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Who will be the CM?
SP, BSP failed to come up with satisfactory performance
Lok Rang in Pithoragarh to document Kumaoni Holi
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Rishikesh-Karnprayag Railway Line
Hills get smeared with colour on Challeri
Dhami offers seat to Harish Rawat
Absence of strong regional party benefited Cong, BJP, says UPP
119 centres set up for school exams
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Who will be the CM?
Dehradun, March 9 Addressing mediapersons after parading party legislators before state Governor Margaret Alva, Birender Singh claimed that three Independents and the lone Uttarakhand Kranti Dal (P) legislator had decided to support the Congress government without any pre-condition. “All these legislators and the Uttarakhand Kranti Dal (Panwar faction) have decided to join the Congress government to strengthen the secular forces in the state for the overall development of the state,” he said. He further announced that Union Minister of Health and senior party leader Ghulam Nabi Azad would be coming to Dehradun on Saturday to ascertain the views of the party legislators on the issue of leadership of the Congress Legislature Party (CLP). “After ascertaining the views of the legislators, he will convey the same to the party president Sonia Gandhi so that a decision could be taken,” he said. Birender Singh said the views of the Independent legislators and the UKD (P) would also be considered on the issue.
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SP, BSP failed to come up with satisfactory performance
Nainital, March 9 While the SP has once again failed to open its account in the state Assembly second time in a row, the seats of the BSP have come down to a poor three from eight in the outgoing Assembly. The SP’s best bet was on the Haldwani seat where it had fielded senior leader Abdul Mateen Siddiqui, who had come up with a good performance in the 2007 elections. However, he failed miserably this time and came in a poor third on the seat. In case of the BSP, the party has been wiped out from its stronghold in Udham Singh Nagar and all three seats that its candidates have won are in the Haridwar parliamentary constituency. A senior leader of the party said: “Developments in the neighbouring Uttar Pradesh have always had a bearing on Uttarakhand politics, particularly in the bordering districts. The BSP was routed there. We never had a chance of doing well here too.” Ironically, while the Congress and the BJP were still witnessing a turmoil with regard to the allocation of party ticket to potential contestants for the poll, the BSP and the SP had taken a lead of sorts by having already announced candidates for several seats and proceeding ahead with their campaign. Showing better organisational skills as compared to their political counterparts, the BSP and the SP had devised a strategy for contesting the poll. While the SP was aiming to get a firm foothold in the state by changing the mindset of the voters, particularly those residing in the hill areas who view the party as a force opposed to the very creation of Uttarakhand, the BSP after having done considerably well in the previous two elections in the plain areas of the state was aiming to climb up the hills. In fact, the BSP had demonstrated the best political foresight. It had been the first party to have started announcing candidates for the elections. These announcements had come almost a year ago, thus giving the maximum time to the ticket holders to devise their campaign strategies and start executing it. It was way back in August 2010 that the party took serious note of the fact that although its rallies and public functions were very well attended, the number did not convert into votes. Senior party leaders and Ram Achal Rajbhar, a member of the Mayawati Cabinet in the UP, had sat down together to come over this hurdle. Interestingly, the BSP leadership had shown inclination to have a centralised structure in place in the party. Its leaders were of the opinion that greater the number of wings of a political party, greater are the chances of infighting. Upbeat over the party’s performance in the political arena over the past 25 years since its inception, the leaders were using this as an instrument to boost the morale of its workers. The party leadership had already started analysing the demographic profile of various Assembly segments several months ago in view of the scenario emerging after delimitation. In the outgoing Assembly, the BSP had eight legislators from Haridwar and Udham Singh Nagar districts. The SP, too, had been quick to decide upon its candidates for the poll. A senior party leader had told The Tribune on the eve of the poll announcement that, “Instead of focusing on contesting more seats, we want to concentrate on seats where we have a strong winning chance.” Party leaders had claimed that the new delimitation had provided the party with a chance to make its presence felt in the next Assembly.
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Lok Rang in Pithoragarh to document Kumaoni Holi
Pithoragarh, March 9 According to the Director of the NGO, the documentation of Kumaoni Holi is being undertaken for the young generation of Kumaon living in the metros. The team reached Pithoragarh today to shoot the Kumaoni Holi celebrations. “We want to document the Holi celebratiuons in Kumaon where people dress up in traditional attires. We also want to show houses traditional houses as it gives a glimpse into the lifestyle of the people of the region,” said Manish Mehta, chairman
of the NGO. According to the chairman, an eight-member team has been travelling across the region for the past one week to trace the original forms of the country. “We have documented Holi celebrated by Ram Sevak Sabha and in Almora by the Hukka club in Nainital. In Pithoragarh, we are documenting the festival as depicted by the Ram Lila committee. After this we will cover the Khari Holi in Gangolihat and Champawat to complete our mission,” said Mehta. The Lok Rang founder-director said after videoing various forms of Kumaoni Holi, the documentary would be released on the online portal of the NGO. “We have plans to publicise the forms of Kumaoni Holi as people living in other parts of the country do not know about the unique
traditions prevalent in the Kumoan region,” said Ravi Joshi, creative head of the NGO. |
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Rishikesh-Karnprayag Railway Line
Mussoorie, March 9 Congress candidate from Karnprayag Dr Anusuya Prasad Maikhuri defeated Surendar Singh Negi (Independent) and Dr Jeet Ram defeated BJP candidate Magan Lal from the reserved Tharali seat in Chamoli district. Both Tharali (Pindar) and Karnprayag seats were considered a strong BJP bastion from where Anil Nautiyal and Govindlal from the BJP had won the previous elections. The effect of the railway line proposal was also witnessed in the adjacent Rudraprayag district and one Assembly segment of Tehri district. In the Kedarnath Assembly segment of Rudraprayag district, Congress candidate Shaila Rani Rawat defeated the two-time sitting BJP MLA Asha Nautiyal while the leader of the Opposition Dr. Harak Singh Rawat from the Congress defeated BJP Cabinet Minister Matbar Singh Kandari despite being considered as an outsider in the Rudraprayag constituency. In the Badrinath constituency, Rajendar Bhandari, who had rebelled against the Congress and won the last elections as an Independent this time contested from the Congress and defeated BJP candidate Prem Valabh Bhatt by a handsome margin despite the anti-incumbency factor working against him. The Devprayag Assembly seat on the route of the proposed Rishikesh-Karnprayag railway line project could also have gone in favour of the Congress if the tickets would have been distributed judiciously. Congress rebel candidate Mantri Prasad Naithani defeated the Cabinet Minister from the UKD (D) and emerged victorious from the Devprayag constituency. Sudarshan Shah in Chamoli said he had been a BJP supporter but with
the announcement of the railway line project, he cast his vote in favour of the Congress. Rajendar Bhandari said the announcement of
the railway line project proposal was also one of the major factors in determining victory for the Congress candidates in the region. However, the senior BJP leaders are not convinced with this argument of the Congress and believe that the BJP faced the debacle due to local reasons. Many believe that if
the Congress would have concentrated more on introducing such development projects in the state, the party would have benefited more. |
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Hills get smeared with colour on Challeri
Almora, March 9 The celebrations were held a day late as per the calculations made by local astrologers. The festivities that had been going on across the region in the form of Baithaki and Khadi Holi over the past fortnight reached their crescendo yesterday. Though the shops were opened for a short while, they were closed soon after the celebrations begun. In Almora, which is known as the cultural capital of the region, members of various communities could be seen singing and dancing. The Khadi Holi singing had continued till midnight yesterday despite there being a thunderstorm and a shower. The Baithaki Holi celebrations continued till early hours today giving the revellers barely a couple of hours to sleep before it was time to play colour and water. “We make it a point to have the singing of ‘thumris’ right up to the first ray of sun on the day of Challeri. The session ends with the singing of bhairvi,” said Chiranji Lal Verma, who had organised a Baithaki Holi celebration at his house where several prominent local Holiyars, like Jeewan Joshi, performed. The session saw the bringing together of the creations penned during the golden era of Bhakti and Sufi movements in the subcontinent. |
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Dhami offers seat to Harish Rawat
Pithoragarh, March 9 “Harish is my ideal in politics and I have been able to become a Congress legislator from Dharchula with his blessings. If he would be nominated as the next Chief Minister of the state by the party high command, I will offer my seat to him to become an MLA the in state assembly,” said Harish Dhami. According to the newly elected Congress legislator from Dharchula, he has contested the election only to come
forward for the development of the Dharchula area, which has been hit due to the Askot wildlife sanctuary. “My only concern is development of Dharchula for which Rawatji is fully committed,” said Dhami. The Congress legislator said he had been given ticket under the youth quota of Rahul Gandhi for which he had been named by Harish Rawat. “It would be fortunate for the people of Dharchula if the leader of the stature of Harish Rawat accepts contesting from the Dharchula Assembly seat,” said Dhami. |
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Absence of strong regional party benefited Cong, BJP, says UPP
Nainital, March 9 Party president PC Tewari said his party was committed towards providing a strong regional political alternative, which was credible. He said the UPP would continue working in this direction. Tewari said this was the first Assembly elections contested by the UPP
that had come into existence barely three years ago. He claimed that his party had been successful in drawing the attention of the people towards itself. He further said:
“The people of the state have been “misled” and have had a bitter experience of opportunism and greed showed by the regional parties in the
past. This has led to their voting for the two national parties, the Congress and the BJP.” He said there was ample scope for a regional party in the state and expressed hope that the UPP would fill in the void. He pointed out that the people of the state needed to understand that those who win by using money and muscle power could never be well-wishers of the masses.
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119 centres set up for school exams
Dehradun, March 9 Suman held that a total of 119 examination centres had been set up in Dehradun district for the examinations. He said Section 144 had been promulgated for the period of the examination which would be enforced at a radius of 100 metres of an examination centre in order to maintain law and order. He said no one would be allowed to use loudspeaker publicly. Further, no one will be allowed to carry firearms, hockey sticks or swords in the prohibited areas. Even usage of pager, mobile, photo state and fax machines have been banned. Protest and rallies near examination centres will call for action. |
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With uncertainty on the new Congress Chief Minister, party legislators have started showing their loyalty towards their godfathers in state politics. Recently elected Congress legislator from the Dharchula Assembly segment Harish Dhami has offered his seat to Union Minister of State for Agriculture, Food Processing and Parliamentary Affairs Harish Rawat if he is nominated as Chief Minister of the state.
