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uttarakhand
civic polls
Independent candidates prefer LPG cylinder as symbol
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UKD groups clash over allotment
of ticket for Mayor's seat
Two factions of UKD workers clash in the office of the party in Dehradun on Wednesday. A Tribune photograph
SP’s mayoral nominee blames state party chief for his expulsion
Qazi Chand, the expelled mayoral candidate of the Samajwadi Party. Tribune photo:: Rameshwar Gaur
Parties begin door-to-door campaigning
Rajni Rawat, the BSP candidate for the mayoral post, during canvassing in Dehradun on Wednesday. Tribune photo: Vinod Pundir
Candidates told to remove posters from public property
Cong rebels form parallel working unit, but claim to work for party
Dissident Congress leaders announce new city party chief in Haridwar on Wednesday. Tribune photo: Rameshwar Gaur
DEO tells officials to perform duties as per EC directions
Raturi opens election office
The Gorkhali Sudhar Sabha today celebrated its platinum jubilee celebrations.
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civic polls Mayor’s poll litmus test for Harish Rawat, Kaushik Sandeep Rawat Tribune News Service
Haridwar April 17 With about a year to go to the Lok Sabha elections, the two political bigwigs of Haridwar are taking the Mayoral election as a litmus test of their preparations for the parliamentary elections. While Rawat is the sitting Congress MP from Haridwar, Kaushik is a three-time MLA from the city and both leaders are set to lock horns with each other in the Lok Sabha election from Haridwar in 2014. Congress Mayoral candidate Swami Rishiwaranand, alias Sanjay Mahant, is quite close to Rawat. Rishiwaranand’s ashram Chetan Jyoti at Bhoopatwala was Rawat’s main election office in the Lok Sabha elections in 2009. Congress sources said Rawat had categorically told the party high command of his choice of Mayor’s candidate from Haridwar and Almora (his home district) and eventually succeeded. Haridwar being a religious city, Rawat has targeted a large section of the saint community and also has been successful in bringing his bête noire Brahm Swaroop Brahamchari, Pradesh Congress Committee treasurer and city-based saint, to various press briefings and election meetings along with Rishiwaranand. If Rishiwaranand wins the Mayor’s post, it would surely boost Rawat’s prospects in the Lok Sabha elections. After he was not considered for the Uttarakhand Chief Minister’s post, Rawat was elevated as Union Water Resources Minister. He very well knows that to remain active in the national politics he has to win the Haridwar Lok Sabha seat. On the other side, Kaushik has already started preparing for the Lok Sabha elections and pressed for his close aide Manoj Garg, former BJP divisional chief of Haridwar, as the candidate for the Mayor’s post. Despite intensive lobbying by the Punjabi community for the allotment of the ticket to a candidate with the Punjabi background, Kaushik succeeded in getting Garg the ticket. In a politically strategic move Kaushik made it sure that Roorkee Mayor candidate of the party is from the Punjabi community, in which he also succeeded. This he did to appease the community voters, who are estimated to be around 25,000 in the Haridwar Municipal Corporation. Kaushik’s seriousness can also be gauged by the fact that his brother is accompanying Manoj Garg at almost every party meeting, conference and during the election campaign. Kaushik along with Manoj Garg has already met all 30 BJP ward councilor candidates and directed them to also seek votes for Garg during the campaigning so that the BJP gets a majority in the 30-member corporation.
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Independent candidates prefer LPG cylinder as symbol
Dehradun, April 17 If one goes by the pattern of symbols opted by the independent candidates in the elections, gas cylinder has been favoured by the majority of the candidates. The soaring prices of LPG cylinder and confusion over the reserved and non-reserved category, has made the LPG cylinder favourite among the candidates. Deep Mala, a candidate from ward number 27 said, “As a housewife I know the importance of a LPG cylinder. I am sure public would respond well to the symbol as they feel the same pain over rising inflation as I do.” Kettle, another kitchen item, was the second most favoured symbol bythe independent candidates. Vijay Singh Arora, a candidate from ward no. 29, said, “I am happy to get kettle as symbol for the elections. Kettle symbolises kitchen. The entire family survives on kitchen. I am sure, people would certainly vote for my work and symbol.” Sandeep Negi, a candidate from ward no. 30, said he was happy to get ceiling fan as symbol. He said as summer had arrived, people with average earning looked for instant relief through ceiling fan. He said voters would not find it difficult to remember the symbol .
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UKD groups clash over allotment
of ticket for Mayor's seat
Dehradun April 17 The old members of the party had been opposing the allotment of ticket to Manmohan Lakhera, new entrant from Uttarakhand Jan Manch. However, the representatives of the former camp, Jaya Prakash Upadhyaya withdrew his name from the race. However, their protest continued. They locked the office of the president. When he went inside with his supporters, opponents sitting on dharna called other associates and began fighting with the supporters of the president. They also demanded Panwar’s resignation.
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SP’s mayoral nominee blames state party chief for his expulsion
Haridwar April 17 While speaking to the media here today, Chand said he was a loyal party worker and would raise the issue with Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav. He also threatened to go on fast if his expulsion was not revoked. Notably, Qazi Chand has filed his nomination as official party candidate after the Third Front contestant Dr Veena Shastri’s name was not found in the voter list. Hailing from Jwalapur, Qazi has a good influence in the Muslim community and can affect the calculations of the BJP and the Congress. He even submitted form 17 as official candidate of the Samajwadi Party. However, Sachan claimed that Chand was not the official candidate, as owing to his misbehavior with party leaders, the disciplinary action was taken against him. “I am a loyal Samajwadi party activist and believe in Lohia’s ideology. Mulayam Singh Yadav and Vinod Barthwal are my political mentors. How can I work against them? It’s a conspiracy hatched by Sachan and ex-parliamentarian Rajendra Badi as they are worried over my growing popularity in the party and people,” said Chand. He also blamed former legislator Ambrish Kumar for his expulsion. Talking to The Tribune, former state chief of the party, Vinod Barhtwal said he would visit Haridwar tomorrow and was in touch with office-bearers of the party over Qazi Chand's issue. However, he kept mum over attending the pre-announced programme of inaugurating Qazi’s main election office tomorrow in Haridwar.
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Parties begin door-to-door campaigning
Haridwar, April 17 Major political parties like the Congress, the BJP and the BSP have started campaigning and opened election offices. As Independent and party candidates had been allotted symbols, the election campaign officially began today. Sports Minister Dinesh Aggarwal inaugurated the maiden election office of Congress candidate Rishiwaranand Maharaj on Dharamsala Road, Ranipur. All main leaders of both Harish Rawat and Vijay Bahuguna factions were present on the occasion, giving hope that the Congress is united behind Rishiwaranand. Aggarwal told party workers that the Congress had paved the way for two more municipal corporations owing to its development-oriented vision. He said Haridwar being a world renowned city needed development in sync with its image, which the previous BJP regime failed to realise. The BJP opened its election office in the Rishikul ward from where its candidate Hema Mishra is in the fray for the post of councillor. Party’s mayoral candidate Manoj Garg said he had been involved with the city and the party for decades and well knew the problems of Haridwar. He requested the people to vote for him and Hema Mishra so that the BJP gets the majority in the MC and the overall development of the city could be ensured. BSP mayoral candidate Irfan Ali too started his campaign. He is focusing on door-to-door canvassing rather than on posters and hoardings. The Rashtriya Krantikari Manch, a social outfit, is also holding meetings to garner votes for the candidates it is supporting. It is supporting Independent candidate Murli Kumar for the Mayor’s post and its founder Ambrish Kumar will be the main campaigner.
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Candidates told to remove posters from public property
Pithoragarh, April 17 Almora election administration has issued notices to candidates for the post of chairman from BJP, Congress and to 6 Independent ward candidates. They have been asked to remove posters pasted on government property. ''These candidates have pasted their posters on road signs right up to District Magistrate's office,'' said Ajay Arora, Deputy Election Officer,' Almora. Whereas the in charge of the model code of conduct at Haldwani, Ranvir Singh Chauhan, told candidates to refrain from bribing and threatening the voters in the nigam election, Ramnagar police has charged two persons under the Goonda Act provisions and more than 125 people have been charged under 107/116 for creating nuisance in public during election campaign. ''This action has been taken keeping the elections in mind,'' said a police officer In Ramnagar. Pithoragarh District Magistrate CMS Bisht told the candidates that the administration had limited the expenditure to Rs 3 lakh for candidates for chairman and Rs 30,000 for those contesting for wards. ''The candidates are required to write the expenditure amount in their account books and also seek permission before taking out any procession,'' said District Election Officer CMS Bisht. Rudrapur administration has said that out of four employees deputed at every polling booth, there will be one woman employee essentially. ''We have also started the process of depositing arms of licence holders in the town, which has 425 persons having weapons,'' said Dheeraj Singh Garbiyal, nodel officer designated to maintain code of conduct for elections in the town.
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Cong rebels form parallel working unit, but claim to work for party
Haridwar, April 17 They have set up a parallel city working committee, though they claim they are loyal to the party and will work for all 29 ward councillor candidates and Mayor Rishiwaranand Maharaj. The dissidents today announced Sanjay Aggarwal as their own city Congress chief, which may force party disciplinary committee to take action against them. Led by former leader of the Opposition in the Municipal Committee Sanjay Sharma, the dissident Congress workers said they didn’t want to work under current party city chief OP Chauhan, so they had decided to select Aggarwal as the new party chief. Though, the dissidents had earlier announced of refraining from election campaigning, now they have decided to work for the party candidates on their own. “We are hurt the way the party city unit’s chief has neglected major party activists of Kankhal, central Haridwar and Ranipur. Many of us have been serving the party for three decades while youth activists played a pivotal role in the victory of Harish Rawat as parliamentarian from Haridwar, yet we were not even asked of our views,” said Sharma. State party disciplinary committee secretary Dhirendra Pratap said if any one forms a separate city committee then it’s against party discipline and notices would be served on the dissidents. City chief OP Chauhan denid any bias against the dissidents, saying that everyone could not be given ticket and ticket allocation was decided by the party high command.
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DEO tells officials to perform duties as per EC directions
Dehradun April 17 He said there was little time left to complete all the preparations within the given time limit. Hence, the officials must ensure that they maintain coordination with each other while completing the given task. While noting down that all the banners/posters had not been removed, he gave direction to them to take this aspect into consideration with regard to the model code of conduct. He said each sector magistrate would be given the task of management of 10-12 polling booths. Referring toward some 161 highly sensitive and 165 sensitive election booths, he instructed them to keep strict vigil on these booths. With regard to shortcomings pertaining to electricity and water on any booth, he asked them to apprise zonal magistrates or returning officers about it. He directed returning officers to prepare a booklet containing the compilation of details regarding all the activities taking place in the wake of civic polls. He said:'' The zonal officers have been entrusted big responsibility by Election Commission. They have to take along many returning officers under their respective zones. For this the zonal officers have to practically apply the directions given during the training period. Besides, the zonal and sector magistrate must also be aware about the topography of their areas.'' He informed them of disbursement of election-related material on April 26 and April 27 and directed them to test it. He said they must ensure that none of the political parties had paucity of the required materialpertaining to the elections. Owing to the fact that many times the information sent out from the control room on the polling day creates confusion, he sounded officials in this regard. He said they must ensure that the information sent out must be credible. He asked them to ensure that they must comply with regulations related to maintaining 100 metre distance from the polling booths. He asked sector and zonal magistrates to remain cautious during four stages, before polling, on the polling day, after polling and deposition of EVMs in the strong room safely. He said the polling in nagar panchayat and nagar palika parishad would be held through ballot paper. Chief Development Officer Sushil Kumar said each zonal magistrate had been given two master trainers who would help in making EVMs operative on developing any snag. He said one woman had been deputed at each polling booth as a poling officer. The EVMs for 60 wards would be deposited in the strong room created in Bannu School at Race Course.
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Raturi opens election office
Dehradun, April 17 The party has been given the symbol "Scissor" for the civic poll. Kothari said the party had got the support of all statehood organisations and the Mahila Manch.
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Platinum jubilee celebrated
Dehradun, April 17 At a function held at the sabha's Garhi Cantt office, chief guest Dr S Farooq paid tributes to the martyrs that had laid down their lives for the betterment of the country. He appreciated the role of the Gorkha community in safeguarding the frontiers of the nation. Another speaker Devendra Mann said the Gorkhali Sudhar Sabha had been providing platform to the talented youngsters. He stressed on increasing education levels among the Gorkhali community. Earlier, president, Gorkhali Sudhar Sabha, Lt Col Bhagwan Singh Chetri (retd), highlighted the activities of the Gorkhali Sudhar Sabha. He said the sabha was also conducting vocational courses for the unemployed from the Gorkhali community. —TNS
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Rawat and city BJP legislator Madan Kaushik is at stake as both were instrumental in finalising the Mayoral candidates of the Congress and the BJP, respectively, of their choice.
The altercation between two groups in Uttarakhand Kranti Dal over the allotment of ticket for Mayor's seat reached the level of physical attack on each other. After party president Trivender Singh Panwar reached the party premises at 5 in the evening, his opponent began raising slogans against him. 
Qazi Chand, candidate of Samajwadi Party for the post of Mayor in the civic polls, has alleged major conspiracy over his expulsion from the party. Chand has termed the expulsion illegal and against the constitution of the party. He said the action was not taken by a special committee, headed by the party chief, but by state party chief SN
Sachan.
The election buzz in the city is fast gripping the people and places as banners, posters and hoardings can be seen everywhere while all parties began election rallies and door-to-door campaigning.
Haridwar, April 17
