Dehradun, January 29
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has taken a headstart over the Congress by declaring its candidates for the five Lok Sabha seats of Uttarakhand.

By giving party ticket to ace shooter Jaspal Rana and to two Uttarakhand state ministers, the BJP has tried to give due weightage to youth and experience. The party has also fielded state party unit chief and former union minister Bacchi Singh Rawat from the Nainital seat.

Jaspal Rana is the son of Narayan Singh Rana, a former state BJP minister. It was his close relationship with BJP president Rajnath Singh that probably clinched the issue in his favour. Jaspal Rana’s sister is married to the son of Rajnath Singh.

Jaspal Rana had been trying to get the party nomination for long. He was denied the ticket in the 2007 assembly polls as well as for the Tehri Garhwal Lok Sabha seat following the death of sitting MP Manvendra Shah, the erstwhile Maharaja of Tehri.

In the Tehri Lok Sabha by-election, Manujendra Shah, the son of the deceased Maharaja who got the party nomination, lost to Vijay Bahuguna of the Congress by 20,000 votes. This time, the BJP high command decided to ignore the claim of the Tehri royals and preferred fielding young Jaspal Rana.

BJP state leaders feel that by fielding Jaspal Rana, the party would encash on his image and will be able to attract the youth.

By giving the nomination to Madan Kaushik, the state Education and Sugarcane Minister from Haridwar and State Social Welfare Minister Ajay Tamta from Almora (reserve), the party has reposed faith in its ministers who are both locals.

Both ministers have been working hard for the past one year in anticipation of the Lok Sabha polls. Ajay Tamta, who was a minister of state in the Khanduri government, was elevated as a Cabinet minister last year with an eye on the Lok Sabha poll.

Bacchi Singh Rawat, Uttarakhand BJP chief and former union minister has been fielded from Nainital. He was the sitting Lok Sabha member from Almora, the seat that has been reserved in the new delimitation. The Nainital seat, a stronghold of veteran ND Tiwari, is held by KC Singh Baba of the Congress.

The BJP had announced the candidature of Lt Gen TPS Rawat (retd) from Pauri Garhwal Lok Sabha seat months ago. He had won the Pauri Garhwal seat vacated by Chief Minister Maj Gen BC Khanduri (retd) in the February 2008 by-election defeating Satpal Maharaj of the Congress by a slender margin.

Haridwar, January 29
Election fever seems to be gripping the city with the Bahujan Samajwadi party (BSP), Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Samajwadi party (SP) announcing their candidates from the Haridwar parliamentary constituency.

The BSP had already nominated sitting legislator Mohammed Shahzad as its candidate. The BJP has opted for state minister for education, sugarcane and excise Madan Kaushik and the SP has announced state unit chief Ambrish Kumar as its candidate.

On getting the official nod, Madan Kaushik said that he would try to take along all party workers and would try to replicate the development work he had done as a legislator in the whole constituency if he wins the Lok Sabha elections.

Party workers at Haridwar welcomed Kaushik at Jatwada Bridge and took out a rally.

The SP, who has its lone MP Rajendra Badi in the state from Haridwar, has declared Ambrish Kumar as its candidate for Haridwar.

Ambrish is the Uttarakhand SP’s president and is a former legislator from Haridwar. He is a known face in the district and has a good hold on the Muslims, backward classes and workers.

After getting confirmation from the party, the SP district unit called a meeting in which members from the district participated. Ambrish gave his first official speech as Lok Sabha candidate.

He vowed to work for the betterment of the people and said that the party was for all and doesn’t propagate a specific religion or caste.

Clearing doubts over the SP’s alliance with the Congress, he said the alliance is to tackle the nefarious designs of BJP who want to divide and rule.

“Look at the Gujarat riots, Orissa vandalism or the party in-fighting to become Prime Minister. It will be difficult for the BJP to even get 100 seats” he said.

SP state general secretary Murli Manohar criticised the BJP for playing the religious card and said that the SP considers every voter as an Indian and does not classifies them as vote bank.

Present at the convention were SP city president and all executive members of the district party unit. 

Roorkee, January 29
The “Wednesday bazaar” at the Civil Lines here, which caters mainly to the poor strata of society, has become a bone of contention between permanent shopkeepers and temporary vendors, with the former demanding a shift of venue for the latter.

On every Wednesday, which is a weekly off for shopkeepers of the area, hundreds of vendors set up stalls along the market lane to sell products that are cheap and affordable.

The system was developed by the administration to provide poor vendors a place for their temporary shops.

However, now the permanent shopkeepers are demanding a shift of venue for this temporary bazaar citing the growing crime incidents, including thefts, chain-snatching and eve-teasing, as the reason behind the demand.

“Incidents of thefts are being reported on every Wednesday. Besides, snatchings, pick-pocketing, lifting of vehicles and eve-teasing have become a routine affair, which is maligning the reputation of the bazaar,” said a shopkeeper on condition of anonymity.

“No one knows the antecedents of these vendors and most of them are outsiders. Many criminal elements also come here in the garb of vendors. As the stalls are being put up in front of the shops, no one can see what is happening behind them,” alleged another shopkeeper, while adding that a computer and some cash was stolen from a garments shop on last Wednesday.

On the other hand, temporary vendors deny these allegations while claiming that permanent shopkeepers do not want to shut their shops even on their off day.

“As we set up our stalls in front of their shops, they cannot open them. Out of frustration, they are making false allegations,” said Usman, who comes from Manglore every Wednesday to sell readymade rags.

“Against the official order, many shops are open even on Wednesday. This often leads to minor clashes between vendors and the shopkeepers,” alleged another vendor Irfaan Ahmed. He contended that they should not be denied the opportunity to make a living.

Meanwhile, SP (Rural) Ajay Joshi confirmed that illegal activities were on the rise on Wednesday.

“To deal with the situation, we have started deploying extra force, including policewomen, on the day,” he said.

Mussoorie, January 29
A high-powered joint parliamentary committee on Waqf properties today directed the state government to have its own board and get illegal encroachments removed from Waqf properties.

Headed by K Rahman Khan, the committee members met various Muslim delegations from Dehradun and Mussoorie and heard their grievances regarding management of Waqf properties.

Later, Khan told mediapersons that the committee has found that encroachments and illegal occupancy were a major problem affecting Waqf properties and they would strongly recommend their removal.

Rahman also expressed concern over the low revenue being generated by the properties under the Waqf board.

He said the committee was considering several options for enhancing the revenue. “The committee would also recommend workable options for increasing the revenue from Waqf properties,” Rahman said.

The committee members also inspected Waqf properties in Ghantaghar, near Mussoorie.

“We have submitted a memorandum regarding the problems being faced by Muslims in the absence of a proper board,” said Razia Baig, a former member of the Uttarakhand Waqf Board, who also met the committee members.

Meanwhile, the members included SM Akhtar, Kamal Akhtar, Mohammad Mohsin, Naresh Kumar, RS Rawal, Ranjit Rathi, P Narayan and DK Hamza.

Others present at the meeting were DGP Subhash Joshi, DM Dehradun Amit Kumar, and SSP Dehradun Kumar Biswas. The committee members also met Uttarakhand chief secretary Indu Kumar Pandey.

Dehradun, January 29
The Peyjal Nigam Diploma Engineers have threatened to launch a statewide agitation on February 10 in protest against the non-fulfilment of their long-standing demands that include promotions, transfers, GPF and anomalies in the implementation of the Sixth Pay Commission recommendations.

To draw the attention of the government, the employees of the Peyjal Nigam owing allegiance to the Uttarakhand Diploma Engineers Sangh performed a ‘Buddhi-Shuddhi Yagya’ at the Peyjal Nigam headquarters.

“We have given the government a February 9 deadline for meeting our demands. Otherwise, we will be forced to launch a statewide agitation on February 10,” said regional president of the sangh Yogender Singh.

The general secretary of the sangh, Suresh Pande, said that according to government policy, promotions of assistant engineer and junior engineer are done at the level of the managing director, but of late, there has been blatant interference by the government which has hindered the promotion process.

He said that, in the coming days, the sangh would intensify the stir, as the department is yet to come up with the seniority list of assistant engineers.

Dehradun, January 29
DEAL, OLF, Postal and Indian Institute of Petroleum have stormed into the semifinals of the Uttarakhand State Civil Services Volleyball Tournament here today.

Eight matches were played today. In the first match, Postal beat OLF in straight sets 25-14, 25-18. OFD beat CSD Department 25-18, 25-11 while NHO defeated SOI in a hard-fought three-set encounter 26-24, 24-26, 15-10. DEAL outclassed MES 25-11, 25-10 and Postal prevailed over SOI 25-14, 25-19.

The IIP team won their match against CSD Department 25-12, 25-11 while OLF overclassed NHO 25-17, 25-20. In the last match, DEAL beat OFD 27-25, 22-25, 15-10.