The Tribune – Virbhadra to be Himachal CM; Sonia clears his name after CLP meeting

Rakesh Lohumi, Tribune News Service

Shimla, December 22. PCC chief Virbhadra Singh is set to take over as Chief Minister of the hill state for the sixth time with the Congress president Sonia Gandhi approving his name for the top post.

Earlier, the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) adopted a one-line resolution authorising the party supremo Sonia Gandhi to decide the leader. Virbhadra Singh moved the resolution and Vidya Stokes and Kaul Singh, the two other contenders seconded it. Besides the two observers deputed by the high command, Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dixit and AICC general secretary Janardhan Dwivedi, in charge of the party affairs in the state Birender Chaudhary was also present in the meeting.

The observers talked to Sonia Gandhi on telephone and she told them to ascertain the views of individual MLAs and report back to her. The observers met the individual members, which took about three hours, after which they apprised her of the majority views and she cleared the name of Virbhadra Singh.

The meeting started late as Dixit could not take a flight to Chandigarh due to fog and had to take a chopper to reach Shimla. However, Dwivedi, who had arrived in the morning, met a majority of legislators before the meeting. Senior leader from Kangra G S Bali, who was hospitalised in Delhi, and Ram Kumar, the Doon MLA, who has been booked by Panchkula police in murder case, did not attend the meeting.

The numbers were in favour of Virbhadra Singh who had the support of about two dozen legislators. However, his rivals led by former minister backed the candidature of Vidya Stokes in a last-ditch effort to stall him from becoming the Chief Minister for the sixth time. They were earlier supporting Kaul Singh.

As Union Minister Anand Sharma was reluctant to join the race, they propped up the name of Dhani Ram Shandil, who is a member of Congress Working Committee and has good rapport with the high command. It had led to an interesting situation as Stokes herself has been supporting Virbhadra Singh for the top post all through.

There was hectic activity throughout the day with supporters of Virbhadra Singh converging on his residence Holly Lodge. However, Stokes remained at her residence but the two leaders were in touch. A large crowd assembled at the Vidhan Sabha Complex where the meeting was held. Expecting that leader will be declared today, the supporters anxiously waited for the meeting to be over to know the outcome. However, they were disappointed after they came to know to that a single line resolution has been passed.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2012/20121223/main3.htm

The Asian Age – Congress to hold meet to pick Himachal Chief Minister

Asian Age Correspondent

Simla, 22 December 2012. A meeting of the Himachal Pradesh Congress Legislature Party will be held in Shimla on Saturday to elect a leader who will become the new chief minister of the state.

A three-member team of AICC observers consisting of Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit, Congress general secretary Janardhan Dwivedi and Congress general secretary in charge of Himachal Pradesh Birender Singh will be attending the meeting, Mr Dwivedi told reporters on Friday.

The Congress defeated the BJP while being led by party veteran and PCC chief Virbhadra Singh. Mr Singh, a five-time CM, has the support of over 80 per cent of the newly-elected MLAs; he appears to be the front-runner in the race for CM.

Mr Singh has said Congress president Sonia Gandhi will decide the CM. A surprise decision is unlikely. “The choice is pretty obvious,” said a leader who felt that Mr Anand Sharma, a known detractor of Mr Singh, is required at the Centre.

http://www.asianage.com/india/cong-hold-meet-pick-himachal-cmcong-hold-meet-pick-himachal-cm-290

The Tribune – Congress wrests Himachal, Modi scores a hat-trick; Anti-incumbency, Dhumal-Shanta rift sink BJP

Rakesh Lohumi, Tribune News Service

Shimla, December 20. The Congress bounced back to power in the hill state winning 36 out of the total 68 seats, while the ruling BJP had to contend with 26. As expected, the Independents put up a good show to bag five seats. The BJP breakaway group Himachal Lokhit Party, which had floated the Third Front with the CPM and the CPI, could just muster a solitary seat.

The Congress, which had 23 members in the outgoing House, improved its tally by 13 seats, while the BJP’s score came down to 26 from 41. The margin of victory was not very big but it was a creditable performance by the Congress keeping in view the prevailing anti-party sentiment at the national level due to unfolding of various scams and measures like reduction in number of subsidised LPG cylinders.

The political aware electorate maintained the three-decade old tradition of voting out the incumbent government and gave a clear verdict in favour of the Congress throwing aside all the predictions of a hung House. The strong anti-incumbency factor against the Dhumal government more than neutralised the impact of national issues such as price rise, corruption and FDI on which the BJP was banking on.

While four out of 11 BJP ministers, Ramesh Dhwala, Krishan Kapoor, Narinder Bragta and Khimi Ram, were defeated, some prominent Congress leaders like former Speaker GR Musafir, former ministers Ram Lal Thakur, Rangila Ram Rao and Vijay Singh Mankotia and national mahila Congress chief Anita Verma also lost.

The prominent winners included Chief Minister PK Dhumal, state BJP Chief Satpal Satti, ministers Gulab Singh, Mohinder Singh, Ravinder Ravi, Jai Ram, ID Dhiman, Sarveen Chaudhary. PCC Chief Virbhadra Singh, CLP Leader Vidya Stokes, Kaul Singh, GS Bali and Asha Kumari, former Congress minister, and HLP president Maheshwar Singh also emerged victorious. Rajiv Bindal, who had to resign as Health Minister, also won.

The Dhumal-Shanta Kumar rift cost the party dearly as evident from the poor performance of the BJP in Kangra were the party could win only 3 out of 15 seats while Congress bagged 10, while the decision of the Congress high command to hand over the reins of the party to Virbhadra Singh at the last minute helped the party win despite intense factionalism.

While the BJP lost out in its traditional stronghold of Kangra, made deep inroads into the Congress-dominated old Himachal Sirmour, bagging 4 out of 5 seats, and Chamba (3 out of 5 seats). The Congress did well in Shimla, the home district of PCC Chief Virbhadra Singh and CLP Leader Vidya Stokes, winning 6 out of 8 seats and the BJP securing just 1.

The two parties shared the honours in Mandi securing 5 seats each, while Congress fared well in the Kullu district, where it failed to open its account in 2007, winning 2 out of 4 seats and the BJP had to contend with one seat. HLP president Maheshwar Singh won the Kullu seat.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2012/20121221/main1.htm

The Tribune – Netherlands to set up 2 farm centres

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 1. The Netherlands will set up centres of excellence in Punjab and Himachal Pradesh. Talking on the sidelines of the AgroTech Fair 2012, Arie Veldhuizen, Counselor for Agriculture, Nature & Food Quality, Embassy of the Netherlands, said, “Under the Indo-Dutch Action Plan, they would be set up two centres of excellence in Punjab and one in Himachal Pradesh.”

He said, “The first centre in Punjab will cater to the dairy sector and focus on genetic and animal health while the other centre will act as a Post Harvest Knowledge Centre for potato farmers. In these centres, we are going to train farmers in best agriculture practices.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2012/20121202/punjab.htm#10

BBC News – ‘World’s highest polling centre’ in India readies for vote

Baldev Chauhan

Shimla, HP, 2 November 2012. Hikkim, the “world’s highest polling centre” is preparing for polls as the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh votes in the regional elections on Sunday.

Located at 15,000ft (4,572m) above sea level in the Himalayas, it has been described as the highest in the world by the election commission.

Voters from three villages, most of them Buddhists, will cast their ballots at the Hikkim polling centre.

Campaigning for the elections ended on Friday.

“The Hikkim polling station caters to the three villages of Komik, Langche and Hikkim and has 326 voters,” said S S Guleria, senior official in Lahaul and Spiti district, which borders Tibet.

The polling station is in a remote area close to a Buddhist monastery on a windy hill top.

The villagers say that night temperatures in the area have already dropped to around -5C (23F).

The region remains cut off from the rest of the world for half the year due to heavy snow over the passes.

There is no phone connectivity in all three villages, but there is a school and a post-office.

The state government recently built a winding road to these hamlets.

“The election team is equipped with very high frequency communication sets, including satellite phones, to conduct polling on Sunday,” Mr Guleria said.

Local residents say even though none of the candidates have stopped by to ask for their votes, they are still excited about the polls on Sunday.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-20177075

The Tribune – UPA on its way out, claims Sushma

Ravinder Sood

Palampur, October 27. Sushma Swaraj today alleged that the UPA government at the Centre had become a symbol of corruption as scams worth Rs 4 lakh crore were unearthed in the last three years.

She claimed that the government headed by Manmohan Singh would not survive after the winter session of Parliament as its main allies were leaving the coalition.

Addressing an election rally here this afternoon, Swaraj claimed that the government had failed to understand inflation which had hit the common man.

She said the UPA government was voted to power by the common man with the intention get good governance, but it was hiking prices of petrol and diesel and had put a cap on liquefied petroleum gas cylinders per year to six.

She said the decision to put a cap on the number of subsidised cylinders to six per family showed that the government was unaware of reality. She said price rise and corruption were key issues in the Assembly elections in Himachal Pradesh as these had made it difficult for the common man to survive.

She alleged that corruption in high offices, poor governance and lack of political will were the main causes for the rising prices in the country.

She said the common man had got respite from the rising inflation only twice, first during the Morarji Desai government and then during the NDA regime.

She claimed that the way Manmohan Singh had allocated coal blocks to his party men at the cost of the state exchequer showed that the Prime Minister was aware of revenue loss.

She expressed concern that the UPA government was not ready to form a special investigation team to probe the scam even though the country had suffered a loss of Rs 1,86,000 crore.

She alleged that it was evident that the Prime Minister wanted to shield his colleagues and party men who had amassed huge amounts of money in the scam.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2012/20121028/himachal.htm#2

The Hindu – Corruption is one of Congress’ gifts to people: Gadkari

Shimla, October 28, 2012.  A day after getting his party’s backing, Bharatiya Janata Party president Nitin Gadkari on Saturday made a scathing attack on the Congress on corruption, bad governance and unemployment.

Addressing election rallies at Reckong Peo in tribal Kinnaur district and Chopal in interior Shimla, Mr. Gadkari, who is facing allegations of dubious funding of his companies, said: “The Congress ruled the country for the longest time, except for brief period of eight years and poverty, unemployment, corruption and lack of infrastructure are their gifts to the people.”

Mr. Gadkari flew into Himachal Pradesh on Saturday morning to campaign for the November 4 Assembly elections.

He said that instead of helping people, the Congress had benefited big leaders and corporate houses while doing nothing to ameliorate the conditions of the poor, checking unemployment and curbing price rise.

Comparing the rule of the National Democratic Alliance and the United Progressive Alliance, he said prices were stable, the rupee was strong and steps were taken to strengthen the basic infrastructure during the NDA regime. The UPA government had failed on all fronts and did nothing for the overall development of the country.

“Farmers are committing suicide, the common man is reeling under rising prices and unemployment is on the rise. But the government has failed miserably to solve these problems,” he added. (PTI)

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/corruption-is-one-of-congress-gifts-to-people-gadkari/article4038880.ece

The Tribune – Congress banks on stalwarts’ wives and sons in Himachal Pradesh

Pratibha Chauhan, Tribune News Service

Shimla, October 13. True to the culture of “dynastic rule” that runs in the Congress, the party has fielded 15 candidates who are either wives or sons of senior politicians as compared to a mere three in the BJP.

The Congress, which already has about eight sitting legislators, who are wives and sons of former ministers and MLAs, has this time too lived up to the reputation of politics being run in the family by fielding five new faces from political families, taking their percentage to 20. These include Ajay Mahajan (Nurpur), son of former minister, Sat Mahajan; Vinod Sultanpuri, son of former MP KD Sultanpuri; and Yadvinder Goma, son of former MLA Milkhi Ram Goma.

In sharp contrast to the Congress, the saffron party as a rule has denied ticket to about a half a dozen claimants for the ticket who were either sons or wives of sitting or former MLAs. Rajan Sushant, MP, wanted ticket for his wife; Roop Singh, MLA, for his son and Speaker Tulsi Ram for his wife but the high command did not oblige.

As such, the BJP has this time not fielded any new face who is from a political family. The BJP only has three legislators – Vinod Chandel (Doon) – wife of former MLA Ram Pratap Chandel, Urmil Thakur (Sujanpur) – daughter-in-law of former BJP minister Thakur Jagdev Chand and Govind Thakur (Manali), son of former minister, Thakur Kunj Lal.

The list those in the Congress who have inherited political legacy of the family is fairly long. This includes Kush Parmar (Nahan), son first chief minister Dr YS Parmar; and Harshwardhan Chauhan (Shillai), son of former minister Thakur Guman Singh. Both are from Sirmaur district. Then there is another addition – Vinay Kumar (Renuka) whose father Dr Prem Singh was a seven-time MLA.

Congress Legislature Party leader Vidya Stokes (Theog) won in a by-election in 1974 after the demise of her husband Lal Chand Stokes. Besides, Anil Sharma (Mandi), son of former Communication Minister Sukh Ram, is also in the fray. Surender Bhardwaj, who won from Rajnagar in Chamba last time, is the son of former minister Vidhadhar. Nikhil Rajour (Jaswan) is the son of former minister, Sarla Sharma and brother of Viplove Thakur, former MLA.

Sudhir Sharma, son of former minister Sant Ram, has also been accommodated. He has been fielded from Dharamsala as his constituency, Baijnath was reserved for scheduled caste (SC) in the delimitation exercise. Another politician son contesting again is Neeraj Bharti (Jawali), son of former minister and MP Chander Kumar.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2012/20121014/main2.htm

The Tribune – Congress steps up efforts to placate Virbhadra Singh

Anita Katyal, Tribune News Service

New Delhi, July 27. The Congress today stepped up efforts to placate senior leader Virbhadra Singh who has offered to resign from various party committees which have been set up to prepare for the year-end Assembly elections in Himachal Pradesh.

Upset over the composition of these panels, five-time Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh is pressing for a greater say in the selection of candidates for the forthcoming polls and the appointment of a working president in the Himachal Pradesh state unit on the plea that PCC chief Kaul Singh is ineffective. The veteran leader has even threatened to leave the party if his demands are not met.

Realising that Virbhadra is the party’s tallest leader in Himachal Pradesh, the party Central leadership immediately despatched senior AICC general secretary Digvijay Singh to meet the former chief minister and assure him that his grievances would be redressed.

This was followed up by a late evening meeting with Ahmed Patel, Congress president’s political secretary, who is stated to have counselled Virbhadra not to go ahead with his resignations as his demands would be considered sympathetically. The two had also conferred last night when Virbhadra is said to have conveyed his annoyance over the handling of the coming Assembly elections.

Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, who has been appointed chairperson of the screening committee to short-list candidates for the Himachal Pradesh elections, is slated to meet the veteran leader tomorrow.

Unhappy over his exclusion from the screening panel, Virbhadra has offered to resign from the campaign committee, which he heads, and from the membership of the drafting and election strategy panels.

It is learnt that Virbhadra has told the party leadership that he should have a larger role in ticket distribution if he was being entrusted with the responsibility of ensuring Congress victory in the next assembly polls. Pointing to the party’s recent experience in Punjab and Uttarakhand, the veteran leader underlined.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2012/20120728/main4.htm

The Times of India – Punjab gets powershock from Himachal Pradesh

Priya Yadav

Chandigarh, 9 April 2012. The Union ministry of power has sought details from Bhakra Beas Management Board to work out the arrears that Punjab government owes to Himachal Pradesh for its share of 7.19 % in power generation at all projects of BBMB. The cash-strapped Punjab government is working out strategies to dispute Himachal Pradesh’s claims of Rs 4,000 crore.

A panel comprising officials from the Central Electricity Authority, the ministry of power and the BBMB are holding meetings to prepare a report on how much is actually due to Himachal Pradesh government by Punjab government. The latter has vehemently disputed claims of Rs 4,000 crore projected by the Himachal Pradesh in the Supreme Court. The report being prepared, said sources in the BBMB, will be submitted to the apex court.

“The BBMB is not directly in the picture but is only providing figures and statistics to the ministry of power about the total energy generated, cost of projects, escalation costs,” said an official of BBMB.

The matter has become a reason of concern for Punjab’s already precariously placed financial position, especially with the Supreme Court’s intervention. The state government is mulling to take a loan of nearly Rs 9,000 crore during the financial year 2012-13, to run its business.

Sources in the finance department revealed that the Punjab government is paying Rs 7,000 crore every year as interest on the staggering debt of Rs 85,000 crore. The bills pending with the government, as of now, total up to over Rs 1,000 crore.

The state needs another Rs 6,000 crore to settle energy bills of free power promised to the farmers and the poor.

And if the SAD-BJP government has to fulfill its election promise to employees, of giving 30% of money due as per Fifth Pay Commission, then another Rs 1,500 crore are required.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Punjab-gets-powershock-from-Himachal-Pradesh/articleshow/12591465.cms