Shimla, April 23
The Bishop Cotton School (BCS) Workers’ Union today held a demonstration outside the deputy commissioner’s office in protest against the termination of the services of 33 employees by the school management.

The workers took out a procession from the DC office after which they organised a rally. It was following the breakdown of talks with the school management in the presence of the district administration that the entire work force of 109 employees went on a strike, leading to a virtual crisis in the school having 525 boarders.

Unfortunately, the conciliation held before the Labour Officer today also failed to put an end to the stalemate, with the workers being on strike for almost two months. The next hearing before the Labour Officer is scheduled for April 29.

It was on December 6, 2008 that the school management terminated the services of 33 mess employees following allegations of pilferage. The terminated employees tried to retaliate by stopping the contractor who had been assigned the mess work from working in the school. Following this the matter has been pending before the Labour Commissioner.

The general secretary of the BCS Workers’ Union, Rajender Kumar said that they would not call off the strike till all the 33 employees are reinstated. During the talks held on April 20, the school management had agreed to take back 18 employees only but the union insisted that since all faced similar charges pick and choose could not be done.

With 525 boarders in the hostel, the school has been plunged into a major crisis with the teaching staff pitching in to make up for the absence of the 109 workers. 

Shimla, April 23
The decision of the Election Commission to allow the use of government rest houses for arranging stay of candidates and political leaders has come as a major relief to politicians who were facing major inconvenience owing to non-availability of hotels and other lodging facility in remote rural areas of the state.

Chief Electoral Officer Anil Khachi today said the Election Commission of India had permitted the use of government rest houses, dak bungalows and guest houses of public-sector undertaking subject to payment of charges and meeting certain other conditions.

He said the permission to use government rest houses would be purely for “rest” and no press conferences, public meetings, or campaigning could be done from there. “Such accommodation will not be monopolised by any one party and the available accommodation shall be allotted in a fair and equitable manner,” he said.

He said any meeting by members of political parties in a rest house would be considered a violation of the model code of conduct. Only the vehicle carrying the person allowed accommodation and two other vehicles, if used by him, would be allowed inside the guest house compound.

As per the directions of the EC, rooms would not be given to any single individual for more than 48 hours. Moreover, in case the rooms were required for poll-related work, including for stay of poll duty officials, they would be given preference over all others, including politicians. No political party workers would be allowed to stay in rest houses 48 hours before the close of polling till the completion of poll or re-poll.

Prior written permission of the authority authorised to issue permits for such rest houses would be mandatory before the accommodation was used by any political party or leader, he added.

Shimla, April 23
Upbeat over large turnouts during the filing of nominations by its candidates the Congress today claimed victory over the BJP in the first round of electioneering.

General secretary of the party Kuldeep Rathore said the rallies organised during filing of nominations were in fact a show of strength and the Congress had scored over the BJP in all four seats. The numerical strength and the enthusiasm with which the people came out in support of the Congress candidates was a clear indication that there was a wave in favour of the party. He said the crowd during the filing of nomination by Virbhadra Singh from Mandi seat was unprecedented.

The ruling BJP misused the official machinery to muster support for occasion but failed to match the Congress show. There was little doubt that anti-incumbency factor had come into play against the party within a short period of 15 months. The people of the state were aware of the achievements of the UPA government and the special treatment it meted out to the hill state.

He said the BJP had announced its candidates months ago and its leaders had completed several rounds of campaigning whereas the Congress had finalised its candidates less than a month ago. However, the good showing by the Congress during filing of nominations had provided a head start to the party, leaving the BJP far behind.

Rathore maintained that the ploy of the BJP to make discrimination by the UPA regime against the state was working against the party. It was for the first time so many mega central projects like a central university , an IIT, a national institute of fashion designing , Rs 1047 crore Bhanupali-Bilaspur rail line, Rs 4000 crore and ADB loan for hydropower projects were sanctioned. Above all Rs 72,000 farmers loan waiver, the national rural employment guarantee programme, the Bharat nirman yojna and the enactment of right to information law had helped the Congress gain support at the grassroots level.

Dharamsala, April 23
Congress leaders of the district put up a joint show during filing of nomination papers by party candidate from Kangra parliamentary constituency Chander Kumar here today.

All major Congress leaders, including leader of opposition Vidya Stokes, former HPCC president Viplove Thakur, former minister Sat Mahajan, his son Anil Mahajan, former MLA Sujjan Singh Pathania, former minister Asha Kumari, MLA from Badhiyat Kuldeep Singh Pathania and MLA from Nagrota Bagwan and former minister GS Bali were present along with Chander Kumar today.

While addressing a rally after the filing of nomination papers, Chander Kumar claimed that the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) was implemented in the entire Kangra district because of his efforts. He also claimed that other projects, including central university, the NIFT institute at Kangra were possible due to his lobbying with the UPA government.

The present government falsely claimed the credit for these projects, he said. However, Chander Kumar failed to explain as to why he failed to bring the said project during the stint of Congress government in the state.

In his assets details declared while filing nomination papers Chander Kumar has Rs 1 lakh in cash, fixed deposits worth Rs 7,10,020 , agriculture land worth about Rs 40 lakh, a house in native village Dhan worth Rs 15 lakh. He owns Hyundai Terracan 2005 model SUV and has pending loans worth Rs 12,77,000.

Chander Kumar’s wife has Rs 40000 in cash, Rs 28,689 in fixed deposits, Rs 1,01,007 in postal saving and jewels worth Rs 2,60000. She also owns agriculture land with Rs 8,87,692 and four-storey house in Shimla worth Rs 35 lakh.

The dependent daughter of Chander Kumar has Rs 10000 in cash and Rs 1,01714 in fixed deposits and jewels worth Rs 65000.

The Congress leaders claimed that their show of strength today was much better than the BJP. The claim was, however, refuted by the BJP as they termed the today’s rally of the Congress as a flop show.

Dharamsala, April 23
The BJP filed a complaint regarding violation of the election code of conduct by Congress candidate from the Kangra parliamentary constituency Chander Kumar while filing his nomination papers before returning officer KK Pant today.

As per the model code of conduct, only five persons are allowed to be present before the returning officer. However, Chander Kumar appeared before the returning officer along with a huge crowd after 11 am, the BJP has alleged.

Even at the time of taking oath, there were more than five persons present in the office of the returning officer despite a verbal request by the official concerned.

Congress workers, including ex-president of the NSUI and media in charge of the party Kewal Singh Pathania, raised slogans in front of the office of the returning officer and when police officials present on duty tried to stop them, they misbehaved with them. The Congress workers also misbehaved with a woman IPS officer on duty. They also used derogatory language against her, BJP leaders have claimed in the complaint.

They have also attached photographs and video clips to support their complaint.
The BJP has demanded that the nomination of the Congress candidate should be cancelled for violation of the model code of conduct.

Returning officer KK Pant admitted that a complaint had been received. He said the ADC, Kangra, who is in charge for observing the election code of conduct, had been asked to verify the contents of the complaint. Necessary action would be taken in the matter after verifying the facts, he added.

Kangra SP Atul Fulzele said the woman IPS officer had not complained of misbehaviour by Congress workers. “She has just reported that some Congress workers entered into arguments with her when she tried to stop them from entering the restricted area near the office of returning officer,” he added.

Chander Kumar was not available for comments despite repeated attempts to contact him on the phone.

Dharamsala, April 23
Lok Jan Shakti (LJP) party candidate Keshab, a resident of Chandpur village in Palampur, has turned out to be richest candidate from the Kangra parliamentary constituency. The property of LJP candidate and his wife runs into crores.

The LJP candidate, who filed his nomination papers before returning officer KK Pant today, is a contractor. As per the affidavit filed along with the nomination papers, Keshab has Rs 50,000 in cash, Rs 50.6 lakh in fixed deposits, Rs 40 lakh in Reliance life insurance, jewels worth Rs 56,000 and agriculture and non-agriculture land worth Rs 43 lakh.

His other assets include one Honda City car, a Zen car, a Matiz car, two tippers and a JCB. He has an RCC mixing plant and construction material worth Rs 20 lakh and pending claim of Rs 2 crore from the J&K government for the construction of Haj houses.

The spouse of the LJP candidate is also equally rich. She has Rs 75,000 in cash, jewels worth Rs 12 lakh, house worth Rs 90 lakh in Chandpur village, a flat worth Rs 65 lakh in Gurgaon.

His dependent son has just 500 pounds in his name.

Keshab Chauhan said had he decided to contest as an LJP candidate as the Congress and the BJP had failed to redress the unemployment problem in Kangra and Chamba districts. It was only due to his closeness to Ram Vilas Paswan that he managed to bring a potato chips project to the Palampur area. Besides providing employment to the local youth, the chips factory will also boost income of potato farmers in the district.

Shimla, April 23
As electioneering is gaining momentum, the focus is shifting to the Mandi and Hamirpur constituencies where stakes are running high for top leaders of the BJP and the Congress.

While former Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh is involved in a “do or die” battle in Mandi, the Hamirpur seat has become a matter of prestige for Chief Minister PK Dhumal after the Congress fielded Narinder Thakur, son of BJP stalwart late Jagdev Chand, against his cricketer son Anurag Thakur. The two constituencies are witnessing more intense and well-organised campaigning compared with that in Shimla and Kangra, where campaigning is still a low-key affair.

Interestingly, both parties are concentrating on the seats that are considered their strongholds. The two constituencies have seen maximum mobilisation of political workers and there seems to be no dearth of resources. Logically, the two parties should be in a position to win these seats without much effort and the focus should have been on Kangra and Shimla, where the contest, as per their own assessment, is tough. However, the absence of high-profile candidates has led to shifting of focus away from these constituencies.

Five-time Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh is contesting the Lok Sabha election after a gap of 28 years. He has a point to prove this time as the Congress lost the last assembly election under his leadership after which he had to make way for Vidya Stokes as the leader of the Congress Legislative Party. An emphatic win will not only re-establish his credentials as a mass leader, but also signal resurgence of the Congress in the state.

Aware of the importance of the battle, Virbhadra Singh is not leaving anything to chance. He demonstrated his crowd-pulling capacity by ensuring a record gathering at the time of filing of his nomination.

In the Kangra constituency, two former ministers, Chander Kumar (Congress) and Rajan Sushant (BJP), are crossing swords. However, the most lacklustre campaigning is being witnessed in Shimla. Both parties have low-profile candidates in the fray from here. Sitting Congress MP Dhani Ram, who seeking a third term, is facing Virender Kashyap, who has an un-envious record of losing all 10 elections that he contested, including six to the Lok Sabha in a row. He is banking on the anti-incumbency factor against Shandil to register a win this time.

Shimla, April 23
The Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau has registered a case against three teachers of the Education Department who had allegedly obtained jobs on the basis of fake appointment letters.

The case has been registered against Rajesh Kumar, Jai Prakash and Anuj Sharma under Sections 419 and 420 of the IPC and various sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act. The case was registered following a complaint by the Education Department on April 21.

SP, Vigilance, Daljit Thakur said the matter was still being investigated into and in case any clue about some more teachers serving on the basis of fake certificates was found, a thorough probe would be ordered.

It is learnt that the three teachers had illegally availed over Rs 7 lakh as wages from the Education Department. While Rajesh Kumar was serving as the principal in Bhanog School, Shimla, the other two were working in Sirmaur district.