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STOCK-TAKING: Mala Raj Laxmi Shah
(Tehri)
STOCK-TAKING:
Sharifuddin Shariq Baramulla
Will not contest poll, says AAP’s Lt Gen Panag
Karnataka has most first-time transgender voters
BJP to go it alone in Assam
Mahatma Gandhi's grandson joins AAP
Nitish wants special status for Bihar, calls for bandh
Rahul holds rare poll strategy meet
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Post-graft taint, Congress, INLD cautious
Chandigarh, February 21 Add to this the alleged land scams rocking the government's boat time and again, the arrival of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on the state's political scene with its tirade against corruption and the still-to-be-decided fate of the disproportionate assets case against the INLD's first family, Om Prakash Chautala and his sons, Ajay and Abhay. Corruption seems to be the key issue that will dominate the election scene in a state of "aaya rams and gaya rams", better known for horse-trading tactics. Insiders admit that the going seems tough for both the parties, especially since the AAP's success in Delhi and its focus on Haryana as its next battleground. CBI's
web
Though the last year began with a setback to the INLD after a CBI court indicted its chief and leader of the Opposition Om Prakash Chautala and his elder MLA son, Ajay, along with party MLA Sher Singh Badshami among others, in the teachers' recruitment scam, the party was quick to make a virtue out this. Chautala's younger son, Abhay, projecting themselves as virtual martyrs, went to the extent of announcing that the leaders were indicted for giving jobs and if that qualifies as a crime, the INLD would continue to do so unmindful of its repercussions. The state party chief, Ashok Arora, and other leaders have already said that there was no case made out against those accused and that the Congress had "used the CBI to settle scores". They are hopeful their leaders will get a clean chit in the appeal filed against the verdict. The Congress' image, too, took a beating when an INLD-sponsored sting showed nine video clips of Congressmen or their family members striking deals for pushing cases of change of land use in the government. As the INLD went to town with the evidence, holding protests and seeking action against the guilty, the government referred the matter to the Lokayukta who asked the government to book Chief Parliamentary Secretary Ram Krishan
Fauji. Congress'
worries
The problem of the Congress government is further compounded as the INLD, encouraged by the Lokayukta's action, has submitted four more similar clippings. Sources maintain that since the Lokayukta has already recommended an FIR in Fauji's case, he will have to order similar action in the other cases as well. Admitting that the Congress image has been damaged following the expose, the government has taken refuge in the argument that no money actually changed hands and no change of land use was granted by the government in any of the cases which find mention in the clippings. If that was not enough, the furore over "arbitrary" CLUs and the Robert Vadra land deals are also issues that will haunt the Congress in the state, not only in Parliamentary elections, but also in the Assembly poll slated to be held in October this year. Moreover, with AAP riding high on the Delhi success and hoping to open its account in the Parliamentary elections, it will keep corruption issue alive and project itself as a clean alternative. The other two parties, the state unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC), alliance partners, too, seem cautious when it comes to corruption. Sources maintain that the indictment of the INLD top brass is the only reason holding back an INLD-BJP tie-up. The Haryana Janhit Congress, headed by former Chief Minister Bhajan Lal's son, Kuldeep Bishnoi, too, is trying to project itself as a corruption-free option in the state. Those who courted controversy
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What’s AAP up to? SAD cautious, Cong edgy
Party spreading its base in rural areas of state; Manpreet's PPP banks on Sanjha Morcha Sarbjit Dhaliwal Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, February 21 In its ranks, as of now, the party has no one of the stature who could challenge the might of the ruling SAD-BJP alliance and the well-rooted Congress. The AAP needs a few faces having a strong will to take the SAD-BJP and the Congress head-on. Six-lakh
members
The party has decided to contest all 13 Lok Sabha seats in the state. It began to spread its wings without having a well-structured cadre in Punjab. However, owing to the Kejriwal effect, many activists started enrolling members for the party in Punjab. The party claims to have close to
six-lakh members in the state. The AAP is active In Patiala, Ludhiana,
Jalandhar, Amritsar and Sangrur. It has already formed a state election campaign coordination committee with Sumail Singh
Sidhu, who has been associated with the AAP in New Delhi, as its convener. The AAP took a lead over the other parties in announcing HS Phoolka as its candidate from the Ludhiana Lok Sabha seat. The party is spreading its base in the rural areas of the state. The other entrant in the ring is the People's Party of Punjab (PPP). The party was not taken seriously when it announced to contest Assembly elections in the state. But it made its presence felt even if it failed to win a seat. Earlier, there were talks of the AAP and the PPP joining hands in the Lok Sabha elections, but things did not
materialise. Fight
against corruption Like other parts of the country, corruption is an issue in the state too. There has been a yearning among people to change the system. They now hope that the AAP will lead the struggle against corruption. Besides corruption, the AAP will try to corner main political parties on their monopoly and control over the state politics. To free the politics from dynastic dominance is top on the AAP's agenda. Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal's calculated attack on AAP candidate HS Phoolka has put the SAD on the back foot. This controversy is expected to snowball with the election campaign picking up in days to come. As the AAP banks more on the youth, it has one of the most potent weapons such as unemployment to strike against the
SAD-BJP and the Congress. School, college and university education is in mess and scope for well-paid jobs in Punjab is minimal. "We will corner the ruling alliance and the Congress on unemployment, high power tariff, monopoly of politician-backed mafia over sand and gravel business, poor living conditions in urban areas, sloppy growth rate, wobbly economy, drug trade, rise in crime graph, crisis in farm sector, VIP culture and political supremacy over police functioning." said AAP convener Sumail Singh
Sidhu, who is a teacher of modern history in Delhi University and a native of Chak Bakhtu village in Bathinda district. The PPP, which is a part of Sanjha
Morcha, an outfit of four political parties, will contest eight seats and its other political partners, including the CPI and the CPM will contest five seats. The PPP's vote share 5.17 per cent against the overall 6.15 per cent vote share of the Sanjha Morcha in the last Assembly elections. After Assembly elections, many leaders deserted the party. PPP chief Manpreet Singh Badal is untiring politician. After Assembly elections, he stayed in touch with the people. PPP to go full steam
HS Phoolka, AAP nominee from Ludhiana seat Vision document soon
Sumail Singh Sidhu, convenor of the election campaign coordination committee
(Punjab), aap
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STOCK-TAKING: Mala Raj Laxmi Shah
(Tehri) With Cong embroiled in controversies, the politician's door-to-door campaigns seem to give her an edge over rivals Neena Sharma
Dehradun, February 21 Her "down-to-earth" approach helped her in resurrecting the political fortunes of the Tehri royalty that were waning since 2007. The door-to-door campaigning undertaken by the former royalty endeared her to voters. Further, issues such as corruption, price rise and curbs on domestic gas cylinders hit the Congress badly, giving a distinct edge to the politician. After defeating her nearest rival Saket Bahuguna of the Congress by more than 50,000 votes in 2012, Raj Laxmi's hold over her voters has not slackened. She had got 2,45,835 votes, while Saket Bahuguna had got 2,23,141. Constituency profile
Comprising 22 Assembly segments, the constituency has 6,75,797 men and 6,09,274 women voters. Though 50 per cent of the urban voters comprise the rich and elite, and the poor, mostly living in the slums, are concentrated in Assembly segments of
Raipur, Rajpur Dehradun Cantonment and Mussoorie. The tribal dominant areas of Chakrata and pockets of Muslim voters in Sahaspur are a formidable challenge to the MP. Problems galore
Several problems in the constituency are area-specific, but a few have resonance across all profiles of the electorate. Contaminated water, lack of sewer and unhygienic conditions are a few to be named by 7,76,511 voters of
Dehradun. In Uttarkashi and Tehri, the "poor" rehabilitation work in the flood-ravaged area continues to top the compliant list of voters. The fund kit
Since her election in October 2012, Shah had a short span at her disposal to undertake development works in her constituency. A sum of Rs 11.5 crore was released in 2013, out of which she incurred an expenditure of Rs 11.14 crore and the percentage of utilisation stands at 96.87 per cent. She still has an unspent balance of Rs 1.15 crore in her MPLAD fund. Development projects
The construction of extra rooms at junior inter-schools in Tehri and Uttarkashi and repair of dilapidated school buildings have been her major focus in these areas. A considerable amount has been spent on construction and repair of roads in
Dehradun. She has also put forward projects to install mobile towers in Sankari
(Uttarkashi) and other adjoining villages. However, be it the disaster or release of funds under the MPLAD fund, the MP's main grouse has been slow release of funds that restrained her from carrying out development activities in her constituency. In Parliament
The MP's debut in Parliament has been slow and steady. Though she is a member of defence committee of Parliament, none of the questions raised by her pertained to defence matters. During her short span, she has no special mentions to her credit. She had participated in nine debates, including the issue of providing adequate financial assistance to families who suffered loss due to heavy rain and cloudburst in Uttarkashi and Rudraprayag regions of
Uttarakhand, need to remove the condition of submitting a digital map of forest land to undertake development works in Uttarakhand and also extend time limit for mutation of the forest land in
the state. where she stands
Entered Lok Sabha in Constituency break-up In Parliament MPLADS funds Opponentspeak
RS Saket
Bahuguna, Congress leader Voterspeak
Nirmala Shah, Thatyud (Tehri) resident
Chain Singh Rawat, Mori Block (Uttarkashi) resident
Rajesh Bahuguna, Dehradun resident
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STOCK-TAKING:
Sharifuddin Shariq Baramulla His rivals and local residents say despite being a veteran leader, his work has failed to impress all Azhar Qadri Tribune News Service
Srinagar, February 21 Like all other Parliamentarians from Kashmir, Shariq talked rarely in the Lok Sabha, asking only 58 questions in five years that included 15 sessions.
The constituency includes three districts - Baramulla, Kupwara and Bandipora - and 15 Assembly segments, some of which are remotely located and are cut-off from the rest of the region during winter. In 2009, when the Parliamentary elections were held, Baramulla had 10.54 lakh electors, out of which 41.84 per cent cast the ballot. It was the highest voting percentage in the three Parliamentary constituencies of Kashmir Valley. Shariq, a member of the ruling National Conference, got 2.03 lakh votes, defeating his closest rival PDP's Mohammad Dilawar Mir by 64,814 votes, the biggest margin victory in Kashmir Valley constituencies. MPLADS funds
According to an official website, Rs 17.5 crore were released by the Government of India under the Member of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme
(MPLADS) for Shariq, out of which 82.51 per cent were utilised and Rs 3.21 crore remained unspent. The National Conference has again nominated Shariq as its contestant from Baramulla for the upcoming Parliamentary elections, while the main Opposition
PDP, which has announced its candidates for Anantnag and Srinagar constituencies, is yet to name its contestant from
Baramulla. In Parliament
According to the PRS Legislative Research, an independent research initiative of New Delhi-based Centre for Policy Research, Shariq's attendance during the 15th Lok Sabha has been 88 per cent, higher than the national average of 76 per cent. He has participated in 41 debates, also higher than the national average of
36. Shariq has asked 58 questions as the Member of Parliament, according to the PRS Legislative Research, which is much lower than the national average of 292 questions. Among the questions Shariq asked in the Lok Sabha include expansion of rail network in Jammu and Kashmir, metro in Srinagar city, alternative
Jammu-Srinagar highway, solar lights to people living Below Poverty Line and rise in human rights violations in the country. In 2011, Shariq also asked the External Affairs Ministry whether the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly had "passed a regulation to grant internal autonomy to state within the Constitution of India". The rival's
take
PDP's Mohammad Dilawar Mir, Shariq's rival in 2009 elections, is unimpressed with his performance. "Even if you ask a common man, you will get to know that Shariq has done nothing for his constituency. We have never seen him speaking in the House for Kashmir, its issues and the problems of his people," he said. Mir said there were thousands of problems in the constituency which remained unresolved in the past five years. "Even today, electricity is not supplied to lot of villages during winter," he said. Mir said though the PDP had not announced its candidate so far, possible campaigning issues would include corruption, misgovernance and the "unfulfilled commitments of the National Conference". What the supporter
says
Javaid Ahmad Dar, a leader of the National Conference and member of the state Legislative Assembly from North Kashmir's Rafiabad constituency, which falls under Baramulla Parliamentary constituency, said Shariq had been a "generous" Parliamentarian. "He had been generous whenever I required his help to carry out development works and urged him to be present in the constituency," said Dar, who is also the National Conference's president for Baramulla district. "As an MP, his overall performance and behaviour has been satisfactory," he said. The general
sentiment
Bashir Ahmad Mir's father was a member of the National Conference and was killed by militants in 1994. Mir, a social activist and chairman of Human Aid Society, an NGO, said he had not seen Shariq in the past five years. "He
(Shariq) would come to the area only when the Chief Minister had to address a rally. Once I had seen him inaugurating the district hospital," Mir said. "My father was a member of the National Conference and he was killed by militants. So, I should have been his
(Shariq's) sympathiser, but I don't know him," he said. A South Kashmir resident, who requested not to be named, said Shariq's performance had been dismal. "There is nothing important that can be attributed to him," he said. where he stands Name Party Current profile Entered LS in Constituency break-up In Parliament MPLADS funds Opponentspeak
Mohammad Dilawar Mir, PDP
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Will not contest poll, says AAP’s Lt Gen Panag
Chandigarh, February 21 After joining the party, Lt Gen Panag said he found the party's leaders sincere, honest and humble. "Despite initial shortcomings there appears to be a method in their madness," he said. An officer from the Mechanised Infantry, Panag is now based in Panchkula. He had served as the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Northern Command and the Central Command, following which he had a four-year stint as an administrative member with the Chandigarh Bench of the Armed Forces Tribunal. As a member of the AAP, he would be guiding the party on its approach towards national security issues, strategic affairs and matters concerning the welfare of ex-servicemen. Though he has declined to contest elections, saying that he does not have the social base or the temperament for it, he would actively participate in public events like rallies, debates and electoral campaigns in support of candidates. "We keep criticising people and policies while sitting in an armchair. I felt that if you have to do something then you have to really get into it. Then came the question of which party to join and after examining the options I concluded that AAP best suited my temperament and individual perceptions," he said. "Being a new party, there is also a greater chance of being heard within the hierarchical order," he added.
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Karnataka has most first-time transgender voters
Bangalore, February 21 These voters are listed as 'others' in the electoral list. Karnataka has 2,589 such voters, followed by 496 in Andhra Pradesh, 429 in Uttar Pradesh, 230 in Bihar, 152 in Odisha and 124 in Tamil Nadu. There are no first-time transgender voters in Chandigarh, Haryana, Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir. There are only two such voters in Rajasthan. According to the Election Commission of India figures, there are 4,177 first-time voters listed in the 'others' category across the country. Nagaland is the only state where there are more first-time female voters (50.4 per cent). Out of a total of 23,161,296 debutant electors aged between 18 and 19 years, males constitute 58.6 per cent, females 41.4 per cent while the transgender electors constitute 0.018 per cent. Among the 28 states and seven union territories, 21 have a higher proportion of first-time female electors than the national proportion of 41.4 per cent. These include Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Goa, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and the seven north-eastern states. There are 10 states and union territories where the proportion of female first-time electors is less than 40 per cent. These include Narendra Modi's Gujarat (36.2 per cent) and Uttar Pradesh (39.6 per cent against 60.4 per cent first-time male voters). The Congress-ruled Haryana has the lowest proportion (28.3 per cent) of first-time female voters followed by Maharashtra (35.4 per cent), again a Congress-ruled state. While Chandigarh has 36.2 per cent of first-time female voters against 63.8 per cent males, Punjab, too, has exactly the same figures. Himachal Pradesh has 41.1 per cent of first-time female voters.
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BJP to go it alone in Assam
Guwahati, February 21 The general secretary of the Assam state BJP unit, Santanu Bharali, today said the executive committee of the state unit of the BJP today took a decision to have no truck with any political party and contest all 14 Lok Sabha seats in Assam on its own. He said the party had invited applications for nominations from aspiring candidates. Bharali said the BJP high command had left it to the state BJP leadership in Assam to decide on the pre-poll alliance. Meanwhile, BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi is will visit Northeast tomorrow to address three rallies at Pasighat (Arunachal Pradesh), Silchar (Assam) and Agartala in Tripura. Heavy security arrangements have been put in place for the rallies, especially in Silchar, which is located close to the India-Bangladesh border. The state BJP units in all the three states are expecting heavy turnout in the three rallies, especially in Silchar, as it has a strong base in south Assam.
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Mahatma Gandhi's grandson joins AAP
New Delhi, February 21 The party's fearless fight against corruption and its connect with the common man is what appealed him the most, besides its people's participation model, said the 78-year-old writer. An ardent supporter of the party whose second list of candidates is likely to be announced tomorrow, Prof Gandhi is expected to contest from one of the seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi. "This is a party that has grown from the roots and waged a fearless battle against corruption. This changed the notion about politics which is no longer seen as dirty but as a good way to serve people," said Prof Gandhi, who in 1989, contested against Rajiv Gandhi from Amethi on a Janata Dal ticket. "There was a time the Congress was an aam aadmi party, but now it is the khas aadmi party. The BJP is the rich man's party. The AAP has brought a difference with participation of the common man." A scholar at the Indian Institute of Technology, Gandhinagar, Prof Rajmohan is also a research professor at the Center for South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA.
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Nitish wants special status for Bihar, calls for bandh
Patna, February 21 He said the UPA Government had "betrayed" the state by granting special category status to Seemandhra and "ignoring" a similar demand made by his government. Kumar had at first called the strike on March 1 but later decided to defer it by a day, considering the examinations in the state. "We have no problem with Seemandhra getting special category status or a package, but the same has been denied to Bihar despite a favourable recommendation by the Raghuram Rajan committee report," he said. Meanwhile, senior BJP leader and former Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi said his party had called "rail roko" on February 28 to protest the Centre's "discriminatory" approach towards the state. The BJP leader accused Kumar of weakening the fight for the state's special category status by "hijacking" the issue and making it JD(U)'s political weapon. Asked if the BJP would participate in the bandh called by Kumar, Modi said the Chief Minister had announced it without consulting all political parties. — PTI
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Rahul holds rare poll strategy meet
New Delhi, February 21 The informal meeting with members of the Congress Working Committee ended on a clear note with leaders cautioning Rahul against inflation and asking him to sustain the anti-corruption pitch. Corruption issue was flagged by most speakers, while CWC member from Punjab Mohinder Singh Kaypee is learnt to have demanded SC/ST and OBC reservation in the private sector. The meeting deliberated on what had hurt the party politically in the recent months and how best to stem the rot. Sources told The Tribune that CWC members spoke about inflation being a challenge and urged Rahul to work with the government to contain it like he did with restoration of LPG subsidy. Mohinder Kaypee is learnt to have reminded Rahul of how Indira Gandhi by nationalising banks had created several jobs for Dalits.
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AAP workers 'attacked' in Amethi
BJP writes to Anna, questions Mamata's clean image Keep politicians out of sports: Rahul Gandhi Plea in HC for cancellation of AAP's registration as a party
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In Haryana, corruption has never got bigger than this. while the top leadership of the main Opposition party, the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), is behind bars in the teachers' recruitment scam, the ruling Congress is fighting the graft taint on its MLAs in the cash-for-change of land use scam.
The Aam Aadmi Party
(AAP) may have captured the imagination of the people of Delhi, but will the Kejriwal magic work in Punjab?
Dehradun, February 21
Srinagar, February 21
Health Minister Rao Narender Singh:
Chief Parliamentary Secretary Ram Kishan
Fauji:
Chief Parliamentary Secretary Vinod
Bhyana:
Ukhlana MLA Naresh
Selvel:
Ratia MLA Jarnail Singh:
Barwala MLA Ram Niwas
Ghorela:
Ex-Haryana YC chief Sanjay
Chhoker:
Nalwa MLA Sampat Singh's son,
Gaurav:
CPS Jaleb Khan's son, Sajid Khan:
The People's Party of Punjab and its allies have also decided to contest all 13 seats under the banner of the Sanjha
Morcha. In the Assembly elections, the Sanjha Morcha got 6.15 per cent votes. However, it lost all seats. Party chief Manpreet Singh Badal says he would like all top leaders of the party contest the Lok Sabha elections.
The AAP will also prepare constituency-wise manifestoes. Each constituency has different problems which can only be addressed by having a separate manifesto. The party is also educating people about
'swaraj'. We want to strengthen the democracy at grassroots level.
We will contest all 13 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab. The process is on to shortlist the candidates. Advocate HS Phoolka has been nominated as candidate from the Ludhiana Lok Sabha constituency. We will release our vision document soon. Our fight is against corruption, dynastic politics and criminalisation of
politics.
Spanning parts of
Dehradun, Tehri and Uttarkashi districts, Tehri constituency captures the social and geographical diversity of Uttarakhand in many ways.
Current profile
The funds for disaster-affected people were adequate, but we received no cooperation from the Opposition. It should have cooperated with the government in the hour of
need
The MP meets us on a regular basis. Though her pace of sanctioning projects is slow, she has actively taken up the issue of disaster-affected
people.
The MP's intentions are good, but she does not seem to be cut out for politics. We need projects that improve our lives. Nothing has been done for those dealing in the horticulture. We need cold storages for our apple produce, but our demands seem to have fallen on deaf
ears.
The MP needs to be given more time to prove herself. In
Dehradun, she is cooperating with the BJP MLAs, so there is no dearth of good roads here. She needs to concentrate on building permanent assets in the
city.
Sharif-ud-din Shariq represents North Kashmir's Baramulla constituency, a frontier region near the Line of Control
(LoC), in the 15th Lok Sabha.
Shariq's work, according to several residents of his constituency, remained "unimpressive".
Shariq, 78, has vast experience as a politician and a lawmaker, and has been a member of the Rajya Sabha twice - in 1980 and 1996 - and member of the state Legislative Assembly in 1987 and 2002.
Even if you ask a common man, you will get to know that Shariq has done nothing for his constituency. We have never seen him speaking in the House for Kashmir, its issues and the problems of his
people.