Civic poll defeat: Blame game in Cong continues
Tribune News Service

Haridwar, May 16
The repercussions of debacle of Congress candidates in Haridwar and Roorkee Municipal Corporations can still be seen as party leaders are putting the blame on rival factions for the defeat.

While party candidate for Haridwar mayoral post Swami Rishiwaranand lost by a huge margin to BJP’s eventual winner Manoj Garg, in Roorkee Ram Aggarwal lost to Independent candidate Yashpal Rana, giving a blow to Congress pre-poll claims of winning majority of the six Mayor seats in the state.

The Haridwar parliamentarian has accepted moral responsibility for loss of his political protégé and spiritual guru Swami Rishiwaranand. Roorkee legislator Pradeep Batra, too, accepted his responsibility for Aggarwal's loss. Yet both are putting the blame on the party's different factions for the loss.

Pradeep Batra today alleged that a number of party organisational leaders and activists were not working sincerely for Ram Aggarwal’s win, which ultimately proved helpful for Independent candidate Yashpal Rana.

Batra said that from organisational level Ram Aggarwal didn’t got full support, which weakened his campaign, leading to Aggarwal coming third in the civic poll.

He added that he pressed for Ram Aggarwal’s candidature owing to his honesty and being a highly educated person, but some party leaders alleged that he was a novice in the political arena, which also affected his prospects.

“Allegations made within the party by a certain faction of Ram Aggarwal being a new face from day one of his being declared official party candidate worked against us. This led to voter’s dilemma, who eventually opted for an Independent candidate. The party high command should look into this aspect and take necessary disciplinary action against these leaders,” said Batra.

Similarly, Rajesh Rastogi, spokesperson for Haridwar MP Harish Rawat, has also alleged some party leaders refraining from active poll campaign for party candidate Swami Rishiswaranand.

Rastogi alleged some party activists, including ex-ward councillors, going neutral during elections and holding media conference which hurt the prospects of party candidate and its image.

“When some local party activists express their displeasure over candidates' choice made by party high command in media ,the message that goes to the public is surely not positive. We could have won Haridwar Mayor seat , the election for which was held for the first time, but due to some insiders who worked for rival BJP we had to suffer defeat,” lamented Rastogi.

On this war of allegations, Congress disciplinary committee general secretary Dhirendra Pratap said that already the party had taken action against some party leaders and a detailed report is being made that is looking into the reasons for the party’s debacle in Haridwar-Roorkee-Dehradun-Kashipur-Rudrapur mayoral election loss.

Mayor visits Clock Tower, consults forest officials on Peepal tree
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, May 16
Mayor Vinod Chamoli today visited Clock Tower along with the District Forest Officer and officials of the Forest Research Institute. A huge Peepal tree, which is standing in the arcade of Clock Tower, is obstructing the implementation of plans for the beautification of Clock Tower. Since environmentalists oppose uprooting of this tree, Chamoli called up forest experts to seek their opinion on the matter.

Chamoli said, the forest officials after a close examination of the tree had opined that it should be uprooted since it had become quite old and its roots too had become loose. “It can fall any day and cause damage to property and human lives around it,” he said.

The Mayor said seeing the sentiments of the people towards the tree he had asked the forest officials to give an alternative to save it. Their opinion to prepare clones of it through grafting or other methods and grow them elsewhere did not convince him. He added, “I have promised to the people of the city to beautify Clock Tower. But the marble flooring of the arcade cannot be done unless the condition of the tree is not corroborated. With this, other features such as the erection of a wall will come thereafter.

Chamoli said he had already got the key of the clock repaired and got it painted afresh.

LS poll: Rawat ready to contest from Haridwar
Sandeep Rawat
Tribune News Service

Haridwar, May 16
Putting an end to the rumours that in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Union Minister for Water Resources in the UPA Cabinet Minister Harish Rawat may not contest from his current Haridwar parliamentary constituency, Rawat today made it clear that he would make a claim from the same seat for the second consecutive time.

The Haridwar parliamentarian, who won the last election with a record 1.15 lakh votes, defeating his nearest rival BJP candidate Swami Yatindranand, said he owed his Union Cabinet berth to the people of Haridwar.

Confident of winning for the second term, Harish Rawat said he was banking on the love of the people of this constituency as well as his developmental works done in the past four years.

Rawat said for the past few decades, Haridwar was lagging in terms of development and vision and he had been trying to address the issues since he was elected for the 15th Lok Sabha.

Terming his win from Haridwar as a resurgence of his political career, Harish Rawat said that he had been elected from the Almora constituency thrice in the 80s and, now, he wanted to replicate the same success story in Haridwar.

“I am an MP from Haridwar with a record victory, so how come the speculations are being made of me either shifting to another constituency from Uttarakhand or dwelling on opting for a Rajya Sabha seat which gets vacant from the state later this year. The people of Haridwar have given me so much love and affection. I want it again," said Rawat.

Rawat exuded confidence that the Congress party would again win Pauri Garhwal,Almora-Pithoragarh, Nainital, Haridwar seats and regain Tehri Garhwal parliamentary seat, which it lost to BJP candidate Mala Raj Laxmi Shah in a by-election.

With the budget session witnessing the Opposition's boycott and chaos, Harish Rawat said it was unfortunate as disruption in Parliament meant a loss to the public exchequer as well as delay in developmental projects, schemes and laws. He added that due to the Opposition boycotting, Bills such as the Land Acquisition and Food Security Bill got delayed. The Bill would have worked wonders for farmers, poor people and the country’s development.

On the controversial resignation by Union Railway Minister Pawan Bansal and Union Law Minister Ashwani Kumar, he said since a probe was going on, one must wait before concluding about the involvement of the ministers in any scam or irregularity.

Working Committee
Discontent in BJP, Rawat defers list of more members
Neena Sharma
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, May 16
State BJP president Teerath Singh Rawat has postponed the announcement of more members of the working committee in the wake of a strong undercurrent of discontent that surfaced after he declared the names state party office-bearers, working committee members and presidents of frontal organisations of the BJP.

Rawat’s elevation as the BJP president did break the stranglehold of former Chief Minister Bhagat Singh Koshiyari but it led to a new alignment between former chief ministers BC Khanduri and Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank. Khanduri and Nishank have put their weight behind Rawat.

The influence of Khanduri and Nishank was visible in the nomination of the working committee members who were known for their leanings towards these two senior leaders. To that end, the Kumaon region’s loss has been the Garhwal region’s gain, as the number of office-bearers is more from Garhwal.

No wonder, the presence of some men in Rawat’s team has caused a great deal of discomfort to leaders who were hoping that they would be promoted to some senior position on the basis of their work.

“Baring a few leaders, it is not clear how some of them have found a place in the list of eight vice-presidents of the party. From the previous team, only Dhan Singh Rawat has been promoted, while the remaining are new faces. The name of Anil Goyal, who was a contender for the post of Mayor from the party, could only be justified on the basis of his equation with a senior leader,” said a senior BJP leader.

Rawat is at present waiting for the discontentment in the party to subside and has thus postponed the announcement of more office-bearers of the working committee.

Further, BJP leaders say the way the party leadership has been attacking the Congress-led government on the issue of corruption in the state, it was assumed that the party would for all intent and purpose keep controversial leaders at bay. But that has not happened. “Several controversial leaders have found their way into the working committee. It will be exceedingly difficult for the party to use their services to attack the Congress,” he added.

Villagers demand speedy repair of bridge on river
BD Kasniyal

Pithoragarh, May 16
Residents of various villages in Nachni town of Pithoragarh district and villages on its border in Bageshwar district have demanded that the 34-year-old bridge on the Ramganga river be repaired immediately. The bridge, which is in a dilapidated condition, is posing a threat to the lives of villagers.

The villagers met the authorities of their respective districts and requested them to solve the problem before the monsoon when crossing the bridge becomes dangerous. The villagers depend on markets in both districts for their daily needs. “Due to decaying tin structures and broken layers the bridge has witnessed several accidents in the last two years,” said Jagat Singh Koshiyari, gram pradhan of Chetta Bagar village of Bageshwar district.

“The bridge was constructed in year 1979 and it had since been neglected. Its tin plate structure has damaged, making it dangerous for the villagers and the animals to cross it,” said Jagat Singh.

The villagers said blasting being done in the Ramganga by fish poachers regularly was further damaging the bridge. “Nearly 5,000 residents of 10 villages in Bageshwar district are witnessing accidents almost daily as they depend on the Nachni market across the river for their daily need goods,” said Dhan Singh Karki.

Public Works Department (PWD) engineers at the Didihat division in the district are seized of the matter. They said a proposal for installing new tin plates in the bridge would be taken up at the district planning meeting in the coming days.

Residents end stir in Bhatt’s presence
Our Correspondent

Pithoragarh, May 16
Members of the Pungrau Ghati Vikas Samiti today ended their 43-day-long agitation after administrative officials, in the presence of Leader of the Opposition Ajay Bhatt, gave them an assurance that their demands would be fulfilled on a priority basis.

The samiti has been formed by 22 villages of Berinag subdivision in support of their demands.

The agitators said the Additional District Magistrate, Pithoragarh, yesterday assured the agitators that tenders for the construction of a road from Panku to Kotgari have been invited by the PWD. “We have ended the agitation on the assurance that our other demands like the opening of an allopathic hospital in the area will also be fulfilled soon,” said Dihesh Arya, coordinators of the agitation.

Two-day heart health awareness programme ends
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, May 16
A two-day cardiovascular public health awareness programme, organised by Chetan Sharma at Bharat Heart Institute (BHI) to mark the third anniversary of Bharat Heart Institute, concluded today. During programme a free medical check-up was organised. To speared the awareness on heart diseases, presentations on ''Lifestyle Management after Angioplasty,'' ''Diet for Heart Patients'' and ''Role of Yoga and Exercises for Lifestyle Modulation'' were also given.

Addressing a seminar at BHI today, Chetan Sharma informed that Indians around the world have the highest rate of heart diseases. The coronary artery disease or heart attack was the main cause of death all over the world. Even women in India have high rates of heart disease, asserted Dr Sharma.

He said further heart attacks were mainly caused by a blockage that prevented blood from flowing to the heart. Earlier it was treated only by conducting an open heart bypass surgery, he remarked. “Today, there are several treatment options like angioplasty, where medical devices like stents, metallic tubular structure crimped on a balloon which gave support to the walls of the vessel and balloon angioplasty, where a small balloon-like device was threaded through the artery to open the blockage,'' he said.

Dr Sharma stressed on changing lifestyle by eating a healthy diet, regular physical activity and avoiding tobacco and smoking.

BJP youth leader Saurabh Thapliyal felicitated
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, May 16
Newly elected president of the Uttarakhand Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha Saurabh Thapliyal has said that he will try to provide leadership to the youth in the state by organising membership to the morcha in colleges across the state.

Newly elected president of the BJYM Uttarakhand Saurabh Thapliyal along with his supporters in Dehradun on Wednesday. Tribune photo: Vinod Pundir

Speaking at a ceremony held to felicitate him at the BJP headquarters, Thapliyal said as 65 per cent of the population comprised the youth, his aim would be to bring them under the BJP fold.

He assured the Utttarakhand BJP president that he would shoulder the responsibility entrusted by the party conscientiously.

The BJP chief, Teerath Singh Rawat, said that under the leadership of Thapliyal, the yuva morcha would gain in strength and stature.

Vedic, moral teaching must for children, says saint
Tribune News Service

Haridwar, May 16
Vedic and moral teaching is imperative for the overall development of students at a young age as it instills spirituality in young minds and builds good character and honesty among them.

Jagadguru Raj Rajeshwaranand Maharaj and Maha Mandaleshwar Kamlanand Maharaj distribute cycles to students as part of the 21st annual function of Swami Narayan Ashram in Haridwar. Tribune photo: Rameshwar Gaur

Jagadguru Raj Rajeshwaranand Maharaj said this at the 21st annual function of Swami Narayan Ashram here yesterday.

The Jagadguru lauded the efforts of Swami Hari Ballabh Das Shastri and his contribution to setting up the ashram and several social ventures.

Maha Mandaleshwar Swami Kamlanand Maharaj blessed the students and said there was a need to impart vedic and moral teaching to children. He gave bicycles to the students and urged them to work hard as “the country needs them to guide society from darkness to light”.

The Swami Narayan Ashram also solemnised the marriages of 21 girls belonging to poor families on the occasion. A yajna was organized as part of the annual function and other religious rituals were performed in which saints, Brahmins and devotees participated in a large number.

Swami Ghanshyam, Prakash Das Shastri, Bhanu Swami, Chandra Prakash, Mahant Gopal Singh, Mahant Sukh Dev Muni, Ananta Nand, Mohan Singh, Darshan Singh, Mohan Das Ramayani, Swami Parmanand, Swami Jagdeesh Nand, Gobind Swami, Bhagwat Charan Das, Swami Dev Krishan Das and Swami Madhav Das were also present at the ashram.

Tourist season begins in Nainital
Our Correspondent

Pithoragarh, May 16
As many as 43 tourist police officials have been deployed at various tourist attraction places and ritualistic police band has begun playing for two hours daily to entertain the tourists, as the season was formally inaugurated in the lake city of Nainital today.

“Whereas our tourist police will give security to the guests of the lake city during two months of tourist session, our ritual police band will entertain them for tow hours, 6 to 8 pm, daily,” said Sanjay Gunjiyal, DIG of Nainital range, who inaugurated the programme at Malli Tal band-stand today.

According to the DIG, Nainital police has made 17 police posts for tourists purposes in and around the city, besides deputing 5 trained swimmers to save the tourist who some time become victims if accidents during their boating spree in the lake. “We have also decided to hold a competition between the Army, police and ITBP bands to make these more attractive for tourists,” said the DIG.

According to the Tourist Department of the state, all the tourist police booths will have a stock of tourist literature, which will contain information of other tourists places in the city as well as the places from other parts of the region.