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BJP mulls action against Sushant
Student leader attacked on college campus
He has encroached upon govt land, says Pathania
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Clear Rani Nullah stretch, BRO warned
Territorial forest officers to prepare working plans
Two die in separate incidents
Murdered child’s body exhumed by police
SFI activists gherao chief warden of HPU
College gets more security
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BJP mulls action against Sushant
New Delhi, July 13 BJP general secretary and spokesman Jagat Prakash Nadda told The Tribune over the phone, “We have received his (Sushant’s) reply to our notice”. Sources in the party leadership said it was now to deliberate on this reply some time after Disciplinary Committee Chairman OP Kohli found time to focus on the issue. Nadda was responding to reports that the state leadership had sought action against Sushant who they alleged had been indulging in acts of indiscipline in defiance of the state leadership. After this, the Central leadership had sent him a notice and Sushant promptly replied to this notice. He was suspended from the state executive after he went on a campaign with public meetings in Mandi, Kangra and other nearby areas, charging his state government with doling out farmers’ land to 18 private universities in Mandi in an act of blatant corruption. Despite the state leadership warning Sushant, he did not relent and carried on his campaign. In the meantime the matters escalated further with the MP alleging recently a threat to his life from the ruling party and its agents and demanding strong police protection from his own government. His implicit target is the Chief Minister’s son and national Yuva Morcha president Anurag Thakur, MP from nearby Hamirpur. Party sources agreed that they were faced with a piquant situation because of Sushant’s campaign for he had raised an accusing finger at Thakur, who is preparing his first big show in the Capital with a national youth rally against the UPA corruption on August 9, during the Monsoon Session of Parliament. The BJP leadership fears that this may pour cold water on their plans to raise the corruption issue in a big way during session. On the other hand the party is constrained against Sushant because he has been attending Baba Ramdev’s camps and using these to launch a tirade against the BJP, professing to support the yoga guru.
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Student leader attacked on college campus
Mandi, July 13 SFI activists alleged that the ABVP activists had preplanned the attack on Mehra. He broke a tooth and sustained multiple injuries in the attack. Mehra alleged that the DGP was protecting the ABVP as its activists had attacked SFI activists in Nahan, Sarkaghat, Chakmoh, Dharamshala and Kangra, and the police had done nothing about it. “We had sought permission from the Principal for the general house today, but the ABVP activists were ready with rods and weapons and their motive was to kill me,” he alleged. Though the police has registered a case, the SFI today held an emergency meeting and declared that they would hold statewide protests against the “fascist politics of the ABVP and the police partisan role in dealing with the ABVP”. The SFI also decided that its members would gherao the DGP in Shimla if he failed to take action against the ABVP, Mehra said. Meanwhile, student leaders have condemned today’s attack. They said it was the right of each organisation to hold meetings in the run-up to the student council poll. They demanded the arrest of those involved in the attack. College Principal MS Jamval said he had alerted the police. “We have asked the students to maintain peace and give an opportunity to each organisation to hold their meetings,” he said. Mandi SP Pupul Dutta said there wa no question of protecting the ABVP or any other outfit and the police would take action in the matter.
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He has encroached upon govt land, says Pathania
Dharamsala, July 13 Independent MLA from Nurpur Rakesh Pathania, who is considered to be a close confidant of Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal, while addressing a press conference here today, alleged that Rajan Sushant had encroached upon 8 kanals of government land in his native village. Pathania alleged that Rajan Sushant had encroached upon 8 kanals of common land at Dehri village during his tenure as Revenue Minister in the previous BJP government. He alleged that while on the one hand, Sushant was claiming to be an honest politician, on the other he had openly encroached upon government land. He alleged that Sushant, in an affidavit filed before the Election Commission, had stated that he had not encroached on any government land. According to the rules framed by the Himachal Government, any person who has encroached on government land, cannot contest elections. “In light of this fact, I will write to the authorities concerned to annul his election as MP,” Pathania alleged. He demanded that the government should reclaim the encroached land from the MP or else people from Nurpur would gherao his house and launch an agitation. Pathania alleged that Sushant had earlier encroached upon an IPH rest house near his house. The department had recently reclaimed the rest house. The diatribe against Sushant is the result of his open criticism of the government. He has been openly criticising the state government by participating in dharnas being conducted by ETT teachers and alleging corruption by the state government. On allegations levelled by Pathania, Sushant said, “It is a reaction to the small dose I gave to corrupt politicians in the state. I do not know what will happen when I administer the full dose.” He denied the allegations of encroachment.
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Row over inauguration of clinic
Dharamsala, July 13 The Army had made all preparations for the event. However, the programme was cancelled at the last moment. An Army spokesperson said the programme had been postponed on orders from the headquarters. The programme would be rescheduled, he said. However, the cancellation of the programme has evoked strong reactions from political leaders. Minister for Social Security Sarveen Chaudhary, who represents the Shahpur area, alleged that the Army had been insulted in the way the programme had been cancelled. She alleged that the programme had been cancelled at the behest of a Union Minister from the state. She said the programme was purely an Army function. “Despite being a local minister, I was not part of the programme. However, the way a small function (inauguration of an ECHS clinic) has been cancelled, it illustrates the shallow thinking of senior Congress leaders.” She said now if some Union Minister came to inaugurate the ECHS clinic, ex-servicemen of the region would “see how to receive him”. Vijay Singh Mankotia, president of the Ex-servicemen League of Himachal and former Congress leader, was more direct in his criticism. He alleged that the programme had been cancelled at the behest of Union Minister for Small, Micro and Medium Industry Virbhadra Singh. “Certain small-time Congress leaders from Shahpur, who are supporters of Virbhadra Singh, did not want that the Ex-servicemen League should get credit for the project. They pressed the Union Minister to get the programme cancelled. However, the political interference in the affairs of the Army is a dangerous sign,” he said. Kewal Singh Pathania, spokesperson for the HPCC for Kangra district, said Virbhadra Singh had lobbied for opening the ECHS polyclinic in Shahpur. He said the Ex-servicemen League had no role in bringing the project to the area. Pathania, however, denied that the programme had been cancelled at the behest of Virbhadra. Sources told The Tribune that the clinic might be inaugurated by some Union Minister now. On July 1, the inauguration of a board gauge railway line till Amb in Una district, that was to be done by Hamirpur MP Anurag Thakur, was also cancelled at the last moment allegedly at the behest of Virbhadra Singh. Ashok Raina adds from Kangra: Ex-servicemen have taken exception to the manner in which the inauguration of the Ex-Servicemen Contributory Health Scheme (ECHS) clinic was cancelled at the last moment on Wednesday. Hundreds of ex-servicemen, including some women belonging to the families of ex-servicemen, had arrived at the venue of the inauguration. The ex-servicemen told mediapersons that politics had spoiled the show. They raised slogans against politicians. Om Kumari, a woman whose brother and father had served the Army, told The Tribune that it was unfortunate that the Army was being used as a tool by politicians. Prabhat Kumar, an ex-serviceman, said he had served the Army for 32 years but now he was feeling cheated as ex-serviceman were being treated inhumanly by politicians.
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Clear Rani Nullah stretch, BRO warned
Mandi/Manali, July 13 Representatives of these organisations today held an emergency meeting at Manali and held the BRO responsible for its failure to restore the landslide-prone stretch at Rani Nullah, 5 km short of the Rohtang Pass, for the past two years. They sent a memorandum to Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal through the SDM, Manali, demanding immediate action in the matter. Rani Nullah sees traffic blockades for six to 10 hours almost daily, leaving tourists and pea farmers in the lurch. The representatives also urged the SDM to get the debris dumped on The Mall in Manali cleared at the earliest as it was an eyesore for the tourists. Chetan Azad, president, Lahaul Potato Society, said “Pea crop is rotting on roadsides in Lahaul due to the road blockade at Rani Nullah. BRO commander AK Dikshit said falling of boulders was a common occurrence at Rani Nullah. “We don’t get sufficient time to work out a stable solution as most of the time is spent on clearing traffic at the spot,” he claimed.
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Territorial forest officers to prepare working plans
Shimla, July 13 The government came out with this solution as the forest officers considered posting in the working plan wing as a punishment and instead of preparing the plans spent most of their time and energy in securing a better posting. As a result new working plans, on the basis of which forests are managed, could not be prepared in time. The gravity of the problem can be gauged from the fact that of the total 34 forest working plans covering 38 divisions, as many as 21 have already expired and another eight are due to expire over the next three years. Initially, the department proposed to outsource the task of preparing the plans, but it did not materialise as the working plan code does not allow it. Moreover, the Centre has also made it clear that only work like carrying out socio-economic surveys can be assigned to experts. According to the latest decision, all forest officers heading the 25 divisions for which new working plans are to be prepared will be “declared” working plan officer (WPO). The job will be in addition to their territorial duties. Each such division will be provided an assistant conservator of forests to assist the WPO, computers and other facilities, and the entire subordinate staff will be bound to carry out the additional work. Additional Chief Secretary, Forests, Sudipto Roy said the performance of the officers in preparing the working plans would be reflected in the annual confidential reports. Officers who did well on this front would be suitably rewarded. Working plans are essential for proper forest management and the apex court had also made it clear that felling could be carried out only in accordance with the working plans, duly approved by the Centre. To begin with, each designated forest officer will be asked to submit a working schedule for the preparation of the plan in accordance with the working plan code over the next two years. The progress of the plan will be monitored on the basis of the schedule.
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Two die in separate incidents
Bilaspur, July 13 Reports said Reshma Devi of Takrehda village, near here, had come to visit her sister at Danoh village in Kosariyan sector, but slipped and fell from the first floor of the house getting grievously injured. She was rushed to the Regional Hospital here, but declared brought dead by doctors there. In another incident, a Dauru party member Jagdish (45) of Pehalwana village, Rani Kotla, was found dead in a field near the Satsang Bhawan at Barmana. The police has registered a case and handed over the body to the family after postmortem. Jagdish had accompanied his group on July 10 for singing folklore from house to house, an annual ritual for the devout for seven days. The police is investigating the matter as foul play is suspected. |
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Murdered child’s body exhumed by police
Baddi, July 13 SP, Baddi, Gurdev Chand Sharma said the police had received an anonymous call on Sunday afternoon that a boy had been buried after he committed suicide by hanging himself. The policemen stepped up efforts and managed to trace the body by Sunday evening. The parents had tried to show that the boy had been buried after he committed suicide by hanging himself. The policemen, however, sensed something fishy in the matter as the parents had disappeared after burying the body. They later exhumed the body and sent it for a postmortem. As per the preliminary medical examination, the boy was first killed and then his body had been hung to give it the angle of suicide. His parents, both of whom were working as labourers, had been residing here for the past six months and efforts were afoot to trace them from their native village in Bihar. Even their daughter seems to have left for Bihar with the parents. A case under Section 302, IPC, has been registered. The postmortem report is awaited for ascertaining the actual cause of death. The police has learnt that the deceased was a naughty boy and could have been killed in a fit of rage. |
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SFI activists gherao chief warden of HPU
Shimla, July 13 The activists not only gheraoed the office of Chief Warden Kanwaljeet for over one hour, but also entered his office and get into a heated argument with him. They demanded that when the HPU security staff was already deputed in hostels, then what was the need for the police to undertake checking. “There should be no police on the HPU campus as the hostel security staff is there to provide security to inmates,” said Vikram, a SFI leader. He said the chief warden denied information about any police checking being done in hostels. He threatened that in case the “police checking” was not stopped on the campus, the SFI would be forced to launch an agitation. “When the chief warden is denying information about the police checking, then how could the police do it without the permission of the university authorities,” he quipped.
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College gets more security
Dharamsala, July 13 The decision has also been taken as the student elections are around the corner. The police teams have been asked to check the ID-cards of students and prevent the entry of outsiders into the college. “We had approached the Police Department following which the orders to depute special police teams were issued by the Superintendent of Police. The move was necessitated after two recent incidents of clashes between student groups on the college campus,” said college Principal Satish Chandra Sharma.
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New Delhi, July 13
Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) activists today went on the rampage in Postgraduate Valabh Government College and allegedly attacked SFI president.
Members of the Manali nagar panchayat, hoteliers, travel agents, luxury bus operators, taxi operators and farmers from Lahaul today joined hands and warned the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) and the district administration to restore and maintain properly the 300-metre-long Rani Nullah for traffic within seven days. They said in case of failure to do so, they would resort to direct action for which the BRO and the government would be responsible.
