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Revolt simmers in BJP, Cong
Congress, BJP face revolt in Mandi
Another bigwig falls by the wayside
Left parties treat Cong, BJP with disdain
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Sons rise in Congress
Banikhet: BSP sets alarm bells ringing for Cong, BJP
Flouting rules, razing of hillocks on
Govt Formation
Absence of Harsh may hurt Congress
LJP declares 16 candidates
Karat, Yechury to spearhead CPM campaign
8-member CPI list released
CPI nominee to file papers on Nov 28
Call to vote out govt
Rajputs sore over ticket distribution
Poll agents must be registered electors
Move to grant extension flayed
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Revolt simmers in BJP, Cong
Shimla, November 25 Announcing his decision at a press conference here today, Kashyap said he had been a victim of a conspiracy hatched by those sitting at the state BJP office. He said the process of selection of candidates adopted by the party was faulty. The party had “para-dropped” Tarsem Bharati in Kusumpti, ignoring the popular sentiment which was undemocratic, he added. He said he had been forced to enter the fray as a majority of the electorate was upset over the denial of the BJP ticket to Bharati. He claimed the support of 20 BJP shakti kendras and 49 panchayats. The party is already facing revolt in Kullu, Banjar, Nurpur, Drang, Shillai and Kumarsain. SUNDERNAGAR: Thousands of BJP workers today protested against the non-allotment of the BJP ticket to Ramesh Sharma who had contested elections from the Drang Assembly segment twice. President of the Drang Assembly segment, Amar Chand, president of Yuva Morcha, Chura Mani, and few other BJP workers have resigned from the party due to the non-allotment of party ticket to Sharma. Nearly 1,000 workers of the BJP raised slogans against president of the state unit of the BJP, Jai Ram Thakur. Kullu: Even as BJP general secretary Chandersen Thakur and former Mandi Lok Sabha MP Maheshwar Singh today averted a virtual revolt in the Kullu BJP, stating that they would not work against the party, former primary education minister Karan Singh, BJP rebel from Banjar segment, today said he would file nomination as a BSP candidate on November 29. Over 1,100 supporters were present when he declared to join the BSP. He said he and his supporters and party workers were humiliated for the past two years and he would file nomination on the BSP ticket form Banjar on November 29. Karan Singh, who is the younger brother of former Mandi BJP MP Maheshwar Singh, said he had served the party for 22 years and this time he was not made even a member of the state executive. “The party has been shifting me from Banjar to Kullu and so forth, I obeyed that. But they have not allotted me the ticket. It is humiliation of party workers, who are this time keen to see me contest from Banjar,” he said. The fight this time would be between the Congress and the BSP in Banjar, he claimed. Karan Singh said he had no option but to resign from the party membership. On the other hand, party supporters of Mandi MP Maheshwar Singh and former Kullu MLA and general secretary BJP Chandersen Thakur convened a joint meeting at Kullu in which their supporters asked them to contest election as Independents. But dismissing any report of revolt against the party, Chandersen Thakur said: “We have decided that they would not work against the decision of the party, which has yet to finalise the list of candidates from state. We have full faith in the party high command that it will reconsider its allotment in Kullu and Banjar”. |
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Now, revolt in Renuka
Nahan, November 25 Agitated over the denial of party ticket to Roop Singh over 300 BJP workers and senior leaders of the area including Ranjeet Singh, vice-president of the district unit of the
BJP, Bahadur Singh Chauhan, president of the Palvi unit, Bahadur Singh, former madal president
(Renuka), Daleep Singh Bhimta, president of the Gahal Dimaina gram
panchayat, BDC member Nika Ram, Guman Singh Posta, secretary of the district BJP Yuva Morcha Jagat Ram Sharma, Gopal Singh
Panwar, Jagdish Chand, Mita Ram, Bhagwan Singh (all former panchayat presidents), Asha
Chauhan, president of the Sangrah gram panchayat and Basti Ram, senior BJP leader of the area, alleged the party did injustice with sentiments of the party workers of the area by allotting ticket to Balbir Singh. They decided that Roop Singh would contest in all conditions. Roop singh announced if the party did not change the ticket in two days, he would contest as an Independent. |
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Cong faces revolt in Hamirpur
Hamirpur, November 25 Resenting the allotment of Congress tickets in Mewa and Nadaunta constituencies, certain leaders have decided to enter the fray as Independents. In the Mewa constituency, Prem Kaushal has decided to contest as an Independent candidate showing his resentment to the party decision to field Suresh Kumar from the constituency. He had contested the Mewa (reserve) seat as the Congress candidate once. Similarly, Manjeeet Dogra has also given an ultimatum to the party high command to reconsider allotment of the party ticket to Vidya Zar. Manjeet Singh Dogra, who is considered close to Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, has contested election on the party ticket and as an Independent, too. He won from here as an Independent in 1993. |
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Congress, BJP face revolt in Mandi
Mandi, November 25 District Congress president D.D. Thakur, a rival of Congress candidate and Sukh Ram’s son Anil Sharma, was conspicuous by his absence from the party workers’ function held by Sukh Ram and Anil Sharma to launch his campaign yesterday. This has given rise to speculations that Thakur is in a mood to revolt and is in touch with the BSP. BJP rebel from Darang Ramesh Sharma and his supporters held protest against BJP leaderships for denying him the ticket and claimed they would ensure the defeat of party nominee Jawahar Thakur. Sukh Ram was upset when he found poor response from the supporters of his rival. While addressing the party workers meeting at his home village at Kotli, he said: “Thakur should have come here as the Congress has declared Anil as the party nominee and both belong to the Tungal area. But I will campaign for his son in Mandi Sadar and will ensure that his son fulfils his half-left projects as an MLA.” He said he would come clean on all cases registered against him as it was a conspiracy to malign him and ruin his career. Thakur was in touch with the BSP, sources said. Anil Sharma said his family faced political conspiracy as the Income Tax Department had imposed a tax of Rs 65 crore, but at last he won the case and paid tax of just Rs 35,000. Interestingly, BJP Mandi (Sadar) candidate Kanhilal and D.D. Thakur are in touch with each other and might chalk out strategy to trounce Anil Sharma, revealed insiders. The Congress faces rebellions in Chachiot, Dharampur, Karsog, while the BJP has yet to clear the names from Sadar and Karsog. Former president of the HP Cooperative Bank Natha Singh Thakur, a four-time loser, has revolted against Chander Sekhar, who has been fielded from Dharampur this time. In Chachiot, the Congress has declared Shiv Lal Sharma as its candidate. Three contenders, Prof Veer Singh from Gara Gushaini in Seraj, Chet Ram Thakur, Tara Devi, daughter of former MLA late Moti Ram Thakur, are out to mar the poll prospects of the party as they are all rivals. In Karsog, the Congress has fielded sitting MLA Prem Singh, while the BJP faces revolt from Hira Lal as the party is considering Mansa Ram, though his name is yet to be cleared. In Mandi (Sadar), BJP faces power vacuum as it has failed to find a suitable candidate against Sukh Ram’s son Anil Sharma, party sources said. |
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Another bigwig falls by the wayside
New Delhi, November 25 Prakash Chand Karad, son of Padma Ram, a cook at the PMO who retired around 3 years ago and was well-known to the Gandhi family, became another giant-killer after he ousted deputy speaker Dharmpal Thakur from the race for the party ticket. Karad also became the only candidate from the Dalit community to be fielded by the party from a general category seat. In Una, which was the other pending seat besides Arki, the party preferred to retain Virender Gautam who had lost the last election by a narrow margin. The list of candidates for all 65 seats going to the polls in the second phase was released today. The Tribune had yesterday given the names of candidates cleared by the CEC and the final list released by the party had all those names. In Jawali, the party has retained sitting MLA Sujan Singh Pathania. Sources said that party surveys had identified Dharampal Thakur as one of the MLAs facing anti-incumbency. While a case was made to clear his name along with other MLAs, 10 Janpath was not entirely convinced. Karad, who is among the young candidates in the Congress list, has been working for the party for several years. Earlier, the party had cleared the ticket for Nand Lal, an SPG officer at 10 Janpath, who replaced six-time winner Singhi Ram from Rampur. Congress leaders from Himachal Pradesh sought to make political dividend of their decision to field a candidate from the Dalit community from a general category seat. They said it reflected the party’s commitment for the weaker sections that was “more than” that of the BSP. Besides Thakur and Singhi Ram, the party also replaced Rakesh Verma, MLA, from Theog, giving the ticket from the seat to Rajinder Verma. Revenue minister Sat Mahajan and animal husbandry minister Harsh Mahajan had opted out of the contest. In Una, party leader O.P. Rattan could not make it to the list despite making efforts till the last minute. The list has six women contestants and several new faces. Unlike the last election, when the then PCC chief could manage ticket to only a few of her loyalists, the present state unit chief has been instrumental in getting ticket to several of her close associates. Apart from power minister Vidya Stokes and Youth Congress chief Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu, there are some other leaders in the list who are not known to be close to Chief Minister Virbahdra Singh. Minister of state Anand Sharma has also been able to ensure ticket to his loyalists. While the list has some new faces, including Rajesh Dharmani, Nikhil Rajour, Ajay Mahajan, Chandershekhar, Kailash Parasher, Ruma Kondar and Sanjay Rana, some old hands like Ram Nath Sharma have also got the ticket. Sources said the state party leadership had urged the central leadership to schedule rallies of Sonia Gandhi between December 12 and 15. The Congress president is expected to address four rallies in the state. |
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Left parties treat Cong, BJP with disdain
Shimla, November 25 As compared to the last elections in 2003, when the CPM had fielded its candidates from four assembly segments, this time the party will mark its presence felt in seven segments. Senior CPM leader and Politburo member Sitaram Yechury will officially release the list of candidates for Shimla, Arki, Banjar, Ani, Chachiot, Sulah and Dharamshala here. The CPI, which had fielded candidates from seven constituencies in the last assembly elections, will be putting up candidates in about 11 seats. The list of candidates will be issued by the CPI within two days. However, the main difference this time will be that both Left parties have made up their mind not to back the Congress in segments they party are keeping uncontested. Both CPM and the CPI will release their election manifestoes in the first week of December. The two parties are still trying to sort out the differences over fielding their candidates in Arki and Chachiot in Mandi to avoid the impression that the Left parties are not united. Both CPM and CPI have not been able to register victory even in one assembly segment since 1993 when CPM leader Rakesh Singha had won the Shimla seat. The performance of the CPI was far better way back in 1967 territorial elections when the party had won two seats as Paras Ram won from Jaswan and Bansi Ram from Baijnath in Kangra district. It was again in 1972, when Tulsi Ram had won the Balh seat in Mandi on the CPM ticket. The CPM again had lone representation in the state assembly in 1982 when Tara Chand won from the Balh seat. “There is no question of alliance with the Congress at any stage as we are vehemently against the anti-people policies of the Virbhadra-led Congress regime in Himachal,” said Rakesh Singha, secretary of the state committee of the CPM. He says the CPM will support Independents but not Congress candidates in any part of the state. “The situation in the centre was different since we preferred a combination of secular Congress rather than the BJP ,” he says. Similar anti-Congress sentiments are echoed by the CPI leader Roshan Lal Dogra. “There is no question of supporting the Congress in Himachal while in the centre it is an issue-based support,” he says. He says the attitude of the Virbhadra regime has been very negative and there has been no dialogue with the Congress at any stage. |
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Sons rise in Congress
Shimla, November 25 While revenue minister Sat Mahajan makes way for his son, Ajay Mahajan, in Nurpur, veteran Sukh Ram leaves the arena for his son, Anil Sharma, from the Mandi constituency. The decision of housing minister Harsh Mahajan not to contest the elections provided an opportunity for Pawan Nayar , a son of former education minister Sagar Chand Nayar, to make his electoral debut. Neeraj Bharati, a son of former irrigation and public health Chander Kumar, will contest from Guler. He unsuccessfully contested the by-election from the seat in 2004 after his father was elected to the Lok Sabha from Kangra. Viplove Thakur prevailed upon the high command to secure the ticket for her brother from Jaswan. She lost the seat in the 2003 assembly poll but was later elected to the Rajya Sabha. However, there are a few exceptions where senior leaders failed to secure the ticket for their kin. While Raj Krishan Gaur could not launch his son, Bhuvanesh Gaur, from Kulu , Rattan Singh failed to get the ticket for his grandson Harpreet Singh from Paonta. In all, 19 candidates who contested the 2003 assembly poll have been replaced. However, only four sitting MLAs have been replaced. The most notable among them is civil supplies minister Singhi Ram who won the Rampur seat six times consecutively since he entered electoral politics in 1982. He has been replaced by Nand Lal , a police officer who has been a part of former Prime Minster Rajiv Gandhi’s personal security. Deputy speaker Dharam Pal who has been axed had also been wining the Arki seat since 1993. Notable among new faces are state NSUI president Kewal Pathania from Shahpur, Rajesh Dharmani (Ghumarwin), Kailash Prasher (Solan), Ruma Kapoor (Jawalamukhi) and Sanjay Rana(Thural), Kirnesh Jang, who unsuccessfully contested as an Independent from Paonta Sahib in the last elections had been granted the ticket. Natha Singh has been replaced by Chander Shekhar from Dharampur and Subhash Manglet who won as Independent in 2003 from Chopal replaces Yogender Chand. Similalry, Sohan Lal, Biru Ram and Sohan Lal ,who won as Independents in the last elections ,will be the official party candidates from Kusumpti, Geharwin and Bhatiyat , respectively. Ramnath Sharam replaces Saroj Thakur from Kutlehar. The fair sex has again been given a raw deal and there are only six women candidates in the list. |
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Banikhet: BSP sets alarm bells ringing for Cong, BJP
Dalhousie, November 25 Loki Nand Sharma, who is trying his fortune for the first time, has a strong hold in the area. His presence would be the ‘deciding factor’ for the Congress and the BJP candidates. The contest in the constituency would undoubtedly be ‘heart-throbbing’ for Asha Kumari of the Congress and her nearest rival Renu Chadha of the BJP. However, undercutting of votes by former BJP MLA Gandharv Singh, who has been denied the party ticket, cannot be ruled out. The political circles say the BSP candidate could be benefited as the dissidents of other parties are inclined towards him. The Congress had won the Banikhet seat seven times in ten elections held since 1967. The constituency had been the stronghold of late Des Raj Mahajan, father of Cabinet minister Harsh Mahajan, since 1972. He was defeated by Gian Chand Dhawan, a candidate of the joint front formed by the opposition parties called the Janata Party in 1977. At that time, the Jan Sangh (now the BJP) merged into the Janata Party. Later again, Des Raj Mahajan captured the seat in 1982 Assembly elections. Present MLA and former minister Asha Kumari won the elections from Banikhet in 1985 for the first time. In 1990, when there was ‘a wave of the BJP’, Gandharv Singh defeated Asha Kumari of the Congress. Thereafter, Asha Kumari remained victor from this constituency in 1993, 1998 and 2003. Now she is going to contest the Assembly elections for the sixth time. In the 2003 Assembly elections, Asha Kumari defeated Renu Chadha of the BJP by a margin of 860 votes. At that time, Asha Kumari secured 24,348 votes and Renu Chadha 23,488. Asha Kumari is again face to face with Renu Chadha from the constituency for the coming elections. There are 78,251 voters in the constituency, including 39,836 men and 38415 women. The figures include service voters. |
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Flouting rules, razing of hillocks on
Una, November 25 When The Tribune team visited the site near Jalgran rivulet, the bulldozers were still continuing with their task of razing down hillock and filling riverbed. Interestingly, the people involved in the task were also flouting the Himachal High Court’s order, banning the green tree felling in the state. Taking note of the declining green cover in the state, the Himachal High Court had banned green tree felling in the state. However, the hillocks that are being levelled here have considerable concentration of green trees. The forest officials of the district, when contacted, admitted that there was a complete ban on green tree felling in the state. The forest range officer, Una, Munish Rampal, when asked why they were not taking action against those felling green trees, said they had directed the forest guard of the area to submit a report in the matter. Action would be taken after the forest guard submits report, he said. However, it is strange that while the hillocks having green trees were being levelled openly in full public view, the district forest officials are waiting for their guard to report on the matter before taking
any action. The deputy commissioner, Onkar Sharma, when informed that work of razing down hillocks was still continuing, said he had directed the district town planning officers to go and stop the work. He had submitted a written report to me that the work has been stopped. However, if the work was still continuing, I would take steps to make sure that it was stopped, he added. While The Tribune team was taking photographs of bulldozers razing down hillocks, few persons, who refused to divulge their identity, came and claimed themselves to be owners of the land. They said they had every right to do what they desire on their land. They also warned The Tribune team from clicking photographs of the area without their permission. According to sources, as per rules the developers are allowed to level hillock just up to three metres or about 10 feet. However, in the said cases, hillocks, as high as 50 to 100 feet, have been razed down. Moreover, in some areas, the rivulet has been filled totally, blocking the natural flow of water. While this illegal activity was continuing, the authorities concerned are just doing paper work just to save their skin in case of inquiry rather than taking any concrete action in the matter. |
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Govt Formation
Palampur, November 25 A district big enough to be considered for a division in the aborted plans of the BJP for the creation of new districts has always held the master card for forming a government in the state. As in the past whichever party has won a majority of the seats in the district has gone on to form the government in Shimla. It was true in 1990 when the BJP formed the government led by Shanta Kumar and the BJP candidates won from 13 of the 16 segments from Kangra district. In 1993, it was the turn of the Congress to form the government and once again the district played a major role by sending 12 Congress MLAs. In the 1998 elections, 11 BJP candidates made it to the state assembly from Kangra district, paving the way for the formation of the BJP government in Shimla. In 2003 assembly elections, the Congress won 11 seats, BJP won 4 seats and an Independent MLA Naveen Dhiman rested one seat. The Congress formed the government at Shimla. However, what has always baffled political observers is the fact that despite holding an ace in the government formation at all times but so far the district has produced only one Chief Minister in Shanta Kumar (BJP). Now once again there is a political move within the BJP to project Shanta Kumar as the Chief Minister of the state, being a visionary, policy maker, and his clean image. All Congress Chief Ministers in the state have come from old Himachal areas - from either Shimla (Virbhadra Singh and Ram Lal Thakur) or from Sirmaur district Dr Y.S. Parmar. In the Congress, Sat Mahajan, a former HPCC chief from Nurpur, has emerged as the tallest Congress leader in the district, but he failed to reach the office of Chief Minister of the state. |
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Absence of Harsh may hurt Congress
Chamba, November 25 Mahajan’s stature as a high-profile politician and his political standing as a versatile leader have influenced the masses all over the region. He remained committed and dedicated to his duty during 15 years of his three terms in the state Vidhan Sabha. When his voters used to thank Mahajan for any work done by him, his answer used to be rare and straightforward: “It’s my duty as I have duties and responsibilities towards the public”. Mahajan was popularly known for his benevolent behaviour and his dealing with the masses without any discrimination. That is why the people of Chamba district in particular and Himachal Pradesh in general hold him in high esteem. |
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LJP declares 16 candidates
Shimla, November 25 Releasing the first list of 16 candidates here today national general secretary of the party Subhash Sharma declared Sadanand Chauhan, who would contest from Nahan, as the party’s chief ministerial candidate. The other candidates are Devi Lal Chaudhary (Kangra), Subhash Mehra (Gulaer), Khushi Ram Bhuria (Thural), Gian Chand (Baijnath), Pratap Rana (Jwalamukhi), Neelam Handa (Mandi), Gursharan Singh (Drang), Rajinder Singh Parmar (Jogindernagar), Karam Singh (Rajnagar), Lekh Raj (Santokhgarh), Ravinder Sharma (Kutlehar), Dharam Singh Chandel (Bilaspur), Rajesh (Geharwin), Neeta Sharma (Nadaunta) and Satish Thakur (Nadaun). Sharma said that the second and final list would be released on November 27 and the party would release its election manifesto on December 5. |
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Karat, Yechury to spearhead CPM campaign
Shimla, November 25 These leaders will cover all seven constituencies the party is contesting. Apart from high lighting the failures of the Congress government, the party will focus on issues like growing unemployment, weakening of the public distribution system and price rise. The total surrender of the BJP to the neo-liberal policies and its chauvinist slogans would also be exposed during the campaign. |
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8-member CPI list released
Shimla, November 25 Releasing the list of candidates here today, member of the national council of the party Des Raj and state leaders Shashi Pandit and Roshan Lal Dogra said the party was entering the fray in only eight segments as it wanted to give a tough fight to both BJP and the Congress, the main contenders for power which had ruined the state. Both parties were steeped in corruption and had sold the interests of the state to private companies. It was evident that most MPs who were caught accepting bribes on cameras in operations conducted by television news channels were from the
BJP. The list of candidates includes Aman Guleria (Kangra) , Vipat Raj
(Hamirpur), Joginder Singh (Chintpurani), Raj Kumar (Karsog), Shyam Lal
(Bilaspur), Ajit Chaudhari (Kot Kehloor), Deep Chand (Arki) and Kamlesh Kumari (
Kasauli). |
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CPI nominee to file papers on Nov 28
Hamirpur, November 25 District unit secretary Mukesh Kumar said the CPI would visit every village during the election campaign. The CPI would also expose policies of the BJP and the Congress and make a special appeal to youths, farmers, workers and women whose demands they have been raising from time to time. |
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Call to vote out govt
Kumarhatti, November 25 N.D. Ranaut, secretary of the Solan district CPM, has called upon workers to vote out anti-worker government. |
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Rajputs sore over ticket distribution
Bilaspur, November 25 He has urged the political parties to reconsider their decisions. Sabha general secretary Geeta Ram Thakur said the BJP had given all three open tickets, out of a total of four, to one community and had ignored the claims of Rajput leaders. She said the Congress had given one ticket to a Rajput leader, while the Bahujan Samaj Party had not given any. The sabha said political parties were playing a dangerous game by ignoring Rajpur leaders as the community accounted for 50 per cent of the population in the district. The sabha has decided to hold a district-level Rajput conference
where it will decide its course of action for the election. |
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Poll agents must be registered electors
Shimla, November 25 All polling agents should display their EPIC or other identification document on the day of poll for easy and quick identification, Chief Electoral Officer Manisha Nanda said. She said the set up of polling stations should be arranged in such a way that polling agents could see the face of an elector as and when he entered the polling station. She said they should also be able to watch the entire operation inside the polling station, including movement to the voting compartment and exit from the polling station after the casting of vote. However, they should not, in any event, be seated in a place where they had the chance of seeing the voter actually cast his vote by pressing a particular button, she added. Nanda said the EC had also directed that polling agents, who were appointed by contesting candidates, should be ordinarily residents and electors of the concerned polling areas only. Such polling agents must have EPIC’s, she added. She clarified that if any person, who was a registered elector in the polling area and proposed to be appointed as polling agents by the contesting candidate but did not have an EPIC, the returning officer would make necessary arrangements to such electors on a written request. |
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Move to grant extension flayed
Shimla, November 25 General secretary of the association Suneel Grover has urged the Chief Minister and the power minister to drop the move and also sought a categorical assurance from them that no such extension would be granted to any individual in future. The Chief Minister had in 2005 announced in the house that extension in service would not be granted and in fact had denied this benefit to the earlier member (technical), who retired on October 30, 2006. He said the present incumbent had already joined as director (electrical ) in the Himachal Power Corporation (HPC) and he should not have been allowed at all to continue as the member (technical) in the board simultaneously. The engineers of the board were already faking acute stagnation and the policy of granting extensions after superannuation would only add to their frustration. There had been no fresh recruitment of graduate engineers in the board for the past almost six years and the failure to induct young blood was affecting its efficiency. |
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