Shimla, January 11
Hectic lobbying has begun for the post of chairperson of the Shimla zila parishad (ZP) with the two main political parties, the Congress and the BJP, making their best efforts to woo the elected members amidst complete political uncertainty in both camps.

Interestingly, for the Congress, which has the numbers in its favour, infighting could cost it dear. To add to their woes is the strong candidature of Indu Verma, wife of MLA Rakesh Verma from Theog, who has been elected as ZP member. Even though Verma won the MLA election as an independent, he has remained aligned with the BJP.

It is only the directives by the senior Congress leadership, including Union Steel Minister Virbhadra Singh and Vidya Stokes, which could ensure the Congress victory. Many supporters of the Union minister have won as ZP members not just from Rampur and Rohru but also in Theog. “It is only if the Congress puts up a united front that the post can be won by the party or else the BJP will play its game,” admitted a Congress leader.

On the other hand, the BJP too is marred by groupism as all ZP members might not want to support Indu but have someone else as the chairperson who is strictly a BJP loyalist. Rakesh Verma could woo members from both Congress and BJP to ensure that his wife wins the post of ZP chairperson.

There is a strong possibility that he is able to garner the support of independents as well. “Considering Verma’s proximity to some Congress leaders, he could well manage the support to ensure his wife’s victory,” admitted a Congress leader.

As such the two CPM members and three independents could hold the key in deciding as to who will ultimately emerge victorious.

There are a total of 24 ZP wards in the district with the Congress having a majority with more than 12 of its members emerging victorious. On the other hand, though the BJP has only eight ZP members, being the party in power they are keen to capture the chairperson’s post.

Shimla, January 11
The setting up of a communication tower within 10-km range of the Indo-China border and strengthening of road infrastructure by China, right across the Lepcha sector in the Lahaul-Spiti area of Himachal, is causing concern to the Army and intelligence agencies.

Sources pointed out that the erection of a mobile tower by China was a major development which was left the Indian authorities worried.

They point out that as per norms, there could not be communication towers within 10-km range of the border as it could interfere with the network system of the neighbouring country.

The sources confirmed that the signal from the mobile tower raised by China could be felt in some parts of the border areas on the Indian side, where the ITBP was deployed. Besides this, China had been focusing on strengthening its road network in its area right across the Lepcha sector on the Indian side. In fact, China had a road right up to its villages of Churup, Gumur and Shaktot on the banks of the Parechu river.

India shares a boundary of 190 kms with China in the Lepcha sector, which is manned by the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) while the Army too has its establishment in Samdoh.

“China is engaged in the road construction work in the Tanyak area in Tibet which will provide it the access to areas very close to north Ladakh,” said an official. It is for this very reason that the Army has been demanding improved roads in the area”, the sources said.

Even though China has been engaged in strengthening its infrastructure in the border areas of Tibet across Lepcha, it is India, which has an advantageous position because of its locations being on higher reaches. The Army can notice any intrusion or movement by the Chinese forces immediately.

Shimla, January 11
Chief Minister PK Dhumal visited the Gurdwara Sahib here today on the occasion of Parkash Utsav organised to mark the birth anniversary of Guru Gobind Singh. Speaking on the occasion, he said sacrifices and ideals of Guru Gobind Singh and his contribution towards uplift of weaker sections of society would always be remembered and go a long way in inculcating the spirit of unity, equality and brotherhood.

Dhumal felicitated the Sikh brethren and assured all possible assistance for the development and beautification of the gurdwara suburbs.

Sardar Jasvinder Singh, president of the Guru Singh Sabha, Shimla, welcomed the Chief Minister by presenting him a saropa and a memento.

Nurpur, January 11
The police registered a case of raping, making and circulating her obscene MMS against Abhilash Kumar of Ghohlli village of Fatehpur tehsil this evening on a complaint lodged by a minor girl from the Rehan area of this subdivision.

The victim, who came in the police station along with her father and some villagers, in her complaint alleged that she had fallen in love with the accused, a student of Government College, Dehri, who also promised to marry her. She alleged that on the pretext of their marriage proposal, she was forced to accompany him on a motorcycle in November last year. She was taken in a room of a hotel at Bodh near Nurpur and allegedly raped by the accused.

When she tried to raise an alarm, he tied a dupatta on her mouth. She also alleged that the accused had also prepared her obscene MMS without her knowledge with a motive to blackmail her. It was only on December 24 last when she happened to know about this MMS as it was allegedly circulated through a computer by the accused.

The victim has alleged that she also received a number of threatening calls on her mobile by the accused who threatened to kill her if she reported the matter to the police. Meanwhile, the police has registered an FIR under Sections 376, 506, 292 and 342 against the accused.

Mandi, January 11
The CPI and the CPM has termed the oath ceremony of the panchayat pradhan and up-pradhan to be held at the Paddal Maidan here on January 16 under tutelage of Chief Minister PK Dhumal as a “political gimmick of the ruling BJP which will undermine autonomy of the panchayati raj institutions in the state”.

CPI state secretary Des Raj and CPM general secretary Bhupender Singh said yesterday that the BJP government was trying to politicise the institution of panchayats. However, by not holding the oath-taking ceremony at the panchayat ghar it was denying the right of the villagers as they would not be able to interact with their representatives and hear them taking the oath.

Des Raj said when the pradhan and up-pradhan take oath people have a fair idea of what they say. But this whole thing is being politicised by the ruling party to intimidate them to take political benefit considering that the state Assembly polls are just two years away in Himachal, the CPM leader added.

Des Raj said the panchayati raj system was not functioning as per its mandate and amount to weakening of the system. The gram sabhas and up-gram sabhas do not function as they should as the pradhans are made as autocrats while zila parishad and block samitis are toothless and have no concrete powers, he added. Singh said the CM taking the oath ceremony of pradhan and up-pradhan was a political stunt as the ruling party was trying to take credit for their elections. 

Shimla, January 11
Upbeat over the impressive performance of its candidates in the panchayat and urban local bodies elections, the CPM claimed that the trend clearly indicated that the CPM could emerge as a potential third force to provide an alternative to the BJP and the Congress for the people of the state.

Addressing a press conference here, CPM leaders Tikender Panwar, Kuldeep Tanwar and Sanjay Chauhan claimed that the vote percentage of the CPM had shown a creditable increase as 1.5 lakh votes had been cast in its favour. “Our party has been able to win in 15 zila parishad wards, 25 block panchayats and 75 posts of panchayat pradhans, which is a clear indication of the emergence of the CPM as a third force,” said Panwar.

“It is a huge responsibility that people have given us and our endeavour would be to seek greater democracy, transparency and involvement of the people,” he said. He assured that the CPM leaders, who had been elected, would not become building contractors, which is the trend, but ensure development work without corruption. He added that they would focus on issues concerning farmers and the rural areas.

Not wanting to lose out on the opportunity that has come its way, the CPM will be holding a state-level convention to provide guidance and training to the elected representatives to perform well. “We will seek the guidance and support of our colleagues from West Bengal to ensure that the elected CPM members come up to the expectations of the people,” said Panwar. Contesting the claims of both the BJP and the Congress about their performance in the poll, Tanwar demanded that the elections should be held on the basis of party symbol right up to the panchayat level. “It is only then that no political party will be able to make false claims and elected candidates will work responsibly,” he said.

He demanded that the elections to elect the heads of zila parishads and other bodies be held at the earliest so that there was no scope for horse-trading. “The BJP is trying to misuse government machinery to lure, and at the same time, intimidate elected people to capture these bodies,” he said.

Hamirpur, January 11
With the fixation of meeting for administering oath to newly elected zila parishad (ZP) members and elect chairman and vice-chairman of the Hamirpur Zila Parishad for tomorrow, the aspirants for these posts are lobbying hard to grab the top post.

The president and vice-president of the zila parishad will be elected tomorrow immediately after the oath of members. Since the post of president of the zila parishad is reserved for woman candidate this time, two members Sarla Dogra and Raj Kumari are in the race for the top post.

Sarla Dogra has been elected from the Warin ward while Raj Kumari has been elected from the Bhoranj ZP ward.

Twelve BJP-supported zila parishad members have been elected this time and they are having absolute majority in the present house. Two BJP rebels have also been elected.

With the Congress having just three members along with three Independents, the election of the BJP supported ZP chairman and vice-chairman is a far gone conclusion.

Sarla Dogra being a senior leader is considered a front runner for the post of chairman of the Hamirpur Zila Parishad. She has also been an office-bearer of the district unit of the BJP Mahila Morcha and has close association with several senior party leaders.

For the post of vice-chairman name of Chandu Lal, elected from Amlehad ward, is doing round. He is a retired paramilitary officer and belongs to the OBC category.

However, the final approval for the selection of chairman and vice-chairman here is likely to come from Chief Minister PK Dhumal as Hamirpur is his home district.

Meanwhile, the scene of final seal on the approval of the names of chairman and vice-chairman of Hamirpur district for the tomorrow’s elections has shifted to Shimla, where all elected members and important leaders from the district are reportedly meeting Dhumal to seek his final nod.

Solan, January 11
With the state government restricting each MLA to a budget of Rs 70 crore under the MLA priority scheme in a financial year, development in several constituencies of the state will be affected. Earlier, MLAs were allowed to spend any amount for the projects.

Though the state government has now decided to enhance this amount to Rs 80 crore for the 2011-2012 financial year, legislators felt this bar was uncalled for as it would restrict the development works.

The MLAs have now been directed to enlist four projects from each constituency as against the six listed by them in the previous years, at the meeting of the state’s Planning Department slated for January 27-28.

Resenting this restriction, Nalagarh MLA HN Saini said since the Nalagarh area was yet to see all round development such restrictions had bound them from undertaking new projects. Since the area, where industrialisation had just began, lacked even proper infrastructure like bridges, proper link roads, adequate schools, etc, such restrictions would not augur well for its development. He demanded enhancement of this amount to at least Rs 100 crore so that the area which lacked development could develop basic facilities.

With more than 90 per cent of the population residing in the villages and agriculture being rain fed, development of irrigation facilities was crucial for development of the economy. MLAs of both the Congress and the ruling BJP echoed similar sentiments and rued that the tardy pace of making detailed project reports (DPRs) had reduced the meaning of seeking annual priority of the MLAs.

MLA GS Bali, while ruing the poor implementation of this scheme, said, “The annual meetings of the Planning Department had become futile as inordinate delay in framing DPRs had failed to implement even projects which were listed three years ago. What was the need of listing new projects when old ones failed to be implemented till today?”

He added that there was an urgent need to make the scheme, which was funded by NABARD, more meaningful and remove this bar on maximum limit.

The MLA also added that even public announcements made by the Chief Minister failed to be implemented and this showed the gap between what was being professed and what was being practiced.

Illustrating his point, the MLA said the CM had announced a grant of 100 tubewells in his area but he had failed to get even half this number. Though the government had imposed the bar to ensure uniform distribution of funds to all constituencies, it was observed that unless an MLA pursued his projects on a day-to-day basis he failed to even get its DPR made. Thus, reducing the very meaning of MLA priority scheme.

Dharamsala, January 11
At various sub-stations of the Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board ex-servicemen will be appointed as security guards on contract basis. President and managing director of the Association of the Himachal Pradesh Ex-Servicemen M Parmar said this here today. He added that dates have been declared district-wise for the recruitment process.

As per information, recruitment for Jassur, Kandrori, Bathari and Kangra sub-stations will be held on January 15 at the Sainik Guest House, Kangra.

However, recruitment for Una, Golthai, Amb, Gagret, Dehra and Sansarpur Terrece will be held at the Sainik Guest House, Una, on January 16.

The recruitment process for the Kangu sub-station will held on January 28; for Bijni, Bajaura and Sainj sub-stations it will take place in Mandi on January 12; for Kala Amb and Paonta Sahib sub-stations the recruitment process will held in Nahan on January 18; Parwanoo will be the recruitment destination for Parwanoo, Solan, Kunihar, Darlaghat, Barotiwala, Baddi, Akanwali and Nalagarh substations on January 19; and Shimla will hold recruitment drive on January 22 for Jatog, Tuttu, Gumma and Kumarsen Samoli.

Shimla, January 11
Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board Limited has set up departmental training centres at Sundernagar and Larji for providing in-house training to its serving field and technical staff.

The training centre at Sundernagar will provide training to the staff of operation wing under the technical guidance of the chief engineer (operation), central zone, Mandi, and chief engineer (generation) with technical support from the government polytechnic and engineering college at Sundernagar.

The centre at Larji will cater to training needs of the staff of various power houses and it will also function under the guidance of chief engineer who will exercise the administrative control over both centres. — TNS

Bilaspur, January 11
Ever-increasing dissensions in the Congress here are giving sleepless nights to some leaders of the party and they have urged state president Kaul Singh Thakur to immediately look into the grievances of party leaders and ensure that party works as one unit here and the black sheep are disciplined.

Confirmed reports here today said the nagar Congress committee leaders, led by president Hussein Ali, had taken an exception to the manner it had been constituted, “which is full of even those persons who have joined the Congress only to contest recent nagar parishad election”, while most of the long-associated leaders and prominent workers had been ignored.

Hussein Ali, vice-president Indresh Sharma and office-bearers said a meeting was called only for honouring the newly elected Congress nagar parishad members in the party office here, but it ended in declaring the nagar Congress committee with Raj Kumar Tadu as president and oyher members of the parishad occupying the plum posts, without any record in the party.

These leaders have sought the intervention of the state Congress president and demanded that this “unconstitutional committee” be scrapped.