Dharamsala, October 16
State Congress president Virbhadra Singh and Vijai Singh Mankotia today shared the dais after a long time. Virbhadra Singh addressed a political rally in Mankotia’s constituency Shahpur. Both of them avoided the compact disc issue.

Mankotia showered praise on Virbhadra Singh. He said Virbhadra Singh was an excellent administrator who took Himachal Pradesh on the path to progress during his stint as Chief Minister five times.

Virbhadra Singh also praised Mankotia and said his return had strengthened the party in lower Himachal. He termed Mankotia as an honest and efficient leader. He said Mankotia and he were schoolmates as well.

Virbhadra Singh’s arrival helped put a check on dissidence in the constituency. His loyalists, including Kewal Singh Pathania and Sushil Sharma, attended the rally.

They had been keeping away from Mankotia’s campaign so far. During Virbhadra Singh’s previous visit to Kangra, Pathania’s supporters had raised slogans against Mankotia.

Mankotia’s right-hand man Onkar Rana declared Virbhadra Singh as the future Chief Minister at the rally. Pathania said though he would support Mankotia, Rana had contested against him in the previous elections.

Rana said he had contested as the Bahujan Samaj Party candidate and secured more votes than Pathania. He reminded Pathania that his father had filed papers against party candidate Mankotia once.

Talking to mediapersons in Dharamsala earlier in the day, Virbhadra Singh said bringing Mankotia back was a political decision taken in the interests of the party.

He asserted that this decision had not changed his personal ties with Mankotia. He further said he would fight the cases he had filed against Mankotia.

Shimla, October 16
Reaching out to each and every voter in remote villages might seem an uphill task, but the use of hi-tech electioneering through Internet, social networking sites and SMS will make the task easier for political parties and candidates.

All major political players, including the Congress, the BJP, the CPM and the latest entrant, the HLP, have chalked out extensive plans to adopt various modern ways of reaching out to the electorate, especially youth.

The traditional means of campaigning by way of pamphlets, posters and campaigns in print and electronic media continue to dominate the scene in rural areas.

While bigger political parties like the Congress, the BJP and the TMC are heavily banking on campaigns on radio and television channels and newspapers, but those with less election funds are relying on SMS and social networking sites. Major political players have put up huge hoardings across the state.

Some of the candidates, especially those contesting from urban areas, are heavily relying on use of social networking sites like Facebook.

Prominent among those who are using these sites actively include CPM candidates Tikender Panwar (Shimla) and Anil Mankotia (Hamirpur).

“Our experience of using the SMS to reach out to over 70,000 voters yielded good results in the Shimla Municipal Corporation (MC) poll and this time too we will start using it shortly,” said Balbir Prashar, member, Shimla district committee of the CPM.

Some of the candidates from Congress and BJP, including sitting MLAs, are keeping their pages on these sites updated.

The BJP’s IT Cell and Campaign Committee has started a toll free number where those who support the party can make a missed call on the number.

“This will help us strengthen our existing data bank of about 8 lakh mobile numbers which we will shortly use to send political messages to various target groups,” said Praveen Sharma, former minister, who is heading the campaign committee.

The Congress, too, is hitting out at the BJP while listing its achievements through vigorous advertisement campaigns on radio and television.

Its computer-savvy leaders, including some candidates, are particular in keeping others updated about political developments.

While the new means of campaigning have struck the right chord with the younger lot, there are others who rely on traditional means like newspapers and radio. Staging of street plays, however, remains the forte of the CPM whose dedicated party cadres have already started with their “nukkad nataks” in Theog and Kasumpti constituencies.

Muck being cleared on the Rohtang road in Manali, where tourist traffic jams are legendary.

“In 2010, more than 50 per cent of the fruit rotted in the orchards as link roads were broken,” says Laxman Thakur, chairman of Ecohorts in Shimla district.

Long repair time

The damaged Ani-Khanag-Banjar-Aut road was opened to traffic after two months on October 1. Ani subdivision remained cut off from Kulu district for that period.

The Khanag landside has remained a trouble spot, as the PWD has neither raised retention walls nor constructed drains along the road. As a result, the entire area remains prone to landslides, threatening villagers downhill.

Bad roads have hit tourism particularly in Soja and Jhibhi valley, as the access through the 3,132 mt-high Jalori pass remained closed for two months due to the Khanag blockade, says a local camp operator, Sandeep Kanwar.

AR Thakur, president of the Manali Hoteliers Association, says: “We have no dedicated air or rail access, and roads are in a miserable condition. Traffic jams at Rani Nullah on the Rohtang road and between Swarghat and Bilaspur due to cement trucks have hit tourism badly in the Mandi-Kulu-Manali circuit, as high-spending tourists do not like to visit Manali.”

Travellers remain stranded on highways for hours because of rolling boulders. Blocked nullahs spill dirt on to highways and nearby towns during monsoons, yet no party has ever made this an agenda.

Killer spots

Fatalities on the state’s roads are on the rise as “black spots” and bottlenecks remain unaddressed. More than 40 people were killed near Kalkhar, Mandi, in an accident involving a private truck two years ago, and 10 lives were lost on the Shimla bypass last year. Thirteen people were killed in Kinnaur on October 11 on a road that had no crash barriers or parapet.

Regional Transport Officers (RTOs) and the traffic police rarely book overloaded oil-tankers and trucks carrying cement or clinker, and tractors without taillights.

In every 100 accidents on the roads in Himachal, 30 people are killed and another 150 injured, many of who suffer life-long handicaps. Congestion and bad roads have also led to instances of road rage, which lead to further accidents.

RTOs are known to issue fitness certificates to both operators and drivers without proper checking and tests — a survey of 500 cases found the vehicles unfit for use.

In 1999, as many as 693 people were killed and over 3,400 injured in 2,043 road accidents. The figure had gone up to 848 killed and 4,200 injured in 2,756 accidents in 2008. In the Kinnaur area, the national highway under the Border Roads Organisation is also in a bad condition.

False slogan

The BJP’s slogan of the 2007 elections, “Raaj badlo, halaat badlo”, today sounds hollow as far as roads are concerned. The bitumen and tar scams and use of substandard materials in building roads, retaining walls, drains and parapets have made people impatient, even as the PWD has of late become active. It is putting up crash barriers and signboards and making white markings on the roads in accident-prone areas. CCTV cameras are being installed to check traffic offenders on highways. However, overloading, which is also responsible for undue road wear and tear, continues unchecked.

Blame game

Even as crores spent on certain trouble spots have gone waste due to inappropriate execution of work, the ruling BJP and the opposition Congress continue to blame each other. Chief Minister PK Dhumal has accused the UPA at the Centre for not releasing funds for national highways. On the other hand, state Congress president and former Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh blames the present regime for the poor condition of roads, saying the Dhumal government has “done nothing to improve roads in the five years”.

Solan: Hundreds of industrial units coming up in the state’s industrial hub of Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh (BBN) has vastly increased the traffic load on the roads in the area, but upkeep and maintenance have failed to keep pace. Both national and state highways as well as link roads are in poor shape.

The Nalagarh-Swarghat road has been particularly hit, forcing investors in the area to launch an agitation to have it repaired. Several new link roads have been laid, but the poor maintenance leaves of them of little use. The condition of NH-21-A between Pinjore and Baddi is particularly bad, as is the Sai Road in Baddi, which has also been encroached upon.

In the Kasauli constituency, the crucial Dharampur-Kasauli link is poorly maintained and there is an inordinate delay in repairing the Dharampur-Sanawar road too, thereby increasing the repair cost now. Villagers served by the Haripur-Band, Kasauli-Jangeshu-Parwanoo, and the Bhojnagar-Kamli roads are also suffering.

Roads in the Arki constituency have been choked with the movement of about 6,000 trucks due to the presence of two cement plants in the Darlaghat area. The much-needed widening of state highways has not taken place. When repairs do take place, they do not last long as the quality of work is poor.

Pollution and bad roads have come to symbolise what started off as a promising industrial zone in Baddi.

The package, however, became a bone of contention between the ruling BJP and the opposition Congress, as the 10-year tax holiday was curtailed to seven years by the Congress-led Union government under pressure from the Congress-ruled neighbouring states. Jammu and Kashmir and Sikkim, which had also been extended a similar tax holiday, continued to enjoy the benefits for the full term. The incentive of capital investment subsidy was also reduced to 15 per cent in Himachal, while it was 30 per cent for Jammu and Kashmir.

The industry zone

As much as 70 per cent of the state’s industry is concentrated in the Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh (BBN) belt and a few other industrial clusters such as Paonta Sahib, Kala Amb, Mehatpur, Una, Sansarpur Terrace, and Gol Thai.

Availability of adequate hostels for workers is the most pressing problem in the BBN belt, where thousands of migrant labourers have been residing in slums in unhygienic conditions.

Infrastructure needed

Lack of rail connectivity to the area is another concern. Several Union budgets have announced survey for rail lines to connect BBN and Paonta Sahib to the national network, but little has happened in that direction.

The much-awaited Rs 53-crore freight station being set up at Baddi could not be developed into a full-fledged inland container depot in the absence of rail connectivity.

New roads have been constructed in the BBN area, but their poor upkeep is a cause of concern. The inordinate delay in constructing new bridges at Chikni and Shitalpur has added to the problems, especially during the rains.

The increasing industrialisation has also raised problems related to water and air pollution, affecting the quality of life in the area. A Common Effluent Treatment Plant is, however, being set up at a cost of Rs 82.3 crore to ease the problem of pollution.

With limited skills available among the state’s youth to match the requirements of various industries, most have been able to secure only middle-rung or low positions. Though a skill development centre is coming up at Baddi and one pharmaceutical training centre has been set up by the industry, much more is required.

The government is trying to improve the infrastructure in the BBN area by setting up a trade centre at a cost of Rs 10.81 crore. Apart from this, two labour hostels with a capacity of 950 each are being constructed at a cost of Rs 23 crore for men and women.

Prem Sharma, president of the Nalagarh Industries Association, says the lack of proper roads in several parts of the BBN area is a major problem, as it damages machinery and material being transported. Proper upkeep of link roads and construction of dilapidated bridges will help sustain the industry. He added the curtailment of the incentive package had adversely hit industrial growth, and the state government would now have to address problems related to infrastructure to sustain the units that had been set up in the state.

YS Guleria, general secretary of the Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh Industries Association, said measures like shifting the office of the state Drug Controller to Baddi, opening a sub-tehsil at Baddi, converting BBN into a separate district with a Superintendent of Police to maintain law and order and an Assistant Excise and Taxation Commissioner to speed up work had facilitated the industry. With projects such as a tool room, trade centre and skill upgrade centre coming up, units operating in the area would be better equipped.

WHAT Baddi NEEDS

• Industrial training for youth
• Adequate hostels for workers
• Connectivity to national rail network
• Proper upkeep of roads
• Check on water and air pollution

7-YEAR PARTY

• Total industrial units in state: 38,832
• Units set up after Central incentive package announced in 2003: 8,631
• Investment since 2003: Rs 13,714 crore (employment to 1,12,861)
• After expiry of incentive package on March 31, 2010: No new units, only expansion of a few existing units.
• Main industry: Pharmaceuticals (50 per cent of the country); exports worldwide

Several schemes exist for the destitute and single women.

The Mother Teresa Ashaya Maitri Sambhal Yojna provides Rs 2,000 each for two children of widows, divorcees or other destitute women annually. The government has also extended health coverage and separate ration cards to single women.

Saving girl child

Efforts have been made to arrest female foeticide with partial success. Besides launching a scheme to track pregnant women to prevent female foeticide, the Beti Anmol Hai scheme provides Rs 10,000 for up to two girls born to a woman. The Maitri Sewa Yojna provides free institutional delivery to all women in government health institutions, along with pre and post-natal care. On discharge, women get Rs 700 in rural areas and Rs 600 in urban.

There is also reservation of one seat in the various courses in Himachal Pradesh University for girls who are the only child of the parents. Nearing elections, the BJP government declared holiday on Karva Chauth this time, and also declared Bhaiya Dooj and Raksha Bandhan off for all women employees, along with free travel in government buses.

Hamirpur, October 16
With the beginning of the Navratras, 20 candidates filed their nomination papers in the district today. Chief Minister PK Dhumal and Communist Party of India (Marxist) candidate Anil Mankotia filed their papers from Hamirpur.

Education Minister Ishwar Dass Dhiman his covering candidate Bachiter Singh, Pawan Kumar of the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) and Krishan Chand (Independent) filed their papers from Bhoranj.

Congress candidate Sukhvinder Singh, his covering candidate Kamlesh and Babu Ram Mandial of the Himachal Lokhit Party (HLP) filed their papers from Nadaun.

Inder Dutt Lakhanpal of the Congress, Satish Kumar of the HLP, Om Prakash Jaswal of the Bahujan Samaj Party and Raj Kumar and Piar Singh (Independents) filed their papers from Badsar.

Urmil Thakur of the Bharatiya Janata Party, her covering candidate Bhupinder Thakur, Rajender Rana (Independent), covering candidate Anita, Raj Kumar Gupta (LJP) and Praveen Gupta (Independent) filed their papers from Sujanpur.

Dharamsala, October 16
Wrong nomination forms sent by the Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee (HPCC) had many Congress candidates in trouble today. Congress candidates had to submit two forms to returning officers.

One of the forms was issued by the All-India Congress Committee, authorising HPCC president Virbhadra Singh to nominate candidates for the elections.

The other form was issued by Virbhadra Singh, nominating candidates. In this form, a term that did not meet norms was used. It was stated that the candidate was being nominated for elections to the “House of People”, but it should have been “Legislative Assembly elections of Himachal”.

Pointing out the discrepancy, returning officers at many places asked Congress candidates to submit forms till 3 pm tomorrow. Since forms have to be signed by the HPCC president, candidates can submit those only tomorrow.

Virbhadra Singh is campaigning in Dharamsala and Shahpur. Amended nomination forms can be dispatched to the candidates only after he returns to Shimla.

GS Bali could not complete the nomination process due to the wrong form. Congress candidates faced this problem at many other places.

Sudhir Sharma did not face this problem as Virbhadra Singh was accompanying him. In the form, he was nominated for elections to “Legislative Assembly of Himachal” from Dharamsala Assembly constituency.

Shimla, October 16
Accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of launching a smear campaign against Virbhadra Singh, the Congress has alleged that senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley is adopting double standard while targeting the state Congress chief.

Party’s media department in charge Mukesh Agnihotri today reminded Jaitley that the Jain hawala diaries were also seized during a raid of the Central Bureau of Investigation linked with militants in Kashmir.

He said the Ispat entries were no different, but the hawala diaries were more serious because those allegedly involved militants under TADA and FERA.

He said the Delhi High Court had held in the Jain hawala case that entries in the diaries maintained by the Jain brothers were not admissible in court as legal evidence.

He pointed out that an element of self-interest and partisanship of the entrant to make liable a person without whose knowledge the entry was made could not be ruled out.

He said the income tax raids were conducted in 2010 and the BJP and Jaitley were flogging a ‘dead horse’ after two years, raising an uncalled-for din to reap political dividends.

He termed it as an attempt to divert the attention of the public from the ‘massive and rampant corruption’ of BJP leaders in the last four years and-a-half.

He said Chief Minister PK Dhumal had not explained details of the wealth amassed by him and his family, including shares in companies and real estate, enumerated by former senior Indian Police Service officer Thind in his complaint to the Lokayukta for a detailed probe.

Agnihotri claimed that people of the state knew who amassed wealth and built palatial houses and hotels during their tenures as Chief Minister.

Shimla, October 16
The filing of nomination papers by candidates from various political parties, including the Congress, BJP, CPM, BSP, TMC and NCP, suddenly picked up with the start of the auspicious period of Navratras today.

A total of 23 candidates filed their nomination papers from the eight Assembly segments of Shimla district. With this the total figure of nominations filed so far has gone up to 27. Tomorrow is the last date for the filing of nomination.

Prominent among those who filed their nomination papers today include BJP legislators Suresh Bhardwaj (Shimla) and Rakesh Verma (Theog) and Congress nominees Harish Janartha (Shimla) and Anirudh Singh (Kasumpti).

Khushi Ram Balnatah, Rohru MLA who had quit the party, filed his papers as Himachal Lokhit Party (LHP) candidate from the Kasumpti constituency.

Another rebel from the BJP who jumped into the fray from Rampur is Ninju Ram, former BJP legislator who is contesting on the HLP ticket. Jyoti Sen, wife of brother-in-law of state Congress chief Virbhadra Singh, also filed nomination as an Independent candidate from Kasumpti segment.

Former Speaker Radha Raman Shastri filed his nomination from Shimla as Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) candidate. He is also the state president of the NCP.