Shimla, June 1
The role of Shimla urban and rural units the Congress and the front organisation of the party during the recent municipal corporation poll will come under the scanner with Pradesh Congress Committee chief Kaul Singh setting up a three-member fact-finding committee to probe the electoral debacle.

The committee, constituted in consultation with Leader of the Opposition Vidya Stokes, is headed by IN Mehta, chairman of the legal department of the party, and has Hoshiar Singh (Bilaspur) and Hemender Thakur (Solan), both former PCC secretaries, as members. The committee will interact with workers and also ascertain the views of the candidates to pinpoint the reasons for the poor performance and identify those who worked against the party. The committee has been asked to submit its report within 15 days.

Kaul Singh said action would be taken against those who worked against the party candidates. Organisational weaknesses and any lapses in the strategy will also be taken care of to ensure that such mistakes were not repeated during the Assembly poll.

Political observers, howerer, feel that it will be a futile exercise as the Assembly poll is due in October. A similar exercise was carried out after the debacle in the Renuka byelection, but nothing much came out of it. There were glaring lapses in poll management and organisational weaknesses, which led to the party’s defeat in its stronghold. However, taking action against leaders or workers on the eve of the elections will not help. It will start a blame game in the party, further widening the factional divide.

The party’s plight would have been worse but for the presence of Madhu Sood, who was in the fray for the post of Mayor. She pumped in the required resources for the campaign which helped other candidates who were virtually left to fend for themselves.

While both the urban and rural units proved unequal to the task, there was no guidance from the senior leadership.

Dharamsala, June 1
With the Assembly elections in the state just a few months away, the Jwalamukhi Assembly constituency in Kangra district has become a hotbed of contention within the BJP. Two senior ministers - Minister for IPH Ravinder Ravi and Minister for Food and Civil Supplies Ramesh Dhawala are staking claim to the party ticket from the Jwalamukhi constituency.

At present, the Jwalamukhi constituency is represented by Dhawala. Ravinder Ravi represents the Thural Assembly constituency. However, after the delimitation exercise, the Thural constituency has been reserved.

Ravi, however, claims that nine panchayats of the Thural constituency, having about 18,000 votes, are now part of the Jwalamukhi constituency. His supporters claim that the demographic pattern of the Jwalamukhi constituency has changed after delimitation. Earlier, OBCs were in a majority in the Jwalamukhi constituency, but after delimitation, Rajputs are now in a majority. The majority area of the old Jwalamukhi constituency is now part of the new Dehra Assembly constituency, they maintain.

Sources said Dhawala had refused to give up his claim over the Jwalamukhi constituency. The party high command had summoned Dhawala to Delhi to discuss the candidature from the Jwalamukhi constituency.

If Dhawala, who belongs to the Shanta faction, refuses to budge from his stand, it may create a lot of trouble for the BJP high command in “adjusting” many senior leaders in the next Assembly elections.

The delimitation exercise in Kangra district has disturbed many political equations. Earlier, Kangra district used to have 16 Assembly constituencies. However, after delimitation, the number of Assembly constituencies in the district has been reduced to 15.

Many MLAs have been left without any Assembly constituency due to realignment of constituencies and the reservation pattern.

Congress MLA from Baijnath Sudhir Sharma and IPH Minister Ravinder Ravi have been hit as their traditional Assembly constituencies have been reserved. The delimitation has also affected the Palampur, Sullah and Jaisinghpur Assembly constituencies.

MLAs who have been affected are now looking for new areas. This is creating a rift in both parties over the issue.

In the BJP, one of the factions is of the opinion that in case Dhawala shifts to Dehra, most of the affected leaders can be adjusted in a suitable manner and there will be no scope for rift. Dehra also has more than 30 per cent OBC vote bank, that is the strong point of Dhawala, they maintain.

Shimla, June 1
Instead of senior Congress leader GS Bali’s “rath yatra”, it will be a “parivartan yatra” to oust the BJP from power which will be organised by the Pradesh Congress Committee. The yatra will pass through all Assembly segments to help mobilise workers at the grassroots.

The high command has decried the tendency of senior leaders to carry out individual shows and asked the PCC to organise such campaigns under its own banner, taking along all prominent leaders of the state. Tentatively Paonta Sahib has been decided as the venue for launching the parivatan yatra, which will be carried out in phases. The high command is sending a self-contained vehicle with a hydraulic platform, which can be used for addressing rallies en route the yatra, which will be conducted in a roadshow mode.

Besides PCC chief Kaul Singh and Leader of the Opposition Vidya Stokes, officer-bearers of the PCC will move around the state on the vehicle. Local district leaders will join in their and carry on the yatra. Senior leaders will join them in between.

The party is also organising four “parivartan rallies”, one each in the parliamentary constituencies of Dharamsala (June 7), Nahan (June 17), Mandi (June 30) and Hamirpur (July 5). The yatra will be suspended during the rallies so that the party machinery can be used to mobilise crowds. The party has not been able to organise a single rally in Hamirpur, the home district of Chief Minister PK Dhumal, due to reluctance of local leaders and the high command has taken notice of it. The June 7 rally was initially to be held in Hamirpur, but it was shifted to Dharamsala on the plea that permission was not being given by the administration.

Shimla, June 1
The Police and the Forest departments will jointly step up vigil against commercial extraction of herbal plants, including some endangered species, in view of the sudden spurt in its trading activities along with institution of an award for forest staff or local residents who will provide intelligence about its collection to the police.

Director General of Police DS Manhas today held a meeting with Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (PCCF) Wildlife, RK Sood to discuss the issue with reports of indiscriminate extraction of nag chhatri, kuth, gum arabica (kikar), resin, gucchi, button mushroom and other such produce.

Though all these fall in the category of minor forest produce, at times they bring in high returns because of the exorbitant prices they fetch in the commercial market.

“We want to put in place a mechanism where there is no misuse of permits issued by the Forest Department for extracting all these herbs,” said Manhas.

He said first of all the Forest Department have to get a clear picture of the existing scenario with regard to the endemic areas, its availability, endangered species and those involved in the act of illegal extraction and trading.

Dr Manhas said the government would also be requested to give awards as an incentive to those who give intelligence about illegal extraction of herbs.

“We will also urge the government to provide copies of permits to the local SHO so that there is no misuse or tampering,” he said.

Some of the species like the nagchatri and kuth fall in the list of endangered species.

Sood said the Forest Department would provide a list of the 40 species for which panchayats were empowered to issue permits.

“Endeavour is to rationalise the process of issuing of permits so that there is no misuse of tampering,” Sood added.

All these forest produce like the Nag chhatri and gum arabica are used in pharmaceutical industry and for making ayurveda medicines.

Whenever any such produce is caught while being taken out illegally without permit, a case is registered under the Forest Act.

At times even the police personnel fail to identify these forest produce, which could be rhizome leaves, roots, flowers or other parts of the plant with a high market value.

Jahu (Hamirpur), June 1
Chief Minister PK Dhumal today said the availability of agricultural inputs to the farming community would be ensured in every party of the state and every marketing yard would be provided organic farm produce and pesticide retail outlets to facilitate marketing of organic produce.

He said this while addressing a public meeting at Jahu after inaugurating a modern marketing yard here.

He said a cattle feed plant would be set up at Jahu soon to meet the cattle feed requirement of the farmers of the area.

The Chief Minister said strengthening of the farm sector was on the priority list of the government.

He said vermin compost units had been established in the state which would boost organic farming and generate employment avenues for the rural youth.

Laying the foundation stone of a 33 kV substation at Naltu, he said it would be completed in nine months and a 132 kVA substation at Jahu would be completed in 18 months.

The Chief Minister also laid the foundation stones of a stadium of Government Degree College, Tarkwari, a 132.33 kV substation and a 132 kV transmission line at Jahu and inaugurated a PHC building at Karhota. He also addressed a public meeting at Karohta.

Earlier, Education Minister ID Dhiman thanked the Chief Minister for providing liberal funds for development activities in the Bhoranj Assembly constituency. 

Palampur, June 1
At least 25 persons were injured, five of them seriously, when a HRTC bus had a head-on collision with a truck at Holta, 4 km from here, on the Pathankot-Mandi highway this evening.

The HRTC bus was on its way from Pathankot to Baijnath. As it reached near Holta, a technical snag developed, resulting in the mishap.