Shimla, November 2
The Election Commission of India has ordered the transfer of 91 police inspectors and sub-inspectors who have completed three years of posting in one place or in their home district.

A spokesperson for the Election Department said today that out of these police personnel three were from Bilaspur, 22 from Shimla, seven from Kullu, 10 from Solan, seven from Una, six from Mandi, eight from Sirmaur, nine from Chamba, 16 from Kangra, two from Kinnaur and one from Hamirpur.

Meanwhile, the election material, including ballot papers and other stationary, was today handed over to the officials deputed for conducting elections in the three tribal constituencies of Kinnaur, Lahaul Spiti and Bharmour on November 14.

Chief electoral officer Manisha Nanda said that it was being ensured that election- related material reached every district headquarter on time for distribution among the polling parties. There were 170 election-related items to be distributed among the staff on poll duty.

Election-related material for the 65 Assembly constituencies that go to the polls on December 19 would be handed over to the officers concerned on November 5 and 6.

No official would be allowed to perform election duty in his home station or home constituency. “District data base of all eligible poll personnel was being maintained in the electronic form which would facilitate computerised randomisation,” she said.

She said proper mixing of polling personnel drawn from different offices and departments was being ensured. Election officers and district information officers from nine districts had already been imparted training for the December 19 polling.

Shimla, November 2
With Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh and HPCC chief Viplove Thakur adopting a different viewpoint on the allotment of party ticket to five associate members, it is the party high command which is likely to take a decision on the contentious issue at the meeting of the State Election Committee (SEC) in Delhi on November 4.

Though all five associate members had won the last Assembly election against the official Congress candidates and had applied for the ruling party ticket, uncertainty prevails over their future. The MLAs are - Rakesh Verma from Theog, Subhash Manglet from Chopal, Kuldeep Singh Pathania from Bhattiyat, Dr Biru Ram from Gherwin and Sohan Lal from Kasumpti, will meet central leaders in Delhi to plead their case for the party ticket.

All five MLAs earlier met the in charge of party affairs in Himachal, R.K. Dhawan. “He clearly told us that since legally all five of us had been with the Congress inside the House, there was no question of discrimination in ticket allotment,” said one of them.

All five will be present in Delhi when the SEC meeting is held on November 4.

Shimla, November 2
Even as some senior Congress leaders and ministers have opted out of the election fray, the party has received over 400 applications from those keen to contest the Assembly election on the ruling party ticket.

Addressing a press conference here today, HPCC general secretary and state spokesperson Kuldeep Rathore informed that on the last date of applying for the Assembly ticket, i.e. on October 30, more than 400 applications had been received by various District Congress Committees (DCC) for 65 Assembly segments where polling would be held on December 19.

He said the 18-member State Election Committee of the Congress would meet at Delhi on November 4 to lay down the board criteria for the allotment of tickets. He said there was a tremendous response as far as applying for the Congress ticket was concerned, which also reflected the enthusiasm among voters. “The BJP is trying to mislead the people by making statements that the PTA appointments would be cancelled when it is voted to power,” he said.

He also clarified that contrary to the impression being created by the BJP, the Chief Minister had used the chopper hired by the Congress for visiting Dodra Kawar. He said Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh would address election rallies in Kinnaur and Spiti areas on November 6, 7 and 8 and would tour Bharmour and Lahaul areas on November 10, 11 and 12.

Solan, November 2
With as many as 23 Congressmen putting forth their claim for the party ticket from the Solan constituency, the Pradesh Election Committee has a tough task before it in selecting a suitable candidate. Even in the last Assembly elections, 24 aspirants had applied for the Congress ticket.

The tally of 23 includes DCC members, including its president Shanti Pundir, who is a resident of the adjoining Kasauli constituency which is reserved. Another Kasauli resident, Hari Mohan, is among the aspirants.

Another women candidate, who is desirous of seeking a party ticket is Krishna Mohini, who has lost twice in a row. Other ticket seekers include DCC general secretary Sanjay Awasthi, senior vice-president Surinder Sethi as well as his wife Renu Sethi, local constituency president Ramesh Thakur, two councillors Ajay Mittal and Ajay Chauhan and other DCC members.

Even PCC office-bearers, including Dr Kailash Prashar, whose wife had contested unsuccessfully in the municipal committee elections and had even forfeited her security against the BJP sitting MLA Dr Rajiv Bindal, has applied. Yet another aspirant was Mohan Mehta, senior vice-president of the Solan constituency, who too had forfeited his security in the municipal committee elections in the past by obtaining a mere 52 votes. Haminder Thakur, who has contested twice against the party nominee, has yet again applied for a party ticket.

The 23 aspirants comprise three elderly Congressmen. Apart from filing applications in the DCC as many as five contenders have filed their applications directly before the PCC.

Meanwhile, The district Congress committee (DCC) has received 42 applications for the five Assembly seats in this district while five others applied directly to the PCC.

Though all three sitting MLAs-- Raghu Raj from Kasauli, Lajja Ram from Doon and Dharam Pal Thakur from Arki-- filed their applications with the DCC, those who had contested unsuccessfully in the last Assembly poll like Major Krishna Mohini from Solan and Lakhwinder Rana from Nalagarh have also staked their claim for the party ticket.

An interesting situation had arisen in the Doon constituency where sitting MLA Lajja Ram had applied for the party ticket along with his two sons, Madan Chawdhary and Ram Kumar, who is also the zila parishad chairman. A total of five applicants had put forward their claim. Three applications had been received for Kasauli while in Arki four applicants had come forward.

In the Nalagarh constituency, two INTUC functionaries, including president Amarjeet Singh and general secretary G.K Mehta, Lakhwinder Rana and Husan Chand Thakur had set their claim to the party ticket. These applications would now be forwarded to the PCC.

Keylong, November 2
Although the Election Commission has asked the Border Roads Organisation (BRO), the ITBP, the PWD and the HP police and helipad authorities to be ready with their contingency plans to meet any emergency situation in the tribal belt of Lahaul-Spiti, Kinnaur and Bharmour during the Assembly elections, residents say all such plans will be put to test in the snowbound belt if the weather turned vagrant on November 14.

The National Highway No.-21 (Manali-Keylong) and the National Highway No.-22, (Rampur-Kinaur-Kaurik) are susceptible to damage and could be closed due to snowfall as the winter has already set in the entire tribal belt. The Pangi area of the Bharmour segment in Chamba which is linked to Lahaul by the Killar-Udaipur highway can get cut off due to snow as the entire 170-km-long road stretch is “kachcha”.

The NH-21 is more prone to blockade due to snow at Rohtang Pass (13,050 ft), which is the only road link to Lahaul valley. Officially, the pass is closed on November 15. This means the road link to both Lahaul and Pangi will be closed, officials say.

The Saach Pass (13,500 ft) has been closed for traffic due to snow and residents of Pangi travel on the Udaipur-Killar road through the Rohtang Pass, around 180 km from Udaipur. “If Rohtang is closed, they will have to use the Kishtwar road in Jammu and Kashmir to reach Chamba. This will take two days,” residents maintain.

Pangi, Lahaul and Spiti subdivisions are governed under a system of single-line administration that obviates the need for residents to go out for administrative work, say top officials.

Poll officials have demanded equipments like snow shoes, hiking gears, sleeping bags, the medical kits from the Election Commission for poll parties as they will have to scale heights between 13,000 ft and 15,000 ft while moving to 25 polling stations.

A senior BRO official in Keylong said the organisation has received a message and the GREF teams and equipment are already there. “The BRO has its own contingency plan in place to meet the crisis situation on the NH-21 and NH-22”.

According to Lahaul-Spiti DC A.S. Rathaur, the district police has demanded additional 250 personnel and 10 vehicles for Lahaul-Spiti. “Control rooms of the police and the district administration have been set up at Keylong for coordination among 10 sector officers placed in the district. The PWD has been asked to keep the link roads, bridges and helipads open and ready for smooth conduct of elections and to meet any crisis situation,” he added.

State election commissioner Manisha Nanda said: “We have prepared a contingency plan and the BRO, the ITBP, the police and other agencies have been alerted to deal with any emergency during election. Ballots will be dispatched in a day or two as the last date for withdrawal is October 31. If the need be, even helicopters can be utilised to meet an emergency situation. The requisite equipment will be dispatched to districts in advance,” she added.

Chamba, November 2
The Chief Minister is continuing his efforts to persuade Harsh Mahajan to enter the fray from Chamba. Harsh Mahajan has reportedly been summoned by the Chief Minister, who wants him not only to win his own seat but also influence the outcome in many other adjoining constituencies.

Meanwhile, Congress workers, supporters and fans of Harsh Mahajan have decide to launch relay fasts at the panchayat level in the Chamba Assembly constituency to make Harsh Mahajan agree to contest the elections.

Bimla Mahajan, mother of Harsh Mahajan, said she would ask her son to honour the sentiments of his supporters.

Chamba, November 2
The body of a patwari posted in the State Revenue Department at Kugti, a tribal village about 28 km from Bharmour, was recovered by the police from the Kugti Nala near Dharaul last evening.

The deceased was identified as Shiv Kumar, a resident of Bharmour. He had been missing for the past one week.

The police has registered a case and his body was handed over to his family after an autopsy. Investigations are on.

Shimla, November 2
The CPM today demanded regular water supply to all localities of the capital by putting an end to the rationing started by the local municipal corporation (MC) since April.

Secretary of the CPM state committee Sanjay Chauhan said today that the party had decided to hold a demonstration outside the MC office tomorrow. “The Congress regime has failed miserably to provide clean and adequate drinking water supply to the residents of the state capital who have been facing a permanent water problem for the last eight months,” he said.

He said the situation at times was so bad that operations at Indira Gandhi Medical College (IGMC) and other government hospitals had to be cancelled due to water scarcity. “After jaundice outbreak earlier, cases of diarrhoea are pouring into hospitals due to the contaminated water being supplied by the MC,” he said.

It was high time that regular supply, at least once a day, was provided in the state capital.