Shimla, October 23
The coming byelections to the Nalagarh and Renuka seats will not only provide an indication of the mood of the people in the state but also set the trend for the next Assembly poll, due next year.

The stakes are really high for both parties and these are gearing up for the twin electoral tests realising the larger implications. The ruling BJP is already in the election mode and Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal has made whirlwind tours of the constituencies early this week as the Election Commission of India is expected to announce the poll dates anytime after which the code of conduct will come to force. He announced a number of development projects to woo the electorate. The Congress has also held meetings at both places during which state party chief Kaul Singh and Leader of the Opposition Vidya Stokes ascertained the views of party workers regarding the candidates.

The Congress has more or less decided its candidates for the two seats. The Renuka seat fell vacant due to the death of its MLA Prem Singh and it has decided to field his son Vinay Kumar as it will help secure sympathy votes. It has all through been a Congress bastion and Prem Singh has been winning the seat continuously since 1982, except 1990 when Roop Singh of the Janata Party emerged victorious. The BJP has been toying with the idea of fielding an Additional District Magistrate-rank official, Hridaya Ram, who has already resigned from service, from the seat but it may have to rethink with all three aspirants for the ticket - Roop Singh, Balbir Singh and Dinesh Kashyap - joining hands to oppose him.

In case of Nalagarh there is no confusion and both the parties have virtually decided their candidates. With the sympathy factor weighing heavy, the BJP is set to field Gurnam Kaur, widow of Hari Narain Saini, who died three months ago. With his personal clout, Saini had made the constituency a stronghold of the BJP and scored a hat-trick, winning the seat in 1998, 2003 and 2007. The Congress will in all probability again field Lakhwinder Rana, who has unsuccessfully contested the seat twice.

This is for the second time in the past three years that two byelections will be held together. In the earlier battles, the BJP wrested the prestigious Rohru seat from the Congress, while the latter snatched the Jawali seat from the former to draw levels. The political scenario has undergone a significant change and both parties are in for tough battles in both seats, notwithstanding the sympathy factor.

The outcome of the poll will have an immediate impact on the election to the Shimla Municpal Corporation due in May next, which will be followed by the Assembly poll to be held in October-November.

Dharamsala, October 23
Despite the fact that efforts have been made to make it more transparent, the use of power and money in the state Youth Congress elections is still prevalent in Himachal Pradesh.

Sons of prominent Congress leaders from the state are likely to make it to the state unit of the Youth Congress, the elections for which are scheduled for November 6. The sons of former Chief Minister and Union Minister for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Virbhadra Singh, former ministers GS Bali and Ram Lal Thakur and former parliamentary secretary Tek Chand Dogra are among the prominent contestants. The common Youth Congress worker is feeling left out and is blaming the complex election procedure and the financial implications.

The elections to the state unit of the Youth Congress are being conducted by the Foundation for Advancement and Management of Election (FAME). The agency that comprises retired officials from the election commission has been hired to make the election process for the Youth Congress more transparent so that actual leaders from the ground level can get representation in it.

However, the procedure adopted for holding the elections is lengthy and expensive for a common Youth Congress worker.

Sources said the contractor lobby and other lobbies of senior leaders tried to manipulate the system to favour the sons of their political masters. They even spent money from their pocket and submitted membership forms in bulk. At Kangra 275 such forms were rejected by the poll organisers as the matter got highlighted in the media. However, many such complaints from Hamirpur, Una and other places did not find any takers. By managing the numbers, heavyweight political leaders from the state have managed to get their delegates elected. About 8,000 district-level delegates have been elected in the state. The maximum 3,000 delegates are from Kangra district. These delegates will now vote on November 6 to elect the state unit of the Youth Congress.

The person who gets the maximum votes of delegates will be elected as the state president of the Youth Congress and others who get lesser number of votes in decreasing order will be the members of the 
state unit.

The way former and sitting MLAs are taking interest in the elections to the state Youth Congress, it is highly unlikely that a common person will make it to the state unit.

Shimla, October 23
The Shimla district unit of the CPM has expressed concern over the deteriorating law and order situation in the town, particularly thefts and robberies, which have become a regular feature.

Secretary of the party Sanjay Chauhan said here today that the crime graph was moving up and the police was unable to apprehend the criminals.

Now daylight thefts were taking place almost daily. The incidence of serious crimes like murders had also gone up.

The population of Shimla had increased manifold due to rapid urbanisation, but the strength of the police had not been increased proportionately. Moreover, hundreds of posts were vacant and the nature of duties of police had also changed. They were mostly pre-occupied with the so-called VIP duty.

Shimla, October 23
As many as 2,557 habitations will be provided the drinking water facility in the state during the current financial year.

Of the total 53,205 habitations, 41,418 habitations have been provided drinking water so far through 7,940 water supply schemes and over the past three and a half years, 17,787 habitations have been covered. After having provided water to all census villages, the focus is on covering the left-out habitations. The government is also striving to bring more and more area under irrigation.

Attention is also being paid to the quality of water and testing kits have been provided to 1,650 panchayats while the rest will be given the kits by the end of the year. Approval has been granted to three ambitious drinking water supply schemes.

These schemes will entail an expenditure of Rs 172.22 crore and help cover 1,171 habitations. These include a Rs 68.33-crore water supply augmentation scheme for the Changer area, a Rs 39.23-crore scheme for the Paragpur and Jaswan areas and aRs 64.66-crore scheme to cover Sadar, Ghumarwin and Jhandutta blocks in Bilaspur district.

The state government has accorded priority for setting up hand pumps in areas facing water scarcity and in past three and a half years, 8,755 hand pumps have been installed. This year the target is to set up 2,500 hand pumps.

Shimla, October 23
The BJP has taken exception to the comments of senior Congress leaders Kaul Singh and Vidya Stokes terming Chief Minister PK Dhumal as a “trader from Punjab” and have alleged that with no real issues to raise they are reviving the “bogey of regionalism”.

Party spokesperson Ganesh Dut said Dhumal had the support and blessings of 67 lakh Himachalis and the parochial politics being pursued by the Congress would not help it regain power in the state.

He said Vidya Stokes had described Dhumal as a semi-Himachali and she was using such terminology only because she was herself a half-Hindu and half-Christian.

He said Dhumal did not require a certificate from Congress leaders to prove his Himachali credentials. He came from a rural agricultural family, whose members had also served the Army. He had become the Chief Minister by popular mandate and by terming him a semi-Himachali, Stokes had insulted the people of the state. The Congress leaders had double standards - on the one hand they were virtually worshipping a woman of foreign origin and on the other questioning the roots of Dhumal.

Dut also refuted the charge that the BJP government was patronising the land, forest and liquor mafia, and said the allegation that one lakh bighas of land was given to private universities was baseless.

Sundernagar, October 23
Three persons were killed and two others injured (all from a family) when the car in which they were travelling rolled down into a gorge at Bhawana village, near here, on National Highway No. 21 today.

The deceased were identified as Capt Surinder Pal (62), grandchildren Shilpi (11) and Dixit (12), all residents of Luna Pani. Two other occupants Lal Singh, nephew, and Aditya (12), grandson, were injured.

Lal was admitted to the Civil Hospital here and Aditya referred to Zonal Hospital, Mandi.

According to the police, Surinder Pal (who was driving the car) was bringing back his grandchildren from the Army School in Dagsai (Solan district) when the accident occurred. The police has registered case under Sections 279, 337, 338 and 304-A, IPC.