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Rebels fancy their chances as parties woo them
Sirmaur may spring surprise
Independents with chances of winning go into hiding
Hectic lobbying in
Congress
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Candidates anxious
Cong comeback or BJP’s Mission Repeat
BJP banks on Hamirpur
Power corporation celebrates 6th Raising Day
Youth exhorted to play role in AIDS awareness
Woman killed, 10 hurt in accidents
Youth held for defrauding elderly man
Multi-specialty medical camp organised
Woman commits suicide One held with illicit liquor 90 bags of wheat recovered Man gets six-month jail
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Rebels fancy their chances as parties woo them
Shimla, December 19 At least a dozen Independent candidates, some of whom stand a fair chance of winning, have tried to form a pressure group so that they can get the best possible deal from the party which emerges as the single largest one. In the last few days, both Chief Minister PK Dhumal and state Congress chief Virbhadra Singh had personally contacted many Independent candidates who might be potential winners. Former BJP legislator and Dhumal loyalist Rakesh Pathania, who contested as an Independent from Nurpur for the second consecutive time, had taken the initiative to get all Independents together. He is learnt to have met the chief minister in Shimla two days ago even though he maintained that a decision on supporting any party would be taken collectively. Notwithstanding tall claims of victory, senior leaders of both parties are apprehensive and uncertain of the outcome. With the exit polls also predicting a close game, Independents may hold the key to the formation of the next government. The Himachal Lokhit Party (HLP), the breakaway group of the BJP led by Maheshwar Singh, is pinning its hopes on playing spoilsport, akin to the Himachal Vikas Congress (HVC) in 1998. The HVC, floated by former Union Telecommunications Minister Sukh Ram, had then paved the way for the formation of the BJP regime headed by Dhumal. Following ticket allotment, at least a dozen rebels each from the two major parties jumped into the fray to try their electoral fortunes. Some BJP rebels who may win are Roop Singh (Sundernagar), Rajinder Rana (Sujanpur), Pawan Kajal (Kangra), Manohar Dhiman (Indora), Rakesh Pathania (Nurpur), Balbir Verma (Chopal) and HN Kashyap (Solan). The situation in the Congress is no better as rebels may mar the prospects of official party nominees at several places. Prominent among them are Yog Raj (Dehra), Jyoti Sen (Kasumpti), Dharamvir Dhami (Manali), Prem Lata Thakur (Kullu) and Karnesh Jung (Paonta Sahib). The HLP is hopeful of winning at least four seats, including Kullu (Maheshwar Singh) and Pragpur-Jaswan (Naveen Dhiman). Whether or not Independents will be sought after will be clear by tomorrow afternoon. |
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Sirmaur may spring surprise
Nahan, December 19 Nahan Assembly seat witnessed one of the toughest contests with BJP General Secretary and former Health and Ayurveda Minister Dr Rajiv Bindal having entered the poll fray after his home constituency in Solan was reserved. Facing formidable challenge from all former MLAs, including the Congress’ Kush Parmar who is also the son of state’s first Chief Minister, Him Lokhit Morcha’s Shyama Sharma, and Sadanand Chauhan of the LJP, the contest is proving to be the most keenly contested poll in the state. Though Bindal despite having contested from a new constituency in a new district made his presence felt by carrying out an aggressive poll campaign the results to be declared tomorrow will prove whether he managed to gain acceptance of the voters. In Renuka Jee reserved constituency, BJP MLA Hriday Ram is facing a tough fight from Vinay Kumar of the Congress as the two faced each other again after a year. Though Renuka Jee has been a traditional Congress bastion but BJP’s Hriday Ram ousted the Congress in the last year’s by-election. It remains to be seen how people have assessed Hriday Ram’s performance over the last one year with the hitherto political greenhorn Vinay Kumar too having worked hard to improve his prospects. Both sitting MLAs of the Congress Harshwardhan from Shillai and GR Musafir from Pacchad are facing a formidable challenge from the BJP’s Baldev Tomar and Suresh Bhardwaj, respectively, though the Congress has its strong pockets of influence in their respective constituencies. With the delimitation having changed the boundaries of the two constituencies considerably, the results would decide whether the Congress continues to maintain its stronghold in this backward district. The presence of Kirnesh Jung, a Congress rebel, in the Paonta Sahib constituency is sure to affect the prospects of the party’s official nominee Onkar Singh who had failed to gain the acceptance of a large section of his party. The contest therefore centered around BJP’s sitting MLA Sukh Ram and Kirnesh Jung both of whom had campaigned aggressively. While Sukh Ram is fighting for his third tenure Jung is trying to open his maiden innings in the Vidhan Sabha. |
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Independents with chances of winning go into hiding
Dharamsala, December 19 The sources here say some Independents who have chances of winning may already be with the political managers of either party. Kangra district has the maximum number of Independent candidates and four have chances of winning. Almost all Independent candidates switched off their mobile phones today and were not taking any calls. The sources said the police tried to provide security to Independent candidates. The Independent candidate from Nurpur, Rakesh Pathania, who has chances of winning, refused the police security provided to him. He was not available for comment as his mobile phones were switched off. Pathania had been touring the state to bring all probable Independent winners on a single platform. He has been claiming that all Independent candidates from the state might form a political outfit and bargain collectively with any party that needed their support to form the next government. The sources said Pathania had not succeeded in getting all probable Independent winners on one platform. Independents may extend support to the major political parties instead of forming a separate political outfit. The district police has declared Kangra, Nagrota Bagwan and Nurpur as sensitive areas in the district in the post-poll scenario. Kangra Superintendent of Police Diljeet Singh Thakur said special forces were being deployed in these constituencies to avert any untoward incident after the declaration of results. He said it was the general practice of winning candidates to take out processions. In certain cases, those led to clashes between supporters of winning and losing candidates, he added. To avoid such incidents, the police identified places where such clashes may take place and special forces would be deployed there, he said. About 700 police personnel had been deputed in Kangra district for guarding counting centres, he added. He further said a three-tier security would be provided at the seven counting centres in the district. He said the inner ring would comprise central police forces while other two rings would be formed by the state police. No person would be allowed near counting centres except those authorised by the Election Commission, he added. Kangra Deputy Commissioner KR Bharti said persons deputed for counting duty had been selected randomly so that there was no bias. He said special arrangements had also been made to provide information regarding voting trends to the public waiting outside counting centres. He said counting agents of both parties had been directed to follow Election Commission directives in a stringent manner. |
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Hectic lobbying in
Congress
Shimla, December 19 The three leaders in race for the Chief Minister’s post who have been camping in New Delhi returned to their respective constituencies for the counting of votes. State Congress chief Virbhadra Singh, also the front-runner for the post of Chief Minister, met Congress president Sonia Gandhi before leaving for Shimla today. He had a lengthy meeting with Ahmad Patel as his residence last night. Party sources said Virbhadra Singh discussed the post-poll scenario and the strategy to be adopted to deal with various possibilities for the installation of a Congress government in the wake of the ‘predicted’ close finish. Vidya Stokes, who was also in New Delhi for the last few days, left for Shimla this afternoon. Kaul Singh Thakur returned yesterday after meeting various Central leaders. The leaders are in touch with Congress candidates ahead of the declaration of results as support within the party will also matter much if the party comes to power with a thin majority. The anti-Virbhadra camp had been working actively and trying to use the audio compact disc (CD) case to stall his chances of becoming the Chief Minister. Kaul Singh expressed the confidence that the party would secure a comfortable majority and asserted that the Congress high command would decide on the leadership issue. He is banking on the support of Union minister Anand Sharma, who has a soft corner for him, in case there are hurdles in Virbhadra’s way due to the CD case. Though Anand Sharma says he is not in the race for the Chief Minister’s post, insiders say he will always be in the reckoning, given his proximity to Sonia Gandhi. On the other hand, Stokes is not opposed to Virbhadra, under whose leadership the party went to the polls, but maintains that the final call will be taken by the high command. She has a good rapport with Sonia Gandhi and fancies her chances if things go wrong for Virbhadra Singh. Virbhadra’s supporters do not see much of a problem. They claim that the high command is aware of the fact that the CD case is politically motivated and was virtually over after key witnesses were presented in court. All these factors will come into consideration if the Congress gets a comfortable majority. In case of a hung House, the leader who can ensure the support of Independents and the Himachal Lokhit Party will call the shots. |
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Candidates anxious
Solan, December 19 The results will show if the move to introduce four new candidates has proved beneficial. Prospects of Sanjay Awasthy from Arki and Ramkumar Chowdhary from Doon are likely to be affected by the presence of rebels AC Pal and Parminder Pammi. In Kasauli, the presence of Ram Swarup, son of former Congress MLA Raghu Raj, as Trinamool Congress candidate, will harm Congress prospects. The results will prove whether lone Congress MLA Lakhwinder Rana, who faces the electorate for the second time in a year, has managed to retain the confidence of voters. For the BJP, the results will reflect on the performance of its first-time MLAs Govind Sharma from Arki, Vinod Chandel from Doon and Rajiv Sehzal from Kasauli. The presence of BJP rebels Asha Parihar in Arki and Darshan Saini in Doon has made the task tough for the sitting BJP MLAs. The results will also assess the acceptance of new candidates fielded from Solan and Nalagarh. Both Sheila Kumari from Solan and KL Thakur from Nalagarh face a tough contest from DR Shandil and Lakhwinder Rana of the Congress. |
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Cong comeback or BJP’s Mission Repeat Kuldeep Chauhan Tribune News Service
Mandi, December 19 The odds are stacked more against the ruling BJP than the Congress, which is eying a comeback on its own as it needs a marginal swing of 1.5 per cent votes to upset BJP’s mission repeat.” The Congress is eyeing just 1.5 per cent swing in its favour to romp home with a clear majority as margins of victory in the 2008 assembly elections were less, poll pundits here say. All eyes are on the central Mandi-Kullu region as the fate of the four sitting ministers and four former ministers is at stake as it is a “now or never battle” for them. They include PWD Minister Gulab Singh Thakur (Jogindernagar), Rural Development Minister Jai Ram Thakur (Seraj), Transport Minister Mahender Singh Thakur (Dharamur), Forest Minister Khimi Ram (Banjar) and four former ministers Kaul Singh Thakur, Rangila Ram Rao, Anil Sharma (all Congress), Roop Singh Thakur (BJP rebel) and former MP and HLP chief Maheshwar Singh. Though supporters are converging at the private residences of these key leaders, but they do not appear to be “very confident of winning with a comfortable margin”. The delimitation has little bearing in the central region. But the anti-incumbency, undercutting and rebel factor can mar the chances of the ruling BJP, while a factional fight in the Congress ranks has left the Congress worried, say poll pundits. Congressmen claim they will form the next government by winning more than 38 seats. The BJP men claim they will win more than 32 seats and will emerge as the largest party. Unfazed by the poll surveys that put the BJP in poor light as compared to the Congress, PWD Minister Gulab Singh Thakur (Jogindernagar) says the BJP rejects poll survey results and the party will accomplish its mission repeat in the state. “In Mandi we will win majority seats on the basis of good work and relief that the Dhumal government has provided to each section that has made the anti-incumbency factor negligible in the state,” he claims. Veteran Congress leader and former Mandi district Congress president, Vir Singh Chauhan says the Congress will come back to power in the state on its own and form the next government. “We will win majority of 10 seats in the district as the voters have rejected the BJP rule,” he adds. But the HLM rubbishes the BJP claims of winning 32 seats. “We will play a crucial role to form a non-BJP government in the state,” claims Himachal Lokhit Party president Maheshwar Singh. “The BJP will lose election badly and will not cross 20 seats mark,” claims Rakesh Singha, state general secretary, CPM. “The elections are triangular and multi-cornered this time and no one is certain of getting a majority in the 68-member house,” claims Des Raj, former CPI state secretary, who has contested from Mandi Sadar for the first time. Kaul Singh Thakur told reporters that the Congress will form the next government with a comfortable majority and the Chief Minister will be decided by the party high command.
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BJP banks on Hamirpur
Hamirpur, December 19 The BJP has done very well in these segments in the last few elections securing majority votes during the last two Assembly polls. In the 2008 by-elections for Hamirpur, after PK Dhumal had resigned the seat on becoming the Chief Minister, his son Anurag Thakur had won this seat by defeating Congress candidate OP Rattan by a huge margin of 1,74,666 votes. In that election the Congress could not take the lead in any of the 17 Assembly segments as the BJP led in all segments. During the 2009 General Elections, though the margin of victory of the BJP was reduced but the Congress could take slender margin in only three Assembly segments and the BJP led in the remaining 14 segments. Even otherwise, the BJP leaders consider the Assembly segments falling in the Hamirpur parliamentary constituency as the party’s stronghold since it has a strong BJP organisation in Una, Hamirpur and Bilaspur districts. The top BJP leadership in the state, CM PK Dhumal, the national general secretary of the BJP, JP Nadda, state BJP president, Sat Pal Singh Satti, and the BJYM national chief, Anurag Thakur also hails from the Assembly segments falling under the Hamirpur constituency. Though the situation has changed dramatically since the last parliament elections in the state and anti-incumbency, party rebels in the fray and resentment against some of the ruling party MLAs threaten to play spoil sports in the Assembly elections, but the BJP leaders are pinning hopes of faring well in the 17 Assembly segments of Hamirpur constituency to realise its ‘Mission Repeat’ dream in the state. |
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Power corporation celebrates 6th Raising Day
Shimla, December 19 “In a city like Shimla, we can help reduce traffic congestion and air pollution by walking to our work places and at the same time keeping our environment clean and pollution-free,” he said while addressing the gathering. Referring to the function of the corporation, he said while ensuring techno-economic viability, environmental and social sustainability, it was necessary to be self-sufficient in energy. The corporation had to play a key role on this front, he added. He reiterated that with the commitment and cooperation of each employee it could become a frontal organisation in the power sector. Additonal Chief Secretary Power Deepak Sanan said he was confident that the projects entrusted to
the HPPCL would come up within the stipulated time period. Managing Director of the corporation DK Sharma gave details of the projects being executed and said the target was to generate 1,151 MW of power by 2017 and 2,350 MW by 2022. At present, the corporation had 20 hydroelectric projects of 3,025 MW capacity in hand and the construction work of projects aggregating 896 MW was in progress. The survey and investigation work of seven projects of 1,195 MW capacity was going on and pre-feasibility work of another seven projects was under way. |
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Youth exhorted to play role in AIDS awareness
Bilaspur, December 19 This was stated by Dr RK
Sood, key resource person, while addressing the gathering yesterday at a two-day regional workshop organised by the Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangthan for Red Ribbon Clubs working in
Una, Bilaspur and Hamirpur districts in collaboration with the State AIDS Control Society at
Jabli, near here. Dr Sood said the training was aimed at empowering the youth with knowledge, skills, resources and opportunities to enhance life skills so that they could take informed and responsible health choices. He said the trained youth would further communicate with their peers to promote informed and responsible choices, gender sensitivity and the habit to be bold to talk about HIV/AIDS. He said such workshops equipped the trainees in harnessing the potential of the youth by giving them correct information on HIV/AIDS prevention, care, support and treatment. He said it built their capacities as peer educators in spreading the message of positive health behaviour in an enabling environment and increasing voluntary blood donation among the youth. Dr Sood pointed out that the youth were the most vulnerable population of society and only they could prevent a medical catastrophe in the future. |
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Woman killed, 10 hurt in accidents
Kangra, December 19 In another accident, eight students of the Central School Banala falling under Shahpur police station were injured when the jeep in which they were returning home from school rolled down near Rehlu Bridge yesterday. Eight students received injures and were admitted to the Community Health Centre, Shahpur. The driver of the jeep Vinay Deep has been arrested. Two persons were injured when a tractor on which they were travelling rolled down at Pir Bindli last evening and both the injured were referred to the DRPHMC Hospital at Tanda. |
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Youth held for defrauding elderly man
Palampur, December 19 The youth took the card and noted the password. He used the card and withdrew Rs 25,000. He returned the card to the elderly man, saying the duration of the card was over and he would have to apply for a new one from the bank. The elderly man received an SMS from the bank, informing him that he had withdrawn Rs 25,000 from his account through his ATM card three minutes ago. When he noticed the SMS, he was shocked and raised an alarm. With the help of local residents, the youth was nabbed from the Bhawarna bus stand while boarding a bus for Lambgaon. Residents also recovered Rs 25,000 from him. The police later arrested him.
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Kangra boy wins silver
Kangra, December 19 He participated in the championship at the PAP indoor stadium in Jalandhar last week. Players from India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Malaysia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan took part in various events. Six other students of the school also represented India. They are Sanjay Sharma, Sayium Sharma, Parvesh Sharma, Vivek Gupta, Kairti Kant and Suarab Singh. — OC |
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Multi-specialty medical camp organised
Nurpur, December 19 A team of ENT specialists, eye and paediatricians from the Civil Hospital, Nurpur, and doctors from Nagrota Surian medical block
examined 160 patients. Clinical tests were also conducted on the patients and they were given medicines free of cost. Senior Medical Officer and in-charge, Civil Hospital, Nurpur, said camps are being organised by the state health department with the aim to render specialty medical services to the patients at their doorsteps in rural areas. He also called upon the residents of rural areas to take benefit of such camps. |
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