Shimla, May 18
The All Himachal Employees Joint Action Committee will support the BJP in the forthcoming Shimla Municipal Corporation poll.

This was stated by chairman of the committee Gopal Das Verma, who also said the BJP had in its manifesto promised to raise the capital allowance to Rs 300 per month, whereas the Congress had not made any such commitment.

He said the Congress had not given any additional benefits to the employees, whereas the BJP had revised the salaries and allowances of legislators three times.

While stating that the employees were not given allowances based on the Punjab pattern, he said medical allowance had been revised twice in Punjab to Rs 350 per month, whereas in Himachal it was as low as Rs 40 per month.

He said the leave travel concession facility had not been restored and the instalment of dearness allowance which had became due from January 2007 had not been released yet.

Hamirpur, May 18
Congress candidate Ram Lal Thakur addressed a series of public meetings near Hamirpur today.

Addressing public meetings at Nalti, Mohin, Patlandar and Baldoh, Thakur asked his opponent Prem Kumar Dhumal to clarify his position on corruption charges levelled against him during his stint as Chief Minister by his own party’s ministers and MLA’s.

He said the chargesheet by his own party people had still not been withdrawn and Dhumal owed an answer to the public.

Thakur accused that Dhumal had more interests in Jalandhar than Hamirpur and that was the reason as to why he owned more property there.

He also talked about various development works undertaken by the Congress government during the present term.

Una, May 18
The Election Commission of India should ask the political parties to pay for the expenses of byelections of parliamentary constituencies which have been caused due to removal of MPs who had accepted money for asking questions in the Lok Sabha, minister for irrigation Kaul Singh Thakur said while talking to mediapersons here today.

Kaul Singh said BJP candidate from Hamirpur parliamentary constituency Prem Kumar Dhumal had repeatedly expressed his unwillingness to contest for the Lok Sabha seat and expressed his willingness to remain in the state politics, but the BJP high command forced him to contest the elections.

Kaul Singh said Dhumal during his Chief Ministership ignored the development of Una district. He said that till 2003 about 195 tubewells were bored.

The minister alleged that the BJP had asked the EC to issue instructions to the Himachal Pradesh Government to stop work on tubewells and handpumps which showed that the BJP was only interested in stopping the ongoing development in the state.

Kaul Singh said a large number of industries had come up in Himachal Pradesh and was providing employment to unemployed youths in the state.

Industries minister Kuldeep Kumar said Rs 26,000 crore worth industrial projects had been sanctioned in the state which would provide employment to 3 lakh youths of the state.

He said the Himachal Government had directed industrial units to spend 1.5 per cent of total cost of the project for the local area development.

He further said in Una district agriculture-based industrial units had been set up and farmers would benefit from this.

Baijnath MLA Sudhir Kumar who is in charge of the Una constituency was also present on the occasion.

Bilaspur, May 18
State BJP president Jairam Thakur has asserted that the BJP would win the Hamirpur Lok Sabha byelection despite the misuse of government and official machinery by Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh and members of his Cabinet.

Addressing mediapersons here today, Thakur said it was for the first time that a leader of the stature of Shanta Kumar was denied permission to hold a public meeting in Shimla while minister Singhi Ram addressed two public meetings at Shimla in government buildings.

The government's failure to control prices and solve the unemployment problem, coupled with serious acts of corruption would ensure Congress candidate Ramlal Thakur's defeat for the third time from Hamirpur.

Thakur condemned the local district administration for denying him even a single room at the local Circuit House today.

He said he was informed that all 10 rooms had booked for the Chief Minister and his staff.

The BJP leader condemned the beating up of a police officer at Junga by Chief Minister's relative Vir Vikram Sen and demanded strict action against the guilty.

Palampur, May 18
The 220-km Pathankot- Mandi national highway, the lifeline for 30 lakh residents of the northern region of Himachal Pradesh is in a state of neglect.

One of the most significant roads of the country linking Pathankot with Leh via Manali, has become more important after disturbed conditions in Jammu and Kashmir as the Army uses this road for moving supplies to Leh and other border areas.

Declared a national highway in 1987 keeping in view the defence requirements for supply of goods to Leh and other border areas, it is surprising that even after 20 years, the state PWD could not convert even 50 per cent of the road into a national highway.

With the opening of the Rohtang Pass and the clearing of snow from the road, the Army has resumed supply of defence supplies to Leh through this road.

However, the condition of the road between Baijnath and Mandi is so bad that the vehicles carrying heavy army supplies are finding it difficult to move.

The 10-km portion of the highway between Ghatshani and Urla has virtually turned into a accident-prone zone being rough and bumpy. Accidents are taking place daily on this stretch but the PWD authorities are unmoved.

This road has assumed more significance after the Kargil conflict.

The Ministry of Defence considers this as the safest route for carrying army supplies and other heavy equipment to the border areas as the Srinagar-Leh highway falls within the firing range of the Pakistan army.

During the Kargil conflict, this road played a major role as all supplies, including heavy equipment and tanks, were taken to Leh, Kargil Ladakh and other border areas through this route.

Kangra, May 18
Kangra subdivisional magistrate C. Paulrasu has issued three-day notice through the Municipal Council to 150 shopkeepers on Mandir Road, asking them to remove encroachments along the road leading to the Bajjreshwari temple.

It is one of the 52 Shakti peeths. This is being done to provide comfort and facilities to pilgrims and to maintain the sanctity of the shrine.

Paulrasu said today there were encroachments on all roads in the town, which was causing inconvenience to pedestrians and traffic.

He said the temple town was attracting lakhs of people from all over the country and different parts of the world so it was the responsibility of the people of the town to keep it beautiful and comfortable for visiting pilgrims and tourists.

He said he would remove the encroachments. He said they would be removed phase wise. In the first phase, it would start from Mandir Road.

Kangra, May 18
Canadian High Commissioner David Malone and Canadian High Consul General Helen Economo Amundsen visited the Chinmaya Organisation for Rural Development (CORD) at Sidhari in Sandeepni Himalayas near here on Thursday.

He expressed his satisfaction for the work being carried by CORD on the Integrated Health and Rural Development.

Canadian High Commissioner along with Consul General visited CORD as the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) in collaboration with Canadian NGO Chinmaya Mission Halton Region (CMHR) has been supporting CORD since 1994.

On the occasion, CORD national director Dr Kshametre briefed the High Commissioner that CORD was working in 550 villages in Kangra district and in one block of Hamirpur district implementing its programmes of social justice and informal legal facilitation, alcoholic abuse awareness, local-self governance, health community-based rehabilitation for the disabled people, participatory natural resource management and children education, through balwaries, balvihars, Panchayati Raj institutions.

Shimla, May 18
Former Union minister Shanta Kumar today held the Congress responsible for turning Shimla into a concrete jungle.

Addressing a public meeting at Summer Hill today, he said that despite immense tourism potential, the Congress did nothing towards making Shimla into an international tourist destination.

He blamed the Congress for the lack of facilities in the town, where utter chaos and mismanagement prevailed.

He held the Congress responsible for the unprecedented price rise and corruption in the state.

“Instead of purchasing foodgrains produced by the farmers, the government is importing it from abroad as huge commissions are being taken by the Congress leaders,” he alleged.

Shanta Kumar also took the Communist Party to task and said, “Though in reality the Communists are supporting the Congress, they are merely criticising the government before the media as a mere formality,” he said.

The BJP leader said the BJP had registered victory in the Mumbai and Delhi MC elections, and in Punjab and Uttarakhand.

“It is high time that the people of the town vote against the Congress and give the BJP an opportunity to serve them,” he said.

Shimla, May 18
Accusing former Chief Minister Shanta Kumar of pursuing dictatorial policies, general secretary of the state Congress Kuldeep Rathore, today said the BJP leader had crushed employees agitations and therefore, had no moral right to seek votes in the state capital.

Addressing a press conference here, he said Shanta Kumar had pursued anti-employees policies and handed out a raw deal to the apple growers.

He said there were numerous occasions during the BJP rule when the police had resorted to lathi charge and firing to suppress the voice of the people.

He said it was during Shanta Kumar’s tenure that the issue of shifting the state capital from Shimla came up for the first time and said the BJP had been exploiting the sentiments of the people for their own vested interests.

He said the BJP had sent Shanta Kumar to campaign in Shimla as his services were not needed in Hamirpur, from where his arch rival P.K. Dhumal was contesting for the byelection.

He said the Chief Minister’s campaign for the MC poll on May 20 and 21 would lend momentum to the final phase of electioneering.

Shimla, May 18
The BJP said today that the Congress was trying to influence the Shimla MC elections outcome by using pressure tactics.

Rajya Sabha MP and chairman of the MC election committee Suresh Bhardwaj said seeing its defeat, the Congress was pressuring the employees through their leaders.

"The services of employees' leaders like Lakshmi Singh Machaan and Surinder Mankotia were being taken to influence the voters," he alleged.

The BJP leader said that the district administration was acting in a partisan manner and permission was being denied for holding meetings of former union minister Shanta Kumar.

"All kinds of objections are being put so that Shanta Kumar does not hold public meetings at certain places while at the same time the authorities are making arrangements for holding Congress meetings being addressed by ministers," he alleged.

Bhardwaj said despite repeated complaints to the district returning officer as well as the state election commissioner, no action had been taken with regard to the bogus votes made for the MC poll.

He said the Congress had not been able to provide even the basic facilities like clean drinking water to the people even after its 21-year control over the MC.

Shimla, May 18
Accusing the district returning officer of acting as a Congress agent, the CPM today said no action had been taken with respect to bogus votes made at the behest of the Congress leaders for the municipal corporation elections.

Member of the state committee of the CPM, Tikender Pawar along with Shimla district secretary, Sanjay Chauhan, said almost 800 to 1,000 bogus votes had been created in each ward.

“Despite complaining to the DC along with proofs, no action has been taken so far,” said Pawar.

He said names of genuine voters had been left out and bogus voters with no addresses had being included in the final list.

“Despite the tactics adopted by the Congress, people are adamant to vote the party out ,” he said.

He was strangulated by the accused. An FIR was registered in this regard.

The challan was put up before the session court, Mandi for trial and the accused was convicted to a jail term of four years.

Kumarhatti, May 18
President of the Doon BJP Kisan Morcha Darshan Singh Saini has blamed Congress MLA Lajja Ram for failing to carry out development in the area.

Addressing a press conference at Baddi yesterday, Saini accused Ram of halting the development work.

The MLA and his son Ram Kumar, who was chairman, Solan Zila Parishad, were instrumental in putting administrative and political pressure to stop the development works started by the Kisan Morcha on its own.

He said the feud between the MLA and Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh had hit hard the region.

Ironically, Ram had failed to get anything from the state government and instead he was causing bottlenecks in the efforts of the youth of the area.

Citing example, he said the Youth Sabha of Dharampur had planned to set up a hand pump on it own, but Ram had stopped the work by putting political pressure, he said while showing the list of various development works done by the Kisan Morcha.

He alleged misappropriation in the budget of the Baddi Nagar Panchayat. The NP president was happened to be daughter-in-law of the MLA.

In fact, it was Ram Kumar who was presiding over the Nagar Panchayat, Saini said, adding that the panchayat received crores of rupees, but not a single penny was spent on the development work.