Dehradun, May 2
Bahujan Samaj Party candidate from Tehri constituency Munna Singh Chauhan today accused the BJP-led state government and Congress of making desperate attempts to ensure the cancellation of BSP Supremo Mayawati's rally scheduled to be held in Dehradun on May 11.

Munna alleged that under pressure from the state government, the Dehradun district administration has denied the permission for holding the rally at the Ranger's Ground. He claimed that the Ranger's Ground is the property of Forest Research Institute (FRI) and district administration has acquired it till the elections are over.

"We had sought approval from District Magistrate Amit Singh Negi to hold the rally at the Ranger's Ground. After his approval, we started proceedings for depositing the requisite fee for the venue. However, when BSP leaders went to deposit the same, they were told by the DM to do so with the FRI, as the ground is owned by them," he said.

Munna added that when BSP leaders approached FRI, they refused to entertain them and in the meantime the DM also changed his stance and refused permission for the rally.

"When the administration had acquired the ground, there is no reason for taking permission from FRI. However, when we confronted the DM, he did not have a convincing reply," said Munna.

He alleged that being a Central institute, FRI denied the permission because of Congress pressure while adding that the DM changed stance under pressure from the state government.

Flaying the BJP and Congress for resorting to cheap tactics, Munna said denial of permission for holding the rally at Ranger's Ground makes it amply clear that both these parties are "scared" of the BSP.

"Seeing that the BSP is emerging as a major power in the hill state, especially in Haridwar and Tehri constituencies, the state government is baffled. They know that Mayawati's rally in Dehradun will be the final nail in the coffin. Therefore, the administration has denied the permission," he alleged.

Replying to a query whether the rally would be held at some other venue, Munna said it is extremely difficult to arrange another venue in such a short span of time. "Before finalising the new venue, we have to take clearance from the party's central leadership. Besides ensuring that the venue is safe from security point of view, there are several other factors that have to be taken care of while selecting the new venue," he disclosed, while adding that hunt for a new venue is on.

Meanwhile, taking a dig at the Chief Minister BC Khanduri, Munna said it was unfortunate that speaking in context of increasing forest fires in Uttarakhand, Khanduri has expressed his "helplessness".

"But contrary to the statement, two years back when Khanduri became the CM he had announced that no laxity on part of the forest officials will be tolerated," he said.

Dehradun, May 2
While addressing a rally in Sahaspur, on the outskirts of Dehradun, here today, Congress leader Suryakant Dhasmana said minorities and Dalits have suffered a lot ever since Bharatiya Janata Party government had come to power in Uttarakhand.

The rally, held in support of Congress candidate from Tehri Vijay Bahuguna, laid special emphasis on the works done by the earlier Congress government to aid minorities and the downtrodden.

Dhasmana said the Congress was committed to the welfare of Dalits and minorities, and alleged that the BJP government had stopped the welfare schemes started during the Congress rule. He said BJP is yet to utilise special component plan budget despite completion of two years of its rule.

Dhasmana alleged that the state government has done away with the 15-point implementation programme apart from dissolving the State Waqf Board.

Dhasmana asserted that the wave was in favour of the Congress and it would be reflected on the polling day.

Referring to the works done by Vijay Bahuguna as sitting MP from the region, Dhasmana said while the Tehri dam oustees were provided a package of Rs 1.5 crore, “Survey of a railway line from Dehradun to Kalsi was also done.”

“Establishment of Hydro Power Engineering College and Central University status for Garhwal University also goes to the credit to Vijay Bahuguana,” he added.

State general secretary of the party Ram Sharan Nautiyal said secular credentials of late HN Bahuguna were par excellence and he urged the people to ensure a landslide victory for Vijay Bahuguna. 

Haridwar, May 2
Chief Minister BC Khanduri addressed an election gathering at Lal Dangh area in Haridwar for party candidate from Haridwar Swami Yatindranand Giri, here today.

Recently, the Chief Minister had addressed a rally in Ranipur area accompanied by bigwigs of state party unit, including Bhagat Singh Koshyari, Bachi Singh Rawat, Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, Madan Kaushik and other party office bearers.

Pointing to his government’s achievements in a short span of two years, Khanduri said people know that despite no support from the Central government his government has met out the expectations of the people of the state.

Khanduri said party is all set for a clean sweep in the state and will form government in the Centre under the leadership of LK Advani.

The party candidate from Haridwar constituency Swami Yatindranand urged voters to vote for development and for a cadre based party.

While State Education Cabinet Minister Madan Kaushik criticised Congress party for being one family centered.

He cited example of Atal Bihari Vajpayee led NDA government and Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi’s governance to run the government efficiently.

Present at the rally were Roorkee MLA Suresh Jain, district general secretary Swami Yatishwaranand, district head Manoj Garg and all prominent party office bearers of Haridwar and Roorkee area. 

Dehradun, May 2
Bharatiya Janata Party leaders today claimed that if voted to power, they would put the country on the fast track of development.

Addressing mediapersons at the BJP headquarters, state spokesman Vishwas Dawar said the party had already released a vision document - "Infrastructure Vision" - which gives a detailed account of BJP's proposals about the development of various sectors, including roads, power, IT etc.

Dawar said one of the main highlights of the vision document is to connect all farms in the country with water. "For the prosperity of the farmers, it is must that they get proper resources, especially water," he said.

He informed that in near future a 'citizen's charter' comprising non-political, distinguished and intellectual citizens of Uttarakhand will be launched under the aegis of RLEK. 

Roorkee, May 2
Thieves escaped with Rs 56,000 cash, 120 gm gold, silver ornaments and other valuable goods from a house in Ganeshpur locality during the wee hours today.

The owner of the house Manoj Kumar and his family was sleeping in the house when thieves struck around 4 am today. Incidentally, the house is very close to the Gangnahar Police Station, here.

In his complaint, the victim alleged that he was sleeping in his room when he heard some noise, coming from adjoining room in the early morning. The thieves fled immediately when he got up to check, he said.

Dehradun, May 2
Notwithstanding the claims of the successive governments of laying stress on the development of the state, there are still many villages in the state that lack basic civic amenities and do not have access to electricity.

Inspite of the fact that the state is tagged as ‘Urja Pradesh’, there is no electricity in a village called Chamasari, around 26 km away from the state capital. Fed up with the unfulfilled promises of the politicians, now the villagers have given up hopes of seeing bulbs glowing. 

Inquiries revealed that way back in year 1986, when Dehradun was part of Uttar Pradesh, electrification in the Chamasari village was done. “For three days, we got the luxury of electricity but then the two transformers installed in the village got burnt. Thereafter, nobody bothered to ensure that new transformers should be installed. 

The electricity poles, which the department had put up in the village, now haunt the villagers,” said 65 years old Birinder Singh.

The villagers further disclosed that once in five years, during the election time, the leaders of different political parties do visit Chamasari and promise to provide electricity in the village but so far none of the elected representative had done anything to fulfill their promises. 

“Having population of few hundreds, the village has become a case of official apathy. In the past one decade, so many hrdro-electric projects were started in the state but unfortunately this village is still struggling to get electricity,” rued another villager Raj Singh.

The villagers also revealed that apart from electricity, village is devoid of basic civic facilities as well. There are no roads, medical facilities and educational institutes here. “Kids had to travel a distance of 12 km, in order to reach the nearest school,” said another villager Suraj Ram.

Haridwar, May 2
With the usage of computers and in the age of SMS and emails the handwriting better known as calligraphy has suffered most.

In this context a competition was organised at Shiv Dale School where students displayed their writing skills. The competition was organised for students from Class Ist to Vth.

“In this age of keyboard people are losing the aspect of the beauty of handwriting and its 
benefits. Students displayed that this art is here to stay,” said Priyanka Upadhyay of the organising committee.

Apart from this various other programmes, including quiz and a debate were held. Kiran Sharma, principal of the school said, “These competitions are organised to inculcate the habit of writing and impart knowledge towards creative skills.” Results will be declared after all programmes conclude.

Dehradun, May 2
Guru Nanak Academy (GNA) team and Moravian Institute won their respective matches at the Inter-Council School Sub-Junior Boy’s Hockey Tournament, here today. First match was played between GNA team and Col Brown School. It was a goalless first half as both teams failed to take advantage of the opportunities they received.

In the second half GNA team came with a different approach and scored two goals to win the match. Nihal Kukreti scored the first goal for GNA in the 43rd minute of the match. He dodged two defenders before neatly placing the ball in the goalpost.

The second goal for GNA came soon, this time it was from Abhishek Thapliyal, who made a solo run toward Col Brown School goalpost to skillfully place the ball in the goalpost, thereby making the score 2-0.

For Col Brown School, Ritesh Sharma reduced the lead by scoring a goal in the 45th minute of the game to make the scorer 2-1.

In the second match Moravian Institute outclassed Bala Hissar Academy by 2-1. Moravian Institute scored their first goal in the second minute of the match through Akash Prakash. Bala Hissar Academy found an equaliser in 15th minute of the match to make it 1-1.

In the second half Moravian Institute’s, Shailesh scored again for Moravian Institute in the 43rd minute to make the final score line 2-1.

Dehradun, May 2
Welham’s Girls School (WGS) ‘Blues’ team lifted the 3rd Welham’s Girls School All-India Golden Jubilee Basketball trophy here today. They defeated Modern School, Delhi by a convincing margin of 18 points in the final. The final score line was 43-25.

WGS opened their account with three points in the first minute of the game to take their opponent by surprise. Thereafter, they scored another 20 points in the first quarter to make take their score to 23 points, pushing their opponent on the back foot in the very first quarter. Modern School could only score eight points.

In the second quarter, Modern School spikers were successful in putting a stop on WGS. It was a neck-to-neck fight as both the teams scored two points each. The third quarter was also no different from the second. WGS managed to take a point lead in the third quarter scoring nine points.

In the fourth quarter WGS further increased their lead by another four points, Modern School could not score in the last quarter.

WGS team dominated through out the match showing greater ball control and co-ordination. Modern School failed to cover the 15 points lead that was taken by WGS in the first quarter. The final score line in the end was 43-25.

Garima Singh was the top scorer for WGS with 17 points, whereas Modern School Askanshah scored eight points.