Shimla, October 23
The release of manifestos during the run-up to the Assembly poll has over the years become a political ritual, which is not taken seriously by the electorate.

The two main rivals, the BJP and the Congress, have already completed the job and a comparison of the documents shows that the two parties have indulged in competitive populism to woo various sections of the electorate.

The BJP released its manifesto a few days after the Congress and, as expected, it had more promises to offer and the quantum of benefits like minimum daily wage and old-age pension were also on the higher side. However, the most attractive promise to grant unemployment allowance to jobless youth made by the Congress did not figure in the BJP manifesto.

The Congress has committed to give Rs 1,000 per month to Class XII pass-outs and graduate unemployed youth whose total family income is less than Rs 2 lakh per month and Rs 1,500 per month to the handicapped graduate unemployed youth.

Instead, the BJP promised free medicines to all in government health institutions and an induction hotplate free to every household to take advantage of the resentment brewing among people due to the hike in prices of LPG.

Many of the promises made by the BJP are only an extension of the schemes its government was already running.

The Congress has been on the front foot on the issue of the FDI in retail and stated in unambiguous terms that it will allow it in the state on coming to power. The BJP has been opposing the FDI tooth and nail and has avoided the issue altogether in its manifesto.

The Congress promised that minimum daily wage will be enhanced to Rs 200 per month and social security pension to Rs 600 per month from Rs 450 per month.

The BJP did one better by committing enhancement of daily wage to Rs 250 and social security pension to Rs 650 per month.

While the BJP promised to generate 10 lakh job opportunities, the Congress focused on skill development and promised setting up of a corporation with an investment of Rs 500 crore to tackle unemployment and create 1 lakh job opportunities annually.

Both parties have promised free laptops to meritorious students. The Congress promised a university dedicated to mass communication and journalism and a centre of excellence for promotion of innovations and a pre-training institute for recruitment to the Army and paramilitary forces, whereas the BJP favoured a law and Sanskrit university.

The Congress set a target of constructing 7,500 km of new roads to connect all villages having a population of at least 100 and extend national highways 2,000 km over the next five years. However, the BJP promised to strengthen the road network and add 500 new buses to the existing fleet. The BJP also promised subsidised loans to farmers and students and insurance cover for lawyers, truck and taxi drivers, whereas the Congress document was silent on these issues.

Dharamsala, October 23
Minister for Industries and BJP candidate from Dharamsala Kishan Kapoor said today that Congress legislators had worked against the interests of Himachal.

While addressing a press conference here today, Kapoor said after the UPA government finished the industrial package in the state, the state Assembly adopted a resolution urging the Centre to extend the industrial package in the state to 2020.

However, Congress legislators did not support the resolution and instead boycotted the Assembly.

This illustrated that the Congress did not want industrial package to the state extended.

He alleged that the industrial package to Himachal was given by the NDA government, headed by Atal Bihari Vajpayee, in 2003 for a period of 10 years.

It brought employment in the state. Since then, the Congress did not support the resolution for extension of the industrial package. Its legislators did not have any right to speak over the issue of unemployment and industrialisation, Kapoor said.

He also attacked his political opponent in the constituency Sudhir Sharma of the Congress and termed him as an “outsider” in Dharamsala.

He said Sudhir had ignored his earlier constituency Baijnath as he was earlier the Congress legislator from there.

He moved to Dharamsala this time as his constituency had been reserved for SC candidates after delimitation.

The Industries Minister said in the past five years Sudhir had not visited Baijnath and in fact remained in Delhi and Dubai.

Kapoor also accused him of “patronising criminal elements” in the Baijnath area.

He added that Dharamsala had witnessed tremendous development in the past five years as a food and craft institute, a synthetic track for athletes and an international cricket stadium had come up in Dharamsala.

Shimla, October 23
The woes of beleaguered HPCC chief Virbhadra Singh multiplied further with Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley demanding a probe by a special investigation team (SIT) into the VBS files case in the wake of fresh “clinching and corroborating evidence” that had surfaced over the past two days linking the alleged Ispat pay-offs with investments made in financial instruments by him.

“The entire exercise starting with the signing of a backdated agreement by Virbhadra with insurance agent Anand Chauhan for managing his orchards. The revised Income Tax (I-T) returns filed by him subsequently appeared to be an attempt to convert the pay-off amount into real income and in the process voluminous evidence has been generated, which can help trace the money trail,” Jaitley explained to mediapersons while putting together the pieces of evidence.

He said large amounts of money, totalling over Rs 5 crore, were deposited into the account of Chauhan during the 2008-11 period in cash and he issued cheques to pay premiums of LIC policies of Virbhadra and his family members. The unanswered question was how a mere LIC agent got such huge amounts in cash to pay premiums on their behalf.

He maintained that a backdated agreement was signed only after Chauhan’s bank transactions came under the scanner of the I-T Department. There was already an agreement with Bishambar Das for the management of land and orchard dated June 17, 2008, and payments amounting to Rs 51.05 lakh made by him to Virbhadra had been duly reflected in the I-T returns for the three-year period.

“How could there be another agreement with Chauhan dated June 15, 2008, for the management of the same land for the same period?” he asked.

To cap it all, in the revised IT returns for the three-year period, the agriculture income increased to Rs 6.15 crore, which was intriguing and inexplicable, Jaitley added.

It was not merely a case of corruption, but also of forgery and crime and only an SIT probe was warranted as the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate also figure in diary entries pertaining to the Ispat pay-offs. These agencies could not be entrusted probe.

Having a dig at Congress president Sonia Gandhi, he said she should either not share public platform with the likes of Virbhadra or refrain from giving “sermons on corruption”.

Shimla, October 23
Expressing shock over the details of his Income Tax (I-T) returns published in a section of the media, state Congress chief Virbhadra Singh said today that incorrect information was being carried out to create confusion in the public to divert his attention from the election campaign.

“I am surprised and shocked by the news item which a section of the media has put out and is about my income and my IT returns. Some senior leaders of the BJP, especially Arun Jaitley, seems to know about my IT returns more than me,” he said while maintaining that the “information is factually incorrect and appeared to be based on imaginary details supplied by the BJP leadership in Delhi”.

“Instead of misleading media organisations, I will urge Jaitley and company to approach appropriate law-enforcing agencies if they want to prove something against me,” he stated.

“First they raised the issue of Ispat Industries pay-off in which I had nothing to do. I had demanded a CBI probe in the matter so that the truth could come out. In fact, some of the details in this pay-off even pertained to the period before I became the Union Steel Minister at the Centre in June 2009,” he added.

He said he was an IT payer for a long time and had filed returns for the financial year 2011-12, which was true, factual and supported by vouchers and receipts.

He was surprised how the personal information pertaining to his tax returns, which were not even provided under the RTI Act without the permission of the assessee, were being highlighted through the media during the peak of an election campaign.

Virbhadra said: “I leave it to people of the state to decide my fate. Let people judge me and let the IT Department ask me whatever they wish to. In will take appropriate action against those who are involved in such a malicious campaign against me after the elections are over.”

Kullu/Ani: Unfazed by the alleged Ispat case issue reported in a section of the media, state Congress president Virbhadra Singh instead today launched a counter attack against the BJP and its MLAs charging that they had become crorepatis overnight, amassing wealth disproportionate to their known sources of income.

Addressing a party rally in support of Congress candidate Khub Ram from Ani reserved constituency, Virbhadra charged that the present MLA had become a millionaire overnight as the BJP government was steeped in corruption. People of the state were fed up with the corrupt BJP government, he added.

Certain BJP MLAs and ministers had become millionaires overnight and were allegedly making money from power projects in the state.

He claimed that the BJP government had lost its credibility and was on its way out. The Congress would form the next government and would utilise Central funds, which the BJP regime had failed to do.

‘BJP levelling false charges’

Nurpur: State Congress spokesperson Kewal Singh Pathania said the BJP had been launching a sinister campaign by levelling false allegations against HPCC chief Virbhadra Singh.

Addressing a press conference here today, Pathania said the BJP was under frustration following immense electorate response to Virbhadra during electioneering.

He said the BJP had released its old poll manifesto after reshaping it and there was nothing new in the same.

Dharamsala, October 23
Chief Minister PK Dhumal today demanded a probe by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) into the allegedly amended Income Tax (I-T) returns of Virbhadra Singh.

Dhumal was on a campaigning spree in Kangra district today. While talking to mediapersons at Shahpur, he said Virbhadra filed revised I-T returns for the past three financial years in which his agriculture income rose from six times to 30 times.

As per the earlier returns, the agriculture income of Virbhadra in 2009-10 was about Rs 7.34 lakh. However, as per the revised returns, it was Rs 2,21,35,000 that amounts to 300 per cent increase.

In 2010-11, the agriculture income of Virbhadra was about Rs 15 lakh. However, as per revised returns, it was Rs 2,80,92,500, an 18-fold increase. For the financial year 2011-12, the agriculture income of Virbhadra was Rs 25 lakh. However, as per the revised returns, it was about Rs 1.55 crore amounting to six-fold increase, Dhumal said.

He said the revised I-T returns of Virbhadra could be linked to the ISPAT scam and facts in the case could come to the fore only after a SIT probe, the CM said.

He also refuted the charges levelled by Congress chief Sonia Gandhi during a rally at Mandi yesterday that the state government had not spent Rs 10,000 crore provided by the Centre.

He alleged that the statement was meant to mislead the public. The state government had consumed the entire grant provided by the Centre.

It was illustrated from the fact that the state had been awarded by the Union Government for the best implementation of its 20-point programme. In fact, the Centre had cut the plan outlay of the state and cut the quota of PDS food grains. The present BJP government had acted as a “welfare state” by extending direct benefits to all residents of the state.

He organised political rallies in the Shahpur, Kangra, Nagrota Bagwan and Jaisinghpur Assembly constituencies of Kangra district.

Shahpur: This constituency is being keenly observed as the political career of former Congress minister and maverick leader Vijai Singh Mankotia is at stake. A month before elections were announced, Mankotia was carrying out his tirade against Virbhadra Singh, against whom he had released an audio CD that became the basis of a corruption case against the former Chief Minister.

After the elections were announced, Mankotia was back in the Congress, reportedly with the efforts of Virbhadra Singh. The move shocked many and Mankotia had a tough time explaining how he turned his former foe’s friend. Virbhadra Singh maintained that he had taken the decision to get Mankotia back in the party’s interest and his personal grudge against his former foe remained. The two leaders shared the stage during a political rally in Shahpur and showered praise on each other.

This constituency was earlier considered Mankotia’s bastion. He won from here as the Congress candidate, the Janta Dal candidate and as an Independent. People in the constituency stood behind him when he carried out his fight for lower Himachal Pradesh against Virbhadra Singh after he was dropped from the Cabinet.

Mankotia surprised everybody in Shahpur in 2007 when he chose to contest from Dharamsala. He had joined the BSP and was its state president. He lost the elections. About two years ago, he announced his retirement from active politics.

He joined the Congress about a fortnight ago and was now facing the uphill task of establishing a rapport with his vote bank, with which he remained cut off for the last five years. After initial hiccups, Mankotia has been able to establish a rapport with his supporters. His Rajput vote bank has embraced him again.

Sarveen Chaudhary, Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment, is the BJP candidate. She had defeated Mankotia from this constituency in 1998. She lost to him in 2003. She won convincingly in 2007 as the Congress candidate lost his deposit. She belongs to the OBC category, which has a strong vote bank and can prove to be her strength.

She has been polite and has worked hard in the constituency in the last five years. The Congress has very little to say against her. Her biggest achievement is the building of the ITI’s Centre of Excellence, constructed at a cost of Rs 1.1 crore. It will be a fight between the charismatic personality of Mankotia and the hard work Sarveen has put in in the last five years.

Bilaspur: It is a desperate battle for political rehabilitation that BJP’s three-time MP Suresh Chandel is waging from this constituency after remaining in political wilderness for the last six years in the aftermath of the cash-for-query revelations that had rocked the nation.

Chandel managed to secure the ticket from Bilaspur, the seat vacated by JP Nadda after becoming Rajya Sabha member. Chandel is pitted against Congress candidate Bambar Thakur, relatively a greenhorn in politics.

Though Nadda ensured his presence at the time of filing of nomination papers by Chandel, he is yet to address election rallies. Nadda’s wife Mallika, who is politically active, has campaigned in favour of Chandel.

Chandel has planned his second innings in electoral politics tactically by maintaining contact with the people for the past some time. In fact, he has been able to win over and take along a large section of Nadda loyalists.

The Congress, on the other hand, has fielded the young and energetic Bambar Thakur, who has remained Zila Parishad member. However, his ward Auhar has become a part of Ghumarwin constituency in delimitation. The presence of two Congress rebels, KD Lakhanpal, a retired officer, and Jitender Chandel, a former Zila Parishad member, can damage the prospects of the Congress candidate.

The presence of Himachal Lokhit Party (HLP) candidate Daulat Ram Thakur can make some difference to the BJP as he has contested on the BJP ticket from Kotkehloor constituency in the past and lost by a slender margin of about 300 votes. He can make a dent in the BJP vote bank in three panchayats of Kotkehloor, rechristened as Naina Devi.

Chandel’s down-to-earth nature and accessibility makes him popular among the masses. The issue of corruption, with his name linked to the cash-for-query scam, is being raked by the Congress.

However, with both the Congress and the BJP having a lot of explaining to do on the issue of corruption, the controversy may not be much of an issue. The BJP stands to gain from the rebel factor, which may cause major damage to the Congress candidate.

Reckong Peo: The old Hindustan-Tibet Road is bumpy beyond Wangtu and so is the ride of the BJP candidate and sitting Kinnaur legislator Tejwant Singh Negi. He has to contend with a party rebel, Chet Ram Negi, in addition to anti-incumbency.

The 30-odd kilometre stretch of the highway has been virtually reduced to a dustbowl and driving through it is a nightmare. Every passing vehicle raises a pall of dust, making the lives of people living along it a torture.

What hurts them the most is that the road has not been restored even a year after the completion of the 1,000-MW Karcham Wangtu project. With a large number power projects under implementation, their environmental fallout and the consequent impact on the lives of the people has been a major issue.

The only difference this time is that it is the turn of Tejwant Singh to face it. He is pitted against Jagat Singh Negi of the Congress for the third time in a row, but the entry of Chet Ram has made the contest triangular. He had defeated Jagat Singh Negi of the Congress by 3,320 votes. Chet Ram is contesting as the nominee of the Himachal Lokhit Party.

The tribal district of Kinnaur, which was once a part of Rampur Bushahr, the erstwhile princely state of Virbhadra Singh, has undergone much change. Older generations are still under his influence. The Congress candidate is banking on him to wrest the seat. Chet Ram, who contested only once and won, has much influence in lower areas of Kinnaur, particularly Nichar, and will dent the BJP vote bank.

People resent the fact that the government is siding with private companies and overlooking their concerns, particularly in case of the 1,000-MW Karcham Wangtu project of the JP Group. Residents of Yelu, Meru, Chagaon and Urni had boycotted the panchayat elections.

The inequitable distribution and alleged misuse of the local area development fund is a major issue. Jagat Singh alleges that it was virtually reduced to the discretionary fund of the MLA and works were allotted to his favourites. Tejwant Negi is quick to rebut the charge and says unlike the past, when funds were transferred to Rampur, the entire amount was spent for the development of Kinnaur.

The elections will take place during the festive season. The Kinnaur tribal festival will be held from October 28 to 31 and the international Lavi fair will be held from November 4 to 14. Tribal traders start moving to Rampur on the conclusion of the tribal festival for Lavi and this may affect polling.

Chet Ram, who enjoys a clean image, claims that both BJP and the Congress have failed the people on the corruption and development fronts.

Nadaun: The lone Congress MLA in the district, Sukhvinder Singh, better known as Sukhu, is locked in a triangular contest. Sukhu is known for electioneering skill and maintaining clout in the Congress and among the electorate. He had sprung a surprise by winning in 2003.

After getting elected twice, Sukhu is feeling anti-incumbency this time. His supporters are relying on his rapport with the people, skill to win elections, management of Chaudhary votes and projection as a Cabinet minister to garner votes. He is also taking credit for the development of the area and not disturbing any government employee.

BJP candidate Vijay Agnihotri is confident of victory. He had lost in the last elections by a slender margin of 586 votes, reportedly due to factionalism and division in the BJP vote bank. This time, he is banking on unity among BJP factions.

In the last elections, Independent candidate Prabhat Chaudhary, now in the BJP, had secured over 10,000 votes. The charges of failing to carry out development works and spending most of the time in Shimla are being made against Sukhu.

HLP candidate Babu Ram Madial is a veteran politician. He had been elected on both the Congress and the BJP ticket. He takes credit for developing the state as an associate of Dr YS Parmar and giving hundreds of jobs. He is banking on the votes of his community Rajputs and employees.

Sarkaghat: Inder Singh of the BJP is facing a tough fight while old warhorse Rangila Ram Rao of the Congress is riding on the shoulders of his mentor Virbhadra Singh to revive his political fortunes. Inder Singh managed to break Rao’s citadel, then Gopalpur, in 2007.

Col (retd) Inder Singh could not find favour with the government as Dhumal’s Samirpur clan, led by Anurag Thakur’s cousin Amit Dhumal, called the shots in Sarkaghat subdivision. Amit Dhumal had sought the BJP ticket, but Inder Singh had the last laugh. KK Thakur, a social worker who left his job, tried for the ticket, but failed. KK Thakur is troubling Inder Singh now.

Party squabbles are in the background. The bad condition of roads and the lack of doctors in the Civil Hospital are election issues raised by Congress workers.

It will not be a cakewalk for Rao. He represented Gopalpur in 1972, 1977, 1982, 1985, 1993, 1998 and 2003. He has not done much here, say BJP workers.

The BJP candidate had challenged Rao’s election in 2003 in the High Court on the grounds of pumping liquor to woo voters, but his petition was dismissed.

This time, Rao’s worry is Pawan Thakur, propped by Kaul Singh Thakur. Rao is taking some solace from KK Thakur playing spoilsport for the BJP candidate.

Though the Chief Minister pepped up the BJP’s campaign here on the last day of the filing of nomination papers, the morale of party cadres is low due to local squabbles and the party rebel.

Kamar Singh (HLP), Kashmir Singh (BSP), Ajay Kumar (TMC) and Independents Jagdish Chand Varma and Moti Ram may cut the votes of both the BJP and the Congress in their small pockets of influence.

Mandi, October 23
In a bid to get recognition or political bargaining power, ambitious nondescript parties and regional outfits have headed to the state to strike deals with state fronts. A recent example is the Samast Bharatiya Party (SBP), which has struck an alliance with the Himachal Lokhit Party (HLP), led by Maheshwar Singh.

SBP president Sudesh Aggarwal of Rewari in Haryana and Maheshwar Singh say they share common ideas and stand for change and clean politics. The SBP was formed in Haryana in 2008 and registered in 2009. It will assist the HLP in the Assembly elections, Aggarwal claims.

Leaders of Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party, Ram Vilas Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party, Sharad Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party, Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress, Bal Thackeray’s Shiv Sena and former non-gazetted employees’ leader Subhash Sharma’s Swabhiman Party are making rounds of constituencies.

They are scouting for candidates, preferably Congress or Bharatiya Janata Party rebels. The parties are looking for winnable candidates, which are not easy to find. An Independent or the candidate of an unrecognised party needs 10 proposers who are registered voters in the constituency. A general-category candidate has to deposit Rs 10,000 as fee and a reserved-category candidate half this amount.

According to Election Commission (EC) guidelines, a political party will be recognised in a state if it is engaged in political activity for five continuous years or has returned at least one member to the Legislative Assembly for every 30 legislators. It must secure 6 per cent of the total number of valid votes polled by all candidates in Assembly elections.

The EC says a legislator will not be allowed to become a member of that political party after being elected. After being recognised as a state or national party, it gets a symbol reserved and its candidate needs only one proposer for filing nomination papers. It gets two sets of electoral rolls free and broadcast rights over Akashvani and Doordarshan during a General Election.

A party recognised in four states is declared a national party. It should continue to fulfil the conditions for recognition in four states or more thereafter. The EC had recognised six national parties and 36 state parties at the time of the General Election in 2004.