BJP candidates bank on kin to woo voters
Dehradun, April 20
Despite a disciplined party cadre and the backing of dedicated RSS workers, most of the BJP candidates prefer to rely on their relatives to reach out to the voters for the civic body elections.

Dehradun, April 20
Environmentalists Vandana Shiva of Navdanya today urged the Uttarakhand government to scrap the memorandum of agreement signed between the global MNC Coca Cola and the Uttarakhand government as it would affect the hydrology and ecology of villages.

Addressing a press conference today, Vandana Shiva said she would be forced to launch an agitation if the Uttarakhand government did not renege on the agreement. "Whereever the global giant has set up the plant, it has proved disastrous for the ecology with the water table receding and leading to drying up of wells and hand pumps," said Shiva.

Shiva said in 1982, people of the Doon valley had fought against the limestone mining lobby that was destroying the Doon valleys' water resources and Dehradun was declared as an ecological sensitive zone.

"We are surprised that neither the Chief Minister, nor its government took note of the track record of Coca Cola, a study carried by the People's Science Institute (PSI) in Plachimada and Mehandi Ganj where the local community had staged an agitation against the company after their wells had dried and the villagers health was affected by the dumping of waste containing heavy metals," said Shiva.

She said inspite of all evidences that Coca Cola steals the water, the Chief Minister encouraging the water theft in the Doon valley by signing an MoU with Coca Cola.

Dr Anil Gautam of PSI said the study carried by them had also pointed to the severe pollution of the ground water by the cola plant.

"Wherever we carried the studies, the results were similar and pointed to the poisoning of aquifer. History will repeat itself in Vikas Nagar and it may lead to severe water crisis," said Gautam.

Dr Florence Pandhi of the Friends of Doon said extraction of resources is a theft which the Bahuguna government is legalising by signing a memorandum of understanding.

Haridwar, April 20
With the conclusion of Navratras and Ram Navami festivals yesterday, the campaign for the Mayoral election by the aspiring candidates picked up from today. Be it the Congress candidate Swami Rishiwaranand Mahant, Bharatiya Janta Party’s Manoj Garg, Bahujan Samaj Party’s Irfan Ali, Rashtriya Krantikari Manch’s Murali Manohar, Samajwadi Party’s Qazi Chand or Aam Aadmi Party’s Vijay Verma, all these candidates have upped their election campaigning.

While the Congress and the BJP candidates are relying on campaigning material to boost their election chances, other candidates are relying on door-to-door campaigning mode. Mayoral candidates are targeting at least two to three wards in a day. They are accompanying party candidates from the respective wards.

Mahant Rishiwaranand along with his supporters targeted city and sub urban areas of Ranipur-Jwalapur. Manoj Garg is concentrating on Kankhal, central Haridwar and Ranipur. Garg is seeking votes on the grounds of being a local, his involvement with the BJP and social service for the past three decades. Garg’s campaign is slightly above Rishiwaranand’s owing to a large number of youths campaigning for him. Irfan Ali is concentrating on Dalit, minority and rural regions falling in the periphery of the civic body. Rashtriya Krantikari Manch candidate Murali Manohar, a known face among the local public, is also giving a tough fight to major political party candidates. Support of ex-legislator Ambrish Kumar is also working in Manohar’s favour. The number of votes he gets will surely affect both Rishiwaranand and Garg’s voting calculations.

The newly founded Aam Aadmi Party, which is contesting first ever elections since its formation two months ago, is extending support to independent candidate Dr Vijay Verma. The party has started a campaign vehicle urging the people to vote on the basis of candidate’s capability, parameters of honesty, knowledge and integrity. With Samajwadi Party’s Qazi Chand facing a rift within the party on being consensus candidate, his campaign has not hit the road as yet. Qazi is waiting for party’s state unit to take back its decision of his expulsion from the active membership of the party.

Dehradun, April 20
Despite a disciplined party cadre and the backing of dedicated RSS workers, most of the BJP candidates prefer to rely on their relatives to reach out to the voters for the civic body elections.

Call it the trust factor or simply faith reposed in close ties, besides a team of official campaigners, a parallel team of relatives, wives and husbands is also actively canvassing for votes. On the top of the list is Shashi Chamoli, the better half of BJP mayoral candidate Vinod Chamoli, who has been entrusted with the task of wooing voters for him.

Shashi has a dedicated team that was with her in the last MC election as well. “Canvassing is a serious business and we have several wards and houses to cover. Only close relatives can reach out to the voters and make a personal appeal. We have an arduous task before us as several wards have to be covered and only a few days are left,” said Shashi.

She is worried about the campaign material not reaching wards and does not fail to enquire from the campaign managers about the delay.

“During the door-to-door meetings the campaign material has to be handed over to the voters, but in several wards it has not reached,” said Shashi.

Similarly, councillor Babita Sahotra is actively canvassing for her husband Abhishek Bohra, who is standing for the post of councillor from the Karanpur ward.

“I have been given a party post at the mandal level but in-between I always find time to oversee my husband’s campaign. Nobody does it better than the relatives. They are the ones who are available round the clock and can be relied upon for moral support,” said Babita.

On the other hand, Rizwan is campaigning for his wife Ruksana Parveen, who is fighting from ward No. 40 for the post of councillor. “She is making her political debut and has to be provided support both at home and in the political arena. The reversal of role does not bother me because at times I have to arrange for meals,” said Rizwan.

Senior BJP leader Baleshwar Pal said though the election management by the party was a study in itself, mainly due to the dedicated party cadre, but the involvement of family members add colour to the election campaigning. 

Dehradun, April 20
Union Water Resources Minister and Haridwar MP Harish Rawat has said the Central Government has been benevolently assisting Uttarakhand and many development projects initiated at various places in the state are all due to the Centre. Harish Rawat was reacting to a statement made by Garhwal Congress MP Satpal Maharaj in which he accused former of failing to benefit Uttarakhand.

Haridwar, April 20
The Rashtriya Krantikari Manch (RKM), a local outfit which has fielded candidates in 25 wards and for the Mayor’s post in the Haridwar Municipal Corporation election, appealed to people for vote at a public meeting here today.

Ambrish Kumar, founder of the RKM, along with party’s mayoral candidate Murli Manohar, put forth the vision and objectives of the RKM for the civic body election.

Ambrish cited the coveted status the Haridwar MC had in early 1950s and said it was then given a special Lord Shiva statue, which is installed at the Shiv Moorti intersection, for being the best civic body in entire Uttar Pradesh.

“Haridwar was one of the cleanest cities at a time when the availability of funds was less. But now when the city gets mega funds and has various resources and Centre-run schemes like JNNURM, it is on downslide. The city doesn’t have a standard civic structure and amenities that is desired of a world renowned city,” said Ambrish, who was adjudged the best legislator in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly in 1999.

Ambrish termed it a political move the proposal to form a new municipal committee out of three colonies bordering the city, namely Shivalik Nagar, Tehri Vistapith and Subash Nagar.

He said instead of forming a separate MC the three colonies should be brought under the ambit of the corporation as what matters is a development-oriented vision and able representatives.

Murli Manohar said sanitation, cleanliness, traffic management and encroachment would be his top priority if he wins the election. He called upon political parties to join hands for the development of the city. “The civic body election caters to local issues only and no party agenda, policies or ideology should impact the development process,” he added.

The RKM has decided to support Congress candidates in two wards as it found them to be honest, hard working and dedicated.

“To avoid division of votes, we thought it better to support the right candidates as development is our vision. This is my maiden election, though for the past 40 years we have been involved in student politics, social activities and Assembly politics. Perturbed at the lack of vision and planning by the previous civic body chief, I decided to contest the election for the Mayor’s post,” added Murli. 

Mussoorie, April 20
Woodstock boys basketball team won their third Win Mumby tournament in a row with a 67-42 victory over Welham Boys' School on Saturday .

Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna presents award to the winning team coach in Mussoorie on Saturday.

Chief Minister of Uttarakhand Vijay Bahuguna, who was the chief guest on the occasion, was also watched the final match and enjoyed it thoroughly.

Woodstock School cruised to a relatively comfortable victory in the final after a nerve-shredding semifinal against Delhi Modern School in the morning, only just edging them out 83-79 in one of the tense games in the tournament's history.

In the girls' section, Delhi Modern School won the championship for the second year running after beating Welham Girls' School 39-20. Woodstock girls team reached the semifinals but lost out to Welham Girls.

For the second year, running Woodstock captain Matthew Sailo was declared the most valuable player in the boys' section, while teammate Karan Deol scored a remarkable 45 points in the Tigers' semifinal victory against Delhi Modern.

Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna praised all teams which had taken part and also acknowledged the major contribution of the Woodstock school to provide complete education.

Woodstock Principal Dr Jonathan Long congratulated all the teams that had participated and thanked all those who had worked so hard behind the scenes to organise the event.

The spectators were entertained by dance routine performed by Woodstock Junior School students, a performance and dance by the Japanese Toradaiko group, and the advanced band marching across the gym also regaled the audience.

Woodstock's head of sports Ajay Mark was the coordinator of the tournament.

Later speaking to mediapersons, the Chief Minister said that as the Congress government in the state had delivered on the development front, it would gain in the ongoing civic polls in the state. He also said that the investment announcement made by Coca Cola were just a beginning and more investment would be sought in near future.

Dehradun, April 20
Secretariat XI defeated Evarex Cricket Club by four wickets in the 61st Dehradun District Cricket League played at Survey Stadium, here today. Batting first after winning the toss, Evarex Club scored 156 runs all out in 23.2 overs. Gyanender scored 33 and the opener Asutosh scored 27 runs. TH Khan, Govind and Vikas Rawat claimed two wickets each.

In reply, Secretariat XI scored 157 runs for six wickets in 19.4 overs to win the match by four wickets. Amit scored 38 while Samagra scored 33 runs. Neeraj and Ravi claimed two wickets each. 

Dehradun, April 20
The campaigning by the BJP for the civic body elections is expected to pick up as Navratras are over. The preoccupation with Navratras had confined candidates to opening offices and finalising election strategies so that top leaders could be roped in for holding meetings.

"The campaigning will pick up now. Most of the candidates are busy holding party meetings and finalising campaign strategies that will unfold in the coming days," said Neelam Sehgal, president of the city unit of the BJP.

Though the Uttarakhand BJP chief Teerath Singh Rawat has started his election campaign, it is expected to pick up pace in the coming days. "I have already begun campaigning in Vikas Nagar and Sahaspur and soon I will be travelling in the city also," said Rawat.

Mayoral candidate Vinod Chamoli had inaugurated the party office at Parade Ground.

For the first time, the BJP has given ticket to around 29 women candidates, eight more than the Congress which has allotted 21 ticket to women candidates in Dehradun city for the posts of councillor. The BJP is hoping that this will work in favour of the party as there were voices within the party for increasing the number of ticket to women candidates. "We have allotted 29 seats to women candidates, which is much more than 2008, and it will go down well with the voters," said Sehgal.

Senior BJP leader and Rajya Sabha member Bhagat Singh Koshiyari will be touring the state. The last meeting will be held in Haldwani on April 26.

Mussoorie, April 20
The election in charge of the BJP civic polls in Mussoorie, Virendar Bisht, appealed to party men to work diligently to ensure victory of the party candidates.

Bisht while addressing party workers during the opening of the office of the BJP candidate Trilok Rana (ward No. 6) said all the party workers should forget their differences and work for the victory of the party candidates with complete commitment. He also said the workers involved in the anti-party activities will be dealt-with strictly.

Later, a list of the election management committee for the civic polls in Mussoorie was also released by the BJP. The committee will be headed by Roop Singh Kathait with the MLA, Mussoorie, Ganesh Joshi, as the convener. The other members in the committee are co-convener Madan Mohan Sharma, Kushal Singh Rana,Vijay Ramola, Radhey Shyam Tayal, Virendar Rana, Naresh Anand, Neeraj Agarwal, Bimla Chandaulia, Ami Chand Mangla, Ravinder Goel, RN Mathur, Alok Malhotra, Ashok Agarwal, Anil Godiyal, Dinesh Badoni, Mohan Petwal, Ramesh Khanduri, Chandrama Joshi, Nafess Ahamed Qureshi, Rakesh Agarwal, Namita Kumain and Seeta Panwar. — OC

Mussoorie, April 20
The two-day All-India Advocate Generals’ conference, organised with an objective to create an environment of good governance among the states and ensure speedy justice, began at Barlowganj here today.

Uttarakhand Governor Aziz Qureshi inaugurated the conference by lighting a ceremonial lamp. Chief Justice of the Uttarakhand High Court Barin Ghosh presided over the inaugural session.

In his inaugural address, the Governor said the Constitution had imposed a challenging responsibility on the Advocate General of the state as it was he who created an environment for ensuring access to justice and providing inexpensive and speedy justice to the people.

The Governor said: “The Advocate General has an important role to play in the political, legal, constitutional, statutory, legislative and administrative functions of the system. The responsibilities of the Advocates General are manifold, including advising the government whenever called for and developing a mechanism for enhancing timely and inexpensive justice.”

He said a sensitive, receptive and innovative Advocate General can play an important role in reducing litigation by adopting alternative mechanisms for dispute redressal. The Governor hoped that the conference would make recommendations which would enable “nameless, voiceless and faceless” people get timely and inexpensive justice.

Later the Governor speaking to mediapersons said he supported the Advocate Generals on the issue of strengthening the role they play in the governance for speedy justice. Speaking on the issue of appointment of judges, the Governor said it was his personal view that new system should be developed where all the powers for appointing judges should be given solely to the Supreme Court in order to avoid any political interference.