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Jai Ho echoes in Cong office
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It’s Cong all the way in U’khand
Big victory margins belittle BJP claims
CM’s style to blame?
It took Cong 20 yrs to win Haridwar
Late entry my undoing: Munna Singh
Super-specialist doctors not paid since two months
Free yoga camp
20 donate blood
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Jai Ho echoes in Cong office
Dehradun, May 16 While the entire Congress cadre was upbeat, the scene at the BJP’s office was gloomy. Not only the entire office was deserted, the cell phones of most of their party leaders were switched off. Minutes after the announcement of the election results, jubilant Congress workers and leaders gathered at the party office and celebrated the party’s victory in Uttarakhand as well as at the national level. Amidst beating of drums, the Congress rank and file danced to express their joy over the party’s mammoth victory in the hill state. Besides bursting crackers, elated party workers also played with colours and chanted slogans - “Jai ho” and “Sonia Gandhi zindabad”. Apart from the Congress office, there was great rush at the Defence Colony residence of Vijay Bahuguna, winner from Tehri Garhwal parliamentary constituency. Besides Congress activists, relatives and friends went to Bahuguna’s residence to congratulate him. An elated UPCC chief Yashpal Arya said that the people of Uttarakhand had completely rejected the BJP. “The mandate is against the ‘anti-people’ policies of the BJP”, he asserted. Expressing happiness over the results, senior Congress leader Suryakant Dhasmana said, “The party’s victory has proved that the mandate of the masses is with the exceptionally good performance of the UPA regime. “Voters have re-affirmed faith in the Congress and have rejected the BJP. This clearly implies that the people are unhappy with the two-year tenure of the BC Khanduri government.” He added that now the Uttarakhand Congress would be focusing on further strengthening the party for the 2012 Assembly elections in the state. The scene at the BJP headquarters was completely different. The party office was completely deserted. Interestingly, on May 11, BJP state spokesperson Vishwas Dawar had announced that the BJP would win all seats and “mega celebrations” would be held at party office on May 16. Vishwas Dawar said that they have accepted the defeat and will work hard to bounce back in the next elections. Meanwhile, the offices of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and Uttarakhand Kranti Dal (UKD) also wore a deserted look.
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It’s Cong all the way in U’khand Dehradun, May 16 Two senior Congress leaders, former union minister Satpal Maharaj won the Pauri Garhwal seat and Harish Rawat the Haridwar seat. Sitting Congress MPs Vijay Bahuguna from Tehri Garhwal and KC Singh Baba from Nainital managed to retain their seats. The Congress managed to break into the BJP citadel of Almora with its candidate Pardeep Tamta emerging winner in a close contest. For former minister Maharaj, a guru running “Manav Dharma”, it was sweet revenge. Fighting elections from Pauri Garhwal since 1989, he could win only in 1996 to become a minister in the Inder Kumar Gujral ministry at the Centre, defeating BC Khanduri. But he lost to Khanduri in the 1991,1998, 1999 Lok Sabha elections. In 2004, his protégé, Lt Gen TPS Rawat (retd) also lost to Khanduri. The latter chose to shift sides and contested the 2008 byelection on the BJP ticket but was defeated by his ‘guru’ Satpal Maharaj by a slender margin. This time, Satpal Maharaj was able to defeat Lt Gen Rawat, snatching a stunning victory in the home constituency of the Chief Minister Khanduri. For Harish Rawat, who shifted from Almora to Haridwar, it was a long-awaited victory. Rawat who won the Almora seat in 1980,1984 and 1989 faced defeat in subsequent elections. His wife Renuka Rawat too was defeared in the 2004 Lok Sabha polls. This time, Rawat was able to wrest the seat from the Samajwadi Party in a multi-cornered contest. Vijay Bahguna, another senior state Congress leader, was elected in the 2007 byelection from Tehri Garhwal following the death of sitting BJP MP Manvendra Shah. Son of former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna, he had lost the 1998,1999 and 2004 Lok Sabha elections. This time, he defeated Munna Singh Chauhan of the BSP and BJP candidate ace shooter Jaspal Rana. KC Singh Baba, sitting Congress MP from Nainital, defeated Uttarakhand BJP chief and former Union Minister Bacchi Singh Rawat in a multi-cornered contest. Bacchi Singh had shifted to Nainital after his native Almora was declared a reserved constituency. In Almora, Pradeep Tamta, a former Congress legislator, defeated Uttarakhand social welfare minister Ajay Tamta in a straight contest.
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Big victory margins belittle BJP claims
Dehradun, May 16 BSP candidate Mohammad Shahzad and Ambrish Kumar of the SP were at the third and fourth place, respectively. In 2004, Rajendra Kumar of the SP had won the seat but this time the SP saw itself slip to the number four position. The second biggest victory for the Congress was in Nainital-Udham Singh Nagar. Its candidate and sitting MP KC Singh Baba defeated Bachi Singh Rawat, state BJP president, by a margin of 8,8412 votes. Narainpal of the BSP polled 1,43,515 votes. During the 2004 elections, the Baba had registered a victory by 49,184 votes. Likewise, Congress candidate and sitting MP from Tehri Garhwal Vijay Bahuguna defeated ace shooter Jaspal Rana of the BJP by 52,939 votes. BSP candidate Munna Singh Chauhan remained third. Significantly, this time Bahuguna further strengthened his position. In the 2007 Tehri Garhwal byelection, he had won by a margin of 20,911 votes whereas this time he defeated his nearest rival by more than 50,000 votes. Pauri Garhwal, one of the most important seats for the BJP as it is the home constituency of Uttarakhand Chief Minister BC Khanduri was bagged by Satpal Maharaj of the Congress. Maharaj defeated sitting MP Lt Gen (retd) TPS Rawat. Notably, in the 2008 Pauri Garhwal byelection, Maharaj had lost to Rawat by a narrow margin of 4,506 votes after the counting of postal ballots. But Maharaj romped home comfortably this time. The only seat, wherein the victory margin was narrow was that of Almora (SC). Congress candidate Pradeep Tamta managed to wrest the seat from the BJP by defeating Ajay Tamta, a minister in the Khanduri government by 6,950 votes. The BSP candidate, Babu Ram Dhoni, was placed third with 44,492 votes. The constituency was earlier represented by BJP state president Bachi Singh Rawat.
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BJP in troubled waters
Dehradun, May 16 Khanduri, who in the recent past saw withdrawal of support by an Independent legislator Yashpal Benaam and rebellion by another party legislator Munna Singh Chauhan, would be facing another litmus test in the shape of byelections for two assembly segments. Byelection for Kapkot assembly seat would be held on May 28, followed by another one for Vikasnagar seat vacated by Munna Singh Chauhan. Disgruntled party legislators led by Bhagat Singh Koshiyari would also be demanding introspection by the party high command after this defeat. Moreover, Khanduri who had announced even before the counting of votes started that the results would not a be a referendum of his government, would be under intense pressure after losing his home constituency of Pauri Garhwal, which the BJP had been winning since 1991, except in 1996. The victory of three senior party leaders, namely Satpal Maharaj from Pauri Garhwal, Vijay Bahuguna from Tehri Garhwal and Harish Rawat from Haridwar, would also give impetus to the opposition Congress. The victory of Harish Rawat is set to revive the Congress in Haridwar district. His victory also indicates that Muslims, which constitute 27 per cent of the total population in Haridwar, have again reposed faith in the Congress after a gap of two decades. With a total population of 15 per cent in Uttarakhand, Muslims who had been siding with Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) along with Dalits could become a nightmare for BJP as well as BSP planners in the coming elections. Already, Harish Rawat has been able to win over some of the BSP legislators of Haridwar and one of them, Qazi Nizamuddin, has openly revolted against BSP, led by Mayawati. Harish Rawat, who originally hails from Kumaon region, could also win back Muslims residing in the Kumoan terai areas back to the Congress fold, much to the discomfort of all the political rivals. The rank and file of Uttarakhand Kranti Dal (UKD), an ally of the BJP state government, was for withdrawal of support to the Khanduri government. However, two of the three UKD legislators sided with Khanduri. Interestingly, UKD fought against BJP in the polls and the results would |
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CM’s style to blame?
Dehradun, May 16 Among the BJP-ruled states, it is only in Uttarakhand that the party has fared so badly, despite having one of the most respected leaders heading the state government. It is for the first time after two decades of ascendancy of BJP in the Uttarakhand hills that the Congress has again been able to win the mandate of people. The Congress, which won the first-ever assembly elections in February 2002, was defeated convincingly by a resurgent BJP in the 2007 assembly elections after the five-year rule ND Tiwari government. But the choice of the BJP high command to have senior BJP leader and former union Minister BC Khanduri as the Chief Minister faced intense opposition from former CM and the then state party chief Bhagat Singh Koshiyari. The party high command was able to get away with their decision but the simmering discontent within party rank and file continued. The style of functioning of Khanduri also added to his own troubles. He was able to bring in three legislators of Uttarakhand Kranti Dal and three Independents into the fold of his government and also scored convincing victories in Dhumakot assembly byelection, which he won. Khanduri was also able to win over Lt. Gen. TPS Rawat (retd) from the Congress, who vacated his Dhumakot seat for him. Later, Rawat won Pauri Garhwal seat in the byelection. However, Khanduri was not able to keep his flock of legislators on his side. In august 2008, more than 22 BJP legislators, led by disgruntled leader Bhagat Singh Koshiyari, went to the party high command to complain against the style of functioning of Khanduri. Albeit the CM was advised to cooperate and legislators told to fall in line, the grouse of the latter against a particular bureaucrat close to Khanduri was ignored by the party high command. Many of the decisions of the Khanduri government also annoyed small traders, real estate businessmen and above all, the industry. By reducing the size of the agriculture property that an outsider could buy, Khanduri sounded a death knell for the booming real estate industry in the state. In his zeal to get industry moving to the hill areas to cultivate his "son of the soil" image, he gave an impression that he was against the industry. He did try to make up by sounding positive later, but the damage was done. The performance of the state government was below average. Compared with the previous Congress regime in which corruption prevailed but pace of development was good, the CM in his zest to control things ended up with budgetary allocations that his government could not spend during the first year in office. His image of a tough administrator also did not go well with the people of the state who were accustomed to the humble and simple approach of the former Chief Ministers - ND Tiwari and Bhagat Singh
Koshiyari, respectively. |
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It took Cong 20 yrs to win Haridwar
Haridwar, May 16 Since then, the clock has turned anticlockwise for Harish Rawat in Almora and the Congress in Haridwar. It took exactly two decades for both of them to end the drought in Almora and Haridwar. Between 1989 and 2009, Harish Rawat lost four parliamentary elections from Almora to BJP state chief Bachi Singh Rawat. In 2004, he tried to break the jinx by making his wife contest but she narrowly lost the election. At Haridwar, the Congress last won in 1989 with the victory of Jag Pal Singh. Since 1977 when the Haridwar parliamentary constituency came into existence, none of the six elected representatives has managed to garner a berth in the cabinet and all six are now in oblivion in political circles. Twice MP from Haridwar, Jag Pal Singh, just before the elections rejoined the Congress. He was with the Samajwadi Party in the intermediate period. Har Pal Sathi, who made a hat-trick from Haridwar seat as a Bharatiya Janata Party candidate, was apparently angry over not being considered for ticket from the Bahujan Samaj Party. He also joined the Congress after Harish Rawat was chosen the Congress candidate. Sitting MP Samajwadi Party’s Rajendra Badi just couldn’t deliver. Interestingly, BSP supremo and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati also contested from Haridwar and lost on all occasions. In 1991, she was fourth having garnered a meagre 20,000-odd votes while in 1989, she fared better as she was the runner-up. In 1987, Lok Jan Shakti Party candidate and union minister Ram Vilas Paswan, an eight-time MP contested from Haridwar. He too lost heavily and never returned to contest from Haridwar. But both Mayawati and Paswan’s careers have surged ahead in national politics. And after today’s win, Harish Rawat, can hope to tread the same path.
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Late entry my undoing: Munna Singh
Dehradun, May 16 He lagged behind the Congress and BJP candidates. Huddled by his close supporters at his residence here, he said that his late entry in the fray and acute resource crunch did him in. He may have polled far less number of votes than expected but his consolation was that people from all sections of geographically and demographically diverse constituency voted for him. “I could not cover the hill areas where campaigning can be done either on foot or by air. Moreover, I did not have sufficient time,” he said. “I count my decision to contest about 25 days before the poll as well as acute scarcity of resources due to the weak organisational set-up as the major factors behind my poor performance. “I travelled in my own car while both opponents from national parties used choppers to reach voters in far-flung hill areas,” said Chauhan who joined BSP just before the elections. He rued that due to lack of sufficient time, he could hardly cover just one-fourth of the constituency. Known as a grassroots politician, Chauhan stated that he expected a closer finish in the beginning of the campaign but he failed to the match the resource might of his opponents in the final phase. “This constituency is a new political turf for the BSP. Despite the organisational handicap, the performance should be counted as encouraging for the party. The number of votes I have polled were entirely my personal following among the voters,” he said. The election taught has taught him new things about this constituency. He also complimented the voters of the state for voting on the issue of good governance like in the rest of the country. They may have voted on the national issues but the outcome should also be considered as their verdict on the performance of the state government. Strengthening the organisational base of the BSP is top priority on his agenda. “In politics, the moment one election is over, we start preparing for the next one. All my energy is now centred on how to do well in the Assembly elections in 2012,” he summed up.
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Super-specialist doctors not paid since two months
Dehradun, May 16 The services of these specialists are for a period of three years and the exclusive contract for them works out at Rs 50,000 for four hours of OPD. There are six super specialists - Dr Vikram Singh, nephro-physician, Dr Mohit Goyal, plastic surgeon, Dr Naveen Ahuja, neuro-physician, Dr Vikrant Pathak, urologist, Dr Anil Rathi DM, cardiology and Rajeev Tyagi, DM endocrinology at Doon Hospital. According to sources, some doctors have stopped coming to the OPD in protest against the delay in release of salaries. “As our terms and references of appointment are different and salaries are paid to us through a special fund, there has been a delay. However, we are sure that the matter will be sorted out,” said Dr Anil Rathi, DM cardiology. In view of the shortage of doctors, the appointment of super-specialist doctors was proving to be beneficial. “The benefits for the patients are manifold as specialist services are provided at nominal rates to patients and for BPL (Below Poverty Line) card bearers. “The presence of super specialists also added to the reputation of the hospital that attracts patients from neighbouring states of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh,” said Chief Medical Superintendent, Doon Hospital, RK Pant. In addition to providing services at Doon Hospital, all super-specialist doctors also have thriving private practices.
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Free yoga camp
Dehradun, May 16 Presiding over the proceedings, the foundation’s yoga teacher Kirti Sachdeva spoke on the importance of yoga in spiritual healing. She said flexibility of the body was all-important for success in yoga. Special emphasis was also laid on meditation. Sachdeva said the foundation had been regularly organising such camps without any fee. She said that the camps were receiving enthusiastic participation from the people. She also expressed her concern over commercialisation of yoga. |
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20 donate blood
Dehradun, May 16 Nadeem Danish, organiser of the camp, said, “The Indian Medical Association is working to overcome the constant shortage of blood in the state. Therefore, we organise camps at various places every month to meet the ever-increasing requirement of blood.” At the camp, free HIV, malaria, hepatitis ‘B’ and hepatitis ‘C’ tests were also conducted. Proprietor of Framebox Nitin Surendra said, “Donating blood is a social cause. Therefore, one should always look forward to participating in such activities. We look forward to organising more such camps.” |
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Dehradun, May 16
