 |
|
|
Voices of revolt get louder in BJP
Not fielding Shanta may cost BJP dearly in Kangra
Loyalists to meet high command
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
BSP announces 45 candidates
Party’s novel formula to tackle factionalism
290-year-old temple faces threat from illegal mining
Licencees ordered to deposit weapons
Ration cards of 143 families restored
Sukh Ram bids adieu to electoral politics
Show of unity for Kasauli seat
Campaign kicks off
Shimla MC to get heritage tips
Bill without phone connection!
A clarification
Renuka fair ends
Revolt in Congress, too
Permits for campaign vehicles
Dhumal misleading people: Rathore
|
|
Voices of revolt get louder in BJP
Nahan, November 24 A large number of party workers raised slogans in support of Amar Singh Chauhan. They assembled in a ground in front of his residence at Paonta Sahib and held a rally. Workers warned the party high command that “if the ticket was not allotted to Chauhan in two days, they will leave the party and support his candidature as an Independent candidate”. More than 20 BJP workers belonging to both factions alleged the party high command has always played a cruel joke with Shillai party workers by not allotting the ticket to a winning candidate that was why the party could never register a win at Shillai over the past 30 years, they said. Agitated workers advised the top leaders of the party not to visit Shillai if the ticket was not changed. They warned they would not be allowed to enter the area for campaign. They said the party had always ignored ground realities in Shillai and allotted the ticket to undeserving persons, thereby allowing easy wins to the Congress. Amar Singh Chauhan announced that he was very much in the field. To honour the sentiments of workers, he was ready to fight as an Independent candidate, if the ticket was not changed, he announced. He said that for the first time in the political history of Shillai, BJP leaders of all factions had come under one umbrella and with this unity their “win was sure”. He announced that a big rally of party workers would be organised on November 27 at Shillai where the final decision would be announced. He said resolutions signed by hundreds of BJP workers had been faxed to the party high command demanding change in the ticket as the present candidate was little known even among the party workers in the area. |
|
Ticket or no ticket, Pathania to contest
Nurpur, November 24 After coming from Delhi today, he addressed a press conference here this afternoon and pointed out that he had given two days ultimatum to the party high command to reconsider the allotment of the party ticket to malvika Pathania, who had a Congress backround and had even lost her security deposit in zila parishad elections in the area. But following consistent pressure of the party cadre and the BJP supporters of his native Nurpur assembly constituency he had decided to fight the election and win. He added that he was filing his nominations on November 29 as a true soldier of the BJP even if the party high command did not reverse its decision. When asked was he not supposed to wait for two days before the end of the ultimatum period he remarked that he did not foresee any re consideration in this connection. Pathania alleged that his name was struck off as a party candidate just to scuttle the way of the BJP stalwart Prem Kumar Dhumal to be the next Chief Minister of the state. He lamented that some anti party elements were active in the BJP organisation and it seemed that the organisation was being played in their hands. He said these elements had only one point programme to dislodge Prem Kumar Dhumal from the post of the Chief Minister if the BJP was voted to power in the state. “The party was not serious in forming the next government in the state,” he lamented.
|
|
Supporters Resent Our Correspondent
Palampur, November 24 ]The reports received from the BJP high command said Shanta Kumar may not be asked to contest the assembly election from Palampur. This has caused widespread resentment among the rank and file of the party. Senior leaders of the BJP admit that the absence of Shanta Kumar from the electoral arena would cost party over six seats in the district alone. Meanwhile, 10 BJP leaders, including MLAs, former ministers and ex MLAs in a joint press note issued here today flayed the strategy of the BJP high command to hold back the captain of the team from entering the field. They said this decision would not only affect the poll in the district but the entire state. These leaders urged the BJP high command to review its decision and allow Shanta Kumar to contest the assembly election from Palampur, which is his home constituency. They said there was a wave in favour of Shanta Kumar, as he was not only a senior party leader but had a clean image, if he was not in the field, it would take wind out of the BJP sails.
|
|
Loyalists to meet high command
Shimla, November 24 Majority of the Shanta loyalists, who have got a major chunk of the tickets for the 16 Assembly segments in the biggest district of Kangra, held a meeting in Kangra to discuss their strategy today. Besides meeting Atal Bihari Vajpayee, L.K. Advani and Rajnath Singh, they could also undertake a signature campaign to convey their opinion to the high command. |
|
BSP announces 45 candidates
Chandigarh, November 24 Mankotia, who had won from Shahpur five times, was named the party candidate along with other nominees at a press conference by party general secretary and in charge of Himachal affairs Man Singh Manhera. Besides Mankotia, two former ministers, Vijay Kumar Joshi (Santokhgarh) and Kewal Singh Pathiana (Nurpur), and former legislator Haridutt Sharma (Chintpurni) figured in the list. All three had left the Congress along with Mankotia. The list contains the names of only two women, Chameli Devi (Thural) and Kamla (Theog). Manhera said winnability was the major criterion for deciding candidates. Onkar Singh Rana, a close confidant of Mankotia, will contest from Shahpur. A close look at the list indicated that a majority of the candidates were from upper castes and the Congress and the BJP dissidents, indicating that the party was targeting the vote bank of the two mainstream parties. Answering a query, Manhera said the BJP and the Congress dissidents, who had been denied the party ticket, were welcome in the BSP fold. Sources said the party had held back the announcement for the 20 seats with a view to accommodate dissidents from the Congress and the BSP. “We are in touch with them,” he added. The following are the other candidates: Randhir Ranta (Rohru), Mahant Ram Chaudhary (Ballah), S.P. Gautam (Sundernagar), L.S. Mastana (Mewa), Manjinder Singh Bika (Paonta Sahib), Darhsan Singh Saini (Doon), Vinod Thakur (Nalagarh), Suresh Sharma (Baijnath), Sanjay Chaudhary (Kangra), Ved Parkash Thakur (Shimla), Vinod Kumar (Palampur), Bhim Singh Kesri (Karsog), Nanak Chand Bhardwaj (Dharampur), Jagdish Reddy (Chachiot), Uttam Singh Chauhan (Darang), Rakesh Bhardwaj (Jogindernagar), Bhikham Singh Pangotra (Guler), Hans Raj (Gangath), Vicky Mankotia (Jawali), Ramesh Khola (Jawalamukhi) and Des Raj (Gagret), Hari Om Sharma (Jaswan), Yash Pal Thakur (Nadonta), Surinder Kumar Sharma (Bamsan), Loki Nand Sharma (Banikhet), Parkash Chand Bhatia (Pachhad), Prithi Singh (Renuka), C.D. Singh Guleria (Sulah), Som Dutt Bharwal (Una), Sukh Ram Chauhan (Kotkhelur), Rajinder Mohan (Mandi), Kant Sharma (Bilaspur, Sadar), Brij Lal Chauhan (Ghumarwin), Sukhdev (Gehrarvi), Harish Chander Dogra (Chopal), B.N. Mehta (Kumarsain), Uttam Singh Kashyap (Kasumpti) and Rajwant Manta (Jubbal-Kotkhari). |
|
Party’s novel formula to tackle factionalism
Dharamsala, November 24 The basic idea behind this decision was to tackle factionalism within the party. Few disgruntled leaders, who had not been granted the party ticket had threatened to quit the party. Shanta Kumar, national vice-president of the party, was of the view that everybody could not become MLAs or ministers, but the deserving candidates, who had been ignored in the allotment of party tickets could be adjusted as chairman of the corporations, directors of boards and senior office-bearers in the party organisation. He was hopeful that there would be no serious threat within the party that could come on the way of the poll prospects of the BJP. “The BJP is going to form the next government in the state and there is no doubt in it”, he said. There were reports of the outbursts of local level BJP leaders from few more constituencies. Sources in the party high command had revealed that the party president Rajnath Singh and senior leader L.K. Advani had asked both Shanta Kumar and Dhumal to keep their loyal workers/leaders under control by convincing them that they would be adjusted on key positions in the government and the party after coming to power. It was learnt that both top leaders of the party in the state who are
aspiring to become the Chief Minister had started contacting their loyal workers/leaders requesting them to keep quite, otherwise, the chances of the party to come in power could be diminished. Jai Ram Thakur state president of the BJP was hopeful that the problem created by the disgruntled leaders would be tackled smoothly within two days. |
|
290-year-old temple faces threat from illegal mining
Mandi, November 24 When The Tribune team visited the ancient monument, which boasts of Panchrahtiya Grabhgriha (five-chariot sanctum sanatorium) that enshrines “Sadashiv” stone idol, it found that over 30 jhuggis have come up nearby, with its inhabitants turning its surroundings into a defecating site that emits foul smell. The trash and junk litter the site around the temple. The visitors have to face a lot of inconvenience as children and others can be seen defecating in the open. The temple was built by Mandi King Sidh Sen in 1717 AD and is declared as a protected monument under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeology Sites and Remains Act, 1958. The entrance to the foot bridge, which connects the temple site to the town, welcomes the visitors with heaps of trash being dumped on the left bank of the Suketi river by safai karamcharis of the municpal council and residents living nearby, revealed art-lovers of the town. “Mandi is a temple town and like Trilokinath temple in old Mandi, Panchvakhtar Temple is one of the great monumental attraction for tourists”, said Anees and Mary, the two tourists who had come to visit the site. The illegal manual mining is going on in the nearby riverbed. A number of mules carrying
“bajris”, boulders and sand bags can be seen daily at the riverbed site under the nose of the Mining Department, which always cribs about the shortage of staff to check the menace. K.C.
Nauriyal, superintending archaeologist, ASI, said, the temple’s original beauty has been restored. He said, “We have requested the MMC to keep away the jhuggis, maintain cleanliness and disallow mining around the site as it brings visitors to the town. We hope the administration will help us”. Sushila
Sonkhla, president, MMC, when contacted, said: “We are proposing to shift the jhuggis from there but due to model code of conduct we cannot do that.” |
|
|
Licencees ordered to deposit weapons
Solan, November 24 As per these directions, the weapons will remain deposited till one week after the announcement of the election results. As a precautionary measure, the district magistrate had earlier banned carrying of firearm across the district till the completion of the election process. With a steep rise in crime in these two bordering constituencies, the district police has already enhanced its staff strength and has demanded additional vehicles for patrolling. As the area has a huge migrant population and not much information is available about their whereabouts, it has become imperative to keep a strict vigil on the nefarious elements. The area has also reported a number of cases where the crop protection gun licences have been used in minor and major scuffles among the local people. The administration has identified 22 hypersensitive polling stations in the Doon segment and 17 in the Nalagarh constituency. The following have been termed hypersensitive in the Doon constituency: Manlog-Kalan, Diggal, Ramshaher, Patta (Mehlog), Khera I and II, Lodhi Majra, Bhud, Baddi I and II, Sandoli I and II, Bilanwali-Labana, Suraj Majra, Gullerwala I and II, Barotiwala I and II, Suraj Majra, Labana and Mandhala I and II. Saur, Bagheri, Rampur I and II, Gullerwala (Karsoli), Joghon (Jagatpur), Joghon (Banyala), Baruna I and II, Rajpura (Rangwal), Rajpura (Harijan Colony), Dhabota, Rampur, Dhang Nihala and Manjholi I and II have been named hypersensitive in the Nalagarh constituency. |
|
Ration cards of 143 families restored
Hamirpur, November 24 The department had cancelled the ration cards of these families due to discrepancy in the list supplied by the Hamirpur nagar parishad after a fresh survey of Antodaya families. The discrepancy came to light after the parishad office was flooded with a large number of complaints from Antodaya families that their ration cards had been cancelled under the Antodaya category. An investigation revealed that it had happened due to discrepancy in preparing the list of these families by the the nagar parishad. Confirming the restoration of ration cards, DFSC officer R.C. Mahashey said, “Since there was a discrepancy in the new list supplied by the nagar parishad, we have now restored the ration cards of these families.” Director of the DFSC R.S. Gupta said “Our department issues ration cards to BPL, APL and Antodaya families in urban areas as per the survey conducted by the Department of Urban Development through nagar parishads, thus our department cannot be blamed for any discrepancy in preparation of lists.” |
|
Son to be successor Our Correspondent
Sundernagar, November 24 He said now he would not contest any election in future and that his son was now be his political successor, who would contest elections from Mandi Sadar as a Congress candidate. He said he had brought revolution in the field of communication and informational and technology in the country and in Himanchal Pradesh . He said he was thankful to the people of Mandi as he had won 12 elections in the past and represented Mandi assembly segment and the Mandi parliamentary constituency in various capacities. He said that the formation of the Himanchal Vikas Congress (HVC) was his political compulsion as when he was falsely framed in corruption cases he did not leave the Congress but was expelled from the party. In that event, he had to form the HVC and at that time the Congress got 31 per cent votes and the HVC got 29 per cent in the assembly elections and emerged as a strong political party. He said now in future he would not contest any elections but would campaign for Congress candidates in the state. He appealed the people to vote in favour of the Congress so that the Congress government was formed for the betterment of the state.
|
|
Show of unity for Kasauli seat
Kumarhatti, November 24 A major crisis had surfaced within the party over ticket allocation, after 17 nominations were received for Kasauli seat. However, all seemed well in today meeting after a major portion of party workers expressed joy over the ticket allotment to Dr. Saizal. Finally, the party leadership has given importance to youth power by giving ticket to Dr Saizal, opined most of workers after the meeting. The party now has a good chance to win from the seat that has so far been a Congress stronghold, the workers maintained. Terming factionalism as a non-relevant issue now, Dr Saizal said he had full support of party workers. The BJP believed in democracy and everybody had the right to make his or her claim open, he said over the filing of 17 nominations for the seat. |
|
Campaign kicks off
Chamba, November 24 The BJP has fielded Gp Capt Bhupinder Singh Chauhan from Bhattiyat, Renu Chadha from Banikhet, Mohan Lal from Rajnagar (SC) and Bal Krishan Chauhan from Chamba assembly constituencies as its party candidates. Meanwhile, the other aspirants who had been denied the party ticket may pose a great threat to the BJP’s official candidates. But, what would be the trend of their role in the electioneering of their party would be apparent only after December 3, the last date for withdrawal of candidature. Although in today’s’ politics there is no place for any ideology of any political party, but it is only the maneuvering and manipulation of the leaders and workers to allure them towards their vested interests. Political parties have only names without ideology.
|
|
Shimla MC to get heritage tips
Shimla, November 24 The mayor, Narender Kataria, informed that an agreement had been signed between the Mayor Associations of the two countries at Delhi. “There is a lot of similarity between the rural areas of Himachal and China, so we will get a lot of assistance from Chinese experts in regulated development,” he said. He said the modalities would be worked out once the agreement signed between 12 Chinese mayors and 17 of their counterparts from India. These will be discussed at the mayor’s conference at Chandigarh on December 7. He said a three-day conference will be held to discuss the issues at length. With China having done a lot of work in preserving its heritage, the historic structures in Shimla, some of which have been venue for several important decisions pertaining to Independence, could be preserved. |
|
Bill without phone connection!
Shimla, November 24 Tek Chand of Ulansha village of the district says he has been
sent a bill of Rs 1,514 for the month of September and Rs 122 for November on telephone number
01895-200324. He said he had applied for a BSNL connection in June. As there was no response from the service provider for several months, he got a connection from a private telecom company. However, when he went to the BSNL office for getting his name struck off, it issued him a bill of Rs 1,636 for two months. He said he would approach the consumer forum in connection with the case.
— UNI |
|
A clarification
Chandigarh, November 24 In a communication to The Tribune, Sharma has stated that Kumar appeared as a prosecution witness in the case and had given evidence before the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate, Rampur. Describing the news item as “false” and “incorrect”, he has added that the client had no hand in the offence. The Tribune correspondent adds: The news report was based on the information provided in a press conference by the then deputy inspector-general, central range, Mandi. It was carried in all the newspapers in the state. |
|
Renuka fair ends
Nahan, November 24 Governor V.S. Kokje participated in the departure ceremony of deities and paid obeisance to Lord Parshuram and Renuka Ji. Several thousands of devotees witnessed the departure ceremony, performed on the bank of Renuka Lake as per tradition, paid obeisance to Lord Parshuram and took part in the ‘vidai yatra’ of palanquins. Devotees also took holy dip in the lake. Governor asked people to follow the principles established by Lord Parshuram. He stressed the need to preserve ancient culture and traditions.
|
|
Revolt in Congress, too
Bilaspur, November 24 Thakur, accompanied by a former zila parishad member and Dalit leader Basant Ram Sandhu and Bamta punchayat’s former president Baldev Thakur, declared his intention to contest as an Independent candidate at a largely attended rally in Bilaspur yesterday evening. Bambar criticised prominent Congress leader and forest minister Ramlal Thakur and Bilaspur (Sadar) MLA Tilak Raj Sharma. He said he had been compelled to take this step due to these leaders. |
|
Permits for campaign vehicles
Shimla, November 24 Chief electoral officer Manisha Nanda said here today that the permit issued by the returning officer should be displayed prominently on the windscreen. The permit issued should be of a sufficient dimension so that was visible from a distance. It should bear the vehicle number and name of the candidate in whose favour it had been issued, she added. She said the list of permits issued should be given to all observers and in case of any addition, the intimation should be given to them. The responsibility of enforcing these instructions would lie with the district police chief of the district concerned, she added. |
|
Dhumal misleading people: Rathore
Shimla, November 24 Dhumal, he said, was terming it as a loan whereas 90 per cent of the amount would come as an outright grant from the Centre as evident from the agreement singed in this regard tow days ago. The state would have to pay back the interest and the principal amount of only Rs 80 crore. — TNS
|
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Mailbag | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
