In pre-poll scene, power games at play

Pratibha Chauhan

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With the Assembly elections in the state less than a year away, the political slugfest between the Congress and the BJP got even shriller. The legal and political woes of Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh didn’t seem to have changed much with most of the cases languishing in the CBI, ED and Income Tax Tribunal. The two rallies addressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Amit Shah recently were a clear indication of the saffron party’s agenda of capturing power in the hill state.

Virbhadra continued to remain the target of BJP’s allegations; his pre-occupation with his legal wrangles taking a toll on governance. However, the fact is that Virbhadra remains indispensable for the Congress, notwithstanding the charges he faces.

A behind-the-scenes power struggle too seemed to have plagued the BJP with Union Health Minister JP Nadda making a desperate attempt to take the centrestage and be the obvious choice for CM, dislodging Dhumal. However, that proposition seemed too far-fetched as Dhumal's popularity with the party cadre as well as the electorate remained unmatched.

The year, however, started on a very grim note as more than 22 people lost their lives and thousands were taken ill because of jaundice due to consumption of contaminated water, bringing a bad name to an internationally famed tourist destination.

Fortunately, the year saw less of natural calamities, an otherwise routine affair in the state. Nonetheless, the peace in the state was shattered with the gruesome kidnapping and murder of a four-year-old boy, Yug Gupta, son of a shopkeeper, in the state capital.

Death on tap

The death of 22 persons due to the consumption of contaminated water, supplied by Shimla Municipal Corporation (MC) from Ashwani Khud, virtually had the town and its suburbs in the grip of an epidemic. Jaundice cases with severe Hepatitis C infection poured into hospitals, bringing the faulty water supply system under the scanner. An FIR was registered and four officials of the Irrigation and Public Health (IPH) were suspended.

Temple trouble

The state government’s decision to take over the Raghunath temple resulted in a verbal duel between CM Virbhadra Singh and Kullu MLA Maheshwar Singh. While the latter accused the CM of being driven by political motives, Virbhadra said the takeover would help create better facilities for public and bring transparency and accountability. Maheshwar finally sought refuge in the High Court and the matter is still pending.

Dharamsala is now MC

Dharamsala was accorded the status of a Municipal Corporation on September 20, the second in the state after Shimla. Despite a number of towns, including Solan and Palampur, being in the race for being upgraded as a corporation, it was Dharamsala that won. Following this, Congress swept the corporation polls, bagging 15 of the 17 wards.

Asha’s oscillating political fortunes

Convicted by a Chamba court in a land grab case on February 27, the political fortunes of Asha Kumari, the Congress legislator from Dalhousie, oscillated throughout the year. Faced with one-year conviction, she got relief from the high court which granted her bail. Notwithstanding the conviction, Asha, who is also AICC secretary, was made in-charge of the party in the poll-bound state of Punjab in June.

Safety goes down the hill

Seventeen persons were killed and 26 injured when a private bus plying from Mandi to Kullu, plunged into the Beas near Bindravani in Mandi district on November 5. Reports indicated at negligence by the driver as the bus overtook a truck, hit a motorcycle, swerved and fell into the Beas. In yet another fatal road accident, 14 persons were killed and over 40 injured when a Himachal Road Transport Corporation (HRTC) bus, on its way from Dharamshala to Reckong Peo in Kinnaur, fell into a deep gorge in Mandi in May.

Maheshwar returns to BJP fold

Himachal Lokhit Party’s merger with the BJP saw the anticipated homecoming of the dissident leaders, who had floated the political outfit before the 2012 assembly polls. Sensing that there was no scope for a third front in the state, the breakaway BJP leaders, led by the lone HLP legislator in the assembly, Maheshwar Singh, decided to return to the BJP fold in August. With this, BJP’s strength in the Assembly rose to 28, the Congress 36 and four Independents.

When a four-year-old was murdered

Yug, son of a shopkeeper, was kidnapped from the courtyard of his house in the bustling Ram Bazaar area of Shimla on June 14, 2014. The fact that the heinous crime — he was tortured, starved and killed by drowning in a water tank — was committed not by a criminal gang, but by four local youth, shook every conscience and led to a huge public outcry. The case could be solved by the CID only a year later after a chance catch in a theft case.

Newborns swapped at hospital

A child swapping case surfaced at Shimla’s Kamla Nehru hospital when Sheetal, a staff nurse at IGMC, claimed that she had given birth to a baby boy, but had been handed over a girl. The matter went to the court and the two six-month-old babies reunited with their families only after DNA testing. Anjana Thakur and her husband Jitender Thakur, a local couple, turned out the girl’s parents. A police case was registered against the hospital staff.