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Shanta Kumar
fails to keep appointment Cong ‘ignoring’ Dhumal’s constituency Fate of 23 candidates to be decided today NDA will disintegrate, says Anand Sharma It is neck and neck between Cong and BJP |
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BJP apprehends rigging in Mandi
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Shanta
Kumar fails to keep appointment Kangra, May 9 Mr Bali told reporters in Dr R.P Government Medical College Complex near here that he had invited Mr Shanta Kumar to visit the college on which more than Rs 200 crore had been spent and Rs 400 crore were yet to be spent. Mr Bali said, Mr Shanta Kumar had accepted invitation for today’s visit did not reach here. Mr Shanta Kumar was supposed to be here between 10 am and 12 noon. Mr Bali, was in the complex for two hours along with Panchayat Pradhans of Nagrota Bagwan Assembly constituency, Block Congress Committee President, Mahila Mandal workers and supporters of Mr Bali besides residents of Tanda. He alleged that Mr Shanta Kumar had been ignoring this Medical College for his vested interests and has created difficulties for the college of his constituency. He alleged that Mr Shanta Kumar as Chief Minister in 1992 got allotted land worth crores and Rs one crore for Vivekananda Medical Education Research Trust (VMERT) of which he was the chief patron. He alleged that this project was a ‘political retirement arrangement’ of Mr Shanta Kumar. PALAMPUR: Mr Shanta Kumar, said that he had not made any commitment to Mr G.S. Bali, to visit Rajindera Parshad Medical College, Tanda. He denied received having an invitation from Mr Bali in this regard. Mr G.S. Bali, had come to see the accounts of Vivekanand Medical College and Research Trust two days ago. |
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Cong ‘ignoring’ Dhumal’s constituency Awah Devi (Hamirpur), May 9 The town derives its name from Maan Awah. Men, women and children visit the temple of Maan Awah Devi here every day, for worship as the deity is their Kul Devi. The temple is located atop hill the highest district. People of the area visit the temple before starting any work. So much so even Army personal of the area visit the temple to pay obeisance before proceeding to join duties in their units. Law-breakers create law and order problems here. There is a police post here from the Hamirpur side. However, people of the Mandi side have to go to Sarkaghat to get any case registered, which is 15 km away from here. There have been cases when criminals of the Mandi area committed a crime and the Hamirpur police handle it. Since most the part of the town falls in the Bamsan area, represented by former Chief Minister, Prem Kumar Dhumal in the state Assembly, several projects have come up here. There is a Doordarshan tower. There is a new bus-stand in the town but buses rarely go there as it was not put to use after the fall of the BJP government in the state. Project of a bypass for the town has also failed to take off due to the lack of initiative of the Congress government. These projects show step-motherly treatment to the people of the lower hill areas by the Congress government, according to Mr Pyare Lal Sharma, district BJP chief, who is also Hamirpur Zila Parishad’s chief. He lamented lower hill areas were getting a raw deal due to lack of interest by Congress leaders for the development of these areas. People here are upset over the shortage of drinking water and cover projects of bus-stand and bypass in the town Kaswa. Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal, local MLA and former Himachal Chief Minister, said that a water plan was formulated for the area of the upper Bamsan, part of Mewa areas of Hamirpur and Sarkaghat area of the Mandi district. But it was shelved by the Congress government. According to him, there was a proposal to lift water from the Beas and supply it to people through gravity system by constructing huge tanks at Awah Devi. |
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Fate of 23 candidates to be decided today Shimla, May 9 Prominent in the fray are Mr Shanta Kumar, a former Union Minister, contesting from Kangra against Mr Chander Kumar, Forest Minister and Rani Pratibha Singh, wife of Chief Minister, Virbhadra Singh, who is facing Mr Maheshwar Singh, a former state BJP chief in the Mandi constituency. Industries Minister, Ram Lal Thakur, taking on Mr Suresh Chandel, a former state BJP chief, in Hamirpur. As many as 6232 polling stations have been set up, of which six have been declared hypersensitive and 1111 sensitive. About 50 polling stations are located at a height of over 12,000 ft. The highest polling station at Hikkim in Lahaul and Spiti is at a height of over 15,000 feet. The minimum number of 23 voters are in Chetru in Banikhet, followed by 24 in Kaa in Kinnaur district. The Chherang station in Lahaul and Spiti is at distance of 35 km from the roadhead. Electronic voting machines will be brought to 20 stations after polling for counting. In all 37 counting centres have been set up. The EVM’s from the seven polling stations in the landlocked Dodra Kawar area will be airlifted by helicopter and brought to Shimla for counting. The commission has made arrangements to provide latest information on the progress of counting at the trends at its website. |
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NDA will disintegrate, says Anand Sharma Shimla, May 9 Addressing a press conference here he said the NDA had little to gain but much to lose in the final phase of election and it was now clear that it would fall far short of the magic figure of 272. He said an indication to this effect came from the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who midway through the election started talking about the possible post -poll alliances. He said the Congress would do its best to put a secular alliance in place by bringing together the parties which had nothing to do with the BJP. Mr Sharma claimed that the India shining campaign and “feel good” factor boomeranged on the NDA and there was nothing on the ground to lend credence to the tall claims of the government. In fact, for crores of unemployed, who felt cheated and farmers, who were forced to commit suicides because of the disastrous policies of the NDA, it was like adding insult to injury. The stability plank of the NDA also did not work as the country did not have a good experience of 24-party coalition over the past five years. The Prime Minister was always under pressure and small parties and even individuals blackmailed him to extract their pound of flesh. Hitting back at Mr Vajpayee on the Telgi issue Mr Sharma said he must come clean on the role of the Prime Minister’s office and the Finance Minister in the rehabilitation of the Deputy General Manager of the Nasik Security Press. The officer was first shifted Lucknow and then brought back on the intervention of the PMO. He asked the government to make public the entire record in this regard. Telgi scam basically pertained to 1994-98 period and it was the Karnatka Government which first detected it. Later on the basis of investigations conducted by it the Maharashtra and some other governments also took action in this regard. He categorically stated that the removal of a Chief Minister and a Deputy Chief Minister in Maharashtra had nothing to with the scam. |
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It is neck and neck between Cong and BJP Shimla, May 9 While the Congress appears to be having an edge in the Shimla (reserved) seat, it is a neck and neck race in the other three constituencies. In the concluding phase of electioneering, the focus of the two parties shifted to the Mandi seat from where Mrs Pratibha Singh, wife of the Chief Minister, Mr Virbhadra Singh, is locked in a do or die battle against a senior BJP leader, Mr Maheshwar Singh, who has won the seat thrice. While the BJP brought its power house, Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee, to address a rally at Mandi, the Congress assembled a galaxy of national leaders and Bollywood stars at Kulu in a grand finale to the longest ever poll campaign in the history of state. The two parties realise that in a close fight, better booth management on the polling day could make all the difference. Thus, the battle has now shifted to polling-booth level. As votes in Mandi district appears to be getting evenly split, much will depend on the lead the Congress candidate manages from Rampur, Kinnaur, Bharmour and Ani. Similarly, the BJP’s fortunes are hinged to its performance in Kulu and Banjar segments. The other crucial battle is in Kangra where the BJP stalwart and two time Chief Minister, Mr Shanta Kumar, is facing Mr Chander Kumar, Forest Minister. Mr Shanta Kumar effectively repulsed the Congress attack, which made alleged irregularities in the Vivekananda Medical Research Trust by presenting accounts of the trust for inspection at a public function to which Congress leaders were also invited. It was clever ploy as during the function donations to the tune of Rs 32 lakh were also collected, sending across the message that the charges had been rejected by the people. In Hamirpur Mr Ram Lal Thakur, Industries Minister, is locked in a keen contest against Mr Suresh Chandel, a former state BJP chief, who has won the seat twice. After two rounds of campaigning, Mr Thakur seems to be having an upper hand in Bilaspur district, whereas his rival has an edge in Hamirpur district and the Dehra subdivision of Kangra district. Una will play the decisive role and the party, which manages to secure substantial lead from the district, will reach the winning post. In Shimla, the Congress candidate, Dr D.R. Shandil, has an edge over his BJP rival, Mr H.N. Kashyap. Apart from the fact that the constituency has been a traditional stronghold of the party, the work done by Dr Shandil is also helping his cause. Mr Kashyap is on the other hand a new entrant to politics. The two crucial factors, which could have a decisive influence, are the feel-good factor of Mr Vajpayee and the party in power in the state. It remains to be seen what finally weighs on the minds of the electorate. |
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A village with eight voters only Kangra, May 9 The Jamraila polling booth is situated at 2,624 feet above the sea level while Khera 4 polling booth is situated at 2,723 feet from the sea level. This Lok Sabha constituency has 1,455 polling booths out of which 402 are hyper sensitive and 255 sensitive. In Kangra district there are 1,057 polling booths out of which 147 are hyper sensitive and 212 sensitive. Out of the total 398 polling stations in Chamba district 255 have been identified as hyper sensitive and 43 as sensitive. The Returning Officer and Deputy Commissioner, Kangra, Dr Shri Kant Baldhi, said today that all arrangements had been completed and 1,455 presiding officers and 4,366 polling officers appointed to carry out free and fair polling tomorrow. He said the postal ballots had reached the concerned quarters today for the security personnels and other government officials. The Kangra District police chief, Mr S. Zahoor H. Zaidi said today that besides 2,000 Himachal Pradesh police personnels which include armed police 1,330 Home Guard personnels and 10 sections of the ITBP would be deployed to carry out the free and fair poll tomorrow. He said additional reserve police would also be stationed to face any eventuality on the polling day. CHAMBA: Meanwhile, the Election Commission of India has appointed three observers to monitor the polling and the counting process in the district, the parts of which fall in the Kangra and Mandi Lok Sabha constituencies. These observers would also keep a tab on expenditure in the elections by the contestants. According to official information today, Mr Balraj Singh has been appointed general observer and Ms Vandna Sharma is the expenditure observer for four Assembly segments of Chamba district, which fall in the Kangra Lok Sabha constituency. Similarly, Mr Suresh Patnaik is the general observer for Bharmour tribal Assembly segment, which falls in the Mandi Lok Sabha constituency. |
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BJP apprehends rigging in Mandi Shimla, May 9 Mr Suresh Bhardwaj, state BJP chief, said there were indications that the Congress might press into service criminal elements to rig the poll. The official machinery was being blatantly misused and the Chief Minister had left it to officers to ensure his wife’s victory. He said large turnout at the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s rally at Mandi had caused panic in the ruling party and it could resort to desperate measures. |
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