New Delhi, March 14
Ending days of impasse over the candidate from Hamirpur, the Congress leadership has cleared BJP rebel Rajinder Rana’s candidature from the seat, sparing state Industry Minister Mukesh Agnihotri, the other contender.

The stalemate was broken after Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh in his meeting with Rahul Gandhi convinced the latter that fielding a former aide of Himachal ex-CM Prem Kumar Dhumal was a tactical move in the segment which has been retained by Rajput leaders since 1989.

The CM told Rahul that it was important to field a candidate from Hamirpur to divide the local votes, besides dividing the BJP votes. Rana, who was a strategist for Dhumal once, could impact the BJP vote base.

Sources in the Congress said the CM also told Rahul that he had been preparing Rana to fight from Hamirpur and Rana had agreed to give up the four remaining years of his MLA. The Congress was banking on Rana’s clout, considering he had convincingly won the Assembly poll last time in the BJP’s den.

Another argument the CM made was, “Rana’s candidature will send a positive message across all four seats as he is familiar with the weaknesses and strengths of Dhumal and his son Anurag Thakur, the sitting Hamirpur MP, who will contest again,” said Congress sources.

The CM is said to have shared his list of candidates with Rahul at the meeting, leading to the announcement of three nominations (of Chander Kumar from Kangra, Mohan Bragta from Shimla and Pratibha Singh from Mandi) on the party list for Lok Sabha contestants.

Rana’s name was withheld and not announced yesterday because the Congress high command wanted him to first resign as an Independent MLA from the Assembly, acquire primary membership of the party and then enter the fray.

Rana today resigned from the assembly and got the Congress membership, clearing the decks for his announcement as the Hamirpur candidate on the next Congress list.

The Congress strategy in Hamirpur is now clear - divide Dhumal’s votes and local Hamirpur votes and shake up the Opposition plank a little. Congress sources added that Mukesh Agnihotri's reluctance to contest and the CM’s firm decision not to spare a “performing minister of his Cabinet” also ultimately worked in Rana’s favour.

Shimla, March 14
With the Congress high command clearing his name last night, Independent MLA from Sujanpur Rajinder Rana today resigned from the Assembly segment. He submitted his resignation to Assembly Speaker BBL Butail. Rana had won as Independent from Sujanpur in Hamirpur after he was denied the ticket by the BJP in the December 2012 Assembly poll.

After his resignation, Rana went to the Congress office where he took the primary membership of the Congress by paying Rs 5 and filling the form. Thereafter, he applied for the Lok Sabha ticket and deposited Rs 25,000 as fee for seeking the party ticket.

“Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh has pleaded my case and it is wrong to say that I am not a man from the organisation as for the past one-and-a-half years, I have been an associate member of the Congress in the Assembly,” he said after meeting the Chief Minister.

Rana said he would prepare a report card of the development works that he had undertaken with the blessings of Virbhadra in Sujanpur. “I have done a lot of social work and extensively toured Hamirpur, so I will seek votes on the basis of my performance,” he said.

“If they hit me below the belt, I will be forced to retaliate,” he said in reply to a query about taking on Anurag Thakur, son of his mentor PK Dhumal, with whom he had shared a very close association. He said he would be able to make a dent into the BJP vote bank also as he had a sizeable following owing to the social works he had done. Though Virbhadra from day one was clear on fielding Rana, state Congress president Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu was opposed to his candidature on the ground that the ticket should be given only to a person from the organisation, even if he lost the election. However, the CM prevailed in getting the high command to agree to Rana’s name. 

Mandi, March 14
Pratibha Singh, the Congress candidate from Mandi, will be in the fray from this constituency for the fourth time.

While the All-India Congress Committee cleared the name of Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh's wife yesterday, her re-nomination was widely being considered before the announcement came through. There was unanimity on her name in the top Congress ranks, unlike the other three constituencies in the state.

She made a foray into politics during the 1998 election when the Congress fielded her against BJP candidate Maheshwar Singh. She lost the election by over 1.32 lakh votes.

In that election, political equations had taken a dramatic turn when veteran Congress leader Sukh Ram, after parting ways with the Congress, had formed the Himachal Vikas Congress (HVC). The HVC was later part of a coalition government with the BJP in the state.

Pratibha Singh did not contest the snap poll held in 1999 with the BJP-HVC government in power, which was also won by the BJP candidate.

She was fielded again in the 2004 parliamentary election by the Congress, with the latter being in power in the state. She defeated Maheshwar Singh by over 66,000 votes.

In the 2009 general election, with change in government, the Congress fielded Virbhadra Singh from the Mandi constituency. He won the seat by a margin of about 14,000 votes, while the other three seats in the state were won by the ruling BJP.

When Virbhadra Singh resigned as an MP in 2012 to become the state's Chief Minister, Pratibha Singh again contested the Mandi seat in 2013.

Pratibha Singh won by a huge margin of over 1.36 lakh votes, defeating BJP candidate Jai Ram Thakur.

Shimla, March 14
Various NGOs and the CPM, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Himachal Lokhit Party have joined hands, accusing the BJP and the Congress of raising petty issues such as photos of Sonia Gandhi on ration cards or Atal Bihari Vajpayee on ration bags or on 108 ambulance.

They have deviated from issues such as corruption, unemployment, agricultural crisis and price rise that have hit the public, they charged.

In the rural areas, there were few teachers in schools, PHCs lacked pharmacists and doctors, over 27 bus routes had been closed and bus fare was hiked by 30 per cent, charged CPM state secretary Rakesh Singha. The staff in most departments was run on contract with employees underpaid as most of the services had been outsourced. There was no fitter to repair water pipes, he claimed.

Both BJP and Congress had stopped talking about corruption in public meetings and public forums and forgot about the Lokayukta Bill, still pending in the Vidhan Sabha, said AAP leader Des Raj. "They reduced the issue of corruption to mere family tirade between Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh and PK Dhumal and his son Anurag Thakur, Hamirpur MP, who also heads the HP Cricket Association currently under the vigilance scanner," he added.

Himachal Lokhit Party leader Khushi Ram Balnatta said the BJP and and the Congress had sidelined all burning issues, including corruption and unemployment. The fight has been reduced between Virbhadra and PK Dhumal in the run-up to the poll, he added.

Hamirpur, March 14
Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh today said the Congress was making efforts to win the Hamirpur parliamentary seat in the coming elections.

The CM said the Congress would contest the elections with all its might to defeat BJP candidates.

Criticising those opposing the candidature of Rajender Rana from Hamirpur, Virbhadra said, “The partymen opposing his candidature have neither any basis nor political reasons to oppose him.”

He said Rajender Rana had made a great sacrifice by resigning from his Assembly seat to join the Congress for contesting the parliamentary election from Hamirpur as he still had four years left to complete his term.

There were many aspirants for the Congress ticket from Hamirpur, but the party high command had given the ticket to Rana and the party would support him to win the seat, he added.

The CM said, “For the coming elections, I am not in favour of organising big rallies, which are a sheer waste of time and money. I am myself a star campaigner and thousands of people come to hear me at public meetings.”

Mandi, March 14
Returning Officer of Mandi parliamentary constituency Devesh Kumar said all arrangements have been made to conduct free and fair elections.

The RO-cum-Deputy Commissioner said, steps had been taken to ensure implementation of the model code of conduct. He said the election department would prepare videos of all political meetings, adding that flying squads and media monitoring committees have been constituted.

He said the Election Commission has issued strict guidelines regarding poll expense, which has been raised to Rs 70 lakh now. He said those contesting have to maintain a day-to-day record.

The election department has also started a toll free number 1800-18-8024 to seek any information related to the elections.

New Delhi, March 14
The Supreme Court today asked the Himachal Pradesh High Court to consider afresh the plea for making Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh a party to a case relating to the controversy over the HPCA's properties, including the Dharamsala stadium.

A Bench comprising Justices BS Chauhan and J Chelameswar had set aside the HC’s January 8, 2014, order rejecting the HPCA’s plea for involving the CM in the case. The HPCA had come to the SC, challenging the High Court order.

Arguing for the state government, senior advocates Rajeev Dhavan and Abhishek Singhvi opposed the HPCA’s plea contending that no allegation could be levelled against the CM or his government as the October 26, 2013, order for taking over the association’s properties had already been withdrawn

Appearing for the HPCA, senior advocate PS Patwalia, however, argued that involving the CM in the case was necessary as the government was still trying to upstage the association through the Registrar of Societies.

The Registrar had passed an order on October 28, 2013, finding fault with the change in its status - from that of a society to a non-profit making company under Section 25 of the Companies Act. Since the land for the stadium and other cricket amenities were given on lease to the society, it could not have changed its status to that of a company, the Registrar had maintained. He had also threatened to take over the society.

The Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association is headed by Anurag Thakur, BJP MP and son of former CM Prem Kumar Dhumal.

During the hearing, the Bench said it was unfortunate that the case was the result of political rivalry and had nothing to do with cricket.

According to the state government, the “extremely valuable” land had been allotted to the HP Youth Services (HPYS) in 2001 when Dhumal was CM, but the HPYS transferred it to the Himalayan Players Cricket Association, registered in Kanpur.

Shimla, March 14
Two of the four proposed private medical colleges granted approval by the state government have sought extension in response to the show-cause notices issued to them by the Health Department for cancellation due to an inordinate delay in setting them up.

It was on December 24 last year that the Health and Family Welfare Department had issued show-cause notices to four medical colleges which were issued the letter of intent by the state government in 2009-10. These had been given a month’s time to file their reply for their failure in starting the medical colleges.

Sources confirmed that while two medical colleges had sought time from the government to complete work, one had decided to abandon the project. The four medical colleges who have been issued the notices include Maa Saraswati Education Trust, Kala Amb in Sirmour, the Amrut ANS Education and Social Trust, Una, Swami Vivekanand Medical College, Palampur and the Akal Institute of Medical Education and Research, Baru Sahib in Sirmour.

“The final decision on cancellation or grant of more time to the medical college projects who had been issued letter of intent would be taken by the Cabinet,” confirmed Vibneet Chawdhry, Additional Chief Secretary (Health). The Swami Vivekanand Medical College at Palampur, the dream project of former BJP Chief Minister Shanta Kumar, had sought time on the ground that under the first phase, the hospital had been set up. It was under second phase that the medical college would be set up, it was stated.

The Maa Saraswati Education Trust, Kala Amb in Sirmour, had extension for two years on the ground that they had purchased 110 bigha land, but since their requirement was more, they were in the process of obtaining permissions from the Revenue Department.

The Akal Institute of Medical Education and Research, Baru Sahib in Sirmour, had expressed its inability when it came to setting up the medical college for want of funds.

The fourth group of Amrut ANS Education and Social Trust, Una , had not responded to the government show-cause notice.

In their reply, they have cited various reasons for not being able to complete the project. “Since the reasons cited by them are not very convincing and genuine, it is unlikely that their plea for more time will be accepted by the government,” said an official.

The six medical colleges had been issued show-cause notice after the Cabinet go-ahead was sought. The matter will be placed before the Council of Ministers before the letter of intent is withdrawn.

It was with much fanfare that the government had invited private players to set up medical colleges in Himachal under Green Field projects. As per the guidelines of the Medical Council of India (MCI), it was mandatory for these colleges to have a 150-bed medical college.

Though these private medical colleges were to purchase land from individuals, keeping in view the land constraint in the hills, the government had given relaxation to some of them in the mandatory minimum land requirement, letting it be 20 rather than 25 acres.

Another relaxation made in the case of hills is that the hospital and medical college can be at two places within a distance of 10 km.

Shimla, March 14
The Comptroller and Auditor General's latest report has painted a messy picture of the state's finances.

Not only that, the report has revealed that the successive state governments have been giving a free run to cement companies and commercial vehicle operators. This has resulted in tax revenue loss worth ~235.12 crore in 2012-13.

The state has not set up barriers and check posts and regional transport authorities and the Excise and Taxation Department have no coordination. Tax evasion by cement companies is the tip of an iceberg. The cement companies get a free run as the state government has not set up barriers and check posts between the mining site and the cement plants, reveals the audit report.

The CAG audit found tax evasion worth ~6.77 crore on transportation of 50,95,231.45 metric tonnes limestone and 4,79986.75 metric tonnes barites in one sampling case. If all the four cement plants, ACC Barmana, JP Cements and Ambuja's two units are taken into account, the tax evasion is several times, reveal auditors.

The state government has been delaying authorisation of the cement companies for collection of additional goods tax. This has resulted in a loss worth ~189.08 crore in transport of 68526412.51 metric tonnes limestone and 51,86582.43 metric tonnes shale from the mining sites to cement plants for making cement, observed CAG.

Though the CAG report on financial health and public sector undertakings was tabled in the recent budget session of the Vidhan Sabha, the CAG Principal Accountant General Satish Lumba today released the details of the CAG reports of different departments before the media here today.

As many as 13,314 commercial vehicles between 2007 and 2012 were not registered by the RTOs and registration and licensing authorities, that resulted in a loss of ~14.52 crore, auditors found. The contractors are not registered under HP PGT Act. It resulted in a loss of ~1.01 crore for additional goods tax of ~1.01 crore including penalty on supply of 4,79,986.75 metric tonnes of shale to ACC Barmana, said the report.

The nine RTOs failed to recover ~14.88 crore dues incurred as special road tax and token tax worth ~1.07 crore in 2010-11 and 2011-12. The passengers tax worth ~6.49 crore in 403 cases was pending, while excise and taxation department has not recovered pending arrears worth ~1.06 crore in 451 other goods vehicles between 2001 and 2009, said the report.

The state government has not ensured compliance in charging VAT and records are not properly maintained.

The HPSEB has not deposited ~493.40 crore as electricity duty with the state and interest liability on loan worth ~34.06 crore raised by the government would have been saved had the board paid it in time, the CAG found.

Even liquor and spirit manufacturers are getting a free hand as ETOs have allowed certificates to companies, worth Rs 2.25 crore. Dues worth Rs 1.53 crore were not paid by licencees of warehouses and distilleries from 2008 to 2012.

Shimla, March 14
In compliance with the Supreme Court order on the use of red or blue beacons, the HP High Court has asked all its judicial officers to remove them from their vehicles.

The state government had issued a notification on March 5, wherein it had mentioned the category of dignitaries and officers who could use different kinds of beacons atop their vehicles.

As per this notification, apart from constitutional authorities, the Chief Secretary and the DGP could use red beacons on their vehicles. It excluded judicial officers of the rank of district judge. Prior to this, an earlier notification was issued on July 12, 2006, where there was a specific note issued with regard to the use of beacons by judicial officers that “Such officials are governed by orders of the High Court”.

But in the recent notification, there is no such provision that judicial officers could use red/blue beacons.

In the second category of dignitaries/officers, the Chief Secretary and the DGP have been authorised to use red beacons. Prior to it, all 128 judicial officers of the state were using red/blue beacons according to their ranks.

Chamba, March 14
The five-day workshop on school leadership development programme organised for centre heads of Chamba district concluded at the District Institute of Education and Training (DIET) at Saroo, 12 km from here, today.

The workshop was held under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan. DIET Principal Suman Minhas said 40 teachers from different schools of the district participated. Minhas said the workshop was aimed at raising the learning level of children without compromising with their education.— OC

Mandi, March 14
An Assam Rifles jawan, posted in Manipur, was cremated with state honours at his native village in Badehad under Kotli tehsil here today.

Local administration laid a wreath on Santosh Kumar’s coffin and a contingent from Assam Rifles gave a gun salute. Santosh was posted in Manipur and was killed by Naga rebels on the Mayammar border in a blast on March 11, while he was returning from duty. — TNS 

Solan, March 14
The Nahan unit of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau today nabbed a patwari, Mumtaz Ali, while accepting a bribe of Rs 5,000 from Rampal for facilitating mutation of his land at the Bhatto Wali patwar circle in Paonta Sahib subdivision of Sirmaur district.

Bureau’s SP Surinder Verma said they had received a complaint from Rampal that the patwari was demanding the bribe from him to make available revenue papers to facilitate mutation of his land which had been divided among his brothers in 2010. As Rampal failed to get his work done without paying the bribe, he informed the bureau which nabbed the patwari posted at the Bhatto Wali patwar circle red-handed.

The patwari had been arrested and a case under the Prevention of Corruption Act registered against him. Further investigation in the case is on.

Nurpur, March 14
Nurpur Deputy Superintendent of Police, Manoj Joshi, while cautioning residents here today, asked them not to reveal any information about their ATM cards to unidentified callers.

The warning was issued after a sum of Rs 14,860 was withdrawn from a Mohatli village resident’s account after an unidentified caller, disguising as a banker, asked for his account details.

The victim, Darshan Singh, said he received a call from an unidentified man, who said he was a banker.

The victim said the man asked about his ATM card and pin numbers saying that his existing ATM card would be rejected and that a new card would be issued to him after he provided the information.

He disclosed the details and after some time he received a message on his mobile phone that Rs 14,860 had been debited from his account.

He immediately rushed to his bank’s branch in Damtal, where the officials told him that the money was withdrawn to buy some articles through a debit card.

Darshan Singh said he went to lodge his complaint with the local police, but they too expressed their inability in extending further help.

In a similar case, Vipin Sharma of Nurpur town also lost Rs 18,000 from his PNB account two days ago. The modus operandi was the same, but the amount was withdrawn in four installments. 

Palampur, March 14
An assistant manager of State bank of India was beaten up by two employees of a local power project near Bundla here yesterday.

A police spokesman said the manager had received serious injuries as he was attacked with steel rods.

There were serious injuries on different parts of his body and he was admitted to the Civil Hospital for treatment.

The police said three friends who were accompanying the manager were also threatened by assailants with dire consequences if they reported the matter to the police.

He said a case under Sections 304, 327, 34, 506, 594 and 341 of the IPC had been registered at the local police station against the accused.

The police claims of identifying the attackers, but no arrest has been made so far as it was busy in making security arrangements for the state-level Holi festival which began here today.

Meanwhile, a local association of nationalised bank employees urged the Kangra police chief for an immediate arrest of culprits. 

Kangra, March 14
Two people died of poisoning, while a 23-year-old girl succumbed to burn injuries at Dr Rajendra Prasad Government Medical College (DRPGMC) at Tanda, the police said here today.

They said a 30-year-old man and a 27-year-old woman were fighting for their lives in a poisoning and a burn case, respectively.

The police said Annu Bala, 23, of Ganthu village in Chamba district was admitted to DRPGMC Tanda on March 9 with 70 per cent burn injuries, adding that she succumbed today.

The police said Annu received serious burn injuries when she sprinkled kerosene oil on the firewood, while preparing food. She was rushed to Nanikard Hospital from where she was referred to Tanda hospital.

The police added that Rajeen, alias Raju, 19, of Upper Dard consumed some poisonous substance and when his condition deteriorated he was rushed to the DRPGMC, Tanda, where he died today.

The police further said Ram Lal, 45, of Patholo village in Jogindernagar was brought to Tanda hospital today from a private hospital, but doctors declared him brought dead. He died due to poisoning, the doctors said, who sent the body for postmortem.

The bodies were handed over to their relatives after the postmortem today and investigations under Section 174 of the CrPC were on in all three cases.

Meanwhile, Teenu Devi, 27, of Raja Ka Talab was fighting for life after she was admitted to DRPGMC Tanda after receiving severe burn injuries.

DSP, Nurpur, Manoj Joshi said on the complaint of victim’s father, the police have registered a case under Section 498 A and 34 of the IPC against her in laws, including her husband, Kewal Krishen, brother-in-law and sister-in-law.

Victim’s father said Teenu was married in 2009, but had strained relations with her in-laws, who demanded dowry from her. No arrests had been made so far in this connection.

In another case, Pankaj, 30, of Nagrota Bagwan was admitted to the DRPGMC, Tanda, yesterday after he consumed poison by mistake, the police said.