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CM misusing govt machinery, says Bhardwaj
CM misleading voters: Shanta
BJP promises stability
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Tibetan organisations
welcome end of TYC fast
Stamp on Gorton Castle
Woman seeks probe into husband’s death
Katwal grilled on recruitment scam
2 students hurt in clash
Drug makers accuse dept of flouting rules
Foreigner held with brown sugar
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Oppn in disarray: Jaitley
Shimla, May 4 Addressing a conference organised by the state BJP Mahila Morcha to mark Mahila Jagriti Divas here today, he said the NDA was a cohesive formation and had gone to the polls with a common agenda to seek another term for Mr Vajpayee as Prime Minister. However, the Opposition was in total disarray. The parties which were trying to forge an alliance to keep the NDA out of power were contesting elections against each other. Further, there was no clear leadership and numerous prime ministerial candidates had emerged. Even those who failed as Chief Ministers or could not manage to become Chief Minister had staked claim. It was a perfect recipe for chaos. The people of the country were mature enough to appreciate these ground realities and they would vote for stability and not plunge the country into the kind of political instability witnessed during the 1996-98 period. There was nothing in common among the Congress, the Samajwadi Party, the NCP and the Rashtriya Janata Dal. In fact, Mr Sharad Pawar, President of the NCP, was against Mrs Sonia Gandhi becoming the Prime Minister and there was a personality clash between Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav and Mr Laloo Prasad Yadav, and they were all pulling in different directions. Besides, there were serious policy differences. While the Congress had been maintaining that it was in favour of the Women Reservation Bill, the RJD and the Samajwadi Party were opposed to it. They did not allow the Bill to be passed in Parliament. In contrast, Mr Vajpayee had successfully led the coalition for six years and taken the country to new heights in every sphere. Today, India was the fastest growing economy along with China. The NDA government had transformed the economy from shortages to surpluses, and today one did not have to wait for securing a cooking gas or a telephone connection. The development in the information technology sector had made India a global “knowledge resource”. All this was possible only because under Mr Vajpayee’s leadership the country had a stable and capable government. Referring to Himachal Pradesh, Mr Jaitley said the Congress government had been pursuing a single-point agenda of wreaking vengeance on political opponents. All development activities in the state had come to a halt ever since the BJP government was ousted from office last year. Earlier, Ms Kanta Nalawade, national president of the BJP Mahila Morcha, said Mr Vajpayee was the biggest benefactor of women as he had launched several schemes for their welfare. Meanwhile, Mr Jaitley today urged the Election Commission of India to declare the Mandi constituency as sensitive and appoint special observers to prevent misuse of state machinery. He said there were reports that official machinery was being misused to ensure the victory of Mrs Pratibha Singh, the Congress candidate and wife of the Chief Minister, Mr Virbhadra Singh. MANDI: Mr Jaitley on Tuesday described the exit polls as “mere surmises”, which could not be relied upon. Addressing a rally at Baldwara in Sarkaghat subdivision of this district, Mr Jaitley exuded confidence that the voters would not land the country in a spell of instability and would elect Mr Vajpayee again. He said the track record of the Congress was that it had played a vicious role in destabilising three governments at the Centre and it had no moral right to claim that it could provide a stable government. He said the main question before the people of the country was the choice of Prime Minister. “One can easily draw a contrast between Mr Vajpayee with 50 years of political experience and a 45-year-long stint as an opposition MP and Mrs Sonia Gandhi. Ever since she took over the command of the party, its decline has begun,” he said. He said the country’s foreign exchange reserves were at an all-time high. “Recall the days of the Congress rule when in 1994 the country was forced to mortgage gold for foreign exchange”, he said. He said during the NDA government’s tenure, the growth rate had marked an increase of 8 per cent. He said during the tenure of Mr Vajpayee, the image of the country had improved in the world and even developed countries were holding India in high esteem. He had improved relations with Pakistan and other neighbouring countries and the main thrust of the NDA government had been on development. In sharp contrast, the Congress had been in power for over 45 years, but the economy of the country deteriorated, relations with neighbours worsened, poverty increased and unemployment assumed alarming proportions. He said Himachal in general and the Mandi parliamentary constituency in particular was the second home of the Prime Minister, who had been taking keen interest in the development of the state. He made an appeal to the people to return Mr Maheshwar Singh, BJP candidate from Mandi, to strengthen the hands of Mr Vajpayee. Mr Maheshwar Singh and Mr Mohinder Singh, MLA, who recently joined the BJP, also addressed the rally. HAMIRPUR: Mr Jaitley said here on Tuesday that there was no need to ban poll surveys. The BJP was against any such proposal and it had already conveyed this to the Election Commission and the Supreme Court. Addressing party workers, he appealed to them to sink differences, if any, and work wholeheartedly for the success of the party nominee, Mr Suresh Chandel. |
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CM misusing govt machinery, says Bhardwaj
Mandi, May 4 He said it appeared as the Congress party had foreseen its defeat and in utter desperation the Chief Minister was threatening ministers, office-bearers of the Panchayati Raj institutions and the people in general. He alleged that the CM had publicly warned that the ministers from the areas, where the Congress would not get majority, could be dropped. Similar threats were being hurled at panchyats that their development would be in proportion to the votes polled to the Congress. Mr Bhardwaj described it as violation of the Model Code of Conduct and added that all such matters were being reported to the Election Commission. Mr Bhardwaj said the chances of the victory of the Congress had further become bleak in view of factionalism. Congress president Vidya Stokes and Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh were opposing each other. The BJP chief expressed concern over the deteriorating law and order situation ever since the Congress took over the reins of the state. Earlier, addressing a joint news conference last night, the state general secretary of the BJP, Mr Chander Kant and the BJP candidate from Mandi, Mr Maheshwar Singh, claimed that the Atal wave was sweeping across the state and of the 17 Vidhan Sabha segments, the BJP was far ahead in 11 constituencies. |
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CM misleading voters: Shanta
Nurpur, May 4 This was stated by Mr Shanta Kumar, the BJP candidate from the Kangra Lok Sabha seat, at a press conference here today. Terming the CM’s claims as misleading, Mr Shanta Kumar clarified that in 1991 when he was the Chief Minister the trust had been constituted headed by the Secretary, Health. The then state government had leased out the land for setting up the hospital. After a few years the trust was reconstituted and he was appointed its chairman, he claimed. He said the Virbhadra government had never released a single penny to the trust, whereas the Chief Ministers of Punjab, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh had contributed Rs 85 lakh to the trust. Denying the allegation of the Congress that he had opposed the recommendations of the Medical Commission when he was the Chief Minister, Mr Shanta Kumar said it was only on election gimmick of the Congress. |
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BJP promises stability
Kulu, May 4 Addressing a press conference at Sharabai, 13 km from here, Mr Dhumal said the governments of Chaudhary Charan Singh, Mr I.K. Gujral, Mr H.D. Deve Gouda and Mr Chandershekhar were destabilised by the Congress. Referring to the nosediving of the sensex a few days ago when exit polls favoured the Congress, he said this happened due to fear of instability. Mr Dhumal lashed out at the Virbhadra Singh government for large-scale transfer of employees during the past 14 months. He alleged that the state government had failed on all fronts. Mr Dhumal said the law and order situation had deteriorated in the state. |
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Tibetan organisations
welcome end of TYC fast
Dharamsala, May 4 Assuring activists of the Tibetan Youth Congress (TYC) that UN special rapporteur on torture Theo Van Boven will visit China within a month and take up the case of Tenzin Delek Rinpoche, who has been sentenced to death. Announcing the decision to end the strike, the TYC president, Mr Kelsang Phunstok, said though all demands had not been accepted by the UN, this was a good beginning. The NDTP president, Acharya Yeshi
Phunstok, said it was for the first time that the UN had responded positively towards the Tibetan issue. The Tibetan Women Association has also welcomed the end of the strike. |
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Stamp on Gorton Castle
Shimla, May 4 The building, housing the office of the Accountant-General, Himachal Pradesh, is one of the rare buildings in gothic architecture where the central secretariat of the British Government was located till 1942. Several functions, including a photo exhibition of heritage buildings in Shimla, release of a souvenir and a golf match in collaboration with Army Training Command, have been planned on this occasion. Six teams of accountant-general offices in various states will participate in the gold match and Comptroller and Auditor-General of India will be the chief guest.
— PTI |
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Woman seeks probe into husband’s death
Hamirpur, May 4 In a complaint submitted to the SP, Hamirpur, yesterday, she alleged that her husband was under tension even on April 27 and had told family members that constable Anjna Kumari posted at the Bhoranj police station was allegedly compelling him to give Rs 40,000. Copies of the complaint have sent to the Governor and the Chief Minister for action. Meanwhile, a delegation of residents of Lahlari village today met the SP and demanded a probe in this regard. They suspected some foul play in his death. The SP, Mr
P. L. Thakur, said a case under Section 306 of the IPC had been registered. |
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Katwal grilled on recruitment scam
Shimla, May 4 He was questioned for about four hours on the basis of a report which revealed that answersheets bore the handwriting of more than one person. He was asked to explain this mystery. He was also confronted with evidence in this regard. Mr Katwal was asked to explain how packets of answersheets which were duly sealed at examination hall were found open on reaching an evaluation centre in Chandigarh. Mr Katwal reportedly failed to give any satisfactory explanation to queries. He was likely to be questioned again. |
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2 students hurt in clash
Shimla, May 4 The clash was a sequel to an altercation between the two student bodies that took place on April 30 during a cultural programme at the university. Windowpanes of a hostel were also broken during the clash. The police has registered FIRs but no arrest has been made. The police raided the hostels and recovered iron rods. |
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Drug makers accuse dept of flouting rules
Nurpur, May 4 They alleged that the department had violated the rules while making the purchases. “Neither tenders were called nor quotations from local manufacturers invited,” they said. They said the government had to follow rules while purchasing any product and the local industry had to be given preference and tenders invited for the purchase of any product worth over Rs 10,000. They said the association had recently filed a civil writ petition in the high court, seeking its intervention in the government’s purchase policy. |
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Foreigner held with brown sugar
Kulu, May 4 Kulu district
Superintendent of Police Anand Pratap Singh said the police had started a special drive against traffickers. During the drive last night, a police party, headed by ASI Hem Raj, was patrolling at Kulu but stand, where they checked a foreigner Kalema Abdul Sule, a Congo national and recovered the contraband from him. He said the accused had concealed brown sugar in his shoes. A case under the NDPS Act has been registered. |
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