Sonia has no right to talk about graft: Gadkari
Rajeev Khanna/TNS

A huge gathering at the venue.

Someshwar, January 22
Launching a frontal attack on Congress president Sonia Gandhi, her counterpart from the BJP Nitin Gadkari has stated that she has no moral right to talk about corruption. Gadkari’s series of speeches in Chaukhutiya, Betalghat and Someshwar constituencies of Kumaon were a counter-attack of sorts against Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who had lashed the BJP government in Uttarakhand over the past two days in various rallies in Rudrapur.

"Voting for the Congress will mean voting for corruption and inflation. It will also mean supporting those who have stashed away black money in foreign banks," said Gadkari.

Listing a series of scams that has marked the United Progressive Alliance's (UPA) tenure at the Centre, the BJP president said, "I am surprised that Sonia Gandhi talked about corruption in Uttarakhand. It will be better if she peeped into her own courtyard. What right do you have to talk about corruption and level allegations against the BJP. Does the BJP have any tainted leader sitting in office?" he questioned.

Referring to the series of allegations against Union Minister A Raja, he said, "’Raja ne baja diya Congress ka Baaja’. He might be the Dulha (bridegroom) of the corruption party, but all the rest are baraatis."

He went on to say that the Congress has tried to brush aside the revelations made by Raja with regards to then Finance Minister P Chidambaram. "Why is Chidambaram not behind bars," questioned the BJP leader.

Gadkari also tried to touch an emotional chord with the people of Someshwar when he said, "We were the ones who created Uttarakhand while the demand for the state had been persisting since Iindependence and the successive Congress regimes had been denying statehood to the people of this region. We successfully created not only Uttarakhand but also Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh while the Congress has made a complete mess in its attempt to create a separate Telengana."

He said the BJP had always made honest attempts to develop Uttarakhand. "We practise politics of development. We want to change the future of the country. The Congress has talked about Garibi Hatao in the past but poverty still persists not only among the backward classes but also among minorities and other sections of the society," he underlined.

The BJP leader also raked up the issue of industrial package given to the state by the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government led by Atal Behari Vajpayee. "When they come to seek your votes, ask the Congress leaders why their government withdrew the package. Was it not a punishment for having elected a BJP government in the state in 2012," Gadkari alleged.

He also attacked the Congress brand of socio- economic justice and secularism while accusing the party of minority appeasement.

The rally was held in support of party candidate Ajay Tamta from the Someshwar seat. Gadkari was accompanied by former Chief Minister and senior party leader Bhagat Singh Koshiyari.

Sidelights
More of a festive event

For the remote hilly area of Someshwar, a rally that was addressed by none other than the national president of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Nitin Gadkari was a big event. Party supporters from the BJP from this town and its adjoining areas had been gearing up for the event right from early morning despite bad weather conditions. The workers were decked up and could be seen moving around with party caps on their heads. These caps were distributed amongst the supporters also. The people had started gathering in Somnath Grounds hours before Gadkari was to arrive. They enjoyed listening to the songs prepared by the party for the polls that were being played on a quality sound system. For a place like Someshwar, the rally was well attended and it was more of a festive event than a political one.

Chopper main attraction

A major attraction that had drawn a large number of people, including women and children, was the helicopter that had brought Gadkari along with senior party leader and former Chief Minister Bhagat Singh Koshiyari to the venue. For most of the people it was a rare occasion getting to see a chopper from a very close quarter. Their interest in the machine could be gauged from the fact that they ran in hundreds towards the machine just when it landed, only to be stopped by the police. When the event was over, the people did not walk back home. Instead, they stood there watching the chopper and waited till the time it started and took off while blowing gusts of wind. Amongst the most bewildered were the women watchers. The rally and what Gadkari spoke was of secondary importance as several people could be seen discussing their personal matters while the speeches were on.

Women orators take the cake

The rally also presented one of the rare opportunities to the local level BJP leaders to address a sizeable gathering of people. These leaders showed immense confidence when it came to speaking before such a large audience. Amongst the most enthusiastic speakers were the women leaders, who displayed great oratory skills much to the surprise of senior party leaders present there. They displayed the talent for connecting polling with social issues and made fervent appeals to the voters to think twice before they voted.

The perfect choice

One of the local level leaders equated the right to franchise with giving away one's daughter as 'Kanyadan'. "Just as you are wary that the daughter should not be married to a wrong person so that you might repent your choice later, in the same way you have to make sure that the candidate you vote for is the right choice and you have to double check on this," he said drawing a thunderous applause from the audience.

Koshiyari clicks

Bhagat Singh Koshiyari also proved to be a key orator for the day. He spoke in Kumaoni and made an instant connect with the people sitting at the venue. His speech was laced with local anecdotes and quotations. The former chief minister also made use of a popular Kumaoni number "Tak taka tak Kamala...." for sending across his message. He said:"On the day of the polling, you have to make sure that this time too it is Tak taka tak Kamal (BJP's symbol)." The message seemed to have worked as just after the rally, a party worker took to the stage and actually rendered a political parody of the song.

Cong leader weeps for being sidelined
Sandeep Rawat/TNS

Haridwar, January 22
After weeping episodes of Uttarakhand Leader of Opposition Harak Singh Rawat and Congress leader Mantri Prasad Naithani in the past fortnight, today another senior Congress leader broke down in public, questioning the party high command of the reasons for sidelining him.

Ashok Sharma, ex-councillor of the Congress, who was in the ticket race from Haridwar city Assembly segment, after denial of party ticket had expressed in public his resentment and filed papers as Independent candidate.

But now after he has been expelled from the party for six years owing to his standing against the party’s official candidate, Sharma today broke drown as now he is realising the after-affects of his decision.

As now just eight days are left for polling in the state and election campaign is gaining momentum, having no Congress leader on his side and lack of activists to campaign for him, Sharma tried to gain sympathy votes by smartly putting allegations on Congress state leaders.

Terming him as a loyal Congress worker, Sharma said that for the past three decades he had been the face of Congress in his colony area, working for party programmes, election campaigns and doing development work during his tenure as municipal councillor.

“But now what have I got? My office is full of photos of Congress leaders Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, Narayan Dutt Tiwari etc but now when it was the time to reward me for my work with party ticket, I was denied the ticket while it has been given to a person (Satpal Brahamchari) who was earlier in BJP and joined Congress just a decade ago,” lamented Ashok Sharma.

He also heaped praise on Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, general secretary Rahul Gandhi but accused state leaders for not letting them know of his candidature.

“Openly money was sought from probable candidates; those who gave it were handed out the ticket. Be it Harish Rawat or Yashpal Arya, I want to ask them what was my fault? So I have decided to contest as an Independent. They didn’t come to me to sympathise. The city’s local leaders are also keeping a distance from me,” said a weeping Sharma.

When questioned that will not this impact his campaign, he said that still his motive is not to make sure Congress candidate loses but to make sure the corrupt and non-working candidates get defeated.

Though Sharma’s weeping episode was termed as an election drama by Congress district unit, which refuted the allegations of money playing a major role in allocation of party ticket.

OP Chauhan, city unit chief, said that if any one claims himself to be loyal party activist, then how come his loyalty took a back seat just after the party didn’t gave him a ticket. A loyal party worker obeys the high command directives and understands the different calculations taken into consideration during ticket distribution but now the dissident candidate should have come to know what it means to be in the Congress Party.

Main contest in Champawat among Cong, BJP, BSP
B.D. Kasniyal

Pithoragarh, January 22
Densely populated plain areas of Tanakpur and Banbasa in the Assembly seat of Champawat have been in the news after sitting MLA Beena Maharana was denied ticket by the party on the grounds that she has concentration on hilly voters while the party wants to bank on the voters settled in the plain parts of the district. Due to this priority of BJP and Congress as well, the contest lies between Congress, BJP and BSP, with effective entry this time, as the candidates of all three parties are based in plain areas of the seat.

Besides the main parties of BJP, Congress and BSP and other candidates from Trinamool Congress, Uttarakhand Parivartan Party, UKD (P) and SP, a number of Independents are in the fray from the seat.

Created with the advent of a separate state, Champawat Assembly seat has 75,152 voters, out of which the number of voters based in hilly part of the constituency is 57 per cent, while 43 per cent voters have their concentration in two towns of Tanakpur and Banbasa.

There are 75,152 voters, out of which 35,662 are female and 39,490 male voters. “We also have a record of forming the government of the party, the MLA of which gets elected from this seat like that of Gangotri seat in Uttarkashi district,” said Sankar Pandey, a political activist in the district.

Last elections after the creation of the state have been of mixed results in the seat. During 2002, Congress obtained 83,80 votes, while BJP could get only 7,743 votes. The situation changed in 2007 and BJP won the seat by a margin of nearly 7,000 votes as the party polled 22,926 votes against the Congress candidate, who polled only 15,870 votes in the election.

The BJP candidate, Hema Joshi, is a new face in the district. Based in Banbasa, she might rarely have visited the hilly part of the district before she got the party ticket, but Hema Joshi is confident of her victory this time as she said that the state is out to elect BC Khanduri again as he is the only hope against corruption in the state. “I have only one-point agenda of a corruption-free state under BC Khanduri,” said Hema Joshi, during her campaign trail in the hilly part of the constituency. Hema claimed that the developmental works done by the Chief Minister and the legislations brought by him like, Lokpal and citizen’s charter will benefit the party.

On the other hand, Congress candidate Hemesh Kharkwal, a former MLA from the seat during 2002 to 2007, has been banking on the achievements of the previous Congress Government. “The major motor roads to link the rural areas have been abandoned by the BJP Government, leaving 50 per cent villages out of road connectivity,” says Kharkwal, who also insisted on making the district fully covered with medical staff, including doctors.

“This is not the only problem in the district, which is one of the most backward districts in Kumoan region,” said Dinesh Pandey, a journalist based in the district. “The district has only 60 per cent teachers in the schools and only 12 per cent of medical staff in hospitals. More than 40 villages have no electricity, and 36 villages are without any drinking water projects,” said Pandey.

BSP candidate Madan Singh Mahar has been raising these issues in Dalit villages of the constituency.

“If the upper caste villages are without these amenities, what would the Dalits be facing in their villages. It can only be imagined,” said Mahar, who has a philanthropic and suave image in social circles of the district. “Moreover, we have to repay back the debt of Behenji Mayawati of her creating the separate district of Champawat much before the creation of the state,” said Mahar.

“The Congress candidate can get benefits of being a good speaker, having initiated many major developmental works and of anti-incumbency, but his chances could be marred by Congress rebel Harsh Bardhan Singh Rawat, chairman of Tanakpur Nagar Palika Parishad, while Hema Joshi can only get the benefit of the image of BC Khanduri in the contest, which will be influenced by BSP and some Independents only to some extent at the local level,” said Pandey.

Row over elephant statue in school
Sandeep Rawat
Tribune News service

An elephant statue in a school at Ranipur in Haridwar on Sunday. Tribune photo: Rameshwar Gaur

Haridwar, January 22
Following the controversy over covering of elephant statues in Uttar Pradesh during state Assembly elections, in Haridwar, too, a controversy has arisen regarding an elephant statue.

This elephant figure has been erected in a private school in Ranipur, Haridwar, but now voices are being raised to veil it as is being done in Uttar Pradesh, as it may benefit BSP candidates in the upcoming Assembly elections.

Though this elephant statue was erected a few years back as a showpiece in the school garden in the junior wing of the school campus, the idea was to give the premise a feel of junior school and water showers coming out of the elephant adds to the joy of the children.

But now with questions being raised to cover it, the school management is in shock. Recently an art exhibition also took place in this school and Congress-BJP activists feared that the elephant might become an attraction, considering the recent controversy of veiling the elephants in state-funded parks.

BSP candidate from Ranipur-BHEL segment condemned the objections being raised on the elephant figure, saying that rival parties want to just create a controversy and fear that how come BSP is rising in both UP and Uttarakhand.

Though the school principal made it clear that as the property is private and the elephant sculpture is not build from public expenditure, election officials have been informed that no such action can be taken. If anyone makes an official complaint, it will hold no value because this statue has not been built with a political motive.

CPI (M) candidate from Ranipur PD Baloni commented on this episode.

“It seems that some political party activists are still not serious about their campaign, as otherwise they wouldn’t have generated this controversy as schools are for learning purpose only and not for any political aim.”

Constituency watch: Dehradun Cantt
Punjabi vote may split between Harbans Kapoor, Sethi
Neena Sharma
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, January 22
State Assembly Speaker Harbans Kapoor was a visible face of the BJP even when Uttarakhand was part of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly and has been elected six times consecutively from the Dehradun Khas Assembly seat.

This time also he is in the election ring, albeit from the newly created Dehradun cantonment seat that came into existence after the new delimitation.

In this seat, delimitation is expected to play a smaller role and may not prove troublesome to the veteran leader. A total of 13 nagar palikas and three cantonment wards have been added in Dehradun cantonment.

Voters: 1.15 lakh Candidates in Fray: BJP: Harbans Kapoor Cong: Devinder Sethi BSP: Nupur Gupta Uttarakhand Raksha Morcha: Rajinder Pant

Facing him would be Devinder Singh Sethi of the Congress, Nupur Gupta of the BSP and Rajinder Pant, a former OSD of Harbans Kapoor, who is fighting on the Uttarakhand Raksha Morcha (URM) ticket.

Political pundits say Kapoor’s task has been made easier by the presence of a light weight candidate, Devinder Sethi. “Kapoor should not have any difficulty in getting elected from this seat for the seventh time. Most of the voters of his erstwhile seat, Dehra Khas, are part of the new Assembly seat. By virtue of the relative ease with which Kapoor mingles with his voters, visiting them in the time of distress is a plus point in his favour,” said Dr Devender Bhasin, Principal of DAV PG College.

Political observers also say though the Congress candidate may be a political greenhorn when compared with Kapoor, this time around, punjabi vote may split between the two. As for the first time, the Congress has fielded a Punjabi candidate from the Cantt seat who, too, would be vying for the attention of Punjabi voters, especially from the new area of Prem Nagar.

The BC Khanduri-led government had recently announced according ownership right to the residents of Prem Nagar who had migrated from Pakistan after Partition. “Delimitation has a little impact here. Only the nomenclature of the Assembly seat from Dehra Khas to Dehradun Cantonment has undergone a change. I will be working on unfinished projects, including the improvement of storm drains and addressing the waterlogging problem in my area,” said Kapoor.

Spreading Anna’s ‘anti-corrupt’ message
Clad in khadi kurta and traditional Gandhian cap, Rajesh Gaur, who runs a garment shop, conveys the veteran leader’s message to his customers
Tribune News Service

Haridwar, January 22
While Anna Hazare and his team members are touring poll-bound states conveying their message to not to cast vote to corrupt and dishonest candidates, a local trader inspired by Anna is spreading the same message in his own style.

Clad in khadi kurta and traditional Gandhian cap, Rajesh Gaur who runs a garment shop in Upper Market near Har-ki-Pauri is also conveying his idol’s message to his customers.

He has specially ordered Gandhian cap with ‘I am Anna Hazare’ written on it and also kurtas, shirts and bags with Anna’s photos on them. Interestingly, he is selling them on the same price as he gets in retail and even distributing free of cost to those poor people whom he finds honest and perturbed by corruption.

Now local people and shopkeepers have started call him ‘Anna bhakt’ (devotee).

“I came to know about Anna Hazare during his agitation in New Delhi. I have been against corruption since my college days. But it’s Anna and his core team that has shown Indians the way to fight against it. I have been following him closely since then and clad in Anna’s attire, I had also taken out a mass awareness drive on Independence Day in the city” said Rajesh.

Although politically he feels more close to the ideology of the BJP, he clearly says that he won’t cast his vote to a corrupt BJP candidate. He further said: “First we should see whether the candidate whom we are going to cast our vote is honest. And if not, then irrespective of party affiliation we should cast out vote to an honest candidate only.”

Along with fellow traders and friends, Rajesh is now planning to hold an awareness drive here on Republic Day also. “Anna himself says that it’s not only his team members or the people present at his agitation venue but also people like us who live in far away places but support his anti-graft movement in one way or the other,” said Rajesh, while showing Anna T-shirts to young customers.

Cong set for big win, says Almora MP
Our Correspondent

Pithoragarh January 22
Almora MP Pradeep Tamta today claimed that the Congress is all set to win a clear majority in Uttarakhand Assembly with greater number of seats from Kumaon region. “Even in the 14 seats of Almora parliamentary constituency, we are winning nearly 12 seats this time compared to 6 in the last elections,” said Tamta.

The Almora MP said this became evident after witnessing the mass turnout at the meetings of UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi at Dehradun, Haldwani and Almora. “The public meeting of Rahul Gandhi, proposed on January 24 in Pithoragarh, will boost the morale of Congress workers further,” said Tamta.

The Congress MP said that in Kumaon region, the impact the Jan Aakrosh Yatra, organised by him last year between January 30 and February 5, from Deghat to Jhoolaghat to expose the ill-doings of the BJP Government, is visible on the masses in the region. “The people of Kumaon will remember that the BJP Government has not only stopped the development of the region in last five years but has also not let any project approved by the Congress from the Centre take off by blocking the procedures of their functioning,” he alleged.

Ex-CM Nishank meets Nathanpur residents
Tribune News Service

Former Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank hugs a voter during campaigning in the Doiwala segment on Sunday.

Dehradun, January 22
Former Chief Minister and BJP candidate for Doiwala seat Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank today went out to meet residents of Nathanpur. The people of the area too were excited to see the former CM and national vice-president among themselves.

People joined the campaigning in a big way. Nishank urged people of the area to vote for the development of the state.

Those who joined the campaign included vice-president of the state youth welfare department Subhash Badthwal, Umesh Pundir, Mansa Gairola and Parvati Negi.

LCA beat Swagat XI

A batsman in action in a match in the 4th Girish Bhadri Memorial Cricket Tournament in Dehradun on Sunday.

Dehradun, January 22
LCA, Lucknow, defeated Swagat XI, Uttarakhand, by 6 wickets in a match in the 4th Girish Bhadri Memorial Cricket Tournament played at Rangers’ College ground here today. Swagat XI, batting first after winning the toss, scored 96 all out in 26 overs.

Amit Sethi was the top scorer with 29 runs. Asi Hussain, Durgesh Yadav, Gaurav and Manoj Singh took 2 wickets each for the Lucknow team.

In reply, the Lucknow team scored 97 runs for 4 wickets to win the match by 6 wickets. Asish Yadav scored 47 runs. Shushant took 2 wickets for 9 runs. — TNS

Little Master team win by 31 runs
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, January 22
Little Master Cricket Club (LMCC) defeated Sai Grace Academy by 31 runs in a match in the 60th Dehradun District Cricket League today.

Batting first, the LMCC team scored 169 runs in 34 overs. Shubham was the highest scorer with 34 runs. Sonu scored 23 runs.

For Sai Grace Academy, Nilesh Raat took three wickets while Ankit took two wickets.

The Sai Grace Academy team could score only 138 runs and lost the match by 31 runs. Rahul scored 27 runs while Tarang scored 18 runs.

Budget spending report false: Cong
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, January 22
The state Congress has termed the assertions of state’s senior leader Murli Manohar Joshi regarding the spending of the budget allocations by the state government as false.

Congress spokesperson Surendra Aggarwal said during the previous Congress rule from 2002 to 2007, out of the centrally sponsored schemes of Rs 5,394 crore, a total of 54 per cent money was spent but during the BJP rule from 2007 to 2012, out of the total allocation of Rs 7,048 crore, only 47.93 per cent was spent. For the externally aided schemes, the record of the BJP government has been dismissal as only 32 per cent money was spent during the past five years, he alleged.

He further alleged that the state government had been slow in spending the funds given by the ADB and under Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Scheme.

PM remarks misleading: BJP

Dehradun, January 22
Reacting to UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh’s recent statements in which Uttarakhand BJP government was criticised for not utilising central funds, the BJP today accused the Congress of misleading the people by making false statements.