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Virbhadra in dock over land deal
Fast track graft cases, HC to lower courts
Infighting to blame for Congress defeat in Una district
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MC Verdict
BJP claims upper hand in MC elections
Results a verdict against BJP: Kaul Singh
Sukh Ram proves mettle in Mandi
Cong man is Solan MC chief
CM: 1.32 crore visited state last year
Rs 14.93 crore for rural tourism
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Virbhadra in dock over land deal
Anatomy of a possible scam
Shimla, January 4 The Vigilance Bureau had registered a case on January 23, 2009, against Goodwill Industries for selling 65 bighas of land bought from the state government for setting up an industrial unit to another party, causing a loss of over Rs 4 crore to the state exchequer. It was not just the issue of financial loss but the land was transferred to the private party without asking it to seek permission under Section 118 of the Land Reform and Tenancy Act, which is mandatory for non-Himachalis purchasing land in the hill state. In fact, the permission for the sale of land to Goodwill Industries was given by the Cabinet, headed by the then Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh. The condition of seeking exemption under Section 118 for purchase of land by outsiders in Himachal was also not imposed despite the Principal Secretary (Industries) recommending that the condition be put on the private company as was mandatory under the law. As such, the Vigilance Bureau is now trying to ascertain whether the responsibility for allowing the sale of land and that too without obtaining Section 118 permission should be fixed by prosecuting just the then industries minister, Kuldeep Kumar, or the entire Cabinet which had places its stamp of approval on the decision, against the bureaucratic advice. If this happens, then this will be the first case of its kind where the responsibility for the financial loss and lapse will be fixed on the entire Cabinet as well as the Chief Minister. Goodwill had bought the land in 2004, measuring 65 bighas and 19 biswas, at a price of Rs 3.36 crore from the General Industries Corporation of the state government, which had its unit Himalayan Fertilisers at the site. Goodwill sold off the land to another private company, India Card Closing Company, at Rs 7.51 crore in 2007, though it had bought it to set up an industrial unit there. “The moment we receive the opinion of the law department whether the prosecution will be against the entire Cabinet or just the Industries Minister, we will proceed,” said a senior police officer. |
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Fast track graft cases, HC to lower courts
Shimla, January 4 Chief Justice of High Court Kurian Joseph has issued directions to the Sessions Judges at Shimla, Kinnaur, Rampur Bushahar, Bilaspur, Hamirpur, Una, Chamba, Kullu, Solan, Nahan, Sessions Judge (Forest), Shimla and Additional Session Judges, Mandi and Dharamshala, to dispose of the cases under the Prevention of Corruption Act 1988 on priority. In his letter addressed to the courts, the Chief Justice has directed to dispose of corruption cases prior to 2008 by June 30, 2011. The Chief Justice also directed to have no case under the Prevention of Corruption Act pending for more than one year by the next year. The Sessions Judges and the Additional Sessions Judges have also been directed to submit a monthly progress report regarding the disposal of corruption cases. The trial and disposal of these cases will be directly monitored by the Chief Justice. The Chief Justice issued these directions in view of the directions of the Supreme Court whereby the Chief Justice of India S H Kapadia has directed the Supreme Court, all High Courts and districts courts in the country to put all corruption cases on fast track on priority basis. In letters to the Chief Justices of High Courts and districts courts, the CJI has asked them to ensure that all cases registered under the Prevention of Corruption Act 1988 should be fasttracked and taken up for hearing on a priority basis. At present, there are 279 corruption cases pending in the Sessions Courts of Himachal Pradesh, of which the highest number of cases, i.e. 53 cases, are pending in the court of the Sessions Judge (Forest), Shimla, which is closely followed by the Court of Additional Sessions Judge Kangra at Dharamshala with 52. The oldest corruption case pending in Himachal Pradesh pertains to 1997, which is pending in the Court of Additional Sessions Judge, Kangra at Dharamshala. For expeditious disposal of corruption cases in the High Court, the Chief Justice has designated Justice Surjit Singh to hear the cases under the Prevention of Corruption Act so that these cases can be heard on daily basis. There are 120 cases in the High Court. |
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Infighting to blame for Congress defeat in Una district
Una, January 4 The Santokhgarh constituency is represented by Congress MLA Mukesh Agnihotri, who has been maintaining a dominance in the area for the past one decade. Sources here told The Tribune that this time also Mukesh was given a free hand by the party in deciding the party candidates. However, in the Santokhgarh municipal council, the BJP won seven municipal wards whereas the Congress got just two. Even the posts of president and vice-president were won by the BJP, which can be termed as a setback for the party. The Congress had inducted certain BJP leaders into the party from Santokhgarh. However, this also did not help the Congress. The sources here said the infighting in the Congress between groups led by Congress MLA Mukesh Agnihotri and former Congress MLA Varinder Gautam led to the defeat of the party in Santokhgarh. In Una municipal council, the Congress, instead of trusting its own cadres, heavily depended on the vote bank of Baba Sarabjot Singh Bedi, the former ruler of area. Though Amarjot Singh, the son of Baba Sarabjot Singh Bedi, won, the Congress lost the post of president. The BJP also managed a majority in the Una municipal council winning six out of 11 wards. The Congress won in just four municipal wards while one went to independent. In Una, the party has been reeling since long due to strong political rivalry between the Varinder Gautam and OP Rattan factions. Due to bitter rivalry between both the factions, the BJP has been winning from the Una constituency for the past one decade. In Gagret, Mehatpur and Daulatpur Nagar panchayats also, the party lost due to intense infighting between different factions. Many senior leaders of the party said the Congress was becoming weak in Una district due to lack of command. There was no senior leader to lead the party in the entire district. In each constituency, there were two to three strong groups involved in intense infighting with each other. If the Congress wants to regain foothold in Una district, it would have to put someone in command who can balance the warring factions of party in entire district. |
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Blame game begins in BJP
Lalit Mohan/TNS
Dharamsala, January 4 While Congress leaders have started taking claim for the victory, BJP leaders blaming dissidents for its debacle. In Kangra district, the Congress has taken a clear majority in four municipal councils and one nagar panchayat. In Nurpur and Nagrota Bagwan MCs, the BJP even failed to open an account, much to the chagrin of local leaders. The BJP president won in just Dehra nagar panchayat. In Dharamsala, though the BJP got the majority winning 7 out of 11 council wards and the post of vice-president, the post of president was won by independent Kamla Patial. Certain leaders alleged that Kamla Patial had the blessings of the senior leadership of the party and it led to her win. The local minister Kishan Kapoor has called for a press conference tomorrow that has raised speculations that he might openly blame certain leaders for working against party interests. Certain BJP leaders alleged that the marginalisation of the Shanta faction in Kangra district had also led to the party debacle. Certain political observers felt that BJP ministers and MLAs gave tickets to weak candidates. In the Congress, GS Bali has emerged a stronger Congress leader from Kangra. He will now try to fill the gap left by Vijay Singh Mankotia in the Congress. Sources here said he had the maximum say in selecting the candidates for Nagrota Bagwan and Kangra municipal councils. He held a press conference today and claimed that the defeat of the BJP in Kangra that had been a stronghold of the party reflected the resentment of people against the present government in the entire state. Even in Hamirpur, the BJP has lost three nagar panchayats and won just in Hamirpur municipal council that illustrates that even in the home district of the Chief Minister, the party had lost ground, Bali said. The policy of Kaul Singh to keep winning prospects as only criterion for deciding the candidate paid the Congress the dividends. The party has won in Kangra despite the fact that the Virbhadra Singh faction was not given much say in the decision on party tickets.
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BJP claims upper hand in MC elections
Shimla, January 4 Addressing a press conference here today, IPH Minister Ravinder Ravi said the poll mandate both in panchayat and urban local bodies, proved that people had reposed faith in the policies and programmes of the BJP regime. ‘The Congress has not even been able to open its account in Manali, Gagret, Naina Devi and Theog bodies and its candidate for the post of president in Hamirpur Nagar Parishad forfeited his security,” he said. Ravi also contested claims by the Congress that it had performed better than the BJP and said the party’s performance in the home constituency of the HPCC chief, Kaul Singh Thakur, was not very impressive. “We have won 20 posts of president and 19 of vice-president. Moreover, the Independents in most places have pledged to support the BJP so as to ensure development in their areas,” he said. He was joined by Ganesh Dutt, state BJP spokesperson and HN Kashyap, convener of the state cell for panchayat and urban local bodies poll. When pointed out that the BJP’s performance in Solan, Jubbal, Jwalamukhi, Palampur and Jogindernagar, represented by ministers was dismal, he admitted that there was certainly a need for introspection and the BJP would look into the reasons. He also admitted that the ruling party had fared badly in Kangra, the largest and politically most significant district. He said the experiment to hold urban local bodies poll on party symbol had been very successful. “The Congress is in the habit of levelling baseless allegations and they had in the past also complained to the Governor about irregularities in the campaigning,” he said.
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Results a verdict against BJP: Kaul Singh
Shimla, January 4 Addressing a press conference here today, he said the people had given a decisive verdict against the anti-people policies by making the Congress victorious in 52 per cent of the total seats. Besides a number of Congress rebels, who were denied the party ticket, had also won. The position of the BJP would have been even worse if nomination papers of the Congress candidates had not been wrongly rejected in many seats. For instance, in Rampur the BJP had won only those three wards where the nomination papers of Congress candidates had been rejected. The ministers campaigned relentlessly and even used coercive methods to influence the electorate, particularly employees and traders, but the party still lost. There had been a 7 per cent increase in the vote share of the Congress compared to the last municipal polls and it had won in all big towns, whereas the BJP had to contend with small entities like Narkanda having less than 500 voters. The wipeout of the BJP in Kangra and its poor show in Hamirpur, the home district of Chief Minister P.K.Dhumal, had made it evident that the party was on its way out. However, he would not seek the resignation of Dhumal and rather wait for the assembly poll to show him the door. The government had recently submitted a list of 62 tainted officers to the high court and most of them were holding plum postings.
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Sukh Ram proves mettle in Mandi
Mandi, January 4 Former president Sushila Sonkhla and her son-in-law Gagan Kashyap, an Independent, rode high on the support of the Sukh Ram group, won the top two posts of president and vice-president in Mandi. Sonkhla trounced BJP’s new comer Bhuvneshwar Kapur by a decisive margin of 1,134 votes. Sonkhla got 5390 votes, while Bhuvneshwar was polled 4,256. Congress rebels Krishan Tandon and Champa Sharma cornered 1,985 and 826 votes, respectively. Gagan Kashyap won by a thin margin of 75 votes trouncing Congress Tosh Kumar, a turncoat. BJP rebel Suman Thakur won as ward councillor, while the Congress won seven seats and the BJP won five seats of the councillors. In the 13-member Sundernagar municipal council, the BJP and the Congress had a close contest. BJP’s Girija Gautam bagged the post of president, while Dinesh Sen of the Congress won the post of vice-president. It was six each for the BJP and the Congress in the wards, while one seat went to an Independent. In Rewalsar, BJP candidates Bansi Lal and Tripta Gupta were elected president and vice-president, respectively.
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Cong man is Solan MC chief
Solan, January 4 It has been forced to remain content with the vice-chairman’s post with its candidate Pawan Gupta defeating Renu Sethi of the Congress with a margin of 958 votes. The BJP dominated the polls by bagging eight posts of councillor as against four won by the Congress, while one post was won by an Independent. The list of winning candidates of the BJP included Manish Kumar, Shushma Sharma, Jangi Lal, Praveen Mittal, Indu Sood, Krishan Thakur Sunil Jagga and Meera Anand. In Parwanoo, the BJP dominated the poll with its candidate Daisy Thakur defeating Congress candidate CL Chauhan and two Independents. The post of vice-president was bagged by BJP’s Ranjeet Sharma, who defeated Rajesh Kumar of the Congress and an independent candidate, Ram Dhian. In Nalagarh, Alka Verma of the Congress won the president’s post defeating the Congress candidate, Neeru Sharma. The post of vice-president was bagged by an Independent and BJP rebel, Subash Balli.
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CM: 1.32 crore visited state last year
Shimla, January 4 Stating this here today, Chief Minister PK Dhumal said this was a new record in the increase in tourist flow. He was speaking at the review meeting of the Tourism and Civil Aviation Department here. He said 1.32 crore tourists visited Himachal Pradesh during 2010, compared to 1.14 crore during 2009. Dhumal said the number of foreigners had also increased from 4 lakh in 2009 to 4.54 lakh during 2010, thereby registering an impressive increase. He said the state had adopted the slogan “Himachal for All Seasons for All Reasons” keeping in view the all round tourism activities in the state. “Tourism happens to be the core industry of the hill state since its inception and the state possesses the potential for all categories of tourists, including pilgrims, who visit various shrines in the state,” he added. He said efforts had been made to create quality infrastructure of basic amenities in and around the prominent religious shrines for the convenience of the devotees and additional arrangements made during the festival season. He said the Tourism Department was making concerted efforts to motivate tourists to visit lesser known unexplored tourist places so that they could get to see the lifestyle of rural people and enjoy their traditional hospitality and cuisines. |
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Rs 14.93 crore for rural tourism
Shimla, January 4 Disclosing this here, Chief Minister PK Dhumal said work would be started at the earliest as a sum of Rs 11.98 crore had been released as the first instalment. He said tourism infrastructure, including community centres, picnic spots, toilets and parks would be constructed. He said additionally a sum of Rs 8 crore had been released by the Centre for integrated development of the Jubbarhatti-Arki-Nalagarh circuit. He added that a sum of Rs 6.4 crore had already been released as the first instalment. He said the sanction of Rs 442 crore Asian Development Bank project would go a long way in strengthening tourism infrastructure in the state and provide best of facilities to attract tourists from world over to the state.
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Shimla, January 4
