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Bus mishap kills 13 in U’khand
U’khand records 62.75% polling
76 pc turnout in Haridwar
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A blend of saffron-clad saints, burqa-veiled women
Keen on bringing about a revolutionary change
Political bigwigs get marked, do their bit
LS polling remains peaceful across state
CM thanks voters for huge turnout
5 defy diktat of boycotting elections in Chaijula Patti
Women, youth throng polling booths in Almora, Nainital
Sitarganj villagers boycott voting
Ruckus between rival party supporters at polling booth
Ex-BSF officer, trader return empty-handed in Mussoorie
Sewla Kalan voter agitators withdraw protest after assurance
UKD seen missing
AAP manages good show in Doon
The old, the young exercise franchise with enthusiasm
Devotees head towards Gangotri shrine in Uttarkashi district
Goods worth Rs 50 lakh stolen
Leopard terror continues to haunt
Doon woman protests patrol unit challan
‘Modi wave visible during poll’
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Bus mishap kills 13 in U’khand Dehradun, May 7 Tehri police officials said the accident occurred when the bus driver was trying to negotiate a sharp turn in the Saknidhar area of Devprayag. In the process, the bus overturned and fell into the river. Relief and rescue operations were initiated immediately. The injured were shifted to hospitals in Rishikesh and Srinagar for the treatment. The condition of many of the injured is said to be critical. Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat said the chief secretary has been asked to oversee the relief operations. The state government has announced a Rs 2 lakh compensation to the families of those killed in the accident. The Uttarakhand Roadways bus was reportedly going from Delhi to Guptkashi in Rudraprayag district when it met with the accident.
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U’khand records 62.75% polling
Dehradun, May 7 In the 2009 General Election Uttarakhand state had registered an overall percentage
of 53.24. The election office said that the figures may go up or come down as the postal and service were still to be counted. ''The overall percentage is expected to undergo a change, as several polling parties would only be returning tomorrow and the numbers may either go up or down. Then the service and postal ballots, too, have to be counted,'' said Radha Raturi, Chief Electoral Officer, Uttarakhand. Till 6 pm Haridwar district registered the highest percentage of voter turnout at 76, Udham Singh Singh Nagar at 72 per cent, Nainital at 63 per cent and Dehradun at 62 per cent. The district of Tehri at 50 per cent registered lowest percentage of voter turnout. Almora registered the voter turnout at 53 per cent, Chamoli 55 per cent, Champawat 53 per cent, Bageshwar 56 per cent, Rudraprayag 58 per cent, Uttarkashi 62 per cent, Pauri 55 per cent and Pithoragarh 52 per cent. Amid pleasant weather the voters were seen queuing the polling booths in the early session of the balloting. Long queues formed outside poll booths as voting warmed up for the five parliamentary seats. A large number of voters also complained about their names missing from the voters' list. ''Though, I possess the EPIC, I was not able to cast my vote as my name was missing from the voters' list,'' said Rita Kumari, a voter from the Rajpur Assembly segment. Meanwhile, both the BJP and the Congress Party leaders claimed that their party candidates would win all the five seats. ''There is a distinct Modi wave in the state and we will be able to win all the five seats,'' said Harbans Kapoor, BJP MLA. However, the Congress MLA Dinesh Agarwal discounted the claim and said that the BJP's hopes would come crashing down once the results are declared. The counting of votes will take place on May 16 at Sports College, Raipur. On all the five parliamentary seats there is a direct fight between the BJP and
the Congress. |
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76 pc turnout in Haridwar
Haridwar, May 7 Residents of BHEL, Ranipur, Shivalik Nagar, Jwalapur, Arya Nagar, Kankhal, Devpura, Hari Pur Kalan, Bhoopatwala, Raiwala, Lal Dangh, Bahadrabad, Bahadarpur, Ambvadpur, Ghosipura, Dhanpura, Bahadarpur Jat, Sarai, Gadowali, Jagjeetpur, Jamalpur, Missipur, Katarpur and Jiopatha flocked their respective polling centres as soon as voting began at 7 am. A huge turnout of saints was recorded at the polling booths of the Sapt Sarovar, Bhoopatwala and Har-ki-Pauri areas. Barring some reports of malfunctioning of EVMs at Jwalapur and Roorkee, the polling remained peaceful across the district. Heavy police force was deployed at all polling centres. As 210 polling booths were declared sensitive, additional deployment of paramilitary personnel was done at these places. District Election Officer D Senthyl Pendiyan said the district was bifurcated into three super zones. As many as 200 observers personally monitored the polling process at all centres. SSP, Haridwar, Sadanand Date said the Haridwar city and Kaliyar areas were marked as super zone-1, rural Haridwar super zone-II and Thana Shyampur-Pathri-Lakshar-Khanpur as super zone-III. Ten nodal gazette officials, 21 inspectors, 235 sub-inspectors,187 head constables, 1,931 constables, 2,125 home guards, 420
chowkidars, 12 companies of the Central Industrial Security Force, three companies of
PAC and quick reaction team were also deployed. |
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A blend of saffron-clad saints, burqa-veiled women
Haridwar, May 7 Saints, who hold a majority in Haridwar city segment, particularly residing near Har-ki-Pauri, Bhoopatwala, Sapt Sarovar, cast their votes early in the morning after taking part in the morning prayers and rituals at temples, ashrams and muths. A majority of Muslim women were seen in the afternoon after finishing their household works. Such was the turnout in the minority-dominated areas of Jwalapur,Subash Nagar,Maidaniyan,Kassaban,Lodha Mandi, Mangalore,Khanpur,Piran Kaliyar,Bhagwanpur,Jhabreda that at times at polling stations it seemed women outnumbered their male counterparts. Attired mostly in traditional veiled burqas, Muslim women presented a different face of Indian democracy, wherein people still refrain from casting their votes. But here in Haridwar district Muslim women polled in large numbers. They sought basic facilities of health and education stressed on secularism and also clean image as criteria for electing candidates. Ishra, a Jwalapur resident, said that for the past few elections, be it village panchayat or Assembly, she refrained from voting but due to awareness drive generated by local religious clerics and Election Commission, she along with many other women realised the contribution one can make by casting a vote. Similarly, saints too turned out in large numbers, making the saint dominated area polling stations dip in saffron colour. With voter identity cards in their hands, saints also presented a diverse picture of Indian democracy. At Bhooptwala,Saptsarovar,Doodhadhari Chowk,Har-ki-Pauri,Upper Bazaar,Shiv Moorti,Mayapur,Devpura polling station areas saints lined up from morning itself to cast their vote. Some saints also expressed their resentment that despite Haridwar being a religious-spiritual city, no major political party fielded a saint background candidate. |
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Keen on bringing about a revolutionary change
For 20-year-old Megha Thakur, a student of B.Com final year, corruption is a major issue. “There is rampant corruption everywhere. If it continues this way, our future is doomed. I am going to cast my vote for the party that has promised to remove corruption. I know it’s a mammoth task, but at least some political party has to take the first step towards the removal of corruption. I am hoping that my vote will defeintley bring a much needed change for the country,” she added. Agreeing with her, her sister Priya Thakur (18) said that both of them have decided to cast their votes in favour of a party that has decided to positively change the way things in work in the country. “Our family has been a staunch supporter of a national party since past several decades. We held discussions regarding the candidates and ideologies of their parties. While our parents would continue to support their party, we sisters have decided to cast our votes based on our choice,” said Thakur. Ayushi Gupta (18), a first year student of B.Sc was more than excited to cast her vote for the first time. “I am so happy that as a first-time voter. I am participating in the General Election. Some of my cousins and friends were party to the local bodies elections but for the parliamentary elections this was the first time. I have voted for the party which believes in the power of youth. I have taken a ‘selfie’ of my inked finger and would upload on my Facebook profile,” said a chirpy Gupta. Around 40,000 voters in the Tehri constituency, of which Dehradun is a part, comprises first-time voters. The brother-sister duo, Neha Bharadwaj and Mukesh Bharadwaj, cast their votes together for the first time. “It is a crucial moment in life when you cast you vote for the first time. With my finger inked for the first time, I am now officially a part of the world’s biggest democracy. A lot of my friends instead of casting their votes chose to relax at homes and enjoy the day off. However, both me and my sister had decided that we will definitely cast our votes, no matter what,” said Mukesh. “Even though we did not attend any political rally or public gathering, we have been closely following the news, newspapers, interviews of the candidates to understand our candidates. I think we have a fair idea of who is trying to sell fake promises and who means business in actual senses when elected to power. We have cast our vote sensibly and now are waiting for the results,” said Neha. Sachi (19) has voted for a change. “The country is down with corruption, inflation, downfall in jobs, poverty. I think we should go in for a change and give some other party a chance to bring a positive turn in the ongoing events,” she added. |
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Political bigwigs get marked, do their bit
Dehradun, May 7 “It is the duty of every citizen to cast vote and participate in the democratic system,” said Qureshi. His mother Bilqis Fatima and sisters, Naahida Jiya and Sahba Shamsi, also cast their votes at the same polling centre. An early voter, Chief Minister Harish Rawat cast his vote at IT, Niranjanpur, and former Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna at KV No 2, Survey of India. “We are confident that our candidates will perform well in these elections. The BJP has been misleading the public about disaster relief and rehabilitation work,” alleged Harish Rawat, who was accompanied by Congress MLA and Cabinet minister Dinesh Agarwal. BJP leaders also came out in large numbers to cast their votes. Accompanied by his daughter Aarushi, former CM Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank cast his vote at KV No 2 School (Hathibarkala) in Dehradun. Dehradun Mayor Vinod Chamoli was seen standing in a queue at the St Annes School polling centre falling under the Tehri constituency. Chief Secretary Subash Kumar, along with his wife, voted at Bhatkhandey Sangeet Mahavidyalya. Chief Electoral Officer Radha Raturi was also among the early voters. BJP candidate from Tehri Mala Raj Lakshmi Shah cast her vote at Narinder Nagar that falls under the Pauri parliamentary constituency, though she herself is a BJP nominee from Tehri. BJP leader Satpal Maharaj voted at Pauri. |
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LS polling remains peaceful across state
Dehradun, May 7 As many as 10,062 polling stations were set up across the state, out of which 732 were declared hypersensitive and 441 sensitive. DGP BS Sidhu personally monitored security arrangements at the police headquarters. ADG Meena said senior police officials at the headquarters remained in touch
with their counterparts in all 13 districts. Inputs from all 13 districts were taken after every hour. Notably, 56 companies of paramilitary forces and 25,000 state security forces were deployed for the peaceful conduct of the polls. Besides this, 7,600 home guards were also on duty. Meanwhile, reports of malfunctioning of EVMs were reported from some polling booths in Dehradun. However, the situation was brought under control in time. Security measures
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CM thanks voters for huge turnout
Dehradun, May 7 He assured the people of the state of launching more development schemes and projects if the party is
voted to power. He said a huge voter turnout would prove to be beneficial to the party. Rawat claimed the UPA would again form a government at the Centre. |
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5 defy diktat of boycotting elections in Chaijula Patti
Mussoorie, May 7 The polling booths for more than dozen villages remained deserted in the Chaijula Patti due to the call of boycott given by the villagers as a mark of protest showing their anger towards not meeting their demand of road and hospital here. Apart from five villagers who cast their vote, six election officials also exercised their right to franchise in the booths of the villages where the call for boycotting elections was in place. The election officials at the booths in Tuneta, Ladur, Kanda Jhak, Kimoi and Lagdasu village kept waiting for the villagers to turn for casting their votes but most of
them stayed away as a mark of protest. The villagers also did not assist the polling parties and refused to provide mule services forcing the officials to make alternate arrangements. The polling officials hired coolies to pick up the election voting machines for the booths
in the area. The presiding officer from Tuneta polling booth said that only two votes were cast in his booth of the election employees. He also said that they tried to persuade the
voters to cast their vote but all such efforts went in vain. Sector Magistrate Rajiv when contacted said that he also tried to convince the villagers but they did not budge an inch. |
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Women, youth throng polling booths in Almora, Nainital
Pithoragarh, May 7 While the pace remained sluggish at the start, it picked up slowly in the hills while it was rapid in Terai regions of the Nainital seat. Polling remained peaceful at almost all places in both these constituencies. “The voting percentage that was at 46 per cent in the last parliamentary elections in 2009 is expected to rise this year, as long lines of voters were seen at polling booths of Terai region from early morning,” said Mohan Rajput a journalist based at Rudrapur in Nainital parliamentary constituency. In the Terai region, voters braved the scorching sun. Tanakpur booth in Champawat district witnessed 65 per cent polling till 2pm. “Voting in Almora and Pithoragarh villages increased slowly as villagers are engaged in agriculture-related work as the Rabi crop are,” said Sanju Pant, a journalist based at Didiha. According to Mohan Rajput, voting percentage in Udham Singh Nagar had already crossed 50 per cent till 1pm and was likely to break last elections’ record of 61 per cent. In Almora parliamentary constituency, voters including women thronged polling booths since 7am. “Women and youth helped in increasing the numbers from 11 per cent at 8am to 51 per cent at 3pm,” said Prakash Pant, a former BJP minister and general secretary of the state unit. Didihat MLA and senior BJP leader Bishen Singh Chufal cast his vote at GIC polling booth in Didihat, Gangolihat MLA cast his vote at Ghingtal polling booth, Congress MLA from Dharchuala Harish Dhami cast his vote at Madkot booth while Congress MLA Mayukh Singh Mahar cast his vote at Bin polling booth. According to Chufal, while the voters of Chamachaura in Gangolihat, Ranua in Didihat and Jauldhunga in Pithoragarh Assembly segments boycotted the polls as they demanded a metalled road in their respective villages. |
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Sitarganj villagers boycott voting
Dehradun, May 7 The villagers of Gottha Gram Sabha in Sitarganj collectively boycotted polling. The villagers alleged that the governments in power, failed to bring any development in their Gram Sabha for the past many decades. The residents said it was the only way left with them to make the government realise its inability. Interestingly, the Sitarganj Assembly constituency was represented by former Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna. |
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Ruckus between rival party supporters at polling booth
Dehradun, May 7 Police officials have denied any such incident and called it a minor indiscipline by a few people, which was immediately tackled. According to SS Bist, inspector, Kotwali police station, ''arguments were exchanged between a few people over the queue and police personnel standing there immediately directed everybody not to break the row and remain in line.'' The polling in 1514 polling stations in the Dehradun district remained peaceful and no major incident was reported from across the district throughout the polling day. It is to be noted that there were 72 hypersensitive booths in the district along with 166 sensitive where the security arrangements remained tight. One senior district police official told The Tribune that tight security arrangements were put in place in whole district they were able to ensure peaceful and free and fair elections without any untoward incident reported from across the district. Police officials are accepting that they will have to remain vigilant till the counting takes place on May 16. Notably, 8 companies of Central Paramilitary Forces (CPF) along with 700 home guards were deployed in Dehradun district for the peaceful conduct of Lok Sabha polls today. Six companies of state Provincial Armed Constabulary Company (PAC) were also deployed in the elections. |
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Ex-BSF officer, trader return empty-handed in Mussoorie
Mussoorie, May 7 Kotal asked the presiding officer manning the poll booth and he was informed that he could not vote again. Presiding officer Satendar Singh then checked the electoral list and it was found that Kotal’s name was tagged as PB meaning that his vote had been cast through a postal ballot that was sent to his unit. A baffled Kotal replied that there was no question of his vote being cast through a postal ballot as he had retired from service in 2008 and had cast his vote without any difficulty in the Assembly elections held in the state. To this the presiding officer replied that there was hardly any option as the strict guidelines laid down by the Election Commission stated that if a PB or a postal ballot mark was indicated in the electoral list against the name of a person, he/she could not exercise his polling right again. A dejected Kotal was left high and dry and he returned without casting his vote. In another incident, Mahesh Chand Goyal, 66, a trader by profession, also could not cast his vote at the primary school in Ward no 2 of Barlowganj, as his vote had already been registered through a postal ballot. Mahesh Chand Goyal contested the anomaly by stating that he was a trader and there was no reason for him to vote through a postal ballot. He also filed a complaint in this regard with the Election Commission. The presiding officer of the booth confirmed that a complaint has been received in this regard and was being forwarded to the sector Magistrate. The voters at the booth set up at the post office also complained that they were not being allowed to vote despite having a slip distributed by the BLO. The voters said that the officials were demanding an identity proof for casting their votes even though the electoral slip distributed by the BLO contained the necessary identity proof. When the officials were contacted, they denied that no such incident had occurred and said voting continued without
any hindrance. |
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Maharaj condemns CM’s vote transfer
Dehradun, May 7 He alleged that Rawat had cheated the residents of Uttarakhand by transferring his vote. Maharaj said higher voting-percentage given an idea that the Congress candidates would be defeated in the parliamentary elections. He claimed the proposed work of the Rishikesh-Karanprayag rail-line and the construction of the state Assembly building at Gairsain, would be completed, if Garhwal BJP parliamentary candidate Maj Gen BC Khanduri (Retd) would be voted to power in the parliamentary election. He said the state government did not take enough steps for rebuilding the damaged infrastructure after natural disaster. He said the roads along the Char Dham Yatra route had not being repaired by the state government. He claimed that the party candidates would comfortably win all the five seats. |
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Sewla Kalan voter agitators withdraw protest after assurance
Dehradun, May 7 Infuriated over the lack of basic amenities such as pot-holed roads, shortage of clean drinking water and frequent power outages, voters had decided to boycott the Lok Sabha election to press for their demands. The residents also threatened to intensify their agitation if the state government did not fulfill their demands in the coming days. The leaders apprised electors that development could not be started due to implementation of the model code of conduct. Political leaders also requested agitators to withdraw their agitation and cast their votes. After hours of discussion with the leaders, voters withdrew their agitation, but threaten to re-start it, if their demands were not fulfilled by the state government immediately once the results were declared on May 16. |
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UKD seen missing
Dehradun, May 7 Despite its falling graph, the UKD had been contesting all the elections in the state sine day one of the formation of the separate state of Uttarakhand. They had even bagged respectable votes in the previous elections. But, during this year’s Lok Sabha election, the UKD that was credited for staging an agitation for the creation of the state was seen missing in action. The party failed to set up counters near the polling stations in the favour of party candidates. Even the party flags, unlike past, were not seen this time. Former UKD MLA Pushpesh Tripathy said the UKD voters over a period of time had shifted to BJP. He said it was difficult to bring back the committed voters. |
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Raring to go at 102
Haridwar, May 7 Bashrin described the Partition of India as one of the toughest times which she neither wants to remember nor face again. She urged the public, politicians and religious leaders to focus on spreading peace. Bashrin's elder son Hazi Yashin, who is 80-year-old, says his mother has always been enthusiastic to cast her vote. |
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AAP manages good show in Doon
Dehradun, May 7 Counters of both the BJP and the Congress could be seen near polling booths in Dehradun district but to the surprise of many, even AAP has put up its volunteers in favour of party candidate Anoop Nautiyal. Some of AAP counters were also crowded giving jitters to the Congress and the BJP. While pollsters are asserting that contest in the Tehri seat is just limited to the BJP and the Congress, AAP volunteers assert that they are very much in the race. AAP leader Bhargav Chandola said people from all sections of society have come forward in support of AAP candidate and the party is hopeful of better performance. "Despite our limited resources, people particularly youth came forward to support AAP candidate and voluntarily manned the counters,” said Chandola. |
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The old, the young exercise franchise with enthusiasm
Dehradun, May 7 A large number of elderly voters has started forming lines in front of polling booths to decide the fate of 74 candidates who are contesting from five parliamentary constituencies of Uttarakhand. They came with their relatives. Sukh Raj, 88, who especially came from Panipat (Haryana) to cast his vote, said that he never missed elections since 1952. He also appealed to voters to come out from their homes to exercise their franchise. Echoing the same feelings, another octogenarian, Vimla Devi, also urged women voters to cast their votes in the parliamentary elections. According to her, good governance helped control inflation across the nation. “I came here to cast my vote after finishing my household work,” said 78-year-old Pushpa Sharma. According to her, voters should cast their votes, without considering caste, religion or party to form a good government. After pressing the ballot button to cast his vote, Ram Kishandas Gupta, 76, said that youngsters and everybody should vote for a stronger democracy. He claimed that he had been voting since 1957 to form government. Shri Chand, 75, who came with his relatives, said that everybody should vote to form a good government. He walked to the booth with the aid of a walking stick, helped by his relatives. According to him, ''it is our democratic duty for the wellbeing of the country.'' “I felt very proud to be associated with this exercise. I want a change and have been voting since 1952 to form the government,” said 73-year-old Triloki, who again exercised his democratic duty. Several other elderly voters reached polling booths with the help of their relatives, and
got inked. |
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Devotees head towards Gangotri shrine in Uttarkashi district
Dehradun, May 7 The number of pilgrims undertaking the Char Dham Yatra is very less this due to the natural disaster that hit the state in mid-June, last year. The local business people are also happy with the number of foreign tourists increasing everyday. A total of 350 foreign tourists visited Uttarkashi district between January and May. The number of foreign tourists also increased after the reopening of the Gangotri and Yamunotri shrines, early this month. 250 foreign tourists had visited Uttarkashi from April till date. The local business said the hotel services and the weather were attracting the foreign tourists. They said adventure activities in Uttarkashi district also attracted tourists not only from different parts of the country, but from other countries. |
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Goods worth Rs 50 lakh stolen
Dehradun, May 7 According to the shop owner, Mahendra Rajput, thieves took away 130 laptops, hard disks and Rs 10 lakh cash from the shop. The cash was earned from the sale of laptops last week and was kept inside the cash counter. The police have analysed the CCTV footages and have zeroed in on three persons who have been caught standing beside a black colour SUV in the footage. The police are now trying to nab the thieves on the basis of the
vehicle, which could be seen in the footage and had Haryana number registration plate. On the other hand, the other shopkeepers of the trade centre told police that they spotted
those three guys standing in front of the complex late Wednesday night and even asked the shopkeepers to leave from there. The owner of the shop was not in town for the last one week and the shop was being run by the other staff members. The police are questioning on the security arrangements put in place in the city, as the incident took place just few hours before the state goes to Lok Sabha polls. |
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Leopard terror continues to haunt
Dehradun, May 7 The incident resulted in spread of such a terror among the inhabitants that many residents even stopped sending their children to schools fearing that the leopard may attack them midway. Many women even left visiting the forest area for fire woods due the fear of leopard. The state Forest Department then did put some cages and even got success, when two leopards got caged in the process and one among them was assumed to be a man-eater leopard. The villagers then took a sigh of relief. In September last year, the leopard mauled a woman at Panchoor village. Following which hunter Lakhpat Singh was deployed and one leopard was shot dead. However, the man-eater leopard terror did not stop here, few villagers were injured in the Pokhra region of Pauri. Last month, Ramcharan, a resident of Dugri village was killed by the leopard. The forest authorities, however, managed to cage the leopard. But to make matter worse, a 14-year-old boy was killed by a leopard in the very Ekeshwar block, taking the Forest Department by a big surprise. Meanwhile, the state forest authorities have decided to declare the leopard responsible for killing the boy and sent the request for the same to the office of the Chief Wildlife Warden. Villagers on other hand have accused the state forest authorities of doing little to prevent leopard from attacking humans in Ekeshwar and Pokhra blocks of Pauri Garhwal district and threatened to stage protests if prompt action did not come from the Forest Department. |
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Doon woman protests patrol unit challan
Dehradun, May 7 The woman protested after personnel of the city patrol unit started the process of issuing challan and took videography of the woman near fruit market in Patel Nagar. The woman alleged that the personnel misbehaved with her and wrongly stopped her as she did not violate any traffic rule and was only going to cast her vote. The woman’s kin also protested against the patrol unit.
— TNS |
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Dehradun, May 7