram’s brother Kishen Chand, are admitted to Indira Gandhi Medical College, Shimla, Mahanti Devi (55), mother of Devi Ram, and one person are in Zonal Hospital, Solan. Surinder (6), son of
Sheela, has sustained minor injuries. The condition of Sheela who had more than 60 per cent burn injuries stated to be critical. The families of Devi Ram and Kishen Chand were sleeping when a spark led to outbreak of fire due to the leakage of gas from cylinder, lying near Devi Ram’s kitchen around 2 am. The fire soon spread to the adjoining kitchen of Kishen Chand’s house. Their family members woke up and villagers also rushed to the site to
extinguish the fire. A few minutes later the gas cylinder burst. The intensity of fire was so high that four cows, including one Jersy cow, one buffalo, one calf and two goats were suffocated to death due to smoke in cow shed. The houses of both brothers have been damaged in fire. The revenue officials visited the spot to assess the loss. |
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Residential building gutted Kulu, April 22 Families of Mr Balwant Singh, Mr Joginder Singh, Mr Teja Singh and Mr Hira Lal were affected. An electric short-circuit is said to be the cause of the fire. The SDM,
Banjar, has released an immediate relief of Rs 10,000 to the affected families.
— UNI |
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Dharamsala, April 22