Shimla, May 15
With BJP’s Suresh Chandel winning the 2004 Lok Sabha election with a slender margin of merely 1,615 votes, it remains to be seen how close the outcome of this election would be.

Even as both the ruling BJP and the Congress have made tall claims of winning at least three, if not all four seats, the results will indicate the voting pattern adopted by the electorate.

The winning margin on the Kangra parliamentary seat too was very close with Congress candidate Chander Kumar trouncing BJP stalwart Shanta Kumar by a margin of 17,791 votes.

This time Chander Kumar is pinning all his hopes on the OBC community, which constitutes a sizeable chunk of the electorate.

Pitted against the BJP MLA from Jawali, Rajan Sushant, the result could once again be close in favour of any party.

The highest winning margin in the last LS poll had been from Shimla, which is the traditional bastion of the Congress.

The Congress had won three seats of Mandi, Shimla and Kangra while the BJP could only win Hamirpur.

The past trends indicate that the electorate of Himachal normally votes for the party, which is in power in the state.

The Congress is a stronghold of Shimla from where its candidate Dhani Ram Shandil had registered a resounding win with a margin of 1,08,180 votes.

He defeated HN Kashyap of the BJP, who was this time denied ticket as the party gave preference to ‘old warhorse’ Virender Kashyap.

Kashyap having lost six LS and four assembly elections is desperate to break the
jinx this time.

Congress candidate from Mandi Pratibha Singh had defeated Maheshwar Singh by a margin of 66,566 votes in the last poll.

This time her husband and former Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh has been fielded by the Congress as Pratibha opted out of the fray on personal grounds.

Shimla, May 15
No doubt the results of the Lok Sabha poll will decide the fate of the candidates in the fray, but fortune of the ruling party legislators are directly linked to the results as the lead that the BJP gets from their segment will shape their future destiny.

As the final countdown for the counting of votes has begun, the BJP legislators are keeping their fingers crossed as it is on the basis of the party’s performance in their constituency that they will be rewarded by Chief Minister PK Dhumal.

He has time and again reiterated the fact that it is the lead that the party gets in the LS election, which will decide the future rewards or works to be undertaken in a particular constituency.

Even though Dhumal has in the past given indication of giving preference to Una and Mandi while inducting two ministers to fill vacancies, now the possibility of the reward going to a person who gives a huge lead cannot be ruled out.

Moreover, the possibility of a reshuffle in the Cabinet has rekindled the hopes of
many aspirants.

Party circles are keenly watching the election outcome from the constituencies represented by some of the aspirants, including state BJP chief Jai Ram Thakur, Roop Singh Thakur, Satpal Satti, Virender Kanwar and Mahender Singh.

Even though Shimla district has a single minister, Narender Bragta, an exceptional performance by a party legislator in getting a huge lead which could be instrumental in ensuring a BJP victory could see a ministerial berth being given to an MLA from Solan or Sirmaur district, which is un-represented in the Cabinet.

The BJP this time is very hopeful of finally registering a victory from the Shimla seat, which has traditionally been a Congress bastion.

With the outcome of the polls being considered a reflection of the 14-month performance of the Dhumal regime, the CM is keen that the BJP wins at least three if not all four LS seats.

Dhumal who has so far not filled the two vacancies in his ministry could undertake a reshuffle, which could also see some of the ministers being dropped for non-performance or other factors.

In such an eventuality he would like to reward those who got a good lead for the party in the LS poll.

The much-awaited appointment of chairmen of boards and corporations could also finally be undertaken by the CM.

Shimla, May 15
While women had turned out in almost equal strength compared to men to exercise their franchise in the hill state, they had outnumbered men in three of the four parliamentary constituencies.

Women comprised 52.88 per cent of the total voters in the Hamirpur constituency, 50.82 per cent in the Kangra constituency and 49.08 per cent in Mandi.

The only seat where they put up a poor show compared to men was Shimla where their percentage was 45.36. The final polling in the state was 59.17 per cent.

There were around 18 polling booths where less than 10 per cent polling was recorded. They included 13 in Kangra, three in Mandi and two in Shimla.

In 235 out of the total 7,251 polling stations over 80 per cent of the electorate exercised their franchise.

The maximum number of 172 such booths was in Mandi, followed by Shimla (34), Hamirpur (21) and Kangra (8).

The number of booths where more than 70 per cent of the total electors voted
was 1,346. The highest number of 1,053 votes was polled at Gharoru booth in
Jogindernagar, Kollar in Nahan (1,000) and Sheetalpuri in Doon (961).

Another notable feature was that a substantial 89.45 per cent of the voters had electors photo identity cards (EPIC). Maximum percentage of 91.3 voters with EPICs was recorded in the Shimla constituency.

Meanwhile, elaborate arrangements have been made for counting of votes, which will be carried out in 60 halls in 25 locations across the state.

Giving details, chief electoral officer Anil Khachi said the counting of postal ballots would be taken up at 8 am in four centres at Shimla, Mandi, Dharamsala and Hamirpur and the EVMs (electronic voting machines) would be provided to counting staff at 8.15 am in all centres.

The staff for each counting table would be deployed randomly in the morning to ensure fair play and the figures for each round of counting would be countersigned by the observer.

The micro observers would also check the recorded counting figures for randomly selected tables and if discrepancy was found in any case the concerned staff would face the music.

The returning officer would have to seek approval from the observer before the declaration of result.

Further, only four persons would be allowed to accompany the elected candidate
for receiving the certificate from the retuning officer, as was the case during the
filing of nomination.

Shimla, May 15
The Irrigation and Public Health (IPH) Department has decided to implement a fully automated mega-water supply scheme to permanently solve the problem of water scarcity in the Jaisinghpur, Thural and Khundian areas of Kangra district.

Modelled on pattern of state-of-the-art Logwalti-Bamson scheme in Hamirpur, the Rs 68.33 crore project will cover a population of 64,412 scattered over 398 habitations.

The scheme will be a technological marvel in which computer-controlled electronic devices will be used to reduce human intervention, the main factor responsible for operational inefficiency, to the minimum.

It will be possible to operate the scheme through remote control from anywhere using mobile phone and the satellite-based GPS (geo-positioning system). It will be completed in two years.

The engineer in charge will be able to operate various components of scheme using mobile phone and obtain relevant data regarding the status of the scheme anytime.

Field devices will provide digital and analogue signals to a module equipped with web data transfer system.

It will also make use of the infrastructure of the existing seven small water supply schemes, including Andrana-Bhandan, Upper Lambagaon, Harot-Karanghat, Tikkri- Ghumarnoo, Jaisinghpur, Harsi-Sanghol, Lahu-Bachwai-Umri Dagra and Phiri Galoti.

The release of water from the main distribution tanks will also not involve any human intervention as laser-based devices on the roof of the water tanks will automatically switch on the pumps as and when the water declines to a particular level.

Water level in tanks will be regulated through pressure censors for operation of the pumps. The power consumed and the quantity of water pumped will be measured by electronic sensors.

Computer-controlled gas chlorination will be used for disinfecting the water. The dose required will be determined and regulated by electronic devices.

Electronic sensors will also help analyse the quality of water based on parameters like colour and odour and take corrective measures. It will suffice the requirement till 2027 when the population is expected to cross 85,000.

Engineer-in-chief RN Sharma said the executing company would operate and maintain the scheme for five years.

Similar schemes were on the anvil for Dehra and Bilaspur for which the foundation stone had already been laid by Chief Minister PK Dhumal.

The pradhan had also applied for its regularisation, which is not legal. The district panchayat officer had confirmed that the order had been received.

He said the counting of all five constituencies of Una, Haroli, Una, Kutlehar, Chintpurni and Gagret, would start simultaneously in five different halls.

Eighty counting supervisors and counting assistants had been entrusted with the job of counting the votes.

Chamba, May 15
One person was killed while five other were injured when a private pick-up vehicle fell into a deep gorge near Kiri village yesterday, according to a delayed official report received here today.

The deceased have been identified as Vinay Kumar and the injured as Prakash, Jaggo, Gurdev and Sonu, all residents of surrounding areas.

The driver of the vehicle, Praveen, is stated to be in a serious condition. The police has registered a case.

It is, in fact, going to be a lecture-demonstration organised by conductor Gabriella Boda-Rechner to introduce European Choral music and harmonies to the children.

In this connection Ashok Bhatia writes: “It is my belief that not enough is being done for music in schools which is sad. The concert at Christ Church, Kasauli, will include sacred music from everywhere, including India, but again written for choirs. There are four of us in the choir from The Lawrence School, Sanawar, and for a long time I have been trying to persuade the choir to do a concert at the school. It was choirmaster Gabriella, who immediately said yes to my suggestion and added that it will be wonderful if the choir performs in schools all over India.”