New Delhi, November 5
Haunted by the adverse impact of an audio CD against Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh in the Hamirpur Lok Sabha byelection in May last, the Congress is preparing to seek an order from the court against the telecast or publication of any CD or electronic material against it during the Assembly poll.

Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh has specifically asked some senior lawyers in the Supreme Court to prepare a petition in the light of the apex court order banning broadcast and publication by the media the contents of Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh’s tapes, recorded “illegally” by a telecom company.

It is reliably learnt that the draft of the petition has already been sent to the Chief Minister to enable him or the Congress to move an application before the chief judicial magistrate (CJM), Shimla.

Virbhadra Singh’s criminal defamation case against BSP leader Vijay Singh Mankotia filed in August in connection with an audio CD released by him before the Hamirpur byelection, is pending before the CJM from whom the Congress plans to get a “gag” order.

Mankotia, who revolted against the Congress due to his differences with Virbhadra Singh, had alleged that the audio CD contained certain conversation relating to money transactions between the CM, his wife Pratibha Singh, MP and former bureaucrat Mohinder Lal 18 years ago.

Virbhadra Singh, who had dismissed the CD and Mankotia’s claim as “rubbish” and an attempt to “tarnish his clean image” and damage his reputation, had sought criminal defamation proceedings against Mankotia.

After recording Virbhadra Singh’s statement, the CJM had deferred the hearing for recording of the evidence of other witnesses.

After the Hamirpur byelection, Virbhadra Singh had admitted that the Mankotia CD had caused substantial damage to the party. BJP leader Prem Kumar Dhumal had won the byelection with a massive margin.

The present move by the Congress and the Chief Minister is aimed at pre-empting any further move by anyone to release any such CD during the election campaign. Mankotia only recently had threatened to release another “video CD” against Virbhadra Singh at an “appropriate” time to “expose” the corruption charges against his government.

The Supreme Court lawyers, whose services were sought by the Chief Minister though were tight-lipped on the CM’s request for preparing the draft of the petition to be filed before the CJM, Shimla, it was reliably learnt that the draft has already been faxed to Virbhadra Singh for the follow-up action in Shimla end by Congress lawyers there.

The draft petition had dealt in details with the apex court verdict in the Amar Singh tapes case, putting a blanket ban on the telecast or publication of their contents and even distribution of CDs of the same to the media.

The apex court had passed the “gag order” describing the unauthorised tapping of phones of any person as a “very serious matter affecting his privacy” and also by taking into account the entry of private telecom companies in the field.

Under the 1996 guidelines, the apex court had laid down a procedure for interception of telephone for the reasons of national security only. In the latest order, it deferred hearing to lay down fresh guidelines after receiving the replies from telecom players, saying that the old norms needed to be firmed up in the changed scenario.

Dharamsala, November 5
The Congress and the BJP are faced with the problem of plenty of ticket-seekers in most of the constituencies in the state. While the Congress is worried over the selection of candidates having the highest prospects of winning elections, the BJP is concerned over tackling the ‘invisible’ factionalism on the leadership issue.

More than 400 candidates have applied for Congress ticket, while the BJP has over 600 applications from across the state.

In the BJP camp, almost all top leaders are keen to contest the elections. The only exception being former Chief Minister Shanta Kumar who has not opened his cards so far on whether he will contest the elections or not. And, if so, from which constituency - Palampur or Sullah in Kangra district. The Palampur unit of the party yesterday passed a resolution in favour of Shanta Kumar that they want him to contest the election from that constituency.

Another former CM Prem Kumar Dhumal, who is the sitting Lok Sabha member from Hamirpur, Rajya Sabha member Suresh Bharadwaj, former MPs Kripal Parmar and Maheshwar Singh and party general secretary Khushi Ram Balanatah were all keen to enter the electoral battle.

In the Congress camp, there were some confusing signals on the recent statement of senior party leader R.K. Dhawan that the party would not project Virbhadra Singh as their leader in the forthcoming elections.

Moreover, the decision by many senior leaders not to contest elections and to project their kin as candidates had to some extent created worries for the state leadership of the party.

The party leadership is sure that the younger generation will be able to put up a good show.

There were discussions on fielding Rajya Sabha member and state party chief Viplove Thakur and Lok Sabha member Chander Kumar in the Assembly elections indicating that stakes were high for the ruling party to remain in power.

The party is also worried over the possibility of rebel candidates. Few of the rebels of the last Assembly elections were already admitted in the party as associate members of the Congress Legislature Party (CLP). They are now claiming party ticket.

A difference of opinion has emerged among the top leadership of the state on giving ticket to those who had contested against the party candidates in the last elections. But, it was not likely to be a big issue because the winning ability of the candidate will be taken into consideration while allotting the ticket.

In the tribal constituency of Lahaul-Spiti, the Congress has already given ticket to Phunchuk Rai, who had contested the election as a rebel in the last elections.

Going by the present political circumstances, the BJP and the Congress are likely to take step forward cautiously trying to avoid the possibility of dissidence in their circles.

Sangla (Kinnaur), November 5
In Kinnaur, the political parties do not matter much when it comes to winning elections. It is the clout of Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh and the legacy of late Thakur Sen Negi, the father figure of the tribal politics, which weigh heavily with the electorate.

Much has changed in Kinnaur, which was once a part of Rampur Bushahr, the erstwhile princely state of Virbhadra Singh. However, the writ of the “Raja” still runs in the area and Congress candidate Jagat Singh is solely banking on him to retain the seat. Royal connection apart, Virbhadra Singh had over the years established a personal rapport with the electorate of the segment that fell in Mandi parliamentary constituency. He represented the seat for four terms. He is capable of turning the tide in favour of the Congress in the worst of times.

BJP candidate Tejwant Singh, who is a relative of T.S. Negi, is depending on his legacy to wrest the seat from the Congress. Negi is no more, but his legacy continues to be a source of strength for the BJP that found a foothold in the tribal belt only after he joined the party. His statue stands tall at the chowk of main bazaar of Reckong Peo, providing inspiration to the young cadres of the BJP.

A bureaucrat-turned-politician, Negi served the state as the development commissioner, chief secretary and adviser to the government. However, what made him the undisputed leader of the tribals was his contribution in securing tribal status for Kinnaur. The confidence the people of Kinnaur had in him could be judged from the fact that he secured over 88 per cent votes when he first contested Assembly election in 1967 as an Independent.

Even Indira Gandhi failed to dent his vote bank when her popularity was at its peak in the 1972 Assembly elections. She addressed three election meetings in the constituency, which was quite unusual, yet Negi came up triumphant. Riding the Indira wave, the Congress won 53 out of the total 68 seats, but Negi managed to poll over 71 per cent votes. The constituency remained his stronghold until 1985 when he suffered an upset at the hands of young Congress leader Dev Raj Negi.

Thereafter, he joined the BJP and won the 1990 Assembly election. He had implicit faith in the loyalty of the tribal people, but the defeat in the 1993 elections left him shattered. He vowed not to enter Kinnaur until he avenged the defeat. The opportunity came in the 1998 Assembly elections when he fielded his protégé Chet Ram Negi as a BJP candidate. The tribal abided by the last wish of the veteran tribal leader and made Chet Ram victorious. Negi passed away, but not before providing a foothold to the BJP in the region.

It remains to be seen whether the popularity of Virbhadra Singh or the legacy of the tallest tribal leader prevails in the present contest.

Kullu, November 5
Both the Congress and the BJP are facing the possibilities of a revolt after the final allotment of the party ticket.

The five main contenders among the total of 11 for the Congress ticket from Kullu Sadar Assembly segment are - Himachal mahila Congress chief Kamla Sharma; former Sewa Dal chairman of Himachal Congress Sewa Dal, Dharam Vir Dhami; chairman of the Marketing Committee, Kullu and Lahaul & Spiti, Chander Kiran Prarthi; senior vice-president Kullu Congress Committee Devender Negi and general secretary INTUC, Budh Ram, have already formed a ‘morcha’ against sitting minister Raj Krishan Gaur and announced that they would not work for him, giving open signs of a revolt.

Similarly in the BJP, former BJP chief of the state and former MP Maheshwar Singh, former MLA and vice-president of the BJP’s Kissan Morcha Chander Sen Thakur and former state BJP Yuva Morcha chief and state secretary Govind Ram Thakur have applied for the party ticket.

Besides, Ram Dayal Sharma, Alam Chand, Bir Chand and Gajender Thakur have also applied for the ticket.

The BJP high command would find it difficult to select its candidate for the Sadar Kullu constituency and might face revolt from senior party leader Maheshwar Singh, if he is not considered for the party ticket.

In Banjar Assembly constituency, former minister Karan Singh has been working for the past one year to woo party workers to support him for the BJP ticket from this segment. The Banjar Assembly segment was allotted to Khimi Ram last time and Karan Singh was sent to Kullu Sadar by the BJP high command against his will. Sitting MLA from Banjar constituency from the BJP, Khimi Ram, is from the RSS, while Karan Singh is a non-RSS man.

There may be vertical split among BJP workers after finalisation of the party ticket on the RSS and Non-RSS cadres’ base and both the main contenders would field themselves in the election fray.

In the third Assembly constituency (reserve) in Kullu district, Ani, veteran Congress leader and former minister Ishwar Dass who has a record of winning seven terms since 1967, might face opposition by former MLA Khub Ram in the Congress, while the BJP has never won the seat since Independence.

Bilaspur, November 5
BJP vice-president and former Chief Minister Shanta Kumar said yesterday that the Congress was destroying the agrarian economy by adopting unjustified policies regarding the prices of grains and importing them at a high cost from foreign countries.

Addressing the concluding function of the two-day BJP election training camp at Shah Talai in Hamirpur, Shanta said the country’s total grain production was 750 lakh tonne and the government was importing grains at Rs 1,685 per quintal as compared to Rs 850 per quintal. He said this discouraged farmers from growing more grains in their fields.

Shanta alleged that the policy had been adopted to grab huge commissions and collect crores of rupees as election fund, while more than 10,000 farmers had committed suicides as they could not sustain their families with the production in their fields.

He said the government should compensate farmers for the losses. He said the alleged involvement Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh and his wife in corruption charges had made the Congress jittery.

He said people had high hopes from the BJP the party had to prove itself by solving the problems of price rise, unemployment and corruption.

Shimla, November 5
Notwithstanding the tall claims of the BSP to emerge as the political alternative to the Congress and the BJP in the state, the performance of Mayawati’s outfit has hardly been impressive as the party was able to get a mere .70 per cent of the votes in the 2003 Assembly poll.

The BSP which is making its presence felt in state politics for the first time, will contest all 68 seats. State convener of the BSP Vijai Singh Mankotia is spearheading its campaign.

The BSP which was able to field candidates in only 23 of the 68 Assembly segments in the last elections, could barely poll .70 per cent of the votes. Even the Himachal Vikas Congress (HVC), floated by former union communication minister Sukh Ram, did better as its candidates in 49 constituencies polled 5.87 per cent of the votes. The HVC candidates polled 1.79 lakh votes as compared to 21,469 votes polled in favour of BSP candidates.

The BSP’s performance was best in Una, where its five candidates were able to get an average of 4.09 per cent of the total votes. Even here, the total number of votes polled in favour of all five candidates was only 9,614.

Out of the total 23 candidates put up by the party, the best performance was by Pt Des Raj Modgil from the Kutlehar constituency in Una district as he polled 6,748 votes. The party was able to put up candidates only in a few districts - Una (5), Kangra (11), Hamirpur (2), Kullu (1), Mandi (1), Bilaspur (2) and Solan (1).

Besides, Mankotia who has been projected as the chief ministerial candidate by Mayawati, Congress leaders like Kewal Singh Pathania from Kangra and Vijay Kumar Joshi from Una are leading the party campaign.

Though the BSP has been making claims that it will mark its beginning in the state in a big way by repeating its UP formula of social engineering the possibility of a similar performance in the state is unlikely.

However, political analysts admit that the party could play a spoilsport in some seats, especially where rebels from the Congress or the BJP could be in the fray as independents, or as the BSP nominees.

Solan, November 5
The failure of the state government to get 15 panchayats excluded from the precincts of a reserve sanctuary in Chail has earned the wrath of the local people who have made it a major poll issue.

This is despite several assurances from the government, including Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh.

Due to the prevalence of a sanctuary area, a population of nearly 15,000 persons was denied permission to construct any new building here. The situation was aggravated with the constitution of the Special Area Development Authority (SADA) in December 2002, by the former BJP government.

This was constituted to regulate constructions though no construction could be executed in the sanctuary as per the Forest Conservation Act and the Wildlife Protection Act.

Though the present government initiated a move to get the area (comprising 15 panchayats, seven in Solan district) denotified from the sanctuary, the denotification is yet to come through. This created problems for the local people who were refused permission for new constructions all along the Sadhupul-Chail Road.

The SADA had stopped approving building maps ever since the Forest Department pointed out that no such permission could be granted in the purview of a reserve sanctuary area.

The move was resented by people of Chail, Sakori, Banjni, Jhajja, Danghil, Nagali and Hinner panchayats, who said they were not even allowed to construct houses, cow sheds, etc.

The Town and Country Planning (TCP) Department initially paid no heed to the apex court ruling and continued granting permissions for construction activities.

When the Forest Department again pointed out the problem, the TCP concluded that the authority could not grant permissions for pursuing construction activity. All permissions have been held up for the past six months, pointed a TCP official.

This issue has now become a major poll issue with the local people openly resenting the government inaction.

Locals rue that it had not only denied them a chance of making a livelihood.

Chamba/Dharamsala, November 5
In a bizarre incident, 19-year-old Sapna Kumari, claiming that she had been empowered by a snake goddess, insisted on her parents that she be buried alive as she wanted to take ‘samadhi’. Her parents abided by her wishes.

The incident which took place at Khalani village in Luddu panchayat of the district on Saturday night, had taken many by surprise.

According to sources, Sapna claimed that a snake goddess had empowered her body for the past two months and she used to see snakes all around her. People were mesmerised by her as many a time, her predictions had come true.

On Saturday, she asked her parents and villagers to dig a ditch so that she could take samadhi. The event was witnessed by hundreds of villagers. The ditch was covered with tin sheets to make respiration easy for her.

Later, a team headed by ASP S.R. Rana and Sub-Divisional Magistrate R.K. Gautam reached the spot.

After about 6 hours, she was taken out of the ditch alive. She was taken to the Regional Hospital, Chamba, for treatment. The doctors attending on her said she was out of danger and was suffering from “mental depression”.

ASP Rana said about 1,500 people had witnessed her taking samadhi. No report had yet been registered by the police, he said.

Bilaspur, November 5
The scouts and guides organisation is committed to the concept of “one world - one promise” and is fired with the objective of propagating peace and removal of evils like untouchability and hatred from the society.

This was said by state chief commissioner of the organisation Dr. O.P. Sharma, while inaugurating the five-day state-level rally of the body.

He said presently the organisation had 38 million members all around the world, out of which 3.8 million were in India and Himachal alone had 40,000 members.

He said 2,500 scouts and guides along with other organisations - Cubs and Bulbuls (up to 10 years), Rovers and Rangers (up to 17 years) among boys and girls, were participating in the rally.

The participating students belong to Punjab, Haryana, Tibetan school in Shimla and Green Field Senior Secondary School, Nagrota.

State secretary Shanta Seth said the participants would compete in events like monkey bridge, tunnel crossing, rope crossing, archery etc. They would also present skits, dance items and songs apart from displaying physical activities in the camp. Deputy director, Education, Sada Ram Kondal inaugurated the rally.

Shimla, November 5
Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh has lambasted BJP leader P.K.Dhumal for opposing the development policy loan of Rs 800 crore being raised by the government from the World Bank to bring fiscal stability in the debt-stressed state.

He said the statement of Dhumal, who grossly mismanaged the state’s finances and was squarely responsible for the current financial woes, only betrayed his ignorance about the assistance being provided by the World Bank. It would not be appropriate to call it a loan as 90 per cent of the amount would come to the state as an outright grant through the Centre. Only 10 per cent of the amount would have to be paid back and that too over a long period.

The World Bank (WB) was impressed by the state’s performance on the financial front and it was keen to help the state in carrying out restructuring and financial consolidation. In fact, it had already sanctioned a Rs 900-crore loan for upgradation of the road network in the state.

While in power Dhumal raised indiscriminate loans and virtually landed the state in a debt-trap. The situation had come to such a pass that banks had stopped honouring the cheques of the government. Dhumal remained in office for 1,725 days out which there was a financial crisis for over 1,200 days.

Virbhadra Singh claimed his government improved the financial position by prudent financial management. The government was not only able to meet committed liabilities but also find enough resources for development. Raising cheap loans through the World Bank was part of the strategy for financial turnaround.

Referring to the remarks by Dhumal the Chief Minister said that the BJP leader was making himself a "laughing stock" in the eyes of people by making such baseless allegations.

The CM said that he had visited the WB recently regarding talks about the long-term financial commitment of the bank to finance some hydroelectric projects.

Shimla, November 5
Around 15 voluntary organisations from all over the state participated in a seminar on “Implementation of National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) in HP and the role of NGOs” held at the Health and Family Welfare Training Centre, Parimahal, today.

Former health secretary C.P. Sujaya chaired the seminar. She said community monitoring and evaluation was essential to get a true picture of the health delivery system in the state.

She said the policies for NGOs should define a clear role for these organisations in the implementation of the NRHM. She also deliberated on the role of panchayati raj institutions and the need for devolution of powers by the government.

Dr Bhatnagar from the Voluntary Health Association of India, Delhi, gave details about the NRHM and the goals to be achieved by 2012.

Former director (health services) R.N. Mahanta spoke on the need to reduce infant mortality and maternal mortality rate.