Congress struggles to reach magic figure of 36
n Rebels played spoilsport n Birender admits faulty ticket distribution
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, March 7
Even as Uttarakhand Congress struggles to reach the magical figure of 36 to get a majority in the state Assembly, Congress rebels, as poll results indicate, have played a spoilsport for the party in a number of Assembly seats. The three Independents elected to the state Assembly are all Congress rebels.

From day one as the Congress entered the poll fray, questions were raised over distribution of tickets as many Congress candidates were considered quiet weak from the very beginning and this resulted in open rebellion in Congress in a number of seats.

There were over two dozen Congress rebels that contested the polls. While three Congress rebels managed to win as Independents, the other rebels, despite losing, managed to ensure victories for BJP candidates.

Congress rebel Mantri Prasad Naithani was elected from Deoprayag Assembly seat where Congress candidate Shoorveer Singh Sajwan was pushed to third position. Similarly, Harish Chandra Durgpal, another Congress rebel, won from Lalkuan seat in Nainital district, defeating Congress candidate Harendra Bora. Congress rebel Dinesh Dhanai, too, won from Ghansali seat in Tehri, defeating Congress candidate Kishore Updhayaya.

Apart from these three, Congress rebels in a number of constituencies facilitated victories for BJP candidates despite losing themselves. In Gadarpur Assembly seat of Udham Singh Nagar, Congress rebel Jarnail Singh Kali stood second while Congress candidate Manish Tiwari was distant third. BJP candidate Arvind Pandey won this seat. In Dhanolti constituency, too, Congress rebel Joth Singh Bisht stood second and Congress official candidate Manmohan Mall was third. In Haridwar’s Ranipur Assembly seat, Congress rebel Ambrish Kumar stood at second position, thereby ensuring victory for BJP candidate Adesh Chauhan.

Congress rebels Mohammed Tahir from Luxor, SP Singh from Doiwala, Deep Sharma from Rishikesh, Gulzar Ahmed from Sahaspur, Mahesh Sharma from Kaladungi, Rekha Arya from Someshwar were other Congress rebels that cut into Congress votes, thereby ensuring victories to BJP candidates in these seats.

After repeatedly denying follies in the distribution of tickets, Uttarakhand Congress in-charge Chowdhary Birender Singh yesterday finally, after the verdict was out, openly admitted that distribution of tickets could have been the reason behind the defeat of Congress in number of constituencies.

Congress, BJP eye lone UKD (P) MLA
Seema Sharma
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, March 7
The Yamunotri seat where Uttarakhand Kranti Dal (P) candidate Preetam Singh Panwar won has become crucial for both Congress and BJP which are trying to woo Panwar in order to reach the magical mark of 36 to form the government in the state.

Panwar, who remained in his constituency throughout the day, was not available to the media. But party leaders in Dehradun are discussing all possibilities. One thing which came out was the leader’s antagonism for the BJP.

Party vice-president AP Juyal said, “We have had a bitter experience with the BJP and hence will not go with the BJP at any condition. We may think about the Congress but only after assessing whether we will get any benefit from this alliance or not.”

Party woman leader Pramila Rawat said the BJP played a major role in dividing the party by favouring Diwakar Bhatt, party leader and former Revenue Minister who should have been removed by Speaker Harbans Kapoor when the party withdrew support to the government.

Party president Trivender Singh Panwar said, “The ambition of one single man is not important for us as we are more keen in saving the state. Therefore, we will take decision only after assessing the interest of public.

It will be interesting to see if Preetam Singh Panwar will also agree to the rhetoric of the party president as earlier Diwakar Bhatt had revolted the party decision to withdraw support.

Preetam Singh Panwar has also outshone in the UKD (P) which has become a party of debacles, as none of other 49 candidates could win any seat.

The party is waiting for Preetam Singh Panwar to reach the town by late evening to be able to decide on the matter.

UKD (P) likely to back Cong
Jotirmay Thapliyal
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, March 7
Despite giving a poor performance in the Assembly elections, the Uttarakhand Kranti Dal (Progressive) has shot into sudden prominence due to the emergence of a hung Assembly in the state.

The UKD (P) has just one MLA in the new House. But its MLA along with three other Independents and three BSP MLAs hold the key to the formation of the new government in the state.

The single largest party, the Congress, that now has 32 MLAs in the House, is banking on the support of the UKD (P) apart from the Independents to reach the majority figure.

Same is the case with the BJP which has 31 MLAs in the new Assembly. The saffron party needs the support of five MLAs to get the majority.

The UKD (P) has pitted a total of 50 candidates in the fray, but the party has won just the Yamunotri Assembly seat where its candidate Pritam Panwar stood victorious.

All other UKP (P) candidates, including their senior leaders Kashi Singh Airy, Narayan Jantwal and sitting MLA Pushpesh Tripathy, lost the elections.

The UKD (P) is now stated to weighing all options before extending its support to any of the two parties.

However, sources reveal that the UKD (P) could opt for the Congress finally taking into account that its rival group the UKD (D) had been supporting the Khanduri government in the state. Interestingly, the UKD(D) has even failed to open its account as both its MLAs, who were contesting on the BJP symbol, lost in the poll.

Sources reveal that UKD (P) president Trivendra Singh Panwar is expected to meet MLA Pritam Panwar later tomorrow and hold discussions on the support to the Congress.

Meanwhile, the UKD (P) will also shortly look into the reason behind its poor show in the elections. The party that supports Gairsen as the state capital and is firm on pro-hill policies in the state has to give a rethink to its agenda to widen its acceptability in the state.

Voters missed third front in Kumaon region
Rajeev Khanna/TNS

Nainital, March 7
The results that have emerged from Kumaon region after the counting of votes point to the disillusionment of voters in the face of absence of a powerful third alternative available to them.

This time around it has been the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress candidates that have won on the 28 seats in the region. While the former has bagged 15 seats, the latter has followed closely with 13 seats. The remaining one seat of Lal Kuan in the region has been won by the rebel Congress candidate.

But the most interesting aspect has been the number of sitting legislators that have been voted out. Only seven sitting legislators have managed to retain their seats while in 17 cases, the electorate changed the party whose legislator had been representing them.

Observers say that this goes on to show that the people are looking for an alternative which is not available to them. They are just trying to show their resentment by voting a candidate of a party other than the one that had been representing their constituency. Had this not been the case, there would have been a clear-cut mandate in favour of one of the two parties.

The legislators who have managed to save their seats and get re-elected include Ajay Tamta from Someshwar, Bishan Singh Chufal from Didihat, Harbhajan Singh Cheema from Kashipur, Chandan Ram Dass from Bageshwar, Dr Shailendra Mohan Singhal from Jaspur, Manoj Tewari from Almora and Govind Singh Kunjwal from Jageshwar. While the first four are from the BJP, the remaining are from the Congress.

The seats or areas where the BJP had won the last time saw the Congress doing well there. For example, the BJP’s performance has been very good in the Terai areas of Udham Singh Nagar district, where it’s candidates won from Rudrapur, Kashipur, Gadarpur, Khatima, Nanakmatta, Sitarganj and Kitcha.

Although the Congress has managed to increase it’s tally to 13 from 10, the last time it, too, has failed to win on the five seats that had been won by it in the previous polls.

On some seats the electorate chose to poll in favour of new faces that were contesting. In some seats like Dwarahat, Kapkot, Nainital, Bhimtal and Nanakmatta, the newcomers managed to win while in some others like Kaladhungi they lost by a narrow margin. This also goes on to show that the people were looking for alternatives within the two main parties also.

The enigma of Gangotri
Neena Sharma
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, March 7
With Gangotri (Uttarkashi) Assembly seat falling in Congress kitty and the party failing to muster a simple majority, it remains to be seen if the myth surrounding the Gangotri Assembly seat that took shape in 1980 would remain intact or lie shattered in 2012.

Since 1980, the party whose candidates had won the Gangotri Assembly seat formed the government in the state. For the first time, in case the Congress fails to form the government, the belief would lie shattered.

The myth gained credence after Baldev Singh, an Independent candidate who won the Gangotri Assembly seat that was then part of the Uttar Pradesh, later joined the Congress, paving the way for the formation of the Congress government at the Centre.

While still part of Uttar Pradesh, the Gangotri seat that came into existence after hiving the Tehri district in 1960 was last represented by the BJP MLA Gyanchand in 1991.

However, even after the creation of the new state of Uttarakhand and during the first Assembly election in 2002, the Congress candidate Vijay Pal Sajwan had won the seat, later the Congress formed the government.

In the 2007 election the seat was won by the BJP candidate Gopal Rawat and though the BJP too fell short of majority, it eventually managed to form the government and complete it’s full term.

In 2012 again the contest was between Gopal Rawat of the BJP and Vijay Pal Sajwan of Sajwan, with Sajwan winning the seat and giving hope to the Congress that the party would be able to accomplish it’s task of forming the government.

“With the blessings of the presiding deity at Gangotri Dham, I am sure my party would be able to form the government,” said Sajwan.

Interestingly, both Sajwan and Rawat were thick friends since their college days but their friendship soured after Sajwan joined politics and Rawat became his rival instead of a compatriot. Now only time would tell, if Sajwan manages to prove lucky for his party.

Almora sends 4 new faces
BD Kasniyal

Pithoragarh, March 7
Many surprises emerged in many Assembly constituencies of the Almora parliamentary constituency which sent four new faces to the Assembly denying old guards in these seats.

One of the biggest surprises lies in the victory of Mayukh Singh Mahar from the Pithoragarh Assembly seat as he defeated Prakash Pant. He had beaten Kashi Singh Airy from Kanalichina in 2007.

“Mayukh Singh is the only giant killer in the Kumaun region as he took on big leaders and defeated them,” said a political observer.

Four new faces of Lalit Farswan from Kapkot, Harish Dhami from Dharchula, Madan Bisht from Dwarahat and Puran Singh Fartiyal from Lohaghat Assembly seats won the election despite being new in the game and having no godfather in state politics.

Lalit Farswan, a youth leader, contested for the first time from Kapkot against strongman and Cabinet Minister Balwant Singh Bhauriyal. He is not even a resident of that area from where he contested the election. He is the resident of the Garur area near Bageshwar but gone to a new place to take on a bigwig in the state politics.

“When I got the Congress ticket, I agreed to contest for I would gain some experience in active politics, but the way people supported me against a powerful minister, I am really surprised,’ said Farswan.

Madan Singh Bisht of the Congress, who defeated sitting UKD MLA from Dwarahat Pushpesh Tripathi, had been a president of Delhi University during eighties and trying to enter state politics from the day Uttarakhand was created.

“My victory fulfils my long aspiration to enter politics from the state Assembly from where I would gain experience. Though, the success came late, I will cover the lost years by concentrating on the problems of the local people who have posed trust in me,” said Madan Singh Bisht.

Puran Singh Fartiyal win on the BJP ticket defeating veteran Congress MLA and former minister Mahindra Singh Mahra from the Lohaghat Assembly gives sole credit to common people of that area for whom he had been working for the last 10 years.

“I have been distributing blankets and quilts to needy for the past 10 years but they would take me so seriously even I could not imagine,” said Fartiyal.

Harish Dhami, a new face of the Congress from Dharchula, is a member of Pithoragarh zila panchayat from his area of Baram. Dhami has credit of defeating not only a BJP candidate and Bhagat Singh Koshiyari nominee Khusal Singh Piplia, but also defeating UKD leader Kashi Singh Airy in the seat once represented by Airy.

“I came into politics with the blessings of our leader and Union Minister Harish Rawat and due to his blessings, I could get party ticket from Dharchula and due to my continuous attachment with the people on the issue of removing villages from the boundary of Askot wildlife sanctuary, I could get the affection of people of Dharchula for whom I would go to any extent,” said Dhami, the first timer in the state Assembly from Dharchula.

MLAs pledge to provide water, power, roads
BD Kasniyal

Pithoragarh, March 7
The candidates, who have won the Assembly elections from Pithoragarh district, have pledged to solve the problems of “Pani, Bijli, and Sadak” in their constituencies, besides creating jobs for the local youth to stop migration.

Mayukh Singh Mahar, the victorious Congress candidate from Pithoragarh seat, said he would try to solve the long-standing problem of drinking water of Pithoragarh town. “Besides water, Pithoragarh town needs a base hospital and better health facilities in the district hospital. To provide these facilities to the people will be my priority,” said Mahar.

He added he wanted that a branch recruiting office of the Army be opened in the district headquarters as most of the youth here seek jobs in the Army.

Narain Ram, Congress candidate who won from Gangolihat, has a development agenda for the constituency. Narain, who became MLA for the second time, had first won the Assembly elections in 2002. He said the development works he had started in the area during his earlier tenure as MLA were abandoned by the BJP government. “The BJP legislator did not use Rs 30 crore I got approved for the construction of various school buildings. I want to finish these works, besides undertaking the construction of a building for a polytechnic at Ganai Gangoli,” said Narain.

He said Rs 78 lakh was sanctioned for creating food storage facilities in the Gangolihat area during his tenure as MLA last time, but the BJP government diverted the amount to other works.

“Many vital roads, including that from Rameswar to Gangolihat, were approved during the Congress regime, but these were yet to be constructed. It will be my priority to finish the pending works and then start employment-generating projects,” said Narain.

State BJP chief Bishen Singh Chufal, who has won from Didihat for the fourth time, has his priority to link all villages of his constituency with roads and initiate schemes to check migration from rural areas. “After roads, my next priority will be to start self-employment generating cottage industry in my area,” said Chufal.

Harish Dhami, the victorious Congress MLA from Dharchula, has the priority of shifting the Askot Wildlife Sanctuary so that 111 villages of Dharchula subdivision could be freed from the strict laws applicable in the area and basic development works started. “Due to the Askot Musk Deer sanctuary, villagers are compelled to travel up to 30 km to reach a road and our youth are migrating to the Terai region and settling there permanently,” said Dhami.

He added that his second priority would be to restart hydroelectric projects in the river basins of Dharchula which had been suspended due to the wildlife sanctuary. “If the hydroelectric projects are constructed, they will provide jobs to the local youth and help check migration from the area,” said Dhami.

Khanduri’s greetings on Holi
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, March 7
BC Khanduri has greeted the people of the state on occasion of festival of Holi.

In his greetings to the people of the state, the former Chief Minister said the festival of Holi reflected celebrations and called upon the people of all religions and castes to celebrate the festival collectively.

Chemicals found in colours
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, March 7
The Society of Pollution and Environmental Conservation Scientists (SPECS) collected 50 samples of various colours from Dhamawala, Paltan Bazar, Hanuman Chowk, Moti Bazar, Karanpur, Dakra , Kanwali Road, Patel Nagar, Majra, Panditwari, Prem Nagar, Sahastradhara Road, Rai Pur, Jakhan, Rajpur and Krishan Nagar of Dehradun.

After testing the colours in the laboratory, the results of colour composition confirms that red colour has mercury sulphate, green colour has copper sulphate, purple colour has chromium iodide, silver colour has aluminium bromide and black coluor has lead oxide.

According to Dr Brij Mohan Sharma of SPECS, “These colours are toxic and can cause skin cancer, minamata eye allergy, temporary blindness, bronchial asthma, allergies, renal failure, learning disability and cancer.”

“Most colors sold in the market are metal oxide or industrial dyes. When washed, these colors can pollute soil and water systems,” he added.

He also exhorted people to use herbal or natural colours on Holi rather than toxic colours, which can damage skin, hair and the ecosystem.

Holi celebrations at Delhi Public School
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, March 7
The festival of Holi was celebrated with enthusiasm at Delhi Public School here today. Children presented songs, rhymes and dances.

A skit on ‘Holika Dehan’ was also staged by the students, which held the audience spellbound.

Children had a gala time during a party, ‘Potato bite’, held on the occasion. Headmaster Niraj Gupta wished all staff and students a joyful and safe Holi.

Poly Kids

Dehradun: Tiny tots of Poly Kids, a preparatory school, celebrated Holi here today.

Children applied skin-friendly gulal on each other. Teachers advised them to play a safe Holi and avoid the usage of harmful colours and paints. Director Ranjana Mahendru, the Headmistress and the faculty were present.

The wily General brought BJP to the doorstep of victory
He himself slipped on the last step
Rajeev Khanna
Tribune News Service

Nainital, March 7
Just six months back the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was confronted with a choice in Uttarkhand. The choice was whether it wanted to get booted out or voted out. The central leadership chose the latter and brought back Major General (Retired) Bhuvan Chandra Khanduri to the seat of the chief minister.

Khanduri not only turned the tables by making it a neck and neck fight in the Assembly polls but put his party on the doorstep of victory. It was at the last step that he fell when he lost his own seat.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) sources say that the surveys got done by the central leadership of the party in Uttarkhand showed that popularity graph of the government led by Dr Ramesh Pokhariyal Nishank had plummeted to the extent that it was difficult even to achieve the double figure mark. It was at that point that a sulking Nishank was shown the door and the party not only chose to bring back the General to lead it but also decided that the poll plank would be “Khanduri hai Zaroori” as it wanted to ride piggyback on the General’s ?clean image. This was evident from the fact that he was made the poster boy and it was his achievements on curbing corruption that were played up by the party.

The BJP cadres are in a state of shock over the loss of Khanduri in the polls. They are still convinced, at least in Kumaon, that a faction in the party worked to ensure that he lost his seat. Khanduri himself had cast such aspersions after the polling was held on January 30.

Referring to reports of a section of the party having worked against Khanduri, a BJP leader said: “Can you imagine that the person in whose name the polls were fought and the party almost made it to the simple majority was himself defeated? This goes on to show that people with a good image and a reputation for being honest have no place in politics. After all, he was among the 
few politicians who carry some weight even at the national level.”

Till the debacle of the Lok Sabha polls in 2009 wherein the BJP had failed to win even a single seat, Khanduri had led the BJP to victories in all the by-polls, panchayat-level polls and elections to the cooperatives. On coming back he has once again proved to be a better leader who has brought the party to the brink of victory from a dismal position. He had also managed to bridge the psychological divide that exists between Garhwal and Kumaon regions of the state.

It is well acknowledged fact that the performance of Nishank government was dismal and there were a series of allegations regarding corruption that had dented the prospects of the party. The BJP cadres are still trying to figure out the factors that led to Khanduri’s defeat.

Cristopher Chetwode visits IMA
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, March 7
The magnificent Chetwode building of the Indian Military Academy here has been named after Field Marshal Sir Philip W. Chetwode, then Commander-in-chief of India, who inaugurated the academy on December 10, 1932, giving out his immortal message: “The safety, honour and welfare of your country come first always and every time the honour, welfare and comfort of the men you command come next your own ease, comfort and safety come last always and every time”.

This magnificent message has been imbibed in letter and spirit not only by Army officers but also by various business schools and military academies around the world.

Cristopher Chetwode, the younger grandson, along with his son and daughter-in-law, visited the Indian Military Academy(IMA) here today. They were visibly impressed with the standards of training and infrastructure available at the academy.

They sincerely thanked the academy for giving so much respect and importance to Field Marshal Chetwode. They were presented with academy memento depicting the Chetwode building and IMA credo.