Uttarakhand POLLS 2012
Haridwar: BSP takes lead in campaigning
Early announcement of candidates has given the party leaders sufficient time to canvass properly in all segments of the district
Sandeep Rawat
Tribune News Service

Haridwar, January 1
With exactly a month to go for the Assembly elections in the state and the Election Commission adamant on conducting poll on the very date, despite reservations from some parties, it’s the Bahujan Samaj Party, which is benefiting the most. As the BSP had announced its candidates for all the 11 seats in the district a month ago, they have already canvassed in a major portion of their respective segments. On the other hand, the ticket allocation turmoil in the Congress and the BJP is likely to extend till the first week of the next year.

During the last Assembly elections in the district there were eight segments but now owing to the new delimitation there are three more seats.

The BSP had six legislators in the previous state Assembly and now is eyeing an increase in this tally too. Leading the pack is leader of the BSP in state Assembly Mohammed Shahzad, who owing to delimitation has now shifted to Kaliyar as his home constituency of Bahadrabad is no more in existence.

With Kaliyar having a majority population of Muslims and given Shahzad’s political stature, he has an upper hand. He has been campaigning in this segment for the past six months.

Talking to The Tribune, Shahzad said he was the least worried about delimitation impact and had a strong hold in the Kaliyar segment too, owing to his efforts in the region.

“People want change as they are quite depressed by the corrupt governance of the BJP and the Congress governments. They look to the BSP as the only hope. Even regional fronts are cracking or are being used as tools of achieving political or self-ambitions only,” said Shahzad who also contested the last parliamentary elections but lost to Congress candidate Harish Rawat.

District BSP chief Rati Ram said during the first two weeks they had toured interior villages. Now, every alternate day party cadres are holding meetings and wherever one feels the party is weak that area is being covered by the respective candidates, he added.

Though joining of the Congress by two party heavyweights Chaudhari Yashveer Singh and Qazi Nizamuddin is certainly impacting the party campaign as both these leaders have a substantial base in the region.

Notably, in the last Assembly elections the BSP had won the Bahadrabad, Lal Dhang, Iqbalpur, Bhagwanpur, Mangalore and Landaura seats.

Water, power, road main poll issues in state
BD Kasniyal

Pithoragarh, January 1
The issues of pani, bijli and sadak (water, electricity and road) are dominant in all four Assembly seats in Pithoragarh. The issues of jal, jangal and jamin (water, forest and land) are the ones which are considered as the core issues of the separate state of Uttarakhand, as the people are still struggling with the basic infrastructure facilities in almost in all constituencies.

In the Dharchula Assembly seat, which has gone general for the first time after the creation of the state in the year 2000, the issues are of basic facilities. In the Talla Johar area good motor roads are missing. Darma and Byans valley in the Dharchula area and villages affected by the Askot Wildlife Sanctuary are becoming the main issues in the forthcoming election. The people of Dharchula town have been fighting for water, telecommunication and self-employment in last five years.

“The people of Dharchula have been treated as second class citizens for the last five years,” said Hoshiyar Singh Khair, Block Pramukh of Dharchula.

In Talla Johar village of Dharchula seat, the villagers have been fighting, besides the problems related with disaster, incomplete roads, drinking water problems and non-lifting of local produce due to damage of local paths. “The leaders who represented the area after the creation of the state, did not lay even a single foundation stone for any new project,” said Ganga Datt Dwivedi, a social worker from Kwiti village in Talla Johar area of Dharchula Assembly seat.

In Didihat seat, from where state BJP president Bishen Singh Chufal is seeking mandate for the fourth time, the issue of declaration of the new Didihat district is the main issue in the election.

“We have issued a government order on the issue, and after the elections are over, a separate district of Didihat will come into existence,” claimed Chufal. But the people have other views. The organisation that ran a five-year long agitation for the district is out to make the issue an election issue. “The BJP leader and local MLA deceived the people of Didihat by saying that if the district comes into existence, the area will have multifold development; but neither the district came into being, nor the development of the area could take shape,” said Jodh Singh Bora, leader of Didihat Zila Banao Sangharsh Samiti.

The people also complain of the lack of drinking water in the growing town of Didihat. “The lift scheme, declared by Chufal at the fag-end of the BJP Government, could only grant a token money of Rs 1 crore out of Rs 40 crore cost of the project,” said Balwant Singh Martolia, a resident of Didihat town.

The Pithoragarh Assembly seat will witness a tough electoral battle for Uttarakhand Cabinet Minister and senior BJP leader Prakash Pant. The people have a long list of grievances against the minister, who is the local legislator, including his unfulfilled promise of making Pithoragarh a tourist destination. “The minister promised commercial flights from the airstrip situated in the headquarter for the past 12 years, assured to erect two new artificial lakes, besides a number of industrial training institutes, and to revive the closed magnesite factory in the district.

But except landing a test flight in the last five years, the minister did nothing for the 2 lakh population he represented,” said Mohan Singh Rawat, a leading social worker and patron of the Nagar Sewa Samiti, Pithoragarh. But the minister seems assured of his mandate this time on the basis that out of the promises made by him in last election, he could fulfill most of them. “I have started the much expected engineering college in the district headquarter, and the Rs 60 crore worth lift scheme of drinking water for the town is under way. I have also linked most of villages with motor roads and the work on promised training institutes has begun as the land has been selected for the purpose,” claimed Prakash Pant .

In Gangolihat reserve seat for SC, the people complain of the inability of the BJP sitting MLA to do anything.”

The local BJP MLA Joga Ram neither could link the interior areas of Bail Patti with the road, nor could he solve the problem of drinking water in the town of Gangolihat and Ganai area, nor could he get a mettled the road from Ghat to Gangolihat to facilitate tourists. This negligence on the part of the MLA has ensured that the backward area remains backward,” said Govind Bharati, a firebrand local leader from the Ganai area of Gangolihat.

As the tickets of the main contestants are yet to be final, the initial focus in the district is on poor basic facilities and inefficiency of the government in delivering the goods.

“Even after the creation of the separate state of Uttarakhand and two elections, the people are still suffering from lack of basic facilities like lack of link roads, dearth of teachers in schools, no doctors in community health centers and growing drinking water problem in almost in all four seats of the district. The secondary issue of creation of jobs is also yet to be addressed,” said Mohan Singh Rawat, a senior citizen and social worker in the district.

Nishank’s tenure as CM may hit BJP campaign
Rajeev Khanna
Tribune News Service

Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank

Nainital, January 1
The ghost of over two years’ tenure of Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank at the helm of affairs in the state is expected to haunt the BJP through its campaign for the coming Assembly poll. Political observers and people feel that his eventual consignment to “dumps” and replacement by BC Khanduri by the party high command came in too late. It is also being observed that while Khanduri has brought the BJP to the state of giving the Congress a tough time, the party would have been in a much better position to face the people had the decision been taken earlier.

Over the past two months, the party has been desperately trying to play down any issue that has a negative reference to Nishank or his tenure. The party cadre has even desisted from using his pictures either in the government promotional literature over the past three months and all this while attempts have been made to make Khanduri as the poster boy.

The party leadership has always shied away from addressing the golden question asked by the media and to come on record on “Why was Nishank removed?”

In a recent media interaction, Cabinet minister Gobind Bisht had been at a loss of words and said Nishank had done a good job. On being asked if this was the reason for his departure, he said Khanduri was doing a better job. On again being asked if Khanduri was not performing during his first tenure, he was speechless.

Similarly, when the party secretary, Suresh Joshi, was asked the same question, he had said the party high command had taken the decision in the interest of the party and the state. When being asked again how the words “in the interest of the party and the state” need to be interpret, he too was at a loss of words.

The tenure of now ousted Nishank was marked by gross inefficiency when it came to governance. Nishank is being remembered by the electorate for making tall promises and lot of sweet talk but when it came to deliverance the result had been naught. The tenure was also marked by doling out favours to his critics so that a positive image was being sent out to the masses.

His departure had been met with relief by even the cadres of the BJP and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) as the image of the government was sliding down rapidly under Nishank.

Ironically, none of the BJP workers contacted till now on his removal have expressed any remorse at his departure.

The core areas of governance in Uttarakhand - infrastructure, health and education - had witnessed the worst scenario during Nishank’s tenure with the ministers making irrelevant statements and promises while the situation of ground went from bad to worst.

How the party led by Khanduri manages to convince the electorate on these issues remains to be seen over the next four weeks.

Only six NRIs registered with EC
Neena Sharma
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, January 1
Non-resident Indians (NRIs) continue to remain cold to state politics. Months after the Central Government brought amendments to the Registration of Electors (Amendment) Rules, 1960, paving way for the NRIs to participate in the Assembly elections, a minuscule six NRIs (Overseas electors) have so far registered with the Election Commission (EC).

Normally, whenever the NRIs went abroad, their names were struck out from the electoral rolls, but after the Central Government brought amendment this year, their names were not struck out. “Technically, they are still residents of the country by not striking their names out of the electoral rolls. We have ensured that they vote whenever they come down for holidays. A separate column has been assigned to them in the electoral rolls,” said Radha Raturi, Chief Electoral Officer.

According to Chief Electoral office, only six people have filled in form 6-A (meant for NRIs still retaining Indian passports) and sent them to the EC after self-attestation.

“The move is slow in catching up. We are optimistic it will become full blown in the general elections as the awareness spreads,” said Sowjanya, Joint Electoral Officer.

These Overseas electors could get their names registered at the place (residence) mentioned in their passport. Till now, no person could be on the voters' list if she/he was outside the country for more than six months at a stretch. But the news rules now allow the NRIs, who fulfil certain criteria, to cast their votes. They could submit their forms directly or by post.

However, the lack of interest among the NRIs is not proving worrisome for the political parties, especially the BJP, which has a strong influence among overseas residents. “They are not a strong force in the state as compared to neighbouring Punjab. The NRIs from Uttarakhand need to be motivated to participate in the elections. I think we will see a better response in the coming years. Those NRIs, who are still retaining their Indian passports, may not be interested in coming home just for the sake of elections,” stressed BS Koshiyari, senior BJP leader and Rajya Sabha member.

Rain brings smiles to farmers’ faces
Major snowfall in Himalayan valleys
Our Correspondent

Pithoragarh, January 1
Bringing much needed relief to the farmers, first major rainfall and snowfall of the winter season occurred in this district and adjoining areas. The rain, that began in the wee hours, brought smiles to the farmers’ faces in Pithoragarh and Champawat districts today.

“The rainfall was major and it measured 12.8 mm in Pithoragarh, Champawat and adjoining Almora districts on the morning of January 1, bringing joy of New Year to the faces of the farmers of these rain-fed districts,” said officials of the local unit of Meteorological Department.

According to the agriculture scientists from the Krishi Vigyan Kendra in the district, the rainfall was timely and it saved the decaying rabi crop and local vegetable crops. “This rainfall will save the rabi crop in these districts, which have witnessed only 3 mm of rainfall in the past three months against the requirement of 20 mm of rainfall, by creating sufficient moisture for the wheat and barley crops,” said Dr Namrata Bhatt, agriculture scientist from the Krishi Vigyan Kendra in Pithoragarh district.

“Out of the total area under the rabi crop in the three districts, the Almora farmers have sown rabi crop on maximum 80,000 hectares followed by Pithoragarh and Champawat districts which have sown the crop on 30,800 hectares and 10,914 hectares respectively,” said Dr Bhatt.

According to ITBP sources, this sudden change of weather led to snowfall on the higher Himalayan peaks and it is the first major snowfall of the season.

“In the Byans valley 1 or 2 feet of snowfall was reported while the Darma valley witnessed nearly 1 feet of snowfall at higher altitudes. Munsiyari town received the first major snowfall of half an inch while the adjoining hills of Kalamuni, Hansling and Chiplakot in Panchchuli range experienced more than 2 feet of snowfall,” said officials of an ITBP meteorological unit.

Heritor deposits Corbett’s gun
Rajeev Khanna

Nainital, January 1
The implementation of the model code of conduct, which comes into effect the moment the elections are announced for any state or for the country, often leads to certain ironical situations.

One such situation has arisen in the Kaladhungi area where the person who had inherited the gun of famous wildlife conservator Jim Corbett had to deposit it with the authorities till the polling process was completed in the state.

The tourists who visit the Chhoti Haldwani area, where Corbett had resided, and are enthusiastic to have a look at his gun would now have to wait for it for the next two months. The model code of conduct calls for deposition of all arms and ammunition with authorities till the election process is over in the state.

It is learnt that before going to Kenya in 1947, Corbett had gifted his gun to an old friend of his, Sher Singh Negi. The gun is still being retained by the latter’s son, Trilok Singh Negi, with great care.

Negi has much to narrate to the visitors about the gun, its usage and how it was transferred to the name of his father. The visitors to the Corbett Museum on the Kaladhungi crossroads often peep at the old arm which was used by Corbett to the save the villagers and their crops from wild animals.

Chhoti Haldwani village has acquired the status of being a heritage site. In December 2010, state Governor Margaret Alva had visited the place where she had unveiled a heritage map of the village. The heritage map on Chhoti Haldwani has been prepared by a Delhi-based organisation named Arch-I Platform. The place has been propagated successfully as a tourist destination. It is now known better as Corbett’s village.

Older staff don’t have to walk long distances
Rajeev Khanna/TNS

Nainital, January 1
With a view to providing respite to the officials engaged in conducting the poll in the tough terrain of the state, the election machinery has drawn up a plan that perceives older employees travelling shorter distances for executing their jobs.

At a meeting of the election machinery held at Champawt today, District Election Officer (DEO) Ashish Joshi said the officials up to the age of 45 years would be sent to polling stations to which one has to walk more than 20 km.

In case of polling stations for which one has to walk 10 km to 20 km, the officials up to the age of 50 years will be deputed. Officials till the age of 55 years would be deputed for polling stations to which one has to walk less than 10 km.

Meanwhile, Joshi has asked the officials to get mock polls done on the electronic voting machines (EVMs) that are to be used.

It was informed at the meeting that the administration in the district had acquired 109 small vehicles, 75 buses and three VIP vehicles to be used during polls.

Joshi has asked the returning officers to mark the spots in their respective areas where rallies and public meetings would be held by the political parties. The returning officers have been asked to give permission for the use of these venues on the first come-first serve basis.

Adequate measures are also being taken for maintaining a proper communication network in the district, which is not only remote but has a very tough geographical terrain as well. A set of 36 repeaters are to be installed in the Assembly constituencies falling in the district and zonal magistrates are being given wireless sets. The officials of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) have been asked to make a hunting line functional and get the toll free number 1950 activated.

Uttarkashi, Tehri clinch softball titles
Tribune News Service

Haridwar, January 1
In the final of the 8th Uttarakhand State Softball Championship played today, Uttarkashi clinched the title in in the girls’ section by defeating Haridwar 8-0 while in boys’ section Tehri Garhwal won with the same margin against Haridwar.

The sport is fast catching on in the state and this was evident during the hosting of the championship during which players not only from the plain regions of Haridwar, Dehradun, but also from hilly districts of Uttarkashi, Pauri, Tehri and Nainital participated.

Though the sport is still in its nascent stage, the junior players showcased tremendous skills associated with softball like pitching, base running, short stop, batters, etc.

Jyoti Yadav, IAS officer, who gave away the prizes to the winners, said one should always try to learn something from each game.

Senior vice-president of the Uttarakhand Softball Association Naresh Chaudhary said the association was providing free training to budding players and organising camps to popularise this game in the state.

Honorary secretary of association Ajay Malik told The Tribune that on the basis of individual performances a team of 15 players would be selected who would be participating in the National Softball Championship to be held at Anantpur, Andhra Pradesh, next month.

Rubi Rawat (Uttarakashi) and Durgesh (Tehri) were adjudged the best players of the championship.

Among others present were Dr Raj Kumar Rawat, Kashmir Singh, KS Bhandari, Kapil Sharma, Dushyant Rana, Mamta Sharma, Richa and Vinu Malik.

Cantt Blue crush Western Boys

Dehradun, January 1
The Cantt Blue Football Club and the Vijay Cantt Football Club won their respective matches in the Amar Shaheed Kharag Bahadur Bisht Memorial Football Tournament being played at Nehru Gram here today.

In the first match, the Cantt. Blue Football Club drubbed the Western Boys Football Club 6-0. In a one-sided match, the Cantt. Blue team was on the offensive since the start and scored their first goal through Anshul Pradhan in the 20th minute of the game. Manish Thapa scored two goals in the 32nd and 39th minutes. Then Churchill Rana struck two more goals in the 42nd and 47th minutes. Tushar Lama scored the sixth goal in the 55th minute. Manish Thapa was declared as the man of the match.

In the second match, the Vijay Cantt. team defeated Gypsy Club 2-0. It was only in the 50th minute that Arya scored the first goal for Vijay Cantt. Ankur followed him to score the second goal in the 53rd minute.

Ankur was adjudged as the man of the match. Don Star will take on Sunderwala Boys while Raipur XI will clash with Balaji Boys on Monday. — TNS

Women dominate 6 Almora dist seats
Our Correspondent

Pithoragarh, January 1
The number of women voters in six Assembly seats in Almora and Pithoragarh is more than that of male voters.

These seats are, Dwarahat, Salt and Someshwar in Almora and Didihat and Pithoragarh and Dharchula in Pithoragarh district.

According the district election office, Almora, the number of women voters in the Dwarahat seat is 40,590 while that of men is 36,191.

“In the two seats of Salt and Someshwar, Almora, the number of women voters is 1,239 and men is only 289,” said DS Garbiyal, district election officer, Almora.

In Pithoragarh district, out of a total of 62,875 voters in the Didihat seat, the number of women voters is 33,470 and men is 29,405.

“The election office is making all arrangements to let women cast their votes according to their will. Women polling officers will be deputed at the booths meant for the women,” said the district election officer, Pithoragarh.

Balaji Boys humble Garhwal team
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, January 1
The Balaji Boys Football Club defeated Garhwal Boys 4-2 in a tie-breaker in the opening match of the Ram Bahadur Chhetri Memorial Football Tournament here today.

Both teams playing excellently mounted attacks on each other but failed to score as the match went into sudden death after the stipulated time. In the tie-breaker, Balaji Boys showed their nerves to beat Garhwal Boys 4-2. Shyamal, Kuldeep, Nitin and Mayur scored for Balaji Boys while Atish and Varinder scored for Garhwal Boys. Cantt.

Blues will meet Doon United Club and Doon Valley Club will take on the Nagar Nigam team on Monday.

Under-15 cricket: Benaras beat Haryana
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, January 1
The APL, Benaras, team defeated HPS, Haryana, by seven wickets in a match in the 26th Banke Lal Shah Memorial Under-15 Cricket Tournament here today.

Batting first after winning the toss, the HPS team scored 78 runs all out. Opener Sarthak was the top scorer with 30 runs. Vishal, Atish and Rohit took two wickets each. In reply, the Banaras team scored the required runs by losing only three wickets. Vinay scored 20 runs. Mohan took all three wickets for 14 runs.

CM accused of causing revenue loss
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, January 1
Uttarakhand Congress Spokesperson Surender Agarwal yesterday again charged the Khanduri government for buying electricity at a higher rate from Uttar Pradesh, thereby causing revenue loss to the state.

“A power-purchase scam has taken place in the state and the state government was purchasing power from Uttar Pradesh at very high rates,” he charged.

He said the Khanduri government made the exorbitant power-purchase deal on the advice of IAS officer PK Sarangi, whose closeness with the Chief Minister is well known.

On the other hand, BJP spokesperson Mukesh Mahendru refuted the charges saying that through proper management, the government was able to avoid dependence on electricity to be purchased from open market and no electricity was purchased from the year 2007, 2008 and 2009.

Koshiyari meets UKD leaders

Dehradun, January 1
Leaving nothing to chance, the BJP has begun building bridges with both the factions of the Uttarakhand Kranti Dal (UKD) and leading the charge is senior BJP leader and election campaign in charge Bhagat Singh Koshiyari.

Confirming his meeting with the UKD leaders, Koshiyari said it was an informal meeting with the UKD leaders who had called on him on Saturday.

“The UKD had lent support in the government formation after the 2007 elections so much so that Food and Civil Supplies Minister Diwakar Bhatt continues to a part of the government despite the split in the main party,” said Koshiyari. — TNS