Una, December 7
Union minister of state for foreign affairs Anand Sharma today launched a scathing attack on the BJP in the election rallies organised in the Chintpurni and Kutlehar constituencies of this district today. He alleged that the BJP was following policies inspired by Nathuram Godse, the assassin of Mahatma Gandhi.

The BJP did not have any policy for development as it had always followed negative politics. In Gujarat the BJP Chief Minister had once again roused communal feelings in elections. He claimed the present UPA government had taken many landmark decisions. The Employment Guarantee Bill was one such decision that had made 100 days’ employment in a year a legal right. The union government had provided Rs 12000 crore for providing at least 100 days’ employment for all in the country. The policy has helped people residing in remote areas of states like Himachal, Anand Sharma said.

He addressed rallies at Chruru in the Chintpurni constituency and the Swari Dhakoli area of the Kutlehar constituency. Nangal MLA K.P.S. Rana who was accompanying Anand Sharma cautioned the voters against voting for the BJP.

MANDI: Union minister for social justice and women empowerment Meira Kumar and Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh today launched a scathing attack on the BJP and the BSP. Claiming that the Congress governments had uplifted the downtrodden, including SCs and Dalits, they said while the BJP was anti-Dalit, the BSP had become a “new pasture for the disgruntled elements from the Congress and the BJP, sidelining the weaker sections.

Addressing a public meeting at Bhangrotu in the Balh (reserved) segment here today, Meira Kumar, daughter of former Prime Minister Jagjivan Ram, urged people, especially women and SCs, to vote for the Congress.

Virbhadra Singh addressed three rallies at Bhangrotu, Dehar (Sundernagar) and Tank Sarkaghat in Gopalpur in support of party candidates Sohan Lal (Sundernagar), Parkash Chaudhary (Balh), excise and taxation minister Rangila Ram Rao (Gopalpur). He gave a long list of development works carried out in the segments over the past five years.

Meira Kumar said the BSP was shedding crocodile tears on the welfare of SCs and Dalits. In fact, it had become a party of disgruntled elements from other parties and lost its character, Meira claimed. “The CM has sincerely worked for the uplift of the Dalits and the poor in the state. The Centre has sanctioned an IIT in the Mandi region and a central university in the Kangra region,” she added.

Virbahdra Singh attacked Dhumal saying the previous regime was neck-deep in corruption and only the Congress could give a clean and efficient and development-oriented government in the state. The BJP was without issues and the BSP had no base in the state, he said.

Though the turnout of crowds at Dehar was good, the turnout at Bhangrotu was thin due to cold weather and fog.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh today accused national BJP president Shanta Kumar of diverting 35 acres of leased government land from the “public trust to the private Vivekananda Trust at Palampur”. Even the Dhumal regime was neck-deep in corruption as four of its cabinet ministers had levelled charges against him at that time, he said.

He was addressing press conference here. He said the government had written several letters to Shanta Kumar, life chairmen of the Vivekanand Trust, but he did not respond. The government had given land to the public trust in which the ex-officio member was the principal secretary. But he converted that trust into a private trust in which he has employed his relatives and near and dear ones. It was a shining example of corruption in the state, he alleged. If voted to power, the government would take steps to take over the trust, he said.

Sujanpur Tihra (Hamirpur): Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda today made scathing attack on the BJP while addressing an election rally at Sujanpur Tihra in support of Congress candidate Anita Verma contesting from Hamirpur.

He said, “The name of BJP denotes ‘bahut jhooti party’ and it has no comparison with the Congress party which has a clear cut policy, good intension and a leader like Sonia Gandhi who had sacrificed the post of Prime Minister.”

Establishing an emotional chord with the people of the area he said, “I am proud to be here as I had visited the hills which were part of Punjab then with my father who was a minister in Punjab government; this is an area of brave people and soldiers of Haryana and Himachal have always been in the forefront in defending the boarders of the country.”

He said, “BJP has no policy and its only policy is ‘naam sewa ka lo aur sata me ake swayam ki sewa karo’ and whenever they came to the power anywhere they have pushed the progress 20 years back.”

Talking to mediapersons after the rally Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda brushed aside the formation of a separate out fit by former Chief Minister Bhajan Lal. He said, “His parting ways with the Congress would have no political impact in the state and Congress is a big political organisation where individual does not matter.”

Replying to a question he said, “Bhajan Lal swarth ke karan Congress se alag huve hain.”

He said, “Cooperation greater Cooperation among the north Indian states of Haryana, Himachal, Punjab and Delhi could lead to bigger economic development in this region.” 

Shimla, December 7
At loggerheads with the Election Commission of India on several counts the state government today suffered further embarrassment for notifying a new medical college after the enforcement of model code of conduct for election without its prior approval.

The commission has conveyed its strong displeasure to the Himachal government over its action in notifying the opening of a medical college in Mandi in violation of the model code of conduct. The commission after considering the letter of the government explaining the matter came to the conclusion that although the notification regarding opening of the new medical college in government sector in the Mandi district was issued on October 8, 2007, it was not notified in the government gazette till October 23, 2007, apparently because the said decision to open the medical college did not have the approval of the competent authority till that date.

After going through the record it became apparent that the approval of the competent authority (the health minister) in this case the Chief Minister was obtained only on October 23 and the notification was published in the gazette on the same date.

Under these circumstances, the commission was of the view that the opening of a new medical college was formally approved by the competent authority only on October 23 during the period when the model code of conduct was in force. It was, thus, a violation of the code which prohibited announcement of new projects. Further, the state government did not consult the commission or took its prior permission in the matter.

The commission rejected the explanation of officials who were responsible for issuing such notification in violation of model code of conduct and directed that they should be issued a warning in writing under intimation to it.

Dharamsala, December 7
The election commission was adamant to deploy teachers/lecturers of schools, colleges and universities on poll duty even as the Supreme Court has directed not to get the services of the teaching community when the academic sessions were in progress.

According to an estimate, more than 20,000 teachers working in the schools, colleges and universities across the state had been called on election duty by the respective returning officers at the sub-divisional levels.

It may be mentioned that the examinations of postgraduate classes in the state university, its regional centre at Dharamsala and colleges across the state were in progress and the teaching community was busy conducting them. The examinations of winter session of the schools were also round the corner just after the elections and there was a lot of responsibility on the shoulders of the teaching community to cover up the syllabus.

Ashwani Kumar Sharma president of the state school lecturers association said the election commission should implement the orders of the apex court and direct the returning officers to stop the process of deploying the teaching community on poll duty.

He was of the view that the students would suffer a lot if the teachers were put on poll duty. 

Shimla, December 7
Blaming the Congress and the BJP for failing to secure Himachal’s interest, the CPM said today that it would fight for special category status to the hill state, besides restoration of agricultural subsidies and release of its royalty dues on power generation from Punjab and the Centre.

“We will plead Himachal’s case for special category status and release of its share at the rate of 7.19 per cent from Punjab under the Reorganisation Act, 1966,” said state CPM secretary Rakesh Singha while releasing the party manifesto.

He said Punjab owed Rs 550 crore to Himachal from the Bhakra dam alone. “Besides, Himachal should get 12 per cent royalty on all power projects, including the Dehar and Kol dams, that came up before 1990 as per the recommendations of the Ranganathan Commission,” he said.

The CPM demanded a lumpsum compensation of Rs 1,000 crore and an annual grant of Rs 200 crore from the Centre to Himachal for protecting its forests in the national interest.

The issue of agricultural crisis figures prominently in the CPM manifesto, with the Left party demanding the restoration of subsidies and proper marketing facilities in view of limited cultivabale land in HP and high cost input. “The farmers should be given malikana rights on non-forest land they have been cultivating, with provision of proper irrigation facilities and adequate subsidies,” he said.

The CPM lashed out at both Congress and BJP for following a policy of liberalisation which was leading to closure of job opportunities in the government sector. “We will fight for enhancement of daily wages to Rs 150 month and linking it with the price index and regularisation of all jobs,” said Singha.

He said the BJP and the Congress had closed employment opportunities by signing the Fiscal Responsibility Budget Management Act.

He also said the CPM was against privatisation of education, especially in a state like Himachal. The CPM would fight for seeking an unemployment allowance of Rs 500 per month for lakh educated unemployed youth in Himachal.

The CPM manifesto talks of giving reservation to women and strict implementation of the laws for their protection. There is also mention of formulating a policy for the disabled and setting up of educational and vocational centres to help them lead an independent life.

Solan, December 7
Cornering the ruling Congress on the issue of corruption BJP chief ministerial candidate P.K.Dhumal said today that the party would probe all such land deals where poor farmers had lost their agricultural land for a song while political cohorts of the ruling party had minted crores in property dealing.

Addressing an election rally at Dharampur in favour of Rajiv Sehjal, Dhumal said foreseeing the defeat of the Congress Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh was indulging in a slander campaign. Virbhadra Singh had been exposed in the infamous CD where the entire state had heard his money transaction deal.

The Congress was trying to mislead the masses by harping on subsidised ration while the bitter truth was that foodgrains were substandard and infested with worms.

He said the Congress merely dwelt on political vendetta and indulged in registering false cases on petty excuses against BJP supporters. All such cases would be withdrawn and the aggrieved would be extended relief if the party was voted to power.

Lambasting Virbhadra Singh, he said, it did not behove a five-time longest serving Chief Minister to befool the masses by announcing that their next CM would be from the SC community.

Enlisting the party’s priorities Dhumal said the industries would be linked to IITs and sufficient job opportunities would be created in the private, public as well as government sector along with budgetary provisions.

Earlier, Satya Pal Jain, state party affairs in charge, said the district would get a Cabinet berth if the party formed the next government.

Shimla: The BJP said today that development and good governance were the main issue in Gujarat but it was AICC chief Sonia Gandhi who had tried to play politics of vote by playing the communal card.

Addressing a press conference here today, BJP vice-president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi tsaid that the party wanted to fight the Gujarat elections on the issue of development but Sonia’s utterances had forced the BJP to give a reply to Congress attempts to sensationalise the issue.

He said the Congress was trying to mislead the minorities to get political mileage. “One must understand that terrorism has no religion, region or caste and Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi has only spoken against terrorism and not any religion,” he remarked.

Regarding the slogans issued by the BJP which has objectionable references to Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh and other Congress leaders, Naqvi said there was nothing controversial in it. He defended the party and said that it was the Congress which itself promoted this trend in the 2003 election campaign.

Shimla, December 7
PCC general secretary Harbhajan Singh has charged former Chief Minister P.K.Dhumal with misleading the people on the issue of water problem in the state capital. Addressing a press conference here today he contested Dhumal’s statement that the Congress government had done nothing to augment water supply to the city and only given water-borne diseases to people. He said the government had already implemented a Rs 66-crore augmentation scheme to bring water from the Giri river which would double the daily availability. The scheme was being tested these days and if everything went as planned Giri waters would be flowing through taps before the elections.

He maintained that the Congress had taken steps to augment water supply every time it came to power. It installed about 20 tubewells to meet the demand during the lean period and it had already prepared a project report for a Rs 600-crore scheme to bring water from the Pabbar river which would meet the city’s demand for the next century.

The problem of traffic congestion was also being solved by constructing a double-lane tunnel along with a bridge, parking and lift to connect Lakkar Bazar with Circular Road at a cost of Rs 23 crore. Three more tunnels were being proposed for which detailed project reports had already been prepared.

A bypass road to reduce traffic on the Sanjauli-Dhalli sections had been constructed which was likely to be opened shortly. The biggest achievement had been the inclusion of Shimla in the Jawahar Lal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission under which a host of projects were being implemented. Work had been started on a project to construct 252 residential units for housing the urban poor.

Kangra, December 7
Tension gripped up this morning in Dr R.P. Government Medical College at Tanda following death of a girl child allegedly because of negligence of the doctors. This resulted in an altercation between the attendants of the deceased and the doctor. The matter was referred to the police.

This was the first death in the newly build Dr R.P.Government Medical College Hospital after it was shifted here on December 1. Sanjeev Kumar, father of the deceased child, said that his wife Suman delivered three daughters on November 27, in Dr R.P. Government Medical College Hospital at Dharamshala with one child dead in the womb. The other girl child also died at Dharamshala. Meanwhile, the hospital was shifted to Tanda and Suman along with her only surviving daughter too was shifted here.

He said the child was on phototherapy as was suffering with jaundice. Last evening the doctors attending her told him that the child should be shifted from the phototherapy section to the children’s ward and kept with her mother.

The condition of the child deteriorated in the night and the child was shivering, Sanjeev added. As the medical college building was not centrally heated and doctors did not allowed them to keep a heater in the ward to warm up the child, the infant died this morning.

The parents of the deceased child alleged that it was death due to the negligence of the doctors alleging that had she been kept on phototherapy she would have survived.

Following the death of the child the irate parents and relatives held altercation with Dr Milap. The college authorities referred the matter to the police against Vikram Singh Rajol.

Mandi, December 7
Environmental activists have taken the ruling Congress and the BJP to task as the real issues affecting the common man and farmers had been sidelined and politicians were more interested in muckraking and false propagandas while sidelining key issues like sustainable tourism, employment and economic growth of farmers who constitute over 90 per cent population in the state.

Claiming to championing the cause of “farmers and oustees of the big hydro power and cement plants”, Kulbhushan Upmanyu, leader of the National Himalaya Niti Abhiyan Samiti, which has taken an public education yatra in the midst of elections to educate the voters on the state’s burning problems said: “The development of big hydro and cement projects have destroyed environment in the project sites. Farmers have been rendered landless. Roads have been cut through forests. Natural sources have been depleted. Youth are helpless. But sadly, no party is debating these issues in the elections”.

Upmanyu said the proposed big projects like the Himalayan ski village being set in Kullu and six cement plants in the Mandi-Shimla region would destroy the local ecology and resources and breed despondency and frustration among the youth. “These companies make most money while the local people get crumbs. As a result frustration shapes up rebellions as it has happened in the North-east, he cautioned.

He said that faulty networks of roads have cut down trees the big hydro projects have rendered thousands of farmers landless. “They have got compensation but they are already facing trauma as the money does not last for ever. There is no sustainable settlement policy for them”, he said talking to The Tribune, highlighting the NHNAS’s people’s manifesto-2008”.

Upmanyu, coordinator Guman Singh and activist Viddya Negi said they would meet party leaders and thrust upon them to come out clean on burning issues of development as the state was facing depletion of natural resources, shrinking rivers and receding glaciers and depressing farmers in the state. “We want tourism which provides lasting sources of income for youth with dignity. We do not want tourism which destroys nature, employs more taxi drivers, waiters, housekeepers and odd-hour jobs to our youth. They should be made stakeholders in the development”, they asserted.

Similarly, rural women are at the receiving end. “They are facing problems of collecting fuel, food, fodder due to depletion of natural resources as a result of faulty development, said Vidya Negi.

After touring from Manali-Kullu and Mandi, the activists would go to Bilaspur and Shimla to meet the top leaders highlighting the issues, they said. 

Mandi, December 7
Coming to terms with the BJP’s ‘yuva garjana rally’ held here on November 18, UPA chairperson and Congress president Sonia Gandhi would address a big rally here on December 11.

Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi was likely to accompany here as per demands of youth of the region, revealed party sources.

The party had been on the defensive as its traditional vote banks like Dalits and OBCs seem to be slipping away towards the new entrant BSP, revealed insiders.

Nurpur, December 7
The Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee’s general secretary Ajay Mahajan who has been contesting election on a party ticket from Nurpur Assembly constituency after retirement of his father and revenue minister Sat Mahajan from electoral politics has warned the BJP rebel leader Rakesh Pathania who is contesting election as independent against him to desist from character assassination in the electioneering.

Talking to the mediapersons last night at Raja Ka Bagh near here he said he had filed a defamation suit against Pathania in a court at Shimla for his accusation that he had grabbed subsidy to the tune of lakhs of rupees from various government agencies.

“The court has issued summons to Pathania but he has been levelling wild allegation against me in his election meetings in the constituency to defame me,” he rued.

He said after being elected MLA his priorities for Nurpur Assembly constituency which had been nursed by his predecessor revenue minister Sat Mahajan for over three decades would be to equip sub divisional hospital with more medical facilities, set up a blood storage centre and a polytechnic institute and to also develop the industrial area at Naglar in Nurpur subdivision.

Shimla, December 7
Despite the party’s blitzkrieg campaign in Gujarat, the BJP top brass, including L.K. Advani and Rajnath Singh, are leaving no stone unturned to ensure BJP victory in the hill state.

Having addressed rallies at Kullu and Solan, the two leaders will devote at least three to four days to campaign in Himachal again. While Advani will address six election rallies in three days, BJP chief Rajnath Singh will campaign for four more days.

As per the election programme of state central BJP leaders. Advani will address election meetings at Santokhgarh and Chamba on December 9, at Nadaun and Palampur on December 16 and at Dharamsala and Shimla on December 17.

Rajnath Singh will address rallies at Dharampur and Jawalamukhi on December 9, at Chopal and Shillai on December 10, at Karsog and Ghumarwin on December 16. The venues of his two meetings scheduled for December 15 have not yet been decided.