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Raksha Morcha gaining mass acceptance
State has 63.63 lakh voters
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Poll code violation: Guilty to face FIR in Almora
UKD (P), Left reach pact over 14 seats
BJP likely to firm up alliance with UKD (D)
Chairperson of erstwhile Haldwani Municipal Board joins BJP
It’s outsider vs insider in Lohaghat
Nepal officers assure govt help in poll
Menace of Paid News
EC to deal strictly with violators
Inflation down due to Atal Khadyan Yojana: BJP
Instructions issued to printing presses
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Dehradun, January 2 Tiwari is the patron of the Nirantar Vikas Samiti and his private secretary Sanjay Joshi is the general secretary of the organisation. The move is seen as part of the strategy by Tiwari to pressurise the Congress high command to accommodate his favourites on the list of Congress candidates. Tiwari has been trying hard to get party nomination for his former private secretary Aryaendra Sharma from the Sahaspur Assembly segment in Dehradun district and his own nephew Manish Tiwari from the Khatima Assembly segment in Udham Singh Nagar district. Interacting with the media at his residence, Tiwari declined forming any political party but hosted a meeting of the Nirantar Vikas Samiti at his residence here today. The development happens at a crucial time for the Congress when its screening committee is busy finalising the name of party candidates in New Delhi. “I am not floating any political party. I have no wish to contest as I am 87,” Tiwari told mediapersons. Nirantar Vikas Samiti spokesperson Bharat Sharma said, “We have received 350 applications. The Nirantar Vikas Samiti will be fielding selected persons as independent candidates. Many BJP and Congress leaders are in contact with the NVS. The samiti will be forming a national council of independent candidates and will also contest the UP Assembly poll. ND Tiwari will be the guiding force of the organisation”. The development is viewed as a last-ditch effort by Tiwari to convey to the party high command that he is still around and cannot be ignored. Tiwari has his area of influence in the Nainital and Terai regions of Kumaon, his native place. His supporters had also erected his posters and banners in the town but were quickly removed. Bad weather may hit voting in remote areas Mussoorie, January 2 Many booths in both districts are approachable only by foot. In Tehri district, the election booth at Junior High School, Bhavna Kyara village, is too far that voters will have to walk several kilometres to caste their vote. More than five booths in the Narendar Nagar Assembly segment are situated at a distance of 20 km from the main road. The Gangi booth in Ghansali is 22 km away while the Pasni booth in the Dhanaulti Assembly segment is 18 km from the main road. In the Mussoorie Assembly segment, voters will have to walk several kilometres to reach the election booths at Hathipaon, Chaskhet, Bulhat and Chamasari, which is difficult in inclement weather. However, political parties have heaved a sigh of relief with the Election Commission giving them an assurance that the elections could be rescheduled in the booths that would be affected by heavy snowfall. |
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Raksha Morcha gaining mass acceptance
Slowly but effectively the outfit is gaining a hold among the masses and could turn out to be a crucial factor in changing the dynamics of state politics. More so, the party candidates, too, have been selected on certain parameters of which their clean image, honesty, integrity during their respective occupations and commitment to social and statehood causes are foremost. Talking to The Tribune, the founder of the URM, Lieut-Gen Tej Pal Singh Rawat (retd), emphasised the need to have good candidates who stood out among the crowd of routine politicians to whom other political parties normally give ticket. In Haridwar today to address an election meeting, he said though the party core committee wanted to have maximum candidates, if they don’t find suitable candidates they will not be fielding just for the sake of it. “Our first impression among the public is going through our choice of candidates, where we are scoring as our candidates just don’t speak on the mike only but have been addressing the woes of people on the field. Now, it’s up to our activists and the public to bring the change democratically in our infected system,” said Rawat, former parliamentarian from the Pauri Garhwal Lok Sabha seat. The claim of the General is further boosted by the presence of its core committee members, including Lieut-Gen Shailendra Bahuguna, former Revenue Commissioner Surendra Singh Pangti, former Election Commissioner BC Chandola, former Superintendent of Police Mohan Singh Rawat, scientis DP Juyal, Head of Department (English) at Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna University, Surekha Dangwal, academician SP Sati. The public, too, is accepting this newly created outfit with full hands as is now being seen in the election meetings, which are being held on medium scale, far from the fanfare as associated with the other political parties. Manju Pawar, secretary of the women cell of the morcha, said she, along with, 24 house makers from Haridwar, had joined the outfit as despite 11 years of the creation of Uttarakhand, the woes of the people of this hilly state hadn’t been addressed fully. “Only scams have marred the tenure of the respective Congress and BJP governments in the state. Women folk in both the hills and the plains are still in the same condition as in the erstwhile Uttar Pradesh era. Corruption was not heard of in the hills but now, thanks to politicians, it has made inroads in the state too,” said Rekha Valmiki, a social activist. |
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State has 63.63 lakh voters
Dehradun, January 2 Out of the general voters, 32,77,829 voters are male and 29,85,765 voters are female. Whereas the total number of service voters is 1,32,000 out of which the total population of male voters is 6,90,242 and the total population of female voters is 31,078. She said the total number of voters (service and general) in Uttarkashi is 1,91,706, in Chamoli the total number (service and general) is 2,59,378, in Rudraprayag (service and general) is 1,61,475, in Tehri Garhwal (service and general) is 37,162, in Dehradun (service and general) it is 10,56,643, in Haridwar(service and general) it is 10,86,470, in Pauri Garhwal (service and general) is 5,05,742, in Pithoragarh (service and general) it is 3,22,315, in Bageshwar (service and general) it is 1,84,481, in Almora (service and general) it is 4,82,850, in Champawat (service and general) it is 1,68,376, in Nainital (service and general) it is 5,89,436 and in Udham Singh Nagar (service and general) it is 9,17,880. |
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Poll code violation: Guilty to face FIR in Almora
Nainital, January 2 At a meeting held on the District Panchayat Office premises this morning, district election officer (DEO) DS Garbyal told his subordinates that till now notices were being issued to the violators for putting up of banners and posters on government premises. However, from now on such practice would not be tolerated and a case would be registered against the guilty. He further emphasised that the maximum emphasis would be laid on the monitoring of the poll expenditure by the candidates. He said a video-monitoring team would be functioning in every Assembly constituency and would be recording the rallies and other developments. He also laid stress on the maintaining of records by printing units of the number of posters and pamphlets got printed by every candidate. It was related that every published and printed material must have the name of the publisher and the printer. At a similar meeting held after a videoconferencing session with chief election officer Radha Raturi, the district election officer (DEO) for Nainital Nidhi Mani Tripathi told the returning officers that arrangements be made for reaching the remote polling stations in the event of inclement weather conditions. She said ample number of mules and porters must be arranged for the purpose. Raturi had told all district election officers across the state to furnish the details of declaration made by various candidates coming to file their nominations to the media and put the same on the website of the Election Commission. She further directed that in case the contestant has to repay any debt, the information regarding the same must be posted on the notice boards and got printed in the newspapers At a meeting held in Udham Singh Nagar district, district election officer PS Jangpangi shared with the representatives of various political parties the details of mechanism put in place for conducting the electoral exercise. He laid particular emphasis on the monitoring aspect which is the core area being focused upon by the Election Commission. |
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UKD (P), Left reach pact over 14 seats
Dehradun, January 2 It was on two seats of Lansdowne and Tehri the differences between both the sides remained unresolved. President of the UKD (P) Trivender Singh Panwar overlooked the concern of the leaders of the Left parties, Samar Bhandari, state secretary of the CPI, and Vijay Rawat, state secretary of the CPM, and announced his candidates for these two seats, despite the left objection to this. Panwar could be seen sorting out the differences over the phone with the leaders of the Left parties even before the presence of media persons whom he had called to announce the seats at a joint press conference. The Left leaders were not ready to come to the conference without sorting out the matter. But, when Panwar said he would announce his party’s seats today and they could announce theirs tomorrow, the leaders of both the Left parties arrived in the conference room and asked for the list of the approved candidates jointly signed by Panwar and them. But Panwar managed to tackle them at the conference and did not produce the list. Later, Samar Bhandari said they wanted the Tehri seat for themselves and the Lansdowne seat for TPS Rawat, president of the Uttarakhand Raksha Morcha (URM), which they still consider a part of the Uttarakhand United Regional Front (UURF). Panwar believes that the URM is a part of the UURF. He has fielded AP Juyal, acting vice-president of the party, from Lansdowne. Panwar has been saying that only the UKD, the CPI, the CPM and the Lok Vahini were the members of the UURF and the rest were out but the Left leaders have been insisting that no one has the power and right to expel members of the front. |
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BJP likely to firm up alliance with UKD (D)
Dehradun, January 2 Negotiations are already on in New Delhi with top leaders who are expected to release the list by tonight. After senior leader and state BJP election campaign in charge BS Koshiyari held talks with Food and Civil Supplies Minister and president of the UKD (Democratic) Diwakar Bhatt, speculation was rife that the party may rope in Bhatt for an alliance and even ask him to contest the Assembly elections on However keeping his options open, Diwakar Bhatt is said to have demanded ticket for his party from Narender Nagar and Devprayag. The BJP wants that Bhatt fight on the BJP symbol and during the preliminary talks Koshiyari had apprised him of the tie-up that the party had with Harbhajan Singh Cheema who is a sitting MLA from Kashipur. Bhatt is said to have asked BJP leaders to allocate Narender Nagar (Tehri) seat for his supporter and sitting MLA Om Gopal Rawat and his own seat Devprayag from where he is the sitting MLA. Sources in the BJP said Bhatt had made this offer as the BJP is expected to allocate 20 seats for its sitting MLAs, some of whom are also Cabinet ministers, on the basis of “sitting getting formula”. As these seats were already in the kitty of But it also means setting aside two seats from its own quota and putting paid to aspirations of BJP aspirants. “The talks are on with the UKD (Democratic). The party high command will be making the final call later. At the moment, we are working on clearing the names of our candidates who are sure short winners,” said BS Chuphal, Uttarakhand BJP chief. |
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Chairperson of erstwhile Haldwani Municipal Board joins BJP
Nainital, January 2 The development is being interpreted in several ways by observers, political pundits and voters. A local Congress leader till Sunday, Adhikari had been making claims for party ticket from the seat which is said to be among the prestigious constituencies in the state. However, she knew that her desire to contest from the Congress could only be realised if former Cabinet minister and political heavyweight Indra Hridayesh makes way for her, which was a remote possibility in the present scenario. Observers say “may be the allurement of ticket from the BJP led her to switch sides”. It is also being maintained that with Cabinet minister Bansidhar Bhagat showing an inclination to contest from Kaladhungi while vacating his traditional seat at Haldwani, the BJP was on the lookout for a candidate with some political weight to be pitted against Hridayesh. The choice of Adhikari further suited the party as it would also mean pitting a woman candidate against other. The BJP has till now not come on record saying that the ticket would be given to Adhikari. Sceptics say that may be the post of a Mayor has been promised to her as deal as Haldwani has now become a Municipal Corporation. However, in case Adhikari gets to fight on the BJP ticket, the political fallout would be enormous. To begin with, there would be much heartburn among the BJP leaders vying for the ticket from Haldwani. Observers say that the image of the BJP as a cadre-based party has taken a strong beating after this development. Secondly, it would not necessarily mean that the entire support base which she had as a local-level Congress leader would move with her. The hows and whys of Adhikari jumping on to the bandwagon again have several versions coming in from various political corners. There is a point of view that following the Cabinet minister, Rajendra Singh Bhandari, joining the Congress, the BJP wanted to get even in the game and this led to the announcement of Adhikari joining the party. The announcement was made in the presence of former national president Rajnath Singh and Chief Minister BC Khanduri at the party headquarters in Delhi. There is another point of view that infighting within the Congress might have led to the faction opposed to Hridayesh to encourage her to switch over to the BJP. The development has definitely made Haldwani the centre of political theatre as of now. |
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It’s outsider vs insider in Lohaghat
Pithoragarh, January 2 “Besides these, Champawat has Sukhidhank Danda Medar, pending road issue from the time of UP as despite the inauguration in 2004, this 35-km-long road could not be completed,” says a local. “Besides this road, the ineffectiveness of the Nagar Palika, despite the cabinet decision on it, and non-existence of district hospital despite inauguration by BJP ministers are the main issues in this election,” said Dinesh Pandey, a local journalist in Champawat. The issue of doctors and other medical staff in community health centres of the district, Ring Road around the town and a bypass as the national highway is being widened by the BRO, are the other issues. The Lohaghat seat, being represented by Congress leader MS Mahara, has some benefits for the sitting MLA as he takes the credit of converting the Kham Some critics say that the Congress MLA has spent his Local Area Development Fund quota only to please his party workers and deprived the people of the fund who actually needed it. “Villages of the Barakot and Lohaghat area are still in need of a playground for the youth and link roads as the Congress MLA did not pay heed to the local youth in the area,” said Hayat Singh Mhara, an aspirant for the BJP ticket from the seat. The voters in Bageshwar are facing inconvenience due to non-plying of roadways buses from the town to Nainital, Pithoragarh and Haldwani. The Roadways Department runs buses only to Delhi or Dehradun from the town. This is going to be a poll issue this time, said a passenger travels daily to Haldwani in connection with his business. “Besides this routine issue, the non- completion of the proposed roads, specially between Dafaut and Sateswar, proposed for the past 20 years, are the main issues in Bageswar this time,” said Ghansyam Joshi , a social worker, living in Bageswar. The Residents of 62 villages of Kharahi Patti of the district are still crying foul for the drinking water shortage. “Almost every public representative, demanding votes has promised these villagers of solving their problem but it still persists,” said Mohanram Tamta, a village of the area. According to local residents, all three degree colleges, sanctioned by the BJP government, have no buildings. The degree colleges of Garur, Kanda and Kapkot are being run from hired buildings. Even a polytechnic college approved for Garur has no building of it, said Keshv Bhatt, a local in Bageswar. According to the local people, the announcement of a base hospital in the town will also figure as the issue in these poll. The Kapkot seat in Bageswar district has always been a hub of problems for the common people as doctors and teachers have escaped the posting in this interior town by using political connections. “This tendency has resulted into only 30 per cent availability of doctors and 20 per cent of the teachers in the institutions of the area,” said Govind Ssingh Kapkoti, a youth from Kapkot. According to the local residents, the problems of the area could not be solved despite the top leader, Bhagat Singh Kosiyari represented it. The Song area of Kapkot has resentment due to opposition of a hydroelectric project by villagers as the villagers say the project will further increase the possibility of landslide in the area. |
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Nepal officers assure govt help in poll
Pithoragarh, January 2 They will be helping the Indian authorities in checking the infiltration from across the border and checking the fake currency flow from across the border. The officers from adjoining districts of Nepal gave this assurance to the Indian officers during a meeting of the officers of both countries held here today. “We have decided to help the Indian officers in the elections by checking the suspected anti-social elements in Nepal to cross into the Indian territory,” said Govind Manibhurtel, chief district officer of Baitari district of Nepal, which is adjoining the borders of Pithoragarh district. According to the district magistrate, Pithoragarh, the borders of Pithoragarh district with Nepal will be sealed 48 hours before the polling. “The officers of both border districts of Nepal assured us of full help in conducting the election and said both officers would be in connected with each other over telephones on the day.” said R Rajesh Kumar, District Magistrate, Pithoragarh. The Nepal officers also sought some help from the Indian officers in providing convenience to Nepal citizens, who obtain pension from the Indian banks. “The Indian officers have agreed to our demand that bank officers of Indian banks who are not customer-friendly will be changed and the banks will not issue to Nepali pensioners, notes of Rs 500 and 1,000 denominations as this currency is not accepted in Nepal,” said Manibhurtel , CDO of Baitari, Nepal. The meeting was attended by, besides the District Magistrate and the SP of Pithoragarh district, chief district officers of Darchula and Baitari districts of Nepal, the SDM Dharchula (India), police officers from both districts of Nepal and India and officers from the Customs, Forest, Excise from both countries and officers of the SSB and the ITBP of India. |
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Menace of Paid News
Nainital, January 2 Sources in the government say that there are some roadblocks emerging with regards to the constitution of the MCMCs. While there is no doubt that the two members of the committees will be the Deputy District Election Officers, problems are being encountered with regards to the other two members. One of the members has to come from the Information and Broadcasting Ministry. Sources say that while the orders have been sent across to the departments under the Information and Broadcasting Ministry like the song and drama division, most of the officials are busy holding voter awareness campaigns and other such works. However, they say that this will be resolved in a day or so. The maximum confusion is prevailing with regards to the fourth member which is to be an independent person or journalist nominated by the Press Council of India (PCI). The officials say that they are unclear when such persons will be nominated and notified. The sources further said the job for recording and monitoring of news being run in the electronic medium and print medium was being outsourced to credible agencies. Meanwhile, sources within the media industry pointed out that ever since the Model Code of Conduct was implemented, several television channels had managed to hoodwink the authorities on the issue of paid news. The sources said money had been changing hands for repeatedly running one to one interviews with politicians who had either been declared as candidates or were in the line for getting the party ticket. The sources further said the marketing professionals had already been given huge targets to meet during the poll campaign. The Joint Chief Election Officer for the state Saujanya had said here a week back that this time the commission’s own teams would be monitoring the expenses incurred instead of the earlier practice of relying only on the declarations made by the candidates. She had also asserted that stringent measures would be taken to check the menace of paid news. |
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EC to deal strictly with violators
Haridwar, January 2 With special the media monitoring committee being formed by the Election Commission to monitor such activities, this time it will not be easy for politicians to misguide the common public via paid news, which a majority of voters think to be the normal news coverage as it is reported by journalists. Meetings with representatives of all the political parties are being held in each district to make sure they are well informed about the election code of conduct. District election officer D Senthyl Pendiyan said all the respective election officers had been strictly directed to make sure the candidates didn’t cross the stipulated Rs 11-lakh mark of election expenditure and any news item found excessively favouring a certain candidate would be deemed to be paid news too. Also the congratulatory messages that are flashed below the main screen on news channels will also come under paid news. Talking to The Tribune, Haridwar (city) Assembly segment in charge officer Jyoti Yadav said all the political parties candidates had been apprised of paid news violation and if any one was found to be violating the norm then instant action would be taken against the candidate. She said Expenditure Observers and Assistant Expenditure Observers are exclusively monitoring the election expenditure of the contesting candidates. State unit secretary of the CPM RC Jakhmola expressed happiness over the paid news being strictly monitored by the district election office.
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Inflation down due to Atal Khadyan Yojana: BJP
Dehradun, January 2 At a press briefing today, Lakhera said under the Atal Khadayan Yojana, the BPL and APL families could get food grains at a cheap price. Not only this, the BJP government by reducing VAT on diesel, petrol and clothes has tried to lessen the impact of the price rise,” said Lakhera. He said the BJP government in Uttarakhand was buying wheat at Rs 6.50 per kg from the Central Government and was distributing it at Rs 4 per kg to the APL families and in the same way the state government was buying rice from the Central Government at Rs 8.45 per kg and distributing it to the APL families at Rs 6 per kg. Similarly, the BJP government is buying wheat at Rs 4.65 per kg and rice at Rs 6.15 per kg from the Centre and is distributing them at Rs 2 per kg to the BPL families in the state.
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Instructions issued to printing presses
Dehradun, January 2 The Chief Electoral Officer has said that according to the guidelines received from the ECI, the printing presses will have to pay attention to necessarily mentioning the print line on the face of all types of election-related publicity material while printing the same. There is also a provision for candidates to submit a declaration form to the District Election Officer, the DM or the Chief Electoral Officer prior to the publication of the publicity material. She said any process for multiplying copies of pamphlets, handbill and placards or any such material to be used in electoral publicity shall be deemed to be printing and its cost shall be included in the candidate’s election expenses. Any person who contravenes any of these provisions shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to six months, or with fine which may extend to Rs 2,000, or with both. |
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Veteran Congress leader and former Uttarakhand Chief Minister ND Tiwari, who had been sidelined by the party following a sex scandal in Hyderabad Raj Bhawan, has created a stir in the party circles by announcing the formation of a society that will contest all 70 Assembly seats in the state.
The total number of general and service voters in the state is 63,63,914 out of which the population of general voters is 62,63,594 as indicated by the list of voters released by the Chief Electoral Office today.
The Uttarakhand Kranti Dal (Progressive) and the Left parties, the CPI and the CPM, have reached an understanding over 14 seats for the coming Assembly elections in the state. The UKD (P) has announced its candidates for 12 seats whereas the CPI and the CPM announced four seats (two each) they would contest.
Haridwar, January 2
