Shimla, May 23
Barring some minor skirmishes, the Shimla MC elections were peaceful, with over 63 per cent turnout.

Barring a dispute over the casting of bogus votes in Summer Hill, Patiog, Kasumpti, Boileauganj and Khalini, polling was more or less peaceful. This led to heated exchanges between Congress and BJP workers, who literally came to blows. However, the presence of police and officials of the district administration prevented the situation from worsening.

In some of the wards like Tutikandi, Khalini and Bharari, the turnout touched almost 70 per cent while it was almost 65 per cent in the Tutu, Summer Hill, Tutikandi, Phagli and Boileauganj wards.

The highest polling of 83 per cent was reported from a booth in the Bharari ward. The lowest polling of 36 per cent was reported from poling booth number 20/1 in the Maliana ward.

To their utter surprise, a large number of voters who had earlier cast votes in the Assembly and parliamentary elections found their names missing from the lists. In fact most of them were even carrying their voter identity cards issued by the Election Commission.

There was a dispute in Boileauganj last night where the Congress candidate registered a police complaint against BJP workers for threatening her. In Summer Hill too there were heated exchanges and the situation became tense which was defused by a police team headed by a DSP.

Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh cast his vote at the Central School polling booth in the Jakhu ward.

There is direct contest between the Congress and the BJP in eight wards while in others there is a triangular or mutli-cornered contest. As many as 94 candidates are in the fray for 25 wards.

Counting of votes will take place on May 25.

Shimla, May 23
Tension prevailed in the Dhalli area after polling for the municipal corporation elections was over as CPM activists blocked traffic for over three hours near Dhalli tunnel in protest against the brutal attack on their three workers.

Three CPM activists, including Sunil and Nishu were seriously injured as they were attacked with swords in the Cemetery ward, two hours after polling got over.

They have been admitted to Indira Gandhi Medical College with serious head injuries.

CPM state secretariat member Tikender Pawar said the assailants are known history sheeters and run the local liquor mafia in Chamiyana.

He demanded that the police should arrest those named in the FIR, who are Congress supporters.

Matahani (Hamirpur), May 23
Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh today made a scathing attack on the BJP on the issue of involvement of its leaders in corruption cases and party’s.

Addressing public meetings seeking votes for Congress candidate Ram Lal Thakur at Dhaned and Matahani, he said, “The BJP has become immune to corruption since so many of their leaders, including national president Bangaru Laxman and former Hamirpur MP Suresh Chandel, have been involved in corruption cases and it has become a tradition with the party now.”

He said, “I, as the Congress CM, would have apologised to the people if my party MP would have been caught taking bribe like Suresh Chandel of the BJP, but Dhumal is saying that Chandel has committed no big crime.”

He also criticised the BJP for allegedly misusing the name of Lord Rama for their political gains and sarcastically commented “even Hanuman is peeved at dragging the name of Lord Rama in politics as there are rumours that an icon of Hanuman was found weeping.”

He said, “Dhumal is making mockery of the election process by contesting parliamentary byelection and simultaneously saying that he is also the chief ministerial candidate of the party.” 

Nahan, May 23
Yogender Kapila, chairman of the Renuka Dam Oustees Sangharsh Samiti, said in a press statement here yesterday that the outsees in a meeting at Dadahu last evening decided to submit a memorandum to the Chief Minister during his forthcoming visit to the Sangrah area on May 30.

A deputation of outsees met the Renuka dam authorities and conveyed their concern over the present status of survey of families to be displaced due to the construction of the dam. As per the record prepared by the dam authorities, only 211 families have been shown to be displaced. The samiti, however, claimed that there were nearly 1,000 families who would lose their homes and land. Kapila claimed that the dam survey was conducted around 20 years ago.

The samiti had demanded a fresh survey of oustees on the basis of the panchayat record and not the revenue record. They demanded five bigha of land and a house for every displaced family, besides a job to a family member.

Sundernagar, May 23
Harish Cement Limited that has signed an MoU with the Himachal Pradesh Government to set up a cement plant of 1.3 million tonne capacity near Sundernagar has decided to shift the plant to a place which is not populated.

Talking to mediapersons at Khor in Neemuch district of Madya Pradesh, director of Harish Cement Limited (a subsidiary of Grasim Industry Limited of the Aditya Birla Group) R.M. Gupta said keeping in view the public demand, the company had decided not to set up cement plant in thickly populated area.

He said the company was committed to the development of area with least disturbance to the public and environment. The change in site would jack up the project cost by around Rs 200 crore, he added. He said the Rs 1,200-crore project would benefit the people of the state and boost the economy.

On being asked where the plant would be shifted, he said the search for a suitable site was on.

Local residents had been opposing the setting up of the plant in the Khatrwari Chambi area on the plea that it would pollute the area and the people living nearby would have to suffer.

Although the government had issued a notification for the appointment of land acquisition officer, the acquisition process was initiated keeping in view the public pressure.

The company took local mediapersons to Neemuch in Madhya Pradesh to show its plant at Khor. The company claimed that the plant that had been functioning there for more than 20 years had caused least disturbance to the ecology.

Dharamsala, May 23
The police today picked up two more foreigners for interrogation who were allegedly helping Tibetans in seeking refugee registration certificates by arranging fake documents for them through local Indian connections.

Superintendent of police Ajay Yadav said the police had picked-up two foreigners identified as Dechen and Gangdon on the information provided by those who were already in police custody.

Tinley, Dorje Tseten and Pem Tashee who are already in police custody during an interrogation said Dechen and Gangdon had arranged fake documents for them through some of their local Indian connections to obtain refugee registration certificates, the SP said.

He said the modus operandi to obtain the registration certificate for getting a refugee status was that they obtained birth certificates through local connections, giving names of those old Tibetan couples as their fathers and mothers who had already been granted a refugee status. Since, there was a provision that the children of those couples who had already been granted a refugee status could obtain the registration certificate, it was being taken for granted that they could easily obtain the similar status.

Meanwhile, Dorje Tseten and Pema Tashee were produced before a local court this evening.