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Campaign trail Dehradun
Party posters removed from vehicles
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Polling parties reach high-altitude booths safely
Poll campaigns were hi-tech this year
Brothers Club register win
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Campaign trail Dehradun
Dehradun, January 28 On the last day of the campaigning today, leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley did not fail to point out that a win for the BJP would have a domino effect in other states. Putting weight behind Khanduri’s leadership, Jaitley said, “Due to his credibility, the BJP is in an advantageous position. A win here would set a trend of sorts of the voters favouring such leaders. It would be emulated in other parts of the country. There is a strong anti-Congress mood prevailing in the country,” he told reporters. Jaitley indicated that the stakes were high for the party as far as the elections in this hill state were concerned. A win here would help the party take up the issue of corruption more vigorously in the country. While in Uttarakhand the party has been bit defensive on the alleged corruption scams involving former Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, it has not shied away from launching an offensive against the Congress on the issues of 2G scam, Adarsh Land scam and the Commonwealth Games scam, said Jaitley. He was, however, categorical in stating that Chief Minister Khanduri was removed from the post of the Chief Minister in 2009 as the BJP had lost five seats in the general elections that year. “The party had to respond to the wishes of the people, it accepted the verdict of the masses,”
he said. He also highlighted the track record of the Congress in the state right from the time of the creation of the state and to the recent curtailment of the industrial package in 2010. “The Congress was always wishy-washy on the issue of creation of a separate state but the BJP was firm and the state was created. In 2010, the Congress-led UPA Government hatched a conspiracy to curtail the industrial package that was given by the NDA Government,”
he said.
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Party posters removed from vehicles
Mussoorie, January 28 The exercise was undertaken by the Election Commission that has made elaborate arrangements to ensure fair elections. Meanwhile, poll parties have been sent to their respective destinations. However, some poll parties destined for the far-flung areas of the Dhanaulti constituency have stuck due a blockade on the Rishikesh-Gangotri highway. A six-member team reached Kandi Saud around 4.30 pm. The team will have to cover 3 km on foot to reach the polling booth at Maindkhal. According to the zonal magistrate, Tehri Garhwal, the poll parties have reached Kot, Quilagi and Sankri. On the other hand, supporters of various political parties were seen removing posters from their campaign vehicles. Liquor shops will also remain closed according to the directions of the
Election Commission.
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Polling parties reach high-altitude booths safely
Pithoragarh, January 28
Out of 94 polling booths of this lone snowclad Assembly seat of the district, 27 polling parties had been dispatched yesterday, while the rest 51 polling parties have left today. “We have made elaborate arrangements for the facilities of the polling teams designated for the higher booths, attached one ITBP jawan with each team for rescue purpose and given them oxygen cylinders and sleeping bags, besides blankets,” said Abhishek Tripathi. “As of today, we do not need helicopters as the weather is pleasant to travel and no fresh snowfall has been reported from any part of the district. Out of 510 polling teams, all but 100 have left for their destinations; the rest local teams will be dispatched tomorrow,” said Pithoragarh District Election Officer R.Rajesh Kumar. According to sources, the polling booths at Namik and Bona have reported some snow, while the rest of 18 booths are having better weather conditions.
— TNS
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Poll campaigns were hi-tech this year
Mussoorie, January 28 Several mobile service users who received such calls in Mussoorie were shocked at first but realised later that it was another election ploy of the BJP to convince them to cast their votes in favour of the party. The BJP has stepped up its election campaign with the voice mail call similar to the telemarketing style being used by Chief Minister Khanduri. The party is trying to reach out to a large section of voter by using the latest information tools such as telemarketing available and convince voters to cast the vote on January 30 in favour of the BJP candidates. According to BJP media manager Ajayendar Ajay, the party has now stepped up the campaign by reaching out to a large number of voters via voicemail of Khanduri to attract voters. He further said the party decided to use his voice, as he was the most accepted leader of the party and would lead to an increase in the vote share of the party in the elections. Other parties and Independent candidates are also adopting such means and are sending SMS to voters in their Assembly segments. Many other candidates have opened their Facebook accounts and are busy spreading important messages and informing voters about their election symbols.
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Cong set to win 40 seats, says confident Birender Singh
Dehradun, January 28 The Congress leader also took the opportunity to announce three new spokesmen for the party, which include Mathura Dutt Joshi, Mohan Pathak and Shilpi Arora. Birender Singh also asked the Congress workers to be on alert till the day of polling. He also alleged that the BJP government had rampantly misused the official machinery. Responding to a query, Birender Singh said polarisation of votes had taken place in Kotdwar Assembly constituency, which would ultimately benefit the Congress candidate against BJP chief ministerial aspirant BC Khanduri. He even asserted that BJP election slogan “Khanduri Hai Zaroori” had little takerS among the people
of Uttarakhand. He held that Congress could expel some of its leaders tomorrow due to
their involvement in anti-party activities.
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Road still a dream for Kukhui villagers
Mussoorie, January 28 The villagers have to go through a daily grind, as they still have to travel 18 km on foot to their village even after six decades of Independence. The residents of the village rued the fact that they had witnessed several elections but had still not received basic amenities such as proper road, primary health centre and teachers for junior
high school. According to a villager, Ramni Devi, they have to walk miles, carrying goods on mules or on their heads every day, which has made their life difficult. Another problem being faced by the village is in the field of education, which has remained unsolved due to the absence of adequate teaching staff, forcing the children to walk 14 km to the nearest school at Fakot. “The ANM centre of the village is still under construction and due to the absence of adequate health centers, we have to carry the patient either to Dehradun or Tehri health centres. The inordinate delay in treatment has resulted in several deaths,” she lamented. Another villager Mangal Singh Rawat said due to such problems, the village was witnessing a rapid exodus. The population of the village, which was around 2,500 persons in 1990 has now come down to 750 persons due to continuous migration. Geeta Rawat, another resident, said many leaders had visited their village and made tall promises but nothing has changed so far. The villagers are counting on the promises made by various parties to bring about a change in their fortune. However, many from the village are skeptical about the leaders.
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Buta Singh appeals to people to vote for Congress
Haridwar, January 28 Buta Singh was on a visit to Haridwar. He said that he had high regards for all these three great leaders, and even younger leaders like Harish Rawat, Vijaya Bahuguna, too, have a broad India vision. Terming the creation of Uttarakhand as a separate state as imperative, Singh said that the region is known for its religious-spiritual aspect as well as for producing brave soldiers with almost every family having a member in the armed forces. Giving credit to Congress for giving special focus to this region’s development, Singh urged voters to bring back the Congress government in the state, as it was the only party which had a development-oriented vision. He also acknowledged the sacrifice that Nehru-Gandhi family had given in serving the people of this country, with now Sonia and Rahul carrying on the family tradition. “This family has given so much to the country, be it Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv or now Sonia. A visionary leader in Rahul is concerned about people of this country, like his father, and I am sure that in all poll-bound five states, Congress will win with a clear majority,” said Buta Singh, who had resigned from Bihar governor’s post in 2005 due to his controversial decision of recommending dissolution of the Bihar Assembly. On Operation Bluestar episode in Golden Temple, Buta Singh, then a housing minister, said that outside border forces tried to attack India’s sovereignty by a hidden propaganda and bullets, but eventually despite aftermath of the operation which resulted in Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s assassination, India still came out strong. Getting emotional, Singh said that he, too, had to bear the repercussions of the incident, as he had to shift to Rajashtan-Jalore from his home state Punjab, where he won four times as Lok Sabha
member.
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Praises showered on retiring DGP
Dehradun, January 28 Welcoming the chief guest on the occasion, Dr. S. Farooq, vice president of the council, described Lal as one of the most dedicated police officers in the country, who also possessed the rare combination of a wise head and a warm heart. “Most remarkable thing about Lal has been his affable nature and easy manners,” said Farooq. In an interaction with the residents, he was cordial and warm and showed no ego and was courteous to a fault. He also easily mixed with the people and considered himself a Doonite. “Lal is not only an accomplished artist and photographer but also was a sportsperson of repute in his university, and played cricket, table tennis and billiards. He also represented his district, the UP police, and his university in debates and quiz contests,” added Farooq. He was the first senior IPS officer to be posted in Uttarakhand in 2000 and had been instrumental in creating from a scratch the entire police infrastructure in the then nascent state. All alone, he established rules, procedures and regulations and set up the police headquarters in the capital city. During those years, Lal had held many portfolios taking on his broad shoulders the entire workload, which today is being looked after by eight senior police officers, said Farooq. Expressing his gratitude to the Doon Citizens Council for its touching farewell, Aloke Lal said that he was much grateful to the people of Dehradun who had accepted him as their own and extended to him all of their love and affection. Among all his postings, Dehradun’s was indeed a crowning glory and it was the reason that he had early on decided to settle down here.
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Brothers Club register win
Dehradun, January 28 Vikram was the top scorer with 32 runs while Apoorv took 3 wickets for 17 runs. In reply, Saket Club was bundled out for 43 runs all out. Apoorv was the top scorer with 19 runs to his credit. Vikram and Nikhil took 2wickets each. In the second match, Sri Guru Ram Rai School, Bindal, defeated Street Star XI by 46 runs. Batting first, the SGRR team scored 154 runs all out. Manoj was the highest scorer with 37 runs. Naveen took 3 wickets for 17 runs. In reply, Street Star XI scored 108 runs all out in 25.1 overs, losing the match by 46 runs. Abhishek was the top scorer with 28 runs. Rakesh took 3 wickets for 17 runs.
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Face of the week
Dehradun, January 28 Brijnath, 47, who spent 40 years of her life in USA and UK and came back in Dehradun in 2008 to be with her parents and to dedicate her life to the cause of the downtrodden and homeless children, has no regret. “I love Dehradun which gave me an immense happiness by letting me serve these children. I have no regret for forsaking a promising career of stock broker back in the UK,"
she said. The destiny was indeed charting her cause. She met her parents’ acquaintance Jo Chopra, who is running an NGO to help handicap children. Later, she agreed to work on the Bindal project with Dr Giribala Juyal, another committed social worker, and began to teach slum children at an abandoned space in a shopping complex in the vicinity. They managed to have 100 children for the classes that continued for three years upto May 2011. The land was no longer available to them. A happy beginning was poised to end in jeopardy but thankfully, other volunteers came forward to help her. They were allowed to use the panchayat school complex at Kaulagarh for six weeks wherein they held a
summer camp. “The children were provided with sports accessories to play various fun games. Governor Margaret Alva provided us with financial assistance, which was used picking and dropping the children back from Bindal on three wheelers,” she said. Another helping gesture of Brother George, Principle of St Joseph’s Academy, has solved her major problem by giving her permission to hold classes on the school campus for two hours in the evening. “Besides studies, the children are also exposed to extracurricular activities like sports and drama. Admissions in other schools for higher studies have also been facilitated and soon we may have few children enrolled in prestigious St Joseph’s Academy as well,” she beamed. In the day, she goes to night shelter home in the city to attend the Street Smart project run by Neelu Khanna, a suave social worker and Kusum Kumar, co-ordinator of the Doon Shelter Society. “It is difficult to discipline orphans, homeless and poor children. There are some who come with their vices at first but with affection and care, they are gradually made to learn
to live with dignity,” she said.
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