Dharamsala, October 25
With the election campaign reaching its peak, the Congress is likely to raise the issue of permission granted to Prashant Bhushan, an active member of India Against Corruption, headed by Arvind Kejriwal, for buying a tea garden land in Palampur sub-division of Kangra district.

The Congress is likely to accuse the present government of showing out of the way favour to the Kumud Bhushan Educational Society, Kandwari, in Palampur tehsil through its secretary Prashant Bhushan.

They are alleging that while about 2,500 applications for permission of sale of tea garden lands were lying pending with the government, special preference was given to the society of Prashant Bhushan.

Prashant was one of the two persons who were granted permission to buy the tea garden land during the stint of the present government. The other permission pertained to an engineering college in the Shahpur area.

As per the information procured by RTI activist Ashish Bhattacharya, Prashant Bhushan purchased about 117 kanals of tea garden land in the Palampur area. The land was purchased from Narinder Singh, general power of attorney holder of Manorama Devi, a resident of Noida.

Bhattacharya has further alleged that the first three payments of transactions of this land took place during the tenure of the previous Congress regime and the last two transactions during the BJP regime.

Ultimately the permission and registration took place during the BJP regime. Since Prashant could not find the Congress government of that day cooperative, he patiently waited for the BJP government to come.

After the BJP government came in power in 2007, he managed to get the permission and got the registry of land executed, he said.

Legal point of view

Owners of tea gardens in the state were exempted from the Land Ceiling Act and were allowed to retain huge chunks of land with condition that they would not change the nature of land.

As per the original HP Land Ceiling Act brought in 1970s, owners of tea gardens were custodians of land and were not allowed to sell the land they retained in excess of the land ceiling of 300 kanals per family.

However, later in 1980s amendment were brought to the HP Land Ceiling Act under which tea owners were allowed to sell land to Himachal residents with the permission of the government. In minor cases involving up to 1 kanal land, the Revenue Minister was allowed to give permission for the sale of land while in major cases involving huge chunks of land the permission has to come from the Chief Minister or the Cabinet.

In case the land was to be sold to non-residents of Himachal, permission under Section 118 of the Land Tenancy Act has to be given by the state.

The society of Prashant Bhushan has been given permission to buy the said land both under the Land Ceiling Act and Section 118 of the Land Tenancy Act of Himachal.

The essentiality certificate that ascertains the authenticity of requirement of the land made by the purchaser was also issued to Prashant Bhushan by the state Education Department.

Current status

Local sources said the society of Prashant was given permission to buy the said land for education purposes. They were given two years’ time to construct the intended institution over the land. However, when they did not construct anything over the land in two years, a notice was issued by the Deputy Commissioner, Kangra. Following the notice, the educational trust has now constructed a building over the area and had also held some educational seminars.

Controversy

The Congress leaders are alleging that the society of Prashant was given preferential treatment while giving permissions for the purchase of tea garden lands. The permission was given to the society while many small tea buyers were waiting for years to sell their small holdings even for emergency purposes like health care or marriage of their daughters.

However, both the Congress and the BJP were not making sale of tea gardens as political issues during elections as permissions for sale of tea gardens were given by leaders of both parties.

Sarkaghat, October 25
Chief Minister PK Dhumal today targeted state Congress president Virbhadra Singh charging that he owed explanation to the public in the state to clear the air on the issue of alleged VBS-LIC link in the Ispat pay-off case and his tie-up with VS Mankotia, who had released an audio CD against him.

Addressing a public meeting in support of BJP candidate from Sarkaghat Inder Singh, Dhumal alleged that the Congress president had not cleared the air on the alleged VBS-Ispat pay-off link and his revised income tax statements.

Dhumal further cited the corruption is rampant in the UPA government and prices were going through the roof.

The Chief Minister said the BJP government was the government of the common man as it was providing relief to every section of society. The Congress has no right to talk about corruption as scams like 2G spectrum, Commonwealth Games and coal blocks auction scam have looted the country, he charged and urged people to vote back the BJP to power for good governance.

Hamirpur, October 25
Congress candidate from Hamirpur Narender Thakur has accused BJP leaders of focusing on character assassination of Congress leaders and forgetting the issues of the common people in the election campaign.

Addressing election meetings in the Hamirpur constituency today, Narender Thakur said: “BJP leaders are conspiring against Congress leaders to distract the attention of people from the burning issues and trying to tarnish the image of Congress men.”

He said voters of the state were would not be misled by the slander campaign of the BJP.

Narender Thakur also accused the BJP government of not finding a solution to the monkey menace, despite making the same an election issue in the last elections.

Hamirpur, October 25
Media in charge of Hamirpur BJP Vijay Pal Soharu has taken exception to the statement of AICC general secretary Birender Singh against BJYM national president Anurag Thakur.

In a press statement issued here, he said it was strange that Congress leaders were finding fault with the work done by Anurag Thakur to promote sports in the state. — TNS

Shimla: The Queen of Hills is all set to witness a multi-cornered electoral battle. The politically mature electorate has not let any candidate win two consecutive terms since 1982.

Late BJP stalwart Daulat Ram Chauhan was the only leader who had won four elections in a row from 1967 onwards. The party lost its hold after he was denied ticket in 1985. His exit paved the way for Harbhajan Singh of the Congress who won the seat in 1985 and Suresh Bharadwaj of the BJP who wrested the seat in 2003. In 1993, Rakesh Singha (CPM) won the seat and in 1998 Narinder Bragta (BJP) sailed through. Harbhajan Singh won the seat for a second time in 2003 and Suresh Bharadwaj in 2007.

This time there are seven candidates in the fray, but it will be essentially a triangular contest involving sitting BJP MLA Suresh Bharadwaj, Harish Janartha (Congress) and Tikender Panwar (CPM), though Radha Raman Shastri (NCP), a former BJP minister, and Tarsem Bharati (Independent) will also corner significant number of votes.

Besides Sita Ram Dhiman (BSP) and Surender Kumar (Himachal Swabhiman Party) are also trying their luck from here.

The contest has become more interesting to a sharp decline in the number of voters from 68,722 in 2007 to mere 51,746 following delimitation.

Low voter turnout has made Shimla the third smallest constituency, after the tribal areas of Lahaul-Spiti and Kinnaur.

While the BJP and the Congress are plagued due to dissensions, the CPM, which had lost the last two polls with narrow margins, has strengthened its base considerably. It shocked the two main parties by winning the post of both the Mayor and the Deputy Mayor in the Shimla Municipal Corporation poll held five months ago.

Keen to maintain its momentum, the party has fielded Deputy Mayor Tikender Panwar. The Congress has brought in a new face Harish Janartha who was denied a ticket for the post of Mayor. There is still a large number of voters from the upper Shimla region in the fray, but their votes will be divided among Bharadwaj, Janartha and Shastri.

In the emerging scenario the voters from the main city area will play a decisive role.

Tikender has been in the field since the municipal poll and Bharadwaj also started his campaign early, while Janartha entered the fray late due to indecision over allotment of ticket. The Congress rebel candidate Kamaljit has withdrawn from the contest, but Janartha will have to work overtime to secure the support of the rival camp which is not active. Infighting in the Congress will only help Bharadwaj.

While Bhardwaj is taking credit for starting a taxi service from all localities, development works like construction of school buildings, ambulance service, roads and parking projects, the CPM and the Congress maintain that the BJP government had neglected the capital city and even diverted funds sanctioned under the JNNURM and residents had to move the High Court to prevent it. Similarly, the High Court had to step in to ensure completion of the Auckland tunnel and the bridge project.

Apart from perennial issues such as water shortage, bad roads and traffic congestion, residents also face the problem of shifting of the bus stand.

However, in an urban constituency with a large number of employees the national and state issues like corruption, price rise and mal-governance will also influence the voters.

The votes of the take advantage of the has emerged as the third force.

Doon: Rebels have become a cause of concern for both the Congress and the BJP in the the state’s major industrial hub.

The constituency has remained a battle ground of two families with either Lajja Ram or Ram Pratap Chandel having held its command for decades now. Their descendents face each other once again with Lajja Ram’s son Ramkumar Chowdhary being the Congress nominee and Vinod Chandel, wife of Ram Pratap Chandel, contesting as the BJP candidate.

The BJP had won this seat for the first time in 2007 when Vinod Chandel defeated Lajja Ram of the Congress with a margin of 3,496 votes.

The constituency was earlier a Congress bastion. Lajja Ram was elected MLA from the seat in 2003, 1998, 1993 and 1990. Before that Ram Pratap Chandel (BJP) got elected from here in 1977 as a Janta Dal candidate and in 1982 and 1985 as a Congress nominee.

Rebel factor is likely to affect the prospects of official candidates of both the Congress and the BJP. BJP rebel Darshan Saini, who had secured 8,726 votes in the last election and Congress rebel Paramjit Pammi, who is a sitting Zila Parishad member, has turned it into a key contest here as both are capable of capturing a sizeable number of votes.

However, Paramjit has limited influence among the voters in the truck business and Darshan Saini’s entry into the poll fray after denial of the party ticket is likely to have a limited impact on the electorate. Thus, the contest will again be centered around arch rivals Ramkumar Chowdhary and Vinod Chandel.

While Chandel lists her developmental works as her main poll plank she is also facing flak for having nurtured a coterie of politicians around her who have been acting as proxy MLA thus annoying the senior BJP leaders and alienating her from the masses.

On the other hand, Ramkumar has been concentrating on people’s issues like provision of potable water in the summers from his own pocket and has promised to provide a college for the hill areas of the constituency. He has also promised to open a bank branch at Diggal and provide lift irrigation scheme at Gamber to solve the water woes in the area.

Concentrating on meeting the expectations of the people, Chowdhary’s campaign is focused on better employment opportunities for the youths while Chandel has failed to address basic issues like smooth plying of buses in rural areas, availability of adequate staff in the schools as well as health institutions.

Being an industrial belt, apart from employment opportunities, grant of various kinds of contracts to a selected coterie have emerged as the key poll issues.

Baijnath: Political equations in the Baijnath Assembly constituency have changed completely since this segment was reserved for the candidates belonging to the Scheduled Caste. This has brought new players into the election arena.

New names from the reserved category surfaced after the constituency was reserved after the delimitation.

Kishori Lal of the Congress will take on Mulkh Raj Premi of the BJP. There are a total of six candidates, prominent among them Udho Ram, who is trying his luck on the ticket of the Himachal Lokhit Party (HLP).

With old rivals from here, Sudhir Sharma of the Congress and Dulo Ram of the BJP having shifted to Dharamsala and Palampur, local leaders will now have to work hard to woo the voters. Dulo Ram, after having parted ways with the BJP, is contesting on the HLP ticket.

The BJP has fielded Premi in place of Sheila Devi. Denying a ticket to her has led to factionalism in the party.

Though Sheila Devi did not file her nomination, she has not reconciled with the party favouring Premi over her.

She, along with a large section of the local party leadership, are maintaining a low profile and not taking part in the BJP campaign.

Sheila, who was also a member of the State Commission for Women, had the backing of a large number of Panchayat Pradhans, who too are inactive, leaving Premi with little party backing.

Bickering over the ticket allotment has adversely affected the BJP prospects. Another BJP leader from the area, Trilok Kapoor too is keeping away from the campaign as he was backing Sheila Devi.

Kishori Lal of the Congress, on the other hand is getting support from the party rank and file. He was a Panchayat Pradhan for several years and has been associated with the party cadre for a long time. Being the traditional bastion of the Congress which was represented by former minister Sant Ram for several terms, party workers are keen that the party retains its hold over the segment.

The Congress too is faced with the rebel factor in the form of Tilak Raj, who is a Zila Parishad member.

His presence in the election arena could cause some damage to the Congress party.

As is the case in most other constituencies, Baijnath too has new areas merged into it from Rajgir and Jaisinghpur constituencies.

Seraj: Having completed a hat-trick of wins, BJP MLA Jai Ram Thakur faces a soft spoken JBT-teacher-turned-Congress candidate Tara Thakur this time.

Thakur took mutual bickering and squabbles among party men since 1998 in his stride to capture the Congress bastion.

Tara Thakur has gained ground in her father Moti Ram’s legacy here.

Jai Ram’s 15-year score card in Seraj is under the public scanner. Even after they were denied party ticket, Vir Singh Chauhan, Chet Ram Thakur and Shiv Lal have not joined campaign against Jai Ram much to his relief.

The voters in Chatri-Chuini and Gara Gushaini belt, the most neglected area in Seraj, did nurse some grudge against Jai Ram.

Chatri belt remained disconnected with Thunag and Jankheli as he started HRTC bus service for few days across Magrugala at the time of inauguration, but the bus service was stopped, local residents rued.

Nalwagi, Khola Nala, Baga Chenogi and Janshla panchayats do not have road links.

There are over 80 big villages spread in 58 panchyat areas with no roads, the lifeline in the hills, politicians don’t even visit the villages, the villagers rued.

Congressmen also allege that Jai Ram promoted ‘thekedar raj’ in Seraj. They are campaigning for him, but the common man is not happy, they claim.

The Gara Gushaini-Chatri, Kalodahr-Chatri, Gohar-Janjheli, and other link roads are in pathetic condition. It was during Jai Ram, BJP president in 2007, that BJP had given a slogan, “Sarkar Badlo, Halaat Badlo” to oust the Congress. But he could not do much to change circumstances (Halaat) in his own segment, leave alone other parts of the state, Congressmen claim.

The plight of tourism is the same in Janjheli-Shikari Devi as nothing concrete has been done to promote tourism here for the past 15 years, residents complain.

Jai Ram Thakur is also the Sangh parivar ambassador because of his ABVP background, but he has been sulking when he got non-attractive rural development ministry.

Chief Minister PK Dhumal has been promoting his son, Anurag Thakur as the main star of the second-rung leadership in the state, Sangh insiders say.

Jai Ram and his supporters claim all-round development was achieved in Seraj during the BJP regime, but the Congress put a full stop to it.

“We have built connecting roads between Aut-Panjain and Thathi, Chatri-Thunag,” BJP claim.

Development is a major issue in Seraj, but squabbles in Seraj unit of the Congress are working against Tara. Among Congress leaders, only former telecom minister, Sukh Ram came in her support.

Aspirants for the Chief Minister’s post Kaul Singh Thakur and Vidya Stokes have kept themselves restricted to their Darang and Theog segments.

Tara’s father late Moti Ram, was Sukh Ram’s supporter. Tara is trying hard to rope in Virbhadra Singh, one-man army of the Congress to take part in a rally to woo voters in Bali Chowki-Thatchi belt, one of the biggest vote banks outside Janjheli-Thunag belt.

Jai Ram Thakur has presented a show of strength to cut into this vote bank, which is a traditional Congress fort.

Jai Ram Thakur gained his mass base because of infighting in Seraj Congress and thrived on the Moti Ram group.

With the exit of Moti Ram, Tara and her supporters have managed to win back “Moti Ram supporters”, but still half of them are with Jai Ram.

Virbhadra Singh has quelled Congress rebellion in Seraj, asking his supporters, Chet Ram and Vir Singh Chauhan to support Tara. At one time, Chet Ram had got the Nationalist Congress Party ticket. But both of them have been sulking ever since.

Another worry for Tara is that CPM candidate Jagdish Thakur, who hails from Janjheli, is in the fray and may cut into Congress votes. 

Chintpurni: The Chintpurni Assembly constituency, which has been reserved for SC candidate after the last delimitation is witnessing the main contest between BJP candidate Balbir Singh Chaudhary and Congress candidate Kuldeep Kumar. After delimitation, this constituency was reserved for the SC candidates and adjoining Gagret constituency, which was reserved for the SC candidate, was brought under the open category.

The key candidates from the constituency had been contesting from Gagret, but after a change of status of Gagret and Chintpurni, both leaders opted for Chintpurni in this election.

Balbir Singh was elected from Gagret in the last Assembly election and Kuldeep Kumar had represented this constituency in the past and remained a Cabinet minister also.

Being fresh candidates there is no major allegation against any of them and they are focusing on the policies and issues raised by their respective parties.

The Congress and BJP candidates have tasted success here alternately in the past. Only Congress candidate Rakesh Kalia was elected from here twice in 2003 and 2007 elections.

Both candidates are banking upon the support of a large Brahmin community here and its leaders Praveen Sharma (BJP) and Rakesh Kalia (Congress).

Balbir is taking credit for the development works, Kuldeep Kumar is also highlighting the works undertaken by him as a cabinet minister in the Congress government.

Bilaspur, October 25
Freedom fighter Jiunu Ram died at the age of 100 at his native Ladda village near Ghumarwin near here last evening. He fought for the nation as part of the Praja Mandal Movement. He was ailing over the past few days.

Jiunu Ram spent many years in jail during the colonial rule and also against the princely state of Bilaspur between 1942 and 1948. He was cremated with full state honours today.

Tehsildar Kuidip Singh Patial presented flowers on his pyre on behalf of the state government and the police contingent fired several rounds in to the air. — OC