Palampur, October 27
Sushma Swaraj today alleged that the UPA government at the Centre had become a symbol of corruption as scams worth Rs 4 lakh crore were unearthed in the last three years.

She claimed that the government headed by Manmohan Singh would not survive after the winter session of Parliament as its main allies were leaving the coalition.

Addressing an election rally here this afternoon, Swaraj claimed that the government had failed to understand inflation which had hit the common man.

She said the UPA government was voted to power by the common man with the intention get good governance, but it was hiking prices of petrol and diesel and had put a cap on liquefied petroleum gas cylinders per year to six.

She said the decision to put a cap on the number of subsidised cylinders to six per family showed that the government was unaware of reality. She said price rise and corruption were key issues in the Assembly elections in Himachal Pradesh as these had made it difficult for the common man to survive.

She alleged that corruption in high offices, poor governance and lack of political will were the main causes for the rising prices in the country.

She said the common man had got respite from the rising inflation only twice, first during the Morarji Desai government and then during the NDA regime.

She claimed that the way Manmohan Singh had allocated coal blocks to his party men at the cost of the state exchequer showed that the Prime Minister was aware of revenue loss.

She expressed concern that the UPA government was not ready to form a special investigation team to probe the scam even though the country had suffered a loss of Rs 1,86,000 crore.

She alleged that it was evident that the Prime Minister wanted to shield his colleagues and party men who had amassed huge amounts of money in the scam.

Mandi, October 27
State Congress president Virbhadra Singh today asked Kaul Singh Thakur and Vidya Stokes to come out of their constituencies and campaign in at least 10 constituencies he had not visited so far.

According to the list sent by the Congress to the Election Commission, there are 40 star campaigners for the elections. Apart from Virbhadra Singh, the party has listed Anand Sharma, Vidya Stokes, Kaul Singh Thakur, Sukh Ram, Viplove Thakur, Chandresh Kumari, Chander Kumar and Pratibha Singh as star campaigners.

Anand Sharma has addressed public meetings in Mandi and Hamirpur so far. Kaul Singh Thakur and Vidya Stokes have remained confined to their constituencies so far. Candidates in Manali, Kullu and Lahaul-Spiti are managing themselves.

Virbhadra Singh said, “I have covered over 40 constituencies and will try to cover the rest in the coming days.” He said the party had given the ticket without discrimination and had received a good response from the public.

He admitted that the Congress had started its campaign late and the BJP was ahead of it. But now, the Congress had marched ahead of the BJP and it would continue till
the elections were over, he claimed.

Bilaspur, October 27
Chief Minister PK Dhumal today alleged that the Congress was trying to mislead the masses with lies, but the people of the state were fully informed and no party could mislead them.

Addressing a rally at Harlog, about 45 km from here, in favour of BJP candidate Suresh Chandel, Dhumal claimed that prices of essential commodities had gone up whenever the Congress came to power.

He alleged that prices of diesel and LPG cylinders were increased due to the collusion between some rich people and certain Congress leaders. — OC

Banjar/Kansa Chowk, October 27
State Congress president Virbhadra Singh today claimed that the BJP had lost ground in the state and was resorting to emotional blackmail and character assassination to defend BJP president Nitin Gadkari, who was accused of involvement in scams.

Addressing four public meetings in Banjar, Karsog, Kansa Chowk and Sundernagar in support of Karan Singh, Mansa Ram, Parkash Chaudhary and Sohan Lal, Virbhadra Singh alleged that the BJP had unleashed loot raj in the state.

He asserted that the Congress would probe all benami land deals and pulses, CFL bulb and other scams.

He claimed that Chief Minister PK Dhumal had inaugurated incomplete projects and buildings in desperation, but failed to get roads repaired and depute doctors in hospitals and teachers in schools.

He termed Dhumal’s charge that the UPA government was discriminating against Himachal Pradesh as baseless. He said the BJP government failed to utilise Rs 10,000 crore given by the Centre and Rs 3,500 crore lapsed this year.

He said he would sue for defamation those who had tried to malign his image once the elections were over. He said he had a clean image for 50 years and people of the state were aware of it.

Solan, October 27
The BJP appears to have exploited the issue of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) hike to its hilt with placard-wielding women marching across various towns and asking people if they will buy LPG cylinders costing Rs 990 after the Congress-led UPA government has put a cap on the number of subsidised cylinders.

The Congress has drawn much flak over the issue as it affects the common man with a non-subsidised cylinder costing Rs 850 to Rs 990. The BJP has been quick to gain on the issue by professing that they will give an induction heater free of cost to each ration card holder in the poll manifesto.

Anurag Thakur, national president, Bhartiya Janta Yuva Morcha, said Smriti Irani, national president, Mahila Morcha, secretary Vani Tripati and MLA Kiran Maheshwari would organise marches in prominent towns of the state from October 28 and explain to people the benefits of using this pollution-free option.

Anurag said the LPG hike was catching up as a key poll issue across the state and every family felt the pinch of capping subsidised cylinders. He added that each family would save at least Rs 800 by using induction heater in a single month apart from Rs 500 on subsided rations being provided by the BJP government.

Though Congress leaders have tried to explain to people that they have taken up the issue of increasing the number of subsidised cylinders to 12 with the Union Government, the issue has not figured in their manifesto.

Ganesh Dutt, BJP spokesman, said the Congress had burdened every family, particularly women, by withdrawing subsidy on LPG cylinders. 

Shimla, October 27
While stating that the BJP was open to any inquiry against its chief Nitin Gadkari, former Chief Minister Shanta Kumar today accused the UPA regime of shying away from instituting a high-level judicial inquiry into allegations against Robert Vadra, Coalgate scam and other controversies.

Addressing a press conference here today, he accused the Congress-led UPA regime of selectively targeting its political opponents. Defending Gadkari, he said the BJP chief had volunteered for probe by any agency, but the same principle was not being applied to corruption into scams that had taken place under the UPA government and allegations against Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law Robert Vadra.

While admitting that even the BJP had not been left untouched by corruption, he said it had polluted the entire political environment of the country. “The BJP is taking effective corrective steps to curb corruption, but the Congress has only tried to hush up the scams and evaded an impartial inquiry,” he remarked.

The BJP leader said a Rs 64-crore Bofors scam had ousted the Congress from power in 1989, but today scams involving Rs 64 lakh crore had occurred during the UPA rule.

He urged AICC president Sonia Gandhi to file an affidavit that she or any other member of her family never held any account in the Swiss Bank or some other foreign land kike the BJP MPs had done. He also referred to some reports published in a foreign newspaper in 1990 naming a top Congress leader as account holder in the Swiss Bank. He added that the move of the Prime Minister not to ratify the UN Convention against corruption for six years only reflected the fear in the Congress that the names of their leaders would be exposed as names of account holders were sought.

Strongly opposing the FDI in retail, Shanta Kumar said by allowing the FDI in Pharma sector the government had ruined the pharma industry in the country and allowed a monopoly of multinational companies. He said small traders would also meet the same fate in case the FDI in retail was allowed.

The BJP leaders advocated the FDI in sectors where India was very weak like Civil Aviation. He said in other sectors like the retail, Indian traders would only be exploited, resulting in unemployment.

BILASPUR: It is the BJP which fought a long battle with the Centre to give Himachal its rights in power projects and it is due to this step that now even the Supreme Court has given an award of more than Rs 4,200 crore in favour of HP on that score which will go a long way in solving several problems of people.

This was stated by Shanta Kumar while addressing a series of BJP rallies in three constituencies of Bilaspur district, including Jhandutta in favour of Rikhi Ram Kaundal, Hatwaad and Naswaal in favour of Rajender Garga and Kutheda and Kandraur in favour of Suresh Chandel.