Roorkee, May 28
Harish Rawat, who was sworn in as Minister of State today, said that he would work to get the hilly areas of Uttarakhand linked with the rail network.

Speaking on phone from New Delhi, Rawat said, “My priority will be to link hill towns like Rishikesh, Karan Prayag and Bhageshwar with the railway network. I will try to get it done as soon as possible.”

The development of the state is also high on the agenda of the Congress minister.

“Utilisation of all funds by the central government for the development of Uttarakhand will also be on the top of the list,” said Rawat.

He reiterated that Haridwar would be brought on the world map as a religious and top -class tourist destination.

“Peeran Kaliyar shrine will be developed as the fifth ‘dham’,” said Rawat.

Meanwhile, many Congress activists celebrated their leader’s induction in the Cabinet with fireworks and drum beats.

Hundreds of Rawat’s supporters gathered at the Congress office in Civil Lines and BSM chowk. Sweets were distributed to the people immediately after Rawat took oath.

Tribune News Service

Dehradun, May 28
After the Lok Sabha victory celebrations, it was time to celebrate the induction of Haridwar MP Harish Rawat as Minister of State in the union cabinet at the Congress headquarters in state capital.

Congress leaders and activists in large numbers gathered at the party office in the morning. Amid drum beating and bursting of crackers, elated Congressmen danced to express their happiness.

Party workers also distributed sweets. Party leaders thanked UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi for giving Rawat representation in the union cabinet.

Congress leader Rajiv Jain said that with the elevation of Rawat as MoS, there was a wave of joy among Congress workers.

“The decision has lifted the morale of the party unit in Uttarakhand,” he said.

The Congress leaders who have hailed Rawat’s induction in the ministry included district Congress committee president MN Farooqi, president of Mahanagar Committee Harish Virmani, Shankar Chand Ramola, Sangram Singh Pundir, Pramod Kumar Singh, Sushil Rathi, Sanjay Sharma, Gulzar Ahmad, Jugal Kishore Arora, Vijay Chauhan, Lekh Raj Aggarwal, Hari Bhatt, Rajesh Parmar, Rajinder Khantri, Ashok Verma, Anup Kapoor and Mamta Gurung.

Dehradun, May 28
After a gap of 23 long years, a Congress leader from Uttarakhand hills today made it to the union council of ministers. Harish Rawat, Congress Lok Sabha member from Haridwar, was sworn in a minister of state in Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s council of ministers in the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government.

Although Rawat supporters are jubilant at the elevation of Rawat, Congress leaders and workers feel that despite the resounding victory of the party, the representation of the state in the union council of ministers has been inadequate.

The Congress won all five seats in Uttarakhand which was the bastion of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for the past two decades.

It was only in 1986 that veteran Congress leader ND Tiwari was a cabinet minister in the Rajiv Gandhi government.

In the Narsimha Rao-led Congress government, there was no one from the Uttar Pradesh hills as ‘Ram Wave’ had swept the hills and even Tiwari lost from his native Nainital Lok Sabha seat.

In 1996 Lok Sabha polls, Satpal Maharaj, as candidate of Tiwari Congress who won the Pauri Garhwal seat defeating Maj Gen BC Khanduri (retd), became a minister of state for Railways in the United Front government.

Congress leaders feel that by having only a single minister of state, the party high command has not reciprocated the mandate given to the party by the people of Uttarakhand.

Two senior leaders namely Satpal Maharaj, a former union minister and Pauri Garhwal MP, and Vijay Bahuguna, MP from Tehri Garhwal, were ignored.

Congress workers, particularly from Garhwal region, felt let down. “There should have been representation of the Garhwal region also,” a Congress leader said.

They also charged that while the Congress could win only a single seat in Himachal Pradesh, two cabinet ministers were inducted from the state - Virbhadra Singh, former Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh who won from Mandi, and Anand Sharma from Rajya Sabha were made cabinet ministers.

During the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government, there were three ministers from the state. While Khanduri and Bachi Singh Rawat represented Garhwal and Kumaon regions, respectively, Sushma Swaraj, Rajya Sabha MP from the state, was also in the cabinet.

Haridwar, May 28
Dharampal Bharati, the newly appointed incharge of the BSP in Uttarakhand, and co-incharge Anant Kumar Mishra held a meeting of the party’s state executive members in Haridwar today.

The meeting was held to figure out the causes of debacle in the Lok Sabha elections and to rejuvenate and prepare the party for the 2012 Assembly elections. The views of party workers was also taken

Bharati refuted that there was any factionalism in the party after the suspension of two legislators namely Kazi Nizamuddin from Mangalore and Chaudhari Yashvir of Iqbalpur assembly.

Party leaders also tried to downplay the recent poll debacle. “Though we lost in Uttarakhand and couldn’t increase the tally in Uttar Pradesh, yet the percentage of votes has increased manifold,” said Bharati.

“We gained significantly in Udham Singh Nagar-Nainital, Pauri Garhwal, Almora and Tehri Garhwal seats while we were second runners-up in Haridwar constituency. This speaks about the party’s growing stronghold in the state,” he added.

Uttar Pradesh transport minister Ram Achal Rambhar said that the party abolished the state unit on the directions of the party supremo and it will bring in new faces and energy into the party cadre.

He said that the BSP has set its eyes on the Assembly election in UP and Uttarakhand and would certainly perform better in them.

Mohammed Shahzad, legislator and the losing candidate from the Haridwar parliamentary constituency, was mostly silent at the meeting but it is understood that in the closed-door meeting with the UP minister and new state chief, he spoke at length on the factionalism in the party and the reasons for the party’s debacle.

He wanted that party workers related to the suspended legislators also be suspended.

Sarvesh Gautam, party office head, said district and local unit members would be appointed after assessment of the situation.

Dehradun, May 28
Accusing Kushwaha, station head officer of Sahaspur police station, of harassing the leaders and activists of the CPM, party workers today staged a demonstration and submitted a written complaint to Dehradun SSP Amit Kumar Sinha.

The protesters have also sent copies of the letter to IG (Garhwal) MA Ganapathy, District Magistrate Amit Singh Negi, Speaker of Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly Harbans Kapoor and Leader of Opposition in Vidhan Sabha Dr Harak Singh Rawat.

In the complaint, CPM leaders have alleged that whenever their party takes up the issue of corruption, Kushwaha frames party members in false cases.

Speaking to the mediapersons, party district secretary Surinder Singh Sajwan alleged that last year, Kushwaha had booked CPM leader Kamrudin, just because he resorted to a ‘chakka jam’ when floods had hit Tiparpur Gram badly.

Sajwan added that from time to time, Kushwaha had been troubling CPM members for no reason.

Prominent among others who participated in demonstration included Virinder Bhandari, Sudha, Mahavir Sharma, Lekhraj Kamrudin and Satish Kumar.

Despite repeated attempts, Kushwaha was not available for comment.

Dehradun, May 28
Northern Eastern Railways (NER) has made it to the semifinal of the 27th All-India Uttaranchal Gold Cup Cricket tournament after defeating Rajasthan Cricket Association (RCA) in a rain-disrupted match here today. The result was decided by the Vijay Jai Devan (VJD) method.

Batting first, NER made 179 runs. Deepak was the highest scorer with 53 runs followed by Prashant who made 38 runs. For RCA Rajasthan, Vivek, Narendra and Ahmed took two wickets each.

Chasing the target of 180 runs, the RCA team was 100 runs for the loss of six wickets when rain stopped play. Rohit was the highest scorer with 53 runs. For NER, Gaurav took three wickets.

In another match, UPCA defeated Cricket Association of Uttaranchal (CAU) in a rain-disrupted match at Rangers Ground here today. Batting first, UPCA hammered the CAU bowlers all over the park to pile a mammoth total of 305 runs in 35 overs.

It was a strong start by the UPCA team. The openers smashed 146 runs in the 16.5 overs and did not allow the bowlers to settle down.

Opener Shivakant played a scintillating knock of 85 runs in just 55 balls hitting 11 fours and three sixes. The other opener Amir Khan was equally devastating as he smashed 81 runs in just 64 balls. He hit 13 fours.

The openers placed UPCA in a commanding position. First-down batsman Prashant was also at his aggressive best as he hit 75 runs off 57 balls. For CAU, Navneesh and Ravi Bisht claimed two wickets each. Chasing 306 runs, CAU was under immense pressure right from the beginning.

The team lost its first batsman when the score was six runs. The second setback came soon in the form of Yogender who fell when he was at 13 runs.

First-down batsman Kiran ignited some hope for the team but he could only manage 35 runs off 38 balls. Middle-order batsman Deepak Negi showed some resistance but could not occupy the crease for long and perished for 24 runs.

The downpour washed out the remaining part of the match. CAU team was at 170 runs in 30 overs with three wickets in hand.