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This time, triangular fight in Tehri
Parties resort to roadshow to garner votes
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BJP morcha sets eyes on Muslim votes
DM orders strict adherence to poll code
Poll Gimmickry
Cabinet Secy to meet Corbett officials today
Baisakhi at Welham Boys
Doon Dynamos, Assam Aragons to clash in final
Schools told to fix quota for poor students
SBI donates eco-friendly bins
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This time, triangular fight in Tehri
Dehradun, April 10 This time, Tehri seems to be heading for a keen contest between Congress, BJP and BSP. While Congress has fielded sitting MP Vijay Bahuguna, BJP is trying its luck with ace-shooter Jaspal Rana. However, the surprise entry is Munna Singh Chauhan, who had resigned from BJP and joined BSP. A recap of the past 14 Lok Sabha and one bye-election reveals that it was the Royal Shah Dynasty that ruled the Tehri constituency for nine times. So far, Congress had won this seat seven times, whereas the BJP has managed five victories. In the very first parliamentary elections in 1952, contesting as an independent candidate, Maharani Kamalendumati Shah of Tehri Royal Dynasty became the first MP from here. In the next election, Maharaja Manvendra Singh Shah took the reigns of Tehri and represented the constituency consecutively from 1957 to 1967 as Congress MP. After losing the battle in the next two elections, Congress was back into the fore with Trepan Singh Negi winning on a Congress ticket in 1980. The winning spree of continued till 1989, but in 1991 Congress suffered defeat at the hands of the BJP. Former Congress MP Manvendra Shah contested the seat on BJP ticket and romped home to victory, thereby making Tehri once again a fortress of the Shah dynasty. The result was same in the next four elections, with Shah emerging as the winner. However, after the death of Shah in 2007, Tehri went to bypoll after a gap of almost 27 years. In the bypoll, Congress nominee Vijay Bahuguna, who is the son of former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna, defeated Manvedra Shah's son Yajuvendra Shah to taste victory after three consecutive defeats in parliamentary elections. Now, after fresh delimitation, Tehri constituency had undergone a drastic change. While it has lost the Deoprayag and Narendra Nagar assembly constituencies to Pauri, a big chunk of Dehradun voters from Rajpur and other areas are now part of the Tehri. The inclusion of Dehradun in the Tehri means the sitting Congress MP Vijay Bahuguna would now certainly have to focus more on the state capital. The deletion of Doiwala, Rishikesh, Narendra Nagar and Deoprayag segments from Tehri is an issue of concern for BJP, as the party faired well in all these assembly segments during the 2007 bypoll. According to figures, as of now there are 11,32,721 voters in the restructured Tehri constituency. Nearly 37 per cent of the electors in this constituency are Thakurs, while Brahmins constitute 22 per cent of the total. Among others, the SCs constitute 17 per cent, STs and Muslims 6 per cent each and Sikh-Punjabi electors constitute 3 per cent. Significantly, 10 per cent of electors are from the remaining sections of society. Till now, the contest was mainly between the Congress and BJP candidates, but the announcement of Munna Singh Chauhan as BSP candidate has made the contest triangular. In wake of the fact that Munna and Rana are from the Janpur area of Chakrata tehsil, his presence in the poll fray is likely to divide the votes between the two parties. Furthermore, Bahuguna will also be affected because Munna is likely to get a sizeable chunk of Muslim and Dalit votes. While Vijay Bahuguna and Jaspal Rana had have already kickstarted their campaigns, Munna Singh is likely to start in a few days. Interestingly, the decision of Rajni Rawat - the head eunuch of Dehradun - to contest from Tehri on the Jan Kranti Party ticket will add some colour to the election campaign. |
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Parties resort to roadshow to garner votes
Haridwar, April 10 Congress candidate from Haridwar Harish Rawat has been aggressively campaigning since the past one week. Apart from this, Congress workers have devised a new way of wooing traders. A certain section of workers would now be carrying flags, their election symbol and a photograph of Harish Rawat and move from shop to shop asking for votes. The campaign will be kicked-off from Laksar on April 13. In a meeting held on the insistence of state Congress incharge RK Dhawan, young and new party workers were given tips. State Congress secretary Jitendra Vidyakul said: "The onus is on each party workers views to ensure victory from all five seats." On the other hand, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), buoyed up by the recently held workers' convention, has started campaigning and on a largescale. With Madan Kaushik donning the mantle of incharge of election campaign, the BJP is trying to regain its lost edge and would soon organise small public meetings to convey the party's message. Although the Samajwadi party (SP) has started somewhat late, its candidate Ambrish Kumar is relying on road shows and village-to-village campaign. Another candidate, from the Hindu Rashtriya Awami Hukook (HRAH), Mohammed Mursleen Kureshi, is campaigning with a motto of eliminating the gap between communities and uplift of farmers. The Uttarakhand Kranti Dal (UKD) has launched a 'Jan-Jagriti' campaign. Its candidate Rajkumar Saini has started campaigning with the Saini Yuva Mahasabha members in various parts of the constituency, with a special focus on areas dominated by the Saini community, including Niranjanpur, Bhagwanpur, Kankarkhata and Ismailpur. The Shiv Sena has also started its campaign although the party lacks a mass base in the whole state. Its candidate Pandit Umashankar Purohit started his campaign after offering a prayer at Har-Ki-Pauri yesterday. The party's election in-charge Mukesh Bharadwaj said presence of the Purohit community and women in their road show was a positive indication. The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) candidate Mohammed Shazad is banking upon developmental works for his win. |
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BJP morcha sets eyes on Muslim votes
Roorkee, April 10 After offering prayers and holy ‘chadar’ (sheet) at Peeran Kaliyar shrine on behest of their candidates Swami Yatindranand Giri (Haridwar) and Bachchi Singh Rawat (Nainital), the members of Morcha have started holding public meetings in Muslim-populated villages from Thursday onwards. “Our target is to woo Muslim voters. Haridwar and Kaliyar Sahreef (dargah) are among the holiest places of the country, so we are proud that our party has fielded a saint to represent the people from here,” said Aleem Siddiqui, a senior member of the Morcha. The Morcha started its campaign from village Rehmatpur, following which the activists went to Belda and Mubarakpur villages. “We are getting a good response,” said Sajid Ali, general secretary of the Morcha. “In the coming days, we will visit every village and meet people as part of our door-to-door campaign. “We are trying our best to garner maximum Muslim votes, and hope to win all five seats,” said Siddiqui. Besides Ali and Siddiqui, other members, including Shahzad Idrisi, Sarfraz Ahmad, Anees Ahmad, Ghulam Hussain Ansari and Shekh Nisar Ahmad, also accompanied the Morcha leaders during the campaign. |
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DM orders strict adherence to poll code
Haridwar, April 10 The sector and zonal magistrates would also give survey reports to the respective district election officer of their areas. The DM has directed that boards depicting party symbols on the developmental works be also done away with. Bagholi has also given directions to the additional magistrates to give daily reports and ensure that the poll code is not violated. In the first phase on April 15 and the second phase on May 6, political parties and their booth agents would be given information about electronic voting machines. Special heed is also being given to the expenditure register, which has to be maintained by the candidates. In view of upcoming public gatherings by politicians and usage of helipads by high-profile leaders, additional electoral officer SN Pandey has directed the returning officers to point out the places for these so that the administration can finalise the venues. Bagholi has also ordered closure of liquor shops on May 13, the day of polling, and on May 16, the day of counting, till 5pm. Liquor shops would also remain closed on April 14 on Ambedkar
Jayanti. |
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Poll Gimmickry
Dehradun, April 10 The first report of Justice RA Sharma (retd) commission, instituted by the BJP government to probe irregularities into the alleged 56 scams of the previous Congress government, was submitted to Chief Minister BC Khanduri (retd), last evening. Although the BJP government had claimed that it would expose the misdeeds of the Congress regime in a short span, the first report has been submitted after nearly two years and has come at a time when the crucial Lok Sabha elections are near. Moreover, the report pertains to alleged handing over of government gardens and farmhouses to private players. During the Congress regime, many government gardens, farmhouses and cold storage facilities were handed over to private individuals. Meanwhile, Chief Minister Khanduri has said that appropriate action would be taken after a thorough scanning of the report. BJP spokesperson Vishwas Dabur said the Congress party has been exposed after submission of the first report. On the other hand, Congress has dismissed the first report as a political gimmick before elections. "They have come up with only one report after two years, whereas they promised to bring out the truth within three months," said RK Dhawan, AICC general secretary and incharge of Congress party affairs in
Uttarakhand. |
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Cabinet Secy to meet Corbett officials today
Dehradun, April 10 Uttarakhand Chief Secretary will be meeting Union Cabinet Secretary KN Chandreshekhar tomorrow for discussing tiger and elephant projects. The meeting assumes significance keeping in view rising issues linked to man animal conflict in the region. While their have been persistent demand for increasing the area of Corbett to accommodate the tiger spillovers at the park, taking into account the high density of tiger at Corbett National Park. The arrest of poachers allegedly found active in and around Corbett and number of deaths of tigers in Corbett in territory struggle have been a cause of concern. He said the state government’s initiative towards protection and enrichment of wildlife in the state has started yielding commendable results. He said the state was fast turning into favourite destination for its wildlife lovers. Pandey also pointed out that it was responsibility of one and all to work towards the protection of wildlife. The meeting to be held in Dhikala zone of Corbett will be participated by Uttarakhand chief wildlife warden Srikant Chandola and director Project Tiger Rajesh Gopal. |
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Prayers mark Good Friday
Dehradun, April 10 At the St John Church JP Singh, Pastor led a prayer meeting and asked the devotees to meditate on the teachings of Bible and Jesus Christ. Special prayers were also held at the St Methodist Church and CNI Church. At the St Peter Church, Patapani, (Ramnagar, Kumaon) a silent march was held to mark the somber occasion. During the prayer service, Father Ashok said true happiness can only be achieved through self sacrifice and through enduring pain and suffering. He even forgave those who hurt him. He said Jesus Christ was son of God and was sent primarily to get rid of evil. Special prayer meetings were also held at other churches in different parts of the state. |
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Baisakhi at Welham Boys
Dehradun, April 10 Punjabi singer Shamsher Mehndi, brother of Daler Mehndi, will give cultural performance during the festival. Principal of Welham Boys School, Dev Lahiri, said Baisakhi is celebrated across the country irrespective of class or region. Therefore, Welham Boys School aims to connect its students with Indian traditions through Baisakhi celebration. He said the function will be also be collecting a relief fund that could be used during any calamity in India. Welham School has donated Rs 4 lakh at the time of Bihar floods, he added. He also said during the celebrations, the school would also organise a career workshop that would guide parents about various career options available for their children. Welham Boys School will be fast switching into CBSE patron from prevalent ICSE system. Lahiri said CBSE has much more dynamic syllabus which is more suitable to the educational requirement of the present time. |
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Ranjit Section leads all divisions
Dehradun, April 10 In the three fixtures, the Ranjit section took on Pratap section in all the three divisions - respectively the Junior, Middle and Senior division. In the Junior Section, Ranjit defeated Pratap by 24-13. The highest scorer was cadet Vikram Dalal from Ranjit. In the Middle division, Pratap leveled the score by defeating Ranjit by 49-24. The highest scorer was cadet Lalit Thapliyal from Pratap. In the Senior division, Pratap defeated Ranjit by 14-10. The highest scorer of the match was cadet Shreyas Pingle. Later, in the second round of matches, the Chandragupta Juniors’ team defeated Shivaji Juniors by a margin of 10-06. Cadet Bhupinder Singh and cadet Aditya Kalsotra were the highest scorers. In the Middles division, Chandragupta defeated the Shivaji section by a margin of 35-29. The highest scorer was cdt Ayush Salaria. In the last match, Chandragupta Seniors defeated Shivaji Seniors by 30-25. Cadet Ankit Sood scored the highest number of baskets. Cahndragupta won all the three matches, defeating Shivaji 3-0. The Col H Dharmarajan, SM the Commandant, RIMC were present during the match. Other dignitaries present were LT Col Rajesh Nathawat, Mr CS Vishwakarma and Mr PK Sharma. The event was well co-ordinated by Mr Keshav Anand, OIC Basketball. |
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Doon Dynamos, Assam Aragons to clash in final
Dehradun, April 10 In the first semifinal match played here today, Assam Aragons defeated Baroda Barons by 7 wickets. Batting first, Baroda Barons were all out for 104 runs in 16.3 overs. The top scorers were LV Thakur with 24 runs followed by SS Parmar who made 15 runs. For Assam Aragons team, Pankaj Kashyap and Pavitra Sutta took two wickets each. In reply, Assam Aragons scored 106 for the loss of 3 wickets in 15.2 overs. The top scorers for Assam Aragons were Dipu Das who scored 33 runs and Pavitra Dutta who made 16 runs. For Baroda Barons, LV Thakur took two wickets. Man of the match was Ravitra Dutta. In the second semifinal match, Doon Dynamos beat Mumbai Matadors. Mumbai Matadors scored 127 runs for the loss of 9 wickets in 20 overs. The top scorers for Mumbai Matadors were Ravi Male with 42 runs and Ajay Parihar who scored 27 runs. For Doon Dynamos, S Nadeem took 4 wickets, whereas Balwant and Sudhir took two wickets each. Doon Dynamos team reached the target in just 18.4 overs with five wickets in hand. Sanjay was the top scorer for the team with 48 runs followed by Ajit who made 32 runs. For Mumbai Matadors, ND Maykar took three wickets and Ravi took two wickets. S Nadeem was declared Man of the Match. |
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Green Rock, Knight Riders triumph
Dehradun, April 10 Green Rock won the first match of the day against Nagar Nigam by a huge margin of 127 runs. Batting first Green Rock piled a mammoth total of 193 runs in allotted 15 overs. It was a scintillating innings of 88 runs played by Rahul that set the momentum for the team. He smashed three fours and eleven sixes in his innings. Another opener Sanjeev too chipped in with a handy 53 runs off 26 balls, hitting five fours and four sixes. Middle order batsman Rohit hit 18 runs. For the Nagar Nigam team Sagar was the lead wicket taker with three wickets in 3 overs. Chasing a victory target of 194 runs, Nagar Nigam was all out for 80 runs in 14 overs. Nagar Nigam team had a good start with both their team openers beginning on a good note. First opener Abhishek made 16 runs of 11 balls and the second opener Rahul made 22 runs off 21 balls. But none other batsman gave any resistance and the whole team fall short by 127 runs in the end. For Green Rock team Chintoo, Sujan and Bablu took two wickets each. The second match of the day was played between Ramnagar Knight Riders and Dobhalwala XI. Ramnagar Knight Riders won the match by 84 runs. Batting first Ramnagar Knight Riders scored a modest total of 126 runs of 15 overs. Middle order batsman Laxman and Anshul were the top scorer for their team. Laxman made 38 runs off 26 balls. Anshul also made 38 runs. For Dobhalwala XI team, Sumit was the lead wicket taker with four wickets. In reply, Dobhalwala XI could not put up a good show and was all out for just 50 runs in 10 overs. Sumit was the only top scorer for the team with 22 runs. For Ramnagar Knight Riders, Pavan took 5 wickets in his three overs spell, and Anurag took two wickets in his three overs. |
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Schools told to fix quota for poor students
Dehradun, April 10 In a significant decision during the meeting, Negi announced that there would be a fixed quota of 10 per cent for the poor section in every school. During the meeting, the DM also directed the school managements to ensure that fee structure of all the school is properly notified. He also instructed the school authorities to appoint Public Relation Officers (PRO’s) in their respective schools, in order to facilitate the parents and others, who need any sort of information pertaining to schools. Negi said though he had received complaints that on;y some schools were fleecing the people, he had called a meeting of all schools. |
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SBI donates eco-friendly bins
Dehradun, April 10 She urged to avoid the use of polythenes in the larger interest of environment. Keeping the environs clean was a must. Assistant general manager SBI Y K Lumba called for inculcation of pro-environment habits among the children at very young age. He said places like Malsi Deer Park kept much importance as they brought us close to the nature and wildlife. DGM Mahip Kumar reiterated bank’s commitment towards community welfare. |
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