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LOK SABHA Poll
Parties opt for old guard in Kangra
Inflation, graft overhyped as election issues: CM
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SC stays arrears recovery from 7 JBT teachers
Kol Dam hydro-electric power project
Holi celebrations begin in state
Cement bag gets dearer by Rs 30
Consumers urged to be vigilant
CAG report: HPU’s
Rs 13.65-cr transfer unaccounted for
Cong readies for Rahul rally
Sell cement at lesser rates, minister tells companies
Direct fight only with Congress nominee: Sushant
Toll-free No. for poll code violations
Seven-month-old drowns
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Hamirpur poised for triangular contest
Kuldeep Chauhan Tribune News Service
Shimla, March 15
But he faces his detractors within the BJP, including his traditional rival Shanta Kumar, a BJP nominee from Kangra and Rajinder Rana, once his chief strategist. Rana had won the Sujanpur seat in 2012 Assembly elections as an Independent BJP rebel, and had posed a challenge to Anurag Thakur, Dhumal’s son, who had won the 2009 Lok Sabha elections by a margin of about 87,000 votes. Interestingly, Sujanpur has been carved out from the Bamsan Assembly constituency. Dhumal shifted to Hamirpur in the 2012 Assembly elections and won the seat by a reduced margin of about 9,000 votes whereas he had won Bamsan by a huge margin of above 20,000 votes, claimed Congressmen here. By fielding Dhumal’s once close aide, Rana, Virbhadra has played a master stroke that can upset Anurag’s apple cart. Secondly, Aam Aadmi Party candidate Kamal Kanta Batra, mother of the 1999 Kargil war hero Capt Vikram Batra, may ride on “Yeh Dil Maange More”, a war cry, considering that the Hamirpur-Una-Bilaspur belt has a significant vote bank of serving ex-servicemen, admitted the Congress and the BJP. The Congress has an advantage if one goes by the past voting trend in the Lok Sabha elections. It has been observed that voters go with the ruling party as it happened in 2009 elections, when the BJP won three seats while Congress lone winner was Virbhadra Singh from Mandi, who won the seat by a margin of 14,000 votes, defeating BJP candidate Maheshwar Singh. Hamirpur, BJP bastion since 1989, is under threat this time as the Congress and the AAP are targeting Anurag Thakur highlighting his failure as an MP. Anurag also figures in Arvind Kejriwal’s list of alleged corrupt leaders, they charged. “Anurag is inaccessible to the common man and failed to deliver as an MP in Hamirpur,” said Harsh Mahajan, vice-president of the Congress. But BJP spokesperson Ganesh Dutt opposing Mahajan’s claims said Anurag had popularised cricket in the state. Congress fielded Rana to save its face, he claimed.
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Parties opt for old guard in Kangra
Dharamsala, March 15 He does not think that his age will hamper his chances of winning from his home constituency, Kangra, during the forthcoming elections. Shanta has twice remained the Chief Minister of the state and the Union Minister during the NDA government. He was the most prominent leader of the BJP in the state before the rise of Prem Kumar Dhumal. He is also considered as a strong Brahmin leader from the state. Besides, he has a clean image and holds sway among voters in Kangra and Chamba districts. Interestingly, none of other BJP leaders contested Shanta’s claim from the Kangra parliamentary constituency that illustrates his sway in the state BJP, especially the Kangra parliamentary constituency. However, Shanta had withdrawn himself from direct politics and announced retirement from electoral politics. Now that the party has once again chosen him from Kangra, he faces the challenge of establishing a direct rapport with the voters. The Congress has chosen Chander Kumar, former MP and prominent OBC leader, as its candidate from the Kangra parliamentary constituency. Chander Kumar will turn 70 on May 8 this year. Chander Kumar has been chosen over Raghuvir Singh Bali, a Youth Congress leader and son of GS Bali, Minister for Transport, and Chandresh Kumari, Union Minister for Culture. Chander Kumar was the choice of Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh. Chander Kumar had earlier defeated Shanta Kumar from Kangra in 2004 elections. In the last Assembly elections, he lost to Rajan Sushant. Chander Kumar relies heavily on his support among the OBC community that has a majority in the five Assembly segments of Kangra, including Shahpur, Jawali, Nagrota Bagwan, Kangra and Jwalamukhi. The main advantage of Chander Kumar is that the Congress had won 12 out of 17 Assembly segments of the Kangra parliamentary constituency in the last Assembly elections. Chander Kumar will, however, have to counter the anti-incumbency wave against the UPA government at the Centre and stalwart image of Shanta Kumar to ensure his win. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has also gone for an old warhorse and rebel Rajan Sushant as its candidate from the Kangra parliamentary constituency. Rajan Sushant (60) was the sitting MP of the BJP from Kangra. He resigned from the party after it became clear that the party was going to field Shanta Kumar. He was allotted the AAP ticket this month and has started his campaigning. |
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Inflation, graft overhyped as election issues: CM
Dharamsala, March 15 The CM said there had been no instance when allegations of corruption had not been levelled during elections. In a multiparty democracy as India, levelling allegations of corruption against the Opposition was very common, he said. The Chief Minister was accompanied by the party candidate from the Kangra parliamentary constituency, Chander Kumar, Minister for Housing and Urban Development Sudhir Sharma and Minister for Transport, Food and Civil Supplies and Technical Education, GS Bali. While responding to queries, Virbhadra said though he respected Shanta Kumar, the BJP candidate from the Kangra parliamentary constituency, he was not a formidable challenge to Congress candidate Chander Kumar as he had defeated him earlier also. He said AAP was not a major challenge in Himachal. However, the Congress was not underestimating anybody. About the selection of Chander Kumar as the party candidate from Kangra, Virbhadra said the party wanted to give representation to OBC’s in the state so he was selected as a candidate. About the election agenda for the Congress during the forthcoming parliamentary elections, the CM said the party would go into elections presenting the development works carried out during the past one year by the present state government and misdeeds of the previous BJP government. The previous BJP government has sold the state land to outsiders and committed various acts of corruption for which vigilance had registered cases against them. The CM also visited the Police Ground, Dharamsala, where Rahul Gandhi’s rally has been planned on March 20. The CM said the Congress election campaigning for the forthcoming parliamentary elections would formally begin from March 20 after Rahul Gandhi’s rally.
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SC stays arrears recovery from 7 JBT teachers
New Delhi, March 15 A Bench comprising Justices SS Nijjar and AK Sikri also issued a notice to the Himachal Government, seeking its response to the petitions filed by the seven teachers, Harbans Lal and others through advocate Mohan Lal Sharma. “In the meantime, the recovery shall remain stayed,” the Bench said in the order passed yesterday. The state had recruited about 3,000 teachers on ad hoc basis during 1986-89 for imparting elementary education and regularised them during 1996-99 upon completion of 10 years of service. The government refused to consider their ad hoc service for fixing their pay scales at the time of regularisation. One of the affected teachers challenged the government stand in the High Court. The HC passed an order on May 19, 2009 directing the state to include the ad hoc service of the petitioner into account for deciding his pay scale. The state government challenged the order in the Supreme Court, but the apex court dismissed the plea on April 5, 2010. Subsequently, all the teachers were paid salary arrears by taking their ad hoc services into account. In a related case, the HC passed an order on January 1, 2013, clarifying that the teachers were entitled to arrears only for a specific period starting from three years prior to their approaching the State Administrative Tribunal (SAT) or the HC. The government sought to recover the excess arrears paid to the teachers. Some of them filed a contempt petition in the HC, contending that the recovery was in violation of the May 19, 2009, order of the High Court. The HC disposed of the contempt petitions, prompting seven of the teachers to approach the SC and obtain interim relief. |
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Kol Dam hydro-electric power project Mahesh Chander Sharma
Sundernagar, March 15 The process was first started on December 19, 2013, by Chairman-cum-Managing Director Anup Rai Chaudhary, but it got moving only for two days. As per the design of the project, the Sutlej has been diverted through twin diversion tunnels (both about 1-km-long), Lav and Kush, and 163-m-high rock-cum-earth filled dam was constructed. The water flow was earlier diverted through the Kush tunnel. In the middle of the Lav tunnel, control gates have been constructed to control the process of filling up of the reservoir. There has been a delay during the construction of the project, which was to be commissioned in 2009. Its foundation was laid by the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on June 5, 2000. Earlier attempts to fill up the reservoir were unsuccessful as there were certain defects in the gates in the middle of tunnel Lav. Subsequently, leakage was detected in the tunnel. The NTPC started repairs of the tunnel on a war footing by grouting it at various places to prevent leakage. Concreting was also done in the bed of the 1-km-long tunnel. Around 60 to 70 (in one shift) persons, along with machinery, used to work in two shifts round the clock. Crores were spent on the repairs of the tunnel. The exact figure was not shared by the Kol Dam authorities. Yesterday, around 6 pm, the process of filling up of the reservoir was started by closing the gates of the Kush tunnel. Earlier, the water was flowing through the tunnel Kush. Now, the water has been diverted through the Lav tunnel and the water flown has been controlled through the gates provided inside the tunnel Lav. The lower level of both the tunnels, Lav and Kush, was at 504 m. Now, the water level at the inlet has been raised to 525 m. As per sources, different types of testing were going on inside the Lav tunnel and when the system is fully tested and is trouble-free, the level will be further raised. National Thermal Power Corporation Ltd, which has been awarded Navratna and Maharatna and is executing the Kol Dam project, has kept the media away from the process in the past. It continues to do this as none of the officials informed mediapersons about what ensued on Friday. Parveen Ranjan Bharti, PRO of Kol Dam Project, could not be contacted even after repeated calls. A visit to the site this morning revealed that the water is now flowing through the Lav tunnel.
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Holi celebrations begin in state
Kullu, March
15 The ninth day is celebrated as Chotti Holi and the 10th day as Badi
Holi. People play during the day and burn "phaag" in the evening at the erstwhile rulers' palace at
Raghunathpur. Kullu's chief deity Lord Raghunath is brought in a colourful palanquin, and a heap of wood and grass having a long mast with a flag in the centre is put on fire to symbolise the Holika
Dehan. Mahants of different parts of the town leap across the burning pyre to claim the flag. The legend has it that the family achieving the flag is blessed to have fruitful returns, while it is surely a show of strength and courage.
Palampur: Kangra Divisional Commissioner Onkar Sharma inaugurated a four-day traditional state-level Holi Mahotsava of Palampur by beating traditional drum
‘tamak’, unfurling the mahotsava flag and lighting a ceremonial lamp at the Holi Kala Manch in the Martyr Vikram Batra Stadium here
today. SDM-cum-Mela Officer Bhupinder Attari said the administration had made maximum efforts to make the occasion a joyful event. Best artistes were engaged to present cultural programmes during the event. He urged local residents to enjoy the festival and maintain peace and harmony. Kangra: Holi was today celebrated with religious fervour and enthusiasm in Kangra, particularly schools, colleges and professional institutions. Members of the Jain community, in keeping with their tradition, celebrated Holi without colours and hoisted the flag on the Adinath Temple at Kangra Fort. The tradition of bid to hoist a flag at the Adinath temple and carry golden ornaments to decorate the antique 3,500-year-old idol of Lord Adinath was completed. Rakesh Kumar Jain of Batala got the opportunity to hoist the flag. The idol had been installed in the Fort temple by Raja Susharma
Chand, a devotee of Lord Adinath. The Holi procession started from the Jain temple. It was led by Rakesh Jain carrying the flag, and his family carrying the golden ornaments. The ASI keeps the Adinath temple open in the Kangra Fort for the Holi celebrations. |
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Cement bag gets dearer by Rs 30
Palampur, March 15 At present a cement bag is sold between Rs 340 and Rs 350 per bag as against the previous price of Rs 310 to Rs 315 per bag. The cement companies have revised the prices for the third time from the past fortnight, resulting in a net hike of Rs 15 per bag. Dealers said cement companies had increased the prices soon after the date for the General Election was announced. He said the first hike of Rs 5 per bag was notified on March 5. The dealers said it was a matter of concern that companies were selling cement cheaper by Rs 20 per bag in Punjab, Chandigarh and Haryana, despite the fact that cement was manufactured in Himachal Pradesh and transportation cost was less as compared to
these states. A senior official of the state Industry Department expressed ignorance about the increase made in the cement prices by the companies. He said the state government
was never taken into confidence by these companies as and when the hike in cement prices
was ordered. A spokesman for cement companies said the prices were enhanced as the overall expenditure had gone up. However, he could not specifically say what
type of expenses had been increased. He said companies had a different policy for the sale of cement for Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh. Therefore, cement was cheaper in those states. He said cement companies had already clarified the issue with the state government time and again. Therefore, there was no question of reducing the rates of cement in Himachal Pradesh. |
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Consumers urged to be vigilant
Kullu, March 15 The DC appealed to voters to use their voting right. He advised them to contact the Booth Level Officer (BLO) concerned, as many polling booths had been changed. He said any citizen over the age of 18 years could apply for registration as a voter using Form No. 6 till April 9 with the BLO or at the office of SDM-cum-Electoral Registration Officer at the tehsil concerned. He said a strict vigil was being kept over the expenditure by political parties and besides electronic and print media, social media and mobile SMS were under the scanner of the model code of conduct. He emphasised that political parties and candidates should not ask for votes based on religion, community, cults or religious groups, even on the social media. He urged the masses to report any violation of the model code of conduct to the ECI, SDM or district administration. He maintained that cases of violations would be dealt with stringently under the provisions of the law. He added that to ensure fair and successful elections, control rooms had been set up at district and block levels. |
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CAG report: HPU’s
Rs 13.65-cr transfer unaccounted for
Shimla, March 15 The fund-starved university, under Vice-Chancellor ADN
Bajpai, failed to utilise the Rs 2.50 crore grant from 2009-11 for infrastructure. The university granted Rs 2.04 crore as a contingent grant to its officials during 2010-13, but they were yet to be adjusted, the CAG report revealed. According to the CAG’s compliance audit of
HPU, a copy of which is available with The Tribune, the Director of the International Centre for Distance Education and Opening Learning of the university irregularly transferred Rs 13.65 crore -- Rs 3.39 crore to the corpus fund and Rs 10.26 crore to the main fund of the university -- from the students’ fund. “It is surprising that
HPU, one of the oldest and independent institutions in the state, has not maintained its annual accounts, thus violating the HPU Act,” said Satish
Lumba, Principal Accountant General (Audit), Himachal. Besides, the university has incurred a loss of Rs 1.49 crore running its own-jaded buses, the CAG report found. Despite the fact that public transport is available on the campus, the university incurred these losses on the maintenance of these buses, auditors said. |
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Cong readies for Rahul rally
Kangra, March 15 Kangra district Congress chief Sanjeev Gupta said as many as 15 observers were appointed at the block level to make “Mission 2014” a success. A strategy was chalked out on how to defeat the BJP in the Kangra parliamentary constituency and help Prof Chander Kumar, a Congress nominee from the Kangra Lok Sabha seat, win the elections, Gupta said. He said all 15 block presidents were asked to bring at least 5,000 persons from each block for Rahul Gandhi’s rally scheduled to be held on March 20 at the Police Ground, Dharamsala. He said Rahul Gandhi would also attend an ex-servicemen function at the
DRPGMC, Tanda. Sanjeev Gupta said Rahul would interact with Congress workers at Prayas
Bhawan, Dharamsala, during his day-long tour to the district. |
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Sell cement at lesser rates, minister tells companies
Shimla, March 15 The minister seemed to have done the damage control exercise by holding a meeting with company representatives not to hike the cement prices in the state. But BJP state president Satpal Singh Satti today said the state government had failed to bridle the cement companies. Satti stated the state government had failed to control the cement prices as it was giving a free run to them. The cement plants were located in the state, but people were getting cement at higher rates. Denying BJP charges, Agnihotri claimed that the government had fixed Rs 161 per cement bag for government procurement and asked the companies to sell cement to consumers at lesser rates. The companies not obeying the government order would face strict action, he warned. The cement companies said the prices of cement were deregulated and decreased or increased as per the market prices prevailing in the country as a whole. |
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Direct fight only with Congress nominee: Sushant
Nurpur, March 15 He was addressing a meeting at Suliali here yesterday. He said the massive response to AAP for the Kangra Lok Sabha seat had disrupted political calculations of the BJP. Sushant said Shanta should retire from the election fray due to poor condition of the BJP in the state. He said he had tried hard to fight against corruption when he was in the BJP. He levelled corruption charges against state party leaders by submitting requisite proofs to the party high command. He claimed that the time had come when people of the state would teach these leaders a lesson. He said AAP had launched a membership drive in the Kangra parliamentary constituency from March 2 and had a target to enrol one lakh party members by May 6. |
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Toll-free No. for poll code violations
Chamba, March 15 Stating this here today, Chamba Deputy Commissioner (DC) Kadam Sandeep Vasant, who is also the district election officer, said this number would be available in the district revenue office. The DC said giving any kind of incentives or cash to motivate any voter to vote in certain candidate’s favour was punitive under the law. |
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Sundernagar, March 15
On the other hand, PK Dhumal has made an all-out effort to save his bastion from crumbling by organising BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi’s rally at Sujanpur last month. 
The BJP has chosen the old warhorse of politics in Himachal as its best bet. Born on September 12, 1934, Shanta says it is not the age that matters, but the zeal to work for the country that determines the young and the old.