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Fatehgarh Sahib
Faridkot
Local issues weigh heavily on Bilaspur voter’s mind
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In Amritsar, the winner has to sing hill tune
Shimla
Royal razzmatazz in Mandi
Sachin, Sehwag’s body doubles play wooing game
Moradabad
It’s ideological fight for this Independent
Man ostracised, fined for voting
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Seasoned performers hope to strike gold again
Gurdeep Singh Mann Tribune News Service
Fatehgarh Sahib/Khanna, May 9 Libra not only banks on the Congress supporters but also the dissident leaders and workers of the SAD and loyalists of late SGPC president Gurcharan Singh Tohra. He also boasts of support extended by arhtiyas of Asia’s biggest Grain Market in Khanna. While Libra claims to have got the support of former PPCC president Shamsher Singh Dullo, some of the Congressmen are annoyed with the party for not giving ticket to Dullo. On the other hand, Libra’s opponent, Atwal, is all praises for his party, which helped him in attaining the seat of deputy Speaker of the lower house. He is promising more development in his constituency with the help of Badals. Staunch supporters of the SAD in rural areas are likely to vote for him even as he has left the Phillaur constituency which he represented during 14th Lok Sabha. People like his reticent behavior and sweet voice during the election campaigns. This despite the fact that he has not been able to highlight the basic issues of the constituency. There are nine Assembly segments in Fatehgarh Sahib Lok Sabha constituency. Three Assembly segments --- Bassi Pathana, Fatehgarh Sahib and Amloh --- are in Fatehgarh Sahib district, while five are in Ludhiana district --- Khanna, Samrala, Sahnewal, Payal and Raikot. One Assembly segment --- Amargarh --- of this LS seat is in Sangrur also. The number of voters in the segment are 12, 07,549 (including service voters) of which maximum are in Sahnewal. The number of male voters are 6, 32, 144, while females are 5, 7 2, 335.
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Head-on clash likely between SAD, Cong
Kulwinder Sandhu & Shivani Bhakoo Tribune News Service
Faridkot, May 9 The other candidates contesting the elections are Dr Resham Singh, BSP, Kaushalya Chaman Bhaura, CPI, Jasvir Singh, Moolbharti (S), Prem Singh, SP, Raj Kaur, All-India Dalit Welfare Party, Pritam Singh, Republican Party, Gurmeet Singh, Punjab Labour Party, and Nirmal Singh, Sharan Kaur, Gurpreet Singh, Nathu Ram, Sukhwinder Singh, Veerpal Kaur, all independents. In the recent past, it has been the home constituency of Sukhbir Singh Badal, outgoing LS member from here, and Congress stalwart Jagmeet Singh Brar. The electoral contests among them used to be very interesting, but reorganisation of the constituency has taken away the curiosity of voters. Thirtytwo-year-old Danny, son of former Excise and Taxation Minister Sardul Singh, is fighting his first electoral battle, while Gulshan is sitting LS member from the Bathinda constituency. Hoping to get support from youth, the young Congress candidate is also eying Dalits who comprise more than 30 per cent of the total population. His rival Gulshan is banking on the legacy of Junior Badal, besides hoping for a good response from women voters. The SAD is trying to put focus on developmental works carried out by the state government in the past two years, while the Congress candidate is seeking votes on the name of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in a bid to emotionally attract Sikh voters. Here, the Congress has seven MLAs and the SAD two, which gives the Congress an upper hand, but the SAD has the advantage of being in power in the state. CPI candidate Kaushalya Chaman Bhaura is leaving no chance to lash out at the SAD and the Congress condemning their policies and programmes, while BSP candidate Dr Resham Singh is projecting Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati as future PM of the country. Jasvir Singh of Moolbharti (S) party is highlighting plight of the labour class. There are 12,82,885 voters in this constituency, out of which 6,12,504 are women voters. Spread in an area of about 6,000 sq km, it has nine assembly segments Nihalsinghwala, Baghapurana, Moga, Dharamkot, Gidderbaha, Faridkot, Kotkapura, Jaito and Rampura Phul. There are 1,369 polling stations at 672 locations in the constituency, out of which 293 are sensitive and 214 hyper-sensitive polling stations. The maximum number of sensitive and hyper-sensitive polling stations are in Gidderbaha assembly segment identified as 26 and 103, respectively.
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Local issues weigh heavily on Bilaspur voter’s mind
Local issues dominate the minds of the electorate, even as they set out to send their representative to the national capital. Hamirpur constituency, of which this historic town is a part, is witnessing an interesting contest in which the sitting BJP MP is pitted against a rebel who joined the Congress in October last year. The parliamentary constituency has 17 Assembly segments that fall in the districts of Hamirpur, Una, Bilaspur, Kangra and Mandi. The original Bilaspur was the capital of its namesake, a former princely state that became a part of India after Hyderabad, a point of pride for some residents who remember its last ruler, Raja Anand Chand (1913-1983), as a just person who introduced educational and land reforms. He was elected unopposed to the first Lok Sabha and was MP for 17 years.
The historic town of Bilaspur was submerged in the Gobind Sagar, the reservoir of the Bakhra Dam, on July 1,1954, and the new town came up above the old one. Election activity in this hill town is at a minimal since it is presumed by most that Anurag Thakur, who won the recent byelection with a huge margin of 1.75 lakh votes, will win again. What the margin will be on May 13, the polling day, is what is being debated at various tea stalls all day long. Anurag, a former Ranji Trophy player, is president of HP Cricket association. He is also the secretary of HP Olympic Association. Anurag is the son of HP Chief Minister, Prem Kumar Dhumal, and the last year or so has seen much development activity focused in the constituency. His opponent, Narendra Thakur, a lawyer, is the son of another former BJP stalwart, late Jagdev Chand Thakur. Narendra has earlier contested Hamirpur Assembly seat twice wearing BJP colours, but he lost both times. The dam oustees have their own tale of continuing woe, since their claims for housing and commercial plots in lieu of the property they were relocated from have not been settled to their satisfaction. Of course, the BJP government’s giving benefit to its employees, a powerful lobby, and women-oriented populist schemes is helping it now, and it is reaping in the benefit of some projects that were started earlier and have come to fruition now. Dhumal has been camping in the constituency to ensure his son’s victory and his adoption of a number of development schemes is often associated with the election. As often happens, distribution of largesse leads to its own problems. Ram Thakur, a resident, says many educational institutions have been set up at Hamirpur, with just announcements for similar measures
in Bilaspur.
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In Amritsar, the winner has to sing hill tune
Amritsar, May 9 From the hills to the plains of Amritsar, it has been long journey for Himachalis here. Search for greener pastures made many of them to leave the hills of Kangra, Dalhousie, Chamba and Hamirpur and settle here. It is said the first batch of Himachalis arrived in Amritsar and adjoining Lahore in 1904. Though migration from Himachal to Amritsar has slowed lately due to more job opportunities in the hill state, yet earlier settlers will play a decisive role in the elections. Though most of the Himachalis have been living in different corners of the city, a majority of them are settled in Kangra Colony on the Amritsar-Batala road where many have built houses. These Himachalis have done exceptionally well.The late Pt Brahm Dass of Hamirpur had established Kangra Colony. To preserve their culture, they have the Himachal Sudhar Sabha (HSS). The society claims that a number of Himachalis in Amritsar, which includes Batala, has crossed 2.50 lakh figure that has one lakh voters in the LS constituency. The HSS says the Amritsar North seat could not have been won by any party without support of the Himachalis, who have 40,000 votes in this constituency. To Amritsar’s fame for delicacies and eating joints, Himachalis too have contributed. Shops selling kulche-chhole, a household name in other parts of the country, are owned by Himachalis. Anant Ram Kulchianwala, resident of Una, arrived in Amritsar in 1915 and started selling kulche-chhole. He has a string of shops, including those at Lawrence Road and Chhatti Khuhi. Dr Manmohan Singh (now Prime Minister) used to visit it. The city gave prosperity to Anant Ram.He helped Amritsari kulche-chhole and bund-chane to become part of Indian cuisine. Pt Udho Ram Sharma, father of cricketer Madanlal, hailing from Hamirpur district, came to Amritsar in 1928. The family still runs halwai shop in the Lawrence Road area. Most of the halwais, in catering, are from Himachal . Children of many Himachalis, who had come to the city without many resources , have grown up to be doctors, engineers and owners of big factories. The Himachalis have monopolised the newspaper business as well. The family of the late Beli Ram, who started as newspaper hawker in 1946, now employs 450 hawkers .Though they speak chaste Punjabi, they converse in Pahari among themselves.
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BJP determined to rewrite history
Saffron party has never been able to defeat Cong in its traditional bastion Rakesh Lohumi Tribune News Service
Shimla, May 9 The BJP has never won the seat which the Congress had lost only twice in an unusual scenario. It suffered its first defeat in 1977 when the Janata Party made a clean sweep of all four seats in the elections held under the shadow of the Emergency. Similarly, the 1999 poll held in the wake of the Kargil conflict saw the party lose the seat to Sukh Ram’s HVC, which fought the election in alliance with the BJP. The dominance of the Congress could be judged from the fact that the party’s vote percentage had slipped below 50 only thrice, with the highest percentage of 79.66 in 1984 and the lowest of 43.40 in 1999. In contrast, the vote share of the BJP had never touched the 50 per cent mark. It polled the highest of 42.58 per cent in 1989 and the lowest of 34.44 in 1989. The Congress candidate Dhani Ram Shandil won the 1999 poll securing 52. 78 per cent votes as the HVC candidate. He did even better contesting as a Congress candidate in 2004 when he polled 58.71 per cent votes. However, the scenario has changed completely this time. He no longer enjoys the benefit of the party in power and has also to contend with anti-incumbency having remained MP for nine years consecutively. On the other hand, the BJP candidate Virender Kashyap, who has the dubious distinction of losing all the ten elections, six to Lok Sabha and 4 to Vidhan Sabha, is contesting as a nominee of the ruling party for the first time. Moreover, it is for the first time that the BJP controls as many as eight out of the total 17 Assembly segments under the constituency and the Independent from Theog Rakesh Verma is also supporting the party. Moreover, Congress is seriously missing former CM Virbhadra Singh, who is contesting from Mandi constituency. Singh commands considerable influence in the region. The PCC chief Kaul Singh has toured the contriuency twice and it was only after Shandil sent an SOS, Virbhadra devoted a full day in the constituency, addressing as many as five election meetings in Shimla and Sirmour districts. The BJP, which is leaving nothing to chance, promptly responded with a meeting of CM PK Dhumal. Securing a good lead from Shimla district, which accounts for seven segments, is essential for Congress to win the seat, as it is not clear that whether its lead from Sirmour district will be enough to wipe out the deficit it is likely to suffer in Solan. On the other hand, Kashyap has a lot of ground to cover as he achieved the highest vote percentage of 42.58 in 1998 Lok Sabha polls when Atal Bihari Vajpayee wave was sweeping the state. He still fell short of the Congress candidate by a good 7 percent. The gap is quite large and it remains to be seen whether or not the benefit of being the party in power would help cover it.
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Royal razzmatazz in Mandi
Virbhadra Singh Maheshwar Singh
It ‘s a clash of titans in the high-profile Mandi parliamentary constituency where former Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh and ruler of the erstwhile Rampur Bushehar state battles it out with another Raja and four-time BJP MP Maheshwar Singh.
Interestingly, the contest is being seen as a virtual referendum on the performance of the 15-month old Prem Kumar Dhumal government with both the parties battling anti-incumbency factor in the run-up of May 13 election to the constituency considered to be largest in the state. While the Congress circles claim that the 15-month ‘misrule’ of the BJP coupled with the ‘step-motherly’ treatment to the old Himachal area would turn the tide against the saffron party, the latter is banking on the non-performance of Pratibha Singh, wife of Virbhadra Singh, and the siting MP. In fact, at the organisational level, it is also fight for supremacy between the two mainline parties as Thakur Kaul Singh and Jairam Thakur, state Congress and the BJP presidents, respectively, represent the Assembly segments falling in the seat. In a bid to curb factionalism, both the parties had already issued diktats to the local party leaders to ‘perform or perish’. Leaving nothing to chance and apparently to beat the anti-incumbency factor, Virbhadra, a five-time CM and four-time MP, is campaigning hard and relying on his personal rapport with the electorate on the oft-repected slogan of ‘Raja nahi faqir hai, Himachal ki taqdir hai.’ However, the former CM’s march to the Parliament may not be easy with Sukh Ram factor weighing heavily on the minds of the Congress poll managers. Sukh Ram, a scam-tainted former Union Minister, popularly known as Panditji, has refrained from campaigning for the Congress and is reportedly in New Delhi in connection with filing a review petition in the connection with his conviction. The tug of war between the Raja and Panditji is an open secret and latter’s appeal to voters to vote for the Congress has failed to materialise even as the campaigning is nearing its end. The only saving grace for the Congress is that Sukh Ram’s son, a sitting Congress MLA from Mandi Sadar, has put his heart and soul into Virbhadra’s campaign. Observers felt that while Singhi Ram factor in Rampur and Left and Muslim candidates in fray, could be a cause of worry for the Congress, Virbhadra’s larger-than-life image in the state politics could make the going easy for the Raja, who seems to have struck an emotional chord with the voters as his former kingdom covered parts of Rampur and tribal Kinnaur areas. On the other hand, Maheshwar is no novice in politics having batted it out in the constituency for about two decades now. A former state BJP president and three-time Lok Sahba and one-time Rajya Sabha member, the former Raja of Rupi state can draw consolation from the fact that BJP has 13 MLAs as against 4 of the Congress in the parliamentary segment .In the 2004 Lok Sabha elections, the veteran BJP leader had lost by over 66,000 votes to Pratibha Singh at a time when there was a Congress wave in the state. |
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Sachin, Sehwag’s body doubles play wooing game
At a time when the IPL is driving the nation crazy, the Congress seems to have made cricket an election issue in the Hamirpur parliamentary constituency by roping in look-alikes of Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag to take on Anurag Thakur, son of Himachal Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal. While Sachin and Sehwag battle it out in South Africa, their look-alikes — Jeevan Sharma (Sehwag) and Balbir Chand (Sachin) — are wooing the voters here in the run-up to AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi’s rally in Una on May 11 and the Lok Sabha elections on May 13. Attired in Indian team outfits, the duo during campaigning distributes pamphlets and seek vote for Congress candidate Narender Thakur on the development plank. In fact, they seem to have learnt the tricks of the trade fast as they eulogies AICC president Sonia Gandhi for her sacrifices, obvious references to the assassinations of her husband Rajiv Gandhi and mother-in-law Indira Gandhi. In fact, Balbir sounds politically correct. Since we are comedy artistes, we are campaigning positively seeking votes for the Congress and avoiding criticism against any other party, Balbir told The Tribune. Congress spokesman Deepak Sharma said this was the best way to counter Anurag’s false propaganda of his contribution to the state cricket. In fact, Anurag’s Ranji career had been a flop show as he failed to open his account in the lone match that he played, Sharma added. As Sachin and Sehwag were youth icons, even their duplicates would enthuse the voters for Rahul’s rally and the elections, Congress leaders claimed. Anurag, who is also the president of the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association, had blamed the UPA government for shifting the IPL tournament to South Africa.
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Azhar pads up for long innings
Ajay Banerjee Tribune News Service
Crowds turn up to greet Azharuddin and his wife Sangeeta Bijlani. Both are wooing the voters in their own style. While Azhar gives autographs, his wife hugs young women and seeks the blessings of elders with humility. Talking to The Tribune from his temporary place of residence, Azhar admitted: “This is tougher than playing test cricket. But I have settled in now and it will be difficult to dislodge me.” Azhar, who played 99 Test matches for India, appears to have the backing of Muslims, who form 45 per cent of the population here. After the Babri Masjid was demolished during the tenure of Congress Prime Minister Narasimha Rao, the community “blacklisted” the party. Azhar has a contentious mountain of history facing him. “I am not a leader or worker of the Muslims alone. I have to do something for the area and for all communities. The focus has to be work,” said 46-year-old Azhar. One of his main rivals - Rajiv Channa of the BSP - is using the “inaccessibility” factor to hit at Azhar. At public meetings, he challenges people to try to get in touch with Azhar. Shafique-ur-Rehma Barq, who won in 2004, 1998 and 1996 from the Samajwadi Party, has switched sides. He is now contesting on the BSP ticket from neighbouring Sambhal. Code trouble LUCKNOW:
Former captain of the Indian cricket team and Congress candidate for the Moradabad Lok Sabha seat in Uttar Pradesh Mohammad Azharuddin has been booked for violating the model code of conduct, an official said on Saturday. A case has been registered against him.
— IANS
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It’s ideological fight for this Independent
Gurdaspur, May 9 At five every morning, Gurmeet Singh gathers a handful of his friends, gets into a borrowed Alto car and heads for a brick kiln or a foundry to address the workers there. As an Independent candidate from the Gurdaspur constituency, with the CPI (ML) backing him, Gurmeet, who is fighting his first Lok Sabha elections, banks on support of the labour class. “Our voters are those who have to leave for factories, foundries and brick kilns very early in the morning. So we try to meet them just before their long day begins,” says Gurmeet, while talking to the Tribune at the district court complex. A former state secretary of the CPI (ML) Gurmeet fought the elections from Dhariwal in 1985 and 1997. He got 6,000 votes in total. This time he has mustered the energy to contest against three times MP Vinod Khanna and former minister and MLA Pratap Singh Bajwa. Gurmeet is not perturbed by his flashy, high-profile candidates. “Our voters do not go by what we look like but what we stand for,”
he said. “We will cross four-figure mark in votes this time. The aim is to try and win.
But mainly we use election time to meet people and tell them about our ideology”, he added. And what is that ideology? “People need leaders who stand for principles and are not opportunists,” he says. And does his family support him? “My family is my pillar of strength. Since my wife is in service so she is even helping our campaign monetarily,” he asserts.
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Man ostracised, fined for voting
Patna, May 9 His neighbours boycotted the elections on Thursday to protest lack of development. Chinis Kumar, in his 30s, was the only voter who excercised his franchise despite a boycott call in three villages of
Dharhara, Daudpur and Inayatpur in Nalanda, 100 km from Patna. Kumar, a resident of
Daudpur, angered the villagers by voting during the Lok Sabha elections. Voters of three villages issued a poll boycott protesting against “non-development” in their villages. Kumar was ostracised and a fine was imposed on him for going against collective decision of three villages, said Mukesh
Prasad, another villager. This was the first reported case in Bihar when a man was ostracised and fined for defying a poll boycott call.
— IANS |
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Caged dreams
A jail inmate has entered the Lok Sabha elections from Jammu and Kashmir to become a lawmaker with the aim of working for his release. Mohammad Iqbal Jan, an inmate of Delhi’s Tihar Jail, has defied the election boycott call and filed nomination as a candidate of Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party
(JKNPP) from the Baramulla constituency. Jan (27), a graduate from Kashmir University and resident of Sunarwani village in
Bandipora, 55 km from Srinagar, has been languishing in jail for nearly three years on the charge of carrying hawala money - a charge strongly denied by him.
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PTI Vote for vision
In a bid to encourage youth to come out and vote, a company has announced it will give free contact lenses to students who exercise their franchise. Under the company’s “Vote for Your Vision” promotion, students from
Chennai, where polling is slated for May 13, will get a free pair of daily disposable contact lenses. It’s as simple as showing the indelible ink mark and their student ID cards.
— IANS Day of
discounts
Radhika Sharma, a 19-year-old student has two reasons to rejoice on Thursday. One, she has cast her vote for the first time and second, her inked index finger is all she needed to avail ‘democracy discounts’ being offered by various retail chains, cinema halls and restaurants in the national capital. “I couldn't wait for Thursday to dawn. To begin with I am a first-time voter and I really wanted to do my bit in order to bring the change that we all keep talking about. Also, the fact that retail giants were offering discounts to anyone who cast their vote was an added incentive,” Sharma told IANS.
— IANS
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More micro observers
PATNA: The Election Commission has decided to place one micro observer at each poll counting table to ensure greater transparency in the exercise. The micro observers will be from the central services, state election office sources said on Saturday. “These micro observers will be entrusted with the task of ensuring that the sanctity of the counting process is not violated and the votes are tabulated without any error,” sources said.
— PTI CPM-TMC clash
NANDIGRAM: Supporters of the CPM and the Trinamool Congress on Saturday clashed at Jadubari Chowk in Nandigram during a 12-hour bandh called by the TC to protest against the arrest of three of its activists following clashes during Thursday’s polling. The clash, which saw bombs being hurled and guns fired by both sides, broke out when the TC was taking out a procession in the CPM-dominated area.
— PTI Mass rejection
NEW DELHI: As many as 851 Delhi voters went to the polling booths on Thursday but refused to vote for any of the candidates. They used section 49-O that enables a voter to reject all candidates. According to the Election Commission, among those who used this provision of the Conduct of Elections Act, the upscale New Delhi constituency led with 178 people saying:
“I don’t wish to vote.” — IANS
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Voter’s guide
On which finger is indelible ink applied in the case of proxy voting?
In the case of proxy voting, ink is applied on the middle finger
of the left hand of the proxy.
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We have Chief Ministers, former Chief Ministers and also former Prime Ministers in our ranks. It would not be difficult to elect a Prime Minister. — CPM Politburo member Sitaram Yechury on the Third Front The BJP respects Mamata Banerjee .... We are hopeful that she will return to the NDA — BJP leader Smriti Irani
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Local issues dominate the minds of the electorate, even as they set out to send their representative to the national capital.
Moradabad, May 9