Mussoorie, October 13
BJP workers in Mussoorie celebrated the victory of party candidate Mala Raj Lakshmi Shah in the Tehri byelection today. The elated workers gathered at Picture Palace and burst crackers and distributed sweets to celebrate the victory.

General secretary of the local unit of the party Kushal Singh Rana said this victory was dedicated to the people of Tehri. He also thanked party workers for their support. Party MLA from Mussoorie Ganesh Joshi said this victory would act as a nail in the Central Government’s coffin.

Voters said they wanted to teach a lesson to the Congress, especially Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna, who had claimed that the price rise and the capping of LPG cylinder would not have any effect on these elections.

According to sources, the Mussoorie Assembly segment played an important role in the victory of the BJP as it garnered an important lead of 5,438 votes.

Out of the total votes polled in the bypoll from the Mussoorie Assembly segment, the BJP garnered 22,678 votes while the Congress could garner only 17,240 votes. Candidates from other parties fared badly with Kunwar Japendar Singh of the Uttarakhand Raksha Morcha garnering only 564 votes.The Uttarakhand Kranti Dal (Panwar group) could muster only 562 votes.

However, the Congress fared slightly well in 29 booths of Mussoorie town.

The break-up for Mussoorie is as following

Jharipani booth: BJP 190 votes and Congress: 132 votes; Barlowganj booth number 1: BJP 190 votes and Congress 132 votes; booth number 2: BJP 175 votes and Congress 192 votes; Rama Devi Inter-college booth number 1: BJP 111 votes and Congress 79 votes; booth number 2: BJP 200 votes and Congress 116 votes.

Sanatan Dharm Inter College booth number 1: BJP 78 and Congress 163; booth no 3: BJP 82 votes and Congress 178 votes; Landour Cantt: BJP 97 votes and Congress 160 votes; Mullingar: BJP 117 votes and Congress 152 votes; Guru Ram Rai: BJP 141 votes and Congress 108 votes. At the Municipal Council booth no 1: BJP 117 votes and Congress 128 votes; booth number 2: BJP 67 votes and Congress 159 votes. At the MPG College booth: BJP 123 votes and Congress: 90 votes; At the Arya Samaj booth: BJP received 80 votes and the Congress 113 votes.

The Congress led by 182 votes in the town area and was able to salvage its reputation to some extent.

Congress workers in Mussoorie said voters had reposed faith in the Congress in Mussoorie and it would have far-reaching implications in the coming Municipal Council elections in favour of the party.

Dehradun, October 13
Upsetting calculations in the Tehri parliamentary byelection, the BJP today stormed the Congress bastion in Dehradun district by posting victories in the three assembly segments that were earlier held by the Congress in the 2012 assembly elections.

The BJP won six out of seven assembly segments in the Dehradun district, while the Congress was restricted to the Chakrata assembly segment.

In the 2012 assembly elections, the BJP had won the Dehradun Cantonment, Mussoorie and Sahaspur seats. While the Congress had won the Rajpur Road (SC), Raipur and Vikasnagar and Chakrata assembly segments. In the results declared today, the BJP not only managed to perform well in the assembly segments held by its sitting MLA but also won the Rajpur Road (SC), Raipur and Vikasnagar seats.

Even while comparing with the 2009 Parliamentary election won by Congress candidate Vijay Bahuguna, the sway of the Congress was complete in the Dehradun district which helped in clinch the Tehri Parliamentary seat.

"The BJP voters came out to vote, while the diehard Congress voters proffered to stay away. The BJP's campaign against inflation, cap on subsidised cylinder struck a chord with the voters," said BS Chuphal, Uttarakhand BJP chief.

The BJP leadership also attributed the party's victory to the dignified posture and people-to-people contact maintained by the BJP's nominee Raj Lakshmi Shah during the campaign.

"The Congress leaders called her dumb doll, an old Ambassador car and even questioned her credentials which did not go well with the people and women voters came out in support of Shah," said Ajay Bhatt, leader of the Opposition in the Uttarakhand Assembly.

Besides, the party would also have calculated its gains vis-a-vis the entry of Munna Singh Chauhan who was expected to make inroads in the Chakrata assembly segment held by the Congress. In that sense, the party was not able to successfully exploit the gains that were assured with the entry of Chauhan.Against the backdrop of questions being raised about the effectiveness of Chauhan's campaign and whether he worked seriously for Shah, the leader was quick to point out that his campaigning was not restricted to Chakrata, "I campaigned in several pockets and our results were good in Sahaspur. The Congress could not woo the Muslim voters," he said. 

Dehradun, October 13
Commissioner, Uttarakhand Bharat Scouts and Guides, State Headquarters, Rajeev Sharma, has been associated with the Bharat Scouts and Guides movement in the state for the past one decade.

Bachelor of Business Administration from Shri Guru Ram Rai Institute of Technology and a businessman by profession, Sharma has been organising important functions in the state related to Scouts and Guides.

He has been regularly participating in Bharat Scouts and Guides programmes and visiting schools inspiring students to take to scouts. Significantly, the state today has 52,944 scouts and guides.

Sharma said his inspiration had been Ravindra Mohan Kala, a very senior member of the Uttarakhand Bharat Scouts and Guides, whom he met during school days. He said the movement had always believed in disciplined life and commitment towards the welfare of the masses.

Referring to the history of Scouts and Guides, Sharma said the Boys’ Scouts Movement was started in 1907 by a retired Army General Lord Baden Powell, who started the movement in England with a team of 20 boys.

He said the Bharat Scouts and Guides today had units all over the country and in Uttarakhand, the movement was spreading fast. A large number of schools, both in public and private sector, had units of Scouts and Guides, he said.

Sharma said scouts were the second line of defense after the administration in cases of emergencies. “In a state like Uttarakhand, which is prone to natural disasters, organisations like Bharat Scouts and Guides play an important role in the rescue and relief operations. We are also associated with social causes like eradication of tuberculosis and are working along with the State TB Control Society in this regard,” Sharma pointed out.

He was a participant in the 21st World Scout Jamboree at Chelmsford England in 2007.

He also attended 39th World Scouts Conference from January 10 to 14, 2011, at Brazil as part of the Indian delegation. Now Sharma is all set to attend the Asia Pacific Scouts Conference in Dhaka slated for November 24 to 29.

Mussoorie, October 13
Swedish national Roland Johansson, who had spent his childhood in Mussoorie, arrived in the town along with his daughter and grandson on a memory trip yesterday.

Local historian Gopal Bhardwaj met Johansson, who is well versed in Hindi and English, at a hotel. The hotel was his school during his childhood in 1957. Bhardwaj presented him with a rare picture of Mussoorie.

While speaking to The Tribune, Johansson said this was his third visit to the town. He said he had fond memories of the years he had spent here. He said the hotel where he is staying now was a Swedish school for the wards of the Christian missionaries since Independence. He joined the school in class V in 1957. He left for India at the age of 15. His father worked at Doon Bible School as a teacher for several years.

The Swedish school was a small set up where only 20-25 students from the Christian community were imparted education. They were taught Hindi, Englsih and other subjects, remembered Johansson.

He also said that regular trips to Kempty Fall were organised in those days and it took them almost two hours to reach the tourist spot. He, however, lamented that the town had lost its charm. Kempty Fall now is a congested place with plastic garbage strewn all round.

“During my school years, I used to swim in the water of Kempty Fall, but now it is full of dirt and I would not dare to enter,” added Johansson.

He opined that the administration should preserve the natural beauty of the town so that tourists visit the town on regular basis.