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Kumaon remains arena of threats and protests
Shiv Sena releases first list of candidates
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Two BSP candidates file papers
Bhimtal Seat
BJP women candidates feeling left out
Harish Rawat decimates Arya
Randomisation process begins
Brahamchari’s ‘clean image’ favourable for Cong
Supporters throw weight behind Ambrish
Khajan Das to fight
from Rajpur as Independent
Bisht becomes victim of neglect
Discontentment brews in Cong
Election shadow on wedding ceremonies
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29 extra-sensitive polling stations in Almora
Nainital, January 7 In case of sensitive stations, four are in Dwarahat, 10 each in Salt and Ranikhet, 14 in Someshwar, 12 in Almora and eight in Jageshwar. According to district election officer DS Garbyal, 784 polling stations have been set up across the district to carry out the poling exercise. He said 99 per cent of the electorate had been given electronic photo identity cards. The election machinery has also identified 109 polling stations that may witness snow on the day of the polling.Garbyal further said till now nine complaints with regard to the violation of the model code of conduct had been received, of which six had been disposed of. In Champawat district, district election officer Ashish Joshi has called for a status report with regard to the poll preparations from his subordinates. He has ordered that notices be issued to BJP leaders Beena Maharana and Puran Phartayal for the violation of the model code of conduct along with the Congress leadership for resorting to fireworks after the declaration of party ticket to its candidate. He has also stated that there are 298 polling stations across the district that would cover the two Assembly constituencies of Lohaghat and Champawat. Joshi has ordered the officials of the Water and Power Supplies Departments to ensure the supplies for 52 polling stations that have been earmarked as not having these basic facilities. He has also ordered that the communication facility be provided to another 29 polling stations that are devoid of this facility. He has called upon police officials and officials of the BSNL to work in coordination for sprucing up the communication facilities in the remote areas. He has also ordered that special medical kits be provided to the officials who would be functioning in the 11 identified high-altitude polling stations in the district. |
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Kumaon remains arena of threats and protests
Nainital, January 7 Maximum discontent accompanied by threats of leaving the party and on some occasions even deciding to contest as Independents have come from Kumaon for both the parties. There have been a series of developments that have set the stage for rebellion in the two parties. For the BJP, which was the first to announce the party tickets, the biggest step was the denial of ticket to the sitting Cabinet Minister Gobind Singh Bisht from the Bhimtal seat. The party also denied the ticket to the Nainital legislator Kharak Singh Bora, who had wanted to contest from Kaladhungi. In addition to this, it simply overlooked several other candidates who claim to be deserving the tickets. The furore that has been witnessed at the party headquarters in Dehradun has been reported at length. Some other legislators like Beena Mahrana were denied tickets on the pretext of negative survey reports and the decision to field ‘winnable’ candidates. Similarly, in the Congress the denial of party tickets to the likes of Harish Chandra Durgapal from Lal Kuan and Sher Singh Naulia from the Bhimtal seat has led to protests. The most glaring fact about the distribution is that both parties sidelined the state party presidents when it came to deciding upon the candidates, thus decimating their authority. Both the presidents - Bishan Singh Chauphal of the BJP and Yash Pal Arya of the Congress - failed to get tickets for the candidates of their choice. Observers say that with the power having been vested in the faces from Garhwal over the last five years, the people as well as the politicians in the Kumaon region always felt that they were being ignored and sidelined. Even in case of the Congress, the focus has been on Garhwal, particularly from the time Union Minister Harish Rawat got elected from the Hardwar Lok Sabha seat. Another reason, which the observers feel that led to both the parties deciding in favour of new faces, was the failure of the old leadership to come up to the mark in the wake of the developments that took place in Kumaon region. For example, in the event of the rain-related disaster that had hit Kumaon over the last two years, while the BJP Government failed to reach out to the people in terms of relief and rebuilding of infrastructure, the Congress leadership totally failed to act as a responsible Opposition. This has led to a major disillusionment amongst the people with both the parties.
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Shiv Sena releases first list of candidates
Dehradun, January 7 During a conference here, Devender Singh Bisht, state spokesperson of Shiv Sena, announced the names of the candidates. He said, “Party would contest elections over 35 seats in Uttarakhand.” ”Public is now aware of the corrupt features of both the BJP as well as the Congress. Shiv Sena promises that the party would struggle for eradication of problems of the regional folks and would give justice to their expectations,” he added.
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Two BSP candidates file papers
Pithoragarh, January 7 Jagjiwan Singh Kanyal from the Didihat seat and Ram Dutt Joshi from
the Pithoragarh seat filed the papers as the authorised candidates of the party. |
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Bhimtal Seat
Nainital, January 7 Among the common BJP workers and supporters across Kumaon, the Nishank-Bisht duo is held largely responsible for the slide in the popularity graph of the party, particularly over the last three years. Bisht’s tenure as the Education Minister was marked by gross unpopularity and inefficiency. In his own former constituency of Dhari which is not in existence any more on account of the delimitation and whose large part today forms the part of Bhimtal constituency, his claims on development have been disputed by the people at large. The number of transfers of teachers that took place during his tenure as the Education Minister and the manner in which these transfers were done have been a matter of great controversy although Bisht has been claiming that everything was done in a transparent manner. Sources within the Sangh Parivar point out that he was adopting the same yardstick for doing the works of Sangh affiliates that he had been adopting for others. With Nishank at the helm of affairs three months back, Bisht is also being accused of acting very “arrogantly” towards the party workers and supporters. Like Nishank, he too would be remembered for making promises that never saw the light of the day. Most of these promises were impractical or implemented in a manner that they eventually proved to be counter-productive. For example, he had gone on to make a promise that the government would provide wrist watches to girl students so that they could reach school on time. The scheme never took off. The manner in which free uniforms were being distributed among the school children too calls for a lot to be said. No one had thought of tailoring measurements to be taken of the students for whom the uniforms were meant. The result was that the students had gone on to receive ill-fitting uniforms, much to the dismay of the poor villagers. Even while the half yearly exams had started, there were several schools where the students were yet to receive the free textbooks. Even today, there are a large number of schools where there are no teachers. The Bhimtal constituency is an example of the remote areas of the hilly terrain in Uttarakhand where development still continues to be elusive. People from the erstwhile constituency of Bisht say that his merit was that he was always present in his constituency but the works that he claims to have done are far from satisfactory. The tanks built on his instance do not have water, the dispensaries do not have doctors and the schools do not have teachers. Observers say that with his announcement of contesting from the seat as an Independent, he is expected to cause a “little damage” to the BJP. The official candidate of the party Dan Singh Bhandari has proved his strength of being a farmer’s leader on several occasions. Perhaps, his image too led to the party dumping the sitting Cabinet Minister
Bisht. |
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BJP women candidates feeling left out
Dehradun, January 7 After the state Congress allocated eight seats to women candidates, the BJP leaders were also hoping that the central leadership would be forced to accommodate some more women candidates on the remaining list for 22 Assembly seats. “We have been sorely disappointed with the list of the candidates declared by the party high command. We had been given an assurance by the leaders that the number of women candidates will be much higher this time around. But all our hopes have been dashed,” said Mamta Paladiya, president of the women’s wing of the state BJP. In fact, during the recent visit of the national president (women) of the BJP, Smriti Irani, the women’s wing of the state BJP had demanded at least 12 party tickets for women candidates. “The party leaders had said that at least 10 party tickets would be allocated for women candidates,” said Vinod Uniyal, who has been denied the ticket from Dharampur. Those who have manged to get the ticket are Geeta Thakur from Gangolihat (SC), Vijaya Barthwal, Rural Development Minister, from Yamkeshwar, Kamla Chauhan from Chakrata (ST), Renu Adhikari from Haldwani, Asha Nautiyal(sitting MLA) from Kedarnath and Hema Joshi from Lohaghat. In the 2007 Assembly elections, the state BJP had taken the lead and given party ticket to seven women candidates, of which three had won. On the other hand, the state Congress party had given only four tickets to women candidates, of which only one sitting MLA, Amrita Rawat, from Beronkhal had won. Now for the 2012 Assembly elections, the Uttarakhand Congress has allocated eight tickets to women leaders. And these include heavyweights --- former PWD Minister Indira Hridyesh (Haldwani seat), former Power Minister Amrita Rawat (Ramnagar), first-timer chief of the women’s wing of the state Congress Sarojini Kaintura (Yamkeshwar), Jyoti Rutela from the Lansdowne Assembly seat and Brij Rani from the Jawalapur (SC) Assembly seat. |
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Harish Rawat decimates Arya
Nainital, January 7 The first list of the candidates who would contest the coming poll on the party ticket announced recentlysaw Arya being clearly decimated by Rawat. Observers said as many as 80 per cent of the candidates announced by the party are the Rawat loyalists while Arya has not been able to secure ticket for the persons of his camp. The fact that Arya has chosen to contest from Bazpur too has not gone down well with the people who were expecting him to contest from Nainital, as a large part of his previous constituency of Mukteshwar (now not in existence on the account of the delimitation) has now come in the Nainital constituency. The general sentiment can be gauged from the word of a Congress supporter in Nainital, “We are wondering what made him go to Bazpur. If senior leaders like him too migrate to the plains, with what intent do they talk of stopping the migration of the ordinary people from the hills?” Things had not been going Arya’s way for quite some time. Sources say his ambition of fielding his son, Sanjeev Arya, from the Nainital seat were dashed when Rawat had recently announced that his son, Anand Singh Rawat, who is the state Youth Congress chief , would not contest the poll. This had led to the issue of not giving more than one party ticket to any family. In fact, pretty sure of being fielded by the party, Sanjeev Arya had started doing his ground work in the Nainital constituency. The second major jolt that came Arya’s way was that of former Haldwani Municipal Board chairperson Renu Adhikary crossing over the sides to join the BJP. She was looked upon as being very close to Arya. The protest by another senior leader from Haldwani Mahesh Sharma on the allocation of ticket at the party headquarters had proved to be another dampener, as several people had seen Arya expressing his helplessness on the issue. The way things were moving can be determined from the fact that while Arya was battling it out with the party leadership to get some portion of the pie in the party headquarters in Delhi recently, confident Rawat was cooling his heels in Dehradun. Sources said Arya had come out of the meeting in Delhi to register his protest over the allocation of ticket. In the political circles of the state, it is accepted that Arya has been a protégé of former Chief Minister ND Tiwari. Another fact is that Tiwari and Rawat have been old rivals and have been leading factions opposed to each other. Observers say that unlike the previous occasions, the party high command has clearly sided with Rawat on the issue of ticket distribution. |
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Randomisation process begins
Nainital, January 7 According to the ECIguidelines: “Polling parties shall be formed randomly through a special application software. A three-stage randomisation will be adopted. First, from a wider district database of eligible officials, a shortlist of a minimum 120 per cent of the required numbers will be randomly picked up. This group will be trained for polling duties. In the second stage, from this trained manpower, actual polling parties as required shall be formed by random selection software in the presence of general observers.” The guidelines further say: “In the third randomisation, the polling stations will be allocated randomly just before the polling party’s departure.” Starting the process in Almora, district election officer DS Garbyal said 784 booths had been set up in the district and 3,456 personnel would be deployed for carrying out the polling exercise. This would also include the 10 per cent of the reserved personnel. In Udham Singh Nagar, 6,000 personnel would be deputed across the district to carry out the electoral process. The process of randomisation would be followed by the appointment of the personnel at different places and their training. Meanwhile, the election machinery in Champawat has also asked the observers to keep tabs on the election process on the two seats of Lohaghat and Champawat. |
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Brahamchari’s ‘clean image’ favourable for Cong
Haridwar, January 7 Satpal Brahamchari boasts of having an honest image, of being the leader of the masses masses and above all, of not being attached with any party faction which had been quite harmful for the previous candidates in 2002 & 07. Calm and composed at his Khadkhadi ashram- cum-residence, Brahamchari, in a chat with The Tribune, owed it to his fellow party leaders and activists who found him eligible to contest from city’s main seat. His journey to getting party legislator ticket is just a decade old, which is quite surprising but also shows his hard work towards the party in during this period. He first joined politics as a BJP activist but later shifted to the Congress in 2000. Considered close to Haridwar parliamentarian Harish Rawat, he was elected as Municipal Chairman in 2003. He holds a state record in terms of winning margin in whole of the state, by garnering 46,000 votes, defeating his nearest rival by 19,000 votes. According to local population, Brahamchari’s tenure is regarded the best with no corruption allegation and development spree, helping Haridwar hold Ardh Kumbh succesfully. “With its development my focus, we should first look into the needs of public,” said Brahamchari, a graduate in Sanskrit. With him in the election fray, it will not be easy this time for state BJP Cabinet Minister Madan Kaushik to make a hat trick of the election wins from Haridwar segment. Poonam Bhagat, state chief of the Kissan Congress, pointed out that in the past decade, the Congress has lost from Haridwar, owing to the inner party factionalism rather than strong opposition candidature, but this time surely hand will have an upper hand.
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Supporters throw weight behind Ambrish
Haridwar, January 7 Hundreds of his supporters and locals thronged here to express solidarity with the leader who was almost certain to get the Congress ticket from the Ranipur-BHEL segment. The whole day several rumours were rife, including the Congress reverting from its decision eventually naming Ambrish the official candidate and contesting as Independent from the segment. The two-hour long discussion meeting saw supporters keen to have Ambrish contest the Assembly election, be it as Independent only. Finally, it was decided that a five-member core group comprising Som Tyagi, Dharampal Thekedar, Mukkaram Ansari, Ifrat Ansari and Murli Manohar would be taking a decision on Ambrish’s future course of action by tomorrow. “Talks are on with all parties, including the Congress. All calculations and political interest is being taken into consideration. We are in talks with Congress leaders as well as like-minded ones from other parties. What matters most is that the public of Haridwar wants Ambrish to contest election owing to his developmental-visionary approach and honest image,” said veteran leader Murli Manohar. While Ambrish Kumar, who left for state capital Dehradun this evening, didn’t disclose his intentions, he added that by tomorrow the five-member committee after taking all aspects into consideration would be deciding which I will abide by as they are the ones who have been with me constantly.
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Khajan Das to fight
from Rajpur as Independent
Mussoorie, January 7 Khajan Das has been refused the ticket from Rajpur constituency by the party in these elections. He said that he was determined to prove that he was the right candidate from Rajpur, a constituency that he has been nurturing for the past several years. The detractors of Khajan Das have welcomed the move, though have sarcastically said that the minister has done nothing for the development of Dhanaulti constituency, and was now trying his luck from Rajpur as his home seat has been “de-reserved” by election commission this time. Khajan Das, fearing a backlash from the candidates from general category, is in an escape mode and, therefore, has no option but to fight from Rajpur to save his face. His detractors also said that Khajan Das, apart from dancing during festivals in the past five years, had done nothing for the common man. He lacked courage to stand from his home constituency. The Opposition Congress members from Rajpur said that Khajan Das would be benefiting their party due to the division of votes in BJP if he fights as an independent candidate.
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Bisht becomes victim of neglect
Pithoragarh, January 7 “We have been touring the corners of the constituency for the past five years only to strengthen the ideology and the image of it’s the Congress and its leaders, but at the time of ticket distribution, the party neglected our hard work and gave ticket to the candidate who have never been active,” charged Bisht at a press conference today. Meanwhile, more than hundred party workers, including two block presidents and Pithoragarh city president, have resigned from the party, protesting the allocation of the party ticket from the seat. “We have submitted our resignations to the district president of the party today,” said Pawan Patni, president of the Congress city committee. Bisht alleged that despite his being the AICC member and the state vice-president, the party has been neglecting him continuously. “Our family has been associated with the Congress since 1952, when my elder brother Narendra Singh Bisht was a member of Parliament and a member of the UP legislative Assembly. I have also been in the party since 1971 and remained district Youth Congress president and state joint secretary of the organisation,” claimed Bisht.
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Discontentment brews in Cong
Pithoragarh, January 7 In Bageshwar, former minister Ram Prasad Tamta has been given the Congress ticket but Ranjit Das, son of former minister Gopal Ram Das, who was expecting the party ticket, revolted against the party decision and announced to resign from the party. “More than 90 Congress workers have resigned from the party and are pressuring me to contest as an independent,” said Ranjit Das. On the Kapkot seat of Bageshwar district, The Congress district president, the women Congress district president and score of youth have resigned from the party after the party ticket was given to Lalit Farswan of the Garur area, neglecting the aspirants from the Kapkot area. “More than 65 Congress workers have resigned today from the party as none of the aspirants from Bageshwar, including Kunti Parihar, Pratap Kathayat and myself, have been considered fit for the party ticket from the Kapkot seat. I have decided to contest from the seat as an independent,” said Ummed Singh Majhila, president of the DCC, Bageshwar. On the Someswar seat, the Congress has given ticket to Rajendra Barakoti but Rekha Arya, an aspirant has revolted against the party and resigned from the party with her 100 followers. “The party, in not giving me ticket, has neglected the serious party workers and our workers have decided to field me as an independent candidate,” said Rekha Arya. In Pithoragarh, after the party tickets were announced, a section of party workers became disappointed and expressed resentment over the allocation of party tickets without considering genuinely of the work towards the party in last decades. “Though some of the aspirants became disappointed over the allocation of ticket, but these workers would be pacified and the Congress will be united to win all four seats of the district,” said Mathura Datt Joshi, state spokeperson of the party. |
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Election shadow on wedding ceremonies
Haridwar, January 7 As Section 144 is in effect and so is the election code of conduct, the great Indian weddings, too, are coming under election office scanner, as chances are that political candidates may utilise them to their District election office has urged wedding families and organisers to take in prior permission from the concerned Assembly segment election returning officer, or at least intimate them so that they can know of the number of weddings, venue and route through which wedding procession passes. Though this is not compulsory, district election officers point that this will ease not only their workload but also help the wedding family if in case moral code of conduct Talking to TNS, Haridwar District Election Officer D Senthyl Pendiyan said that as violations of moral code of conduct were being done in large numbers, political usage of weddings where a large number of people get under one roof may be an easy platform for indirect election campaign, or politicians may attend “It is not a compulsion but if permission is sought, it will be much better both for them (wedding family) and us (administration),” Considering that wedding season is going on and approximately more than 1000 weddings are to take place this season and inviting politicians being a status symbol in society, election monitoring committees will have to be on their toes, while baaratis will be on dance floors. As per religious pundits and astrologers, during January, nine auspicious dates are falling in which wedding bliss can be obtained. Noted astrologer Dharmi Dhar Shashtri said that dates of 15th,16th,17th,18th,19th,27th,28th and 29th are more auspicious for weddings; so majority of people have opted for these dates. That means administration has to be more vigilant as just a day before polling in the state, hundreds of marriage parties will be
organised. Already burdened by heavy workload and permissions from respective political party candidates, the respective returning officers of the Assembly segments surely will have more of it if hundreds of wedding permission letters are submitted to them for permission. Basant Singh Negi, aged 84,whose grand-daughter’s marriage is scheduled on January 29, expressed surprise over optional permission sought for wedding in view of Assembly elections. “In our days election rules were relaxed and wherever candidates went, there used to be an election meeting; but now when we too are being urged to seek permission or inform the administration, then what will be the condition of the party candidates?”
asked Basant, resident of Pauri Garhwal. |
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Under the direction of Gaurav Kumar, state Head of Shiv Sena, Uttarakhand wing, has today announced its first list of candidates for 16 seats.
Pithoragarh, January 7
The denial of ticket to Cabinet minister Gobind Singh Bisht by the BJP to contest from the Bhimtal seat has not come as a surprise.
Besides the sagging popularity of Bisht, it is also the fallout of the trend that has marked putting former CM Ramesh Pokhariyal
Nishank, in his place by his two bêtenoires Chief Minister BC Khanduri and another former Chief Minister BS Koshiyari when it came to distribution of ticket among their protégés and supporters within the party.
