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Arunachal ready for ITANAGAR, Oct 6: Security has been tightened as officials completed preparations for tomorrow’s Assembly polls in Arunachal Pradesh where...more Disaster
preparedness course for Indian Army CHENNAI, Oct 6: A disaster preparedness course will be held for the Indian army ....more Delhi
bypolls to test NEW DELHI, Oct 6: The October 13 byelections for Rajouri garden and Baljit Nagar seats of the Delhi Assembly .....more Fashion
designers on NEW DELHI, Oct 6: Redefining fashion paradigms, India’s top designers, including Sunnet Verma and Rina......more |
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Palace city spruced up MYSORE, Oct 6: The palace city is getting spruced up for the world famous nine-day Dasara festivities, commencing here from October 15, with several ...more Indegenous equipment to remove harmful cholesterol CHENNAI, Oct 6: A hospital in the city has indigenously developed an equipment to remove harmful cholesterol, ...more Actress Yookta Mookhey gets reprieve in dispute with landlord MUMBAI, Oct 6: In a temporary reprieve to actress and former beauty Queen Yookta Mookhey, the Bombay . . ....more Ahamed for comprehensive policy to tackle hostage issues NEW DELHI, Oct 6: Having successfully handled the 42-day Iraq hostage crisis, .......more |
Arunachal ready for polls today ITANAGAR, Oct 6: Security has been tightened as officials completed preparations for tomorrow’s Assembly polls in Arunachal Pradesh where three congress candidates have already been elected unopposed in the 60-member house. The Chief Electoral Officer Manoj Kumar Parida told reporters that two additional companies of Central Para Military Forces had been rushed to the state. With this a total of 42 companies of Para Military Forces had been given to the state by the Central Government for conducting the election in 1684 polling stations spread over 57 Assembly constituencies. Altogether 640 polling stations had been identified as sensitive and 307 as hyper sensitive . He said besides Kurung Kumey district, special security arrangements had been made for the district headquarters of seppa which witnessed tribal clashes recently. "We have sealed border with Assam and international border with Myanmar and holding flag march by the Army in the insurgents intested Tirap and Changlang districts adjoining Nagaland," he said. All poll personnel and security personnel reached their destinations including remote areas. In many areas they had to go on foot for days after being air-dropped by helicopters. They had to cross rivers in some places riding elephants. Besides poll materials they had to carry rations because of the scarcity of food items in some areas, he said. Parida said for the first time the Election Commission had given permission to the election office here to deploy poll personnel in the districts they reside in view of the difficult terrain. However care was taken to see the personnel were not from the same village which they belonged to. Parida said some official cars were seized for their use by some candidates. Tin sheets allegedly purchased out of MLA lad fund for distributing among needy people were also seized for violation of Code of Conduct. Atleast two top ranking Government officials had been divested of their charges following complaints on their alleged involvement in campaigning for their relatives. Congress is fighting for 57 seats and BJP 38. These apart, there are 11 of Arunachal Congress, 10 of NCP and 47 independents among the 163 contestants in the fray. While 26 constituencies will witness straight fights there will be triangular contests in 15, four cornered in 12 and five cornered in the remaining four seats. In insurgency-affected Tirap and Changlang districts adjoining Nagaland, Congress has fielded candidates in all the 12 seats. The BJP has put up only four candidates. (PTI) |
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Disaster preparedness course for Indian Army to be held CHENNAI, Oct 6: A disaster preparedness course will be held for the Indian army to help it respond swiftly in the event of any natural or man-made disasters. Preliminary discussions in this regard were on with senior military officials and a small group of army representatives had already attended the course, according to Colonel T J Hodgetts, defence consultant adviser in emergency medicine, UK defence consulate. Col Hodgetts, who had designed the major incident medical management and support course, told reporters here last evening that the hospital management principles had applicability in both civilian and military operational settings. The devastating earthquake that killed an estimated 20,000 people at Bhuj in Gujarat in 2001 prompted the the academy of traumatology (India) to contact Col Hodgetts to evolve a suitable disaster preparedness course for Indian hospitals. The inaugural National Disaster Preparedness Course for Hospitals (NDPCH) was held in Ahmedabad on the first anniversary of the earthquake and since then, the course had been conducted at various locations in India. Col Hodgetts said the course comprised lectures, practical skills, workshops and problem-based exercises. While the first day of the two-day course was devoted to a systematic pre-hospital response, the second day concentrated on the hospitals’ response. Participants will acquire the knowledge, skills and attitudes necessary to effectively plan for and respond to a disaster, he added. (UNI) |
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Delhi bypolls to test Sheila’s hold on people NEW DELHI, Oct 6: The October 13 byelections for Rajouri garden and Baljit Nagar seats of the Delhi Assembly are being seen here as a test of popularity of the Sheila Dikshit-led Congress Government after about one year of her second consecutive term as Chief Minister. The voting trend in these elections might give an indication of how people have assessed last one year’s performance of Ms Dikshit’s Government which has taken a number of harsh decisions, mainly hike in civic taxes, after being firmly in the saddle following her victory in the November 2003 elections. Rajouri Garden and Baljit Nagar(SC) seats fell vacant following the resignations of Ajay Maken and Ms Krishna Teerath (both of the Congress) respectively, who were elected to the Lok Sabha in the last election. The Congress has been winning both the seats for the last three elections. "It is certainly a one-sided election," say party candidates Rajesh Lamba (Rajouri Garden) and Rajesh Lilothia (Baljit Nagar). Their nearest rivals Ramesh Khanna (Rajouri Garden) and Rajkunar Mehra (Baljit Nagar) of the BJP feel that despite the history of the two seats being in favour of the Congress, the day-by-day deteriorating civic services coupled with hike in taxes for these services had created in the people a feeling of disenchantment with the present Government. However, Mr Lamba, a district president of the district Congress, says his predecessor Ajay Maken has done enough developmental work in the constituency to ensure his victory. After he was elected in 1998, he got new Sewer lines laid and established two power grid stations which have solved the constituency’s power problem to a great extent, and at present a Rs 7 crore project was on to improve civic services, he added. Fellow partyman Lilothia, the Delhi youth Congress president, has the same arguments to put forward. "Development was the issue in the last election and it will be so again in this election," said Mr Lilothia. The BJP says, the Sheila Dikshit Government has during the last one year taken several decisions that have burdened the commomn man. "The steep rise in house tax under the unit area method, arbitrary closure of industrial units, impending hike in water charges after privatisation of its distribution, permitting bars and shops to open till late night which is creating law and order problem are some of the decisions that have made life of the common man difficult," says Delhi BJP chief Dr Harshvardhan. Ms Dikshit’s "backtracking" on the issue of statehood for Delhi can also not be overlooked by the people, he says. "We are getting good response from the people who had only less than a year ago showed their preference for the Congress," said Mr Khanna and Mr Mehra. Mr Khanna said people in his area were facing difficulties with no water available even for basic necessities. Whatever little water was supplied by the Jal board was contaminated and had a foul smell. Ridiculing his rival Mr Lamba’s claims, he says all the Sewer lines laid during the Mr Maken’s term were laid only on papar and even where the work had begun, it did not progress, and the roads dug up for the purpose were never patched up. Baljit Nagar candidate Raj Mehra said the extent of under-development of his constituency can be gauged from the fact that it has no higher secondary school, no park and surprisingly no post office. Dr Harshvardhan said these failures of the Congress Government coupled with his backtracking on the issues of statehood for Delhi cannot be overlooked by Delhiites. The electioneering which has been lacklustre so far is slowly picking up. However, no national level leaders from the either side, except Mr Varun Gandhi for the BJP, have canvassed for the candidates, though state level public meetings have been addresed by the Chief Minister and Dr Harshvardhan. All the candidates said they were concentrating more on door to door contact than on public meetings and going on extensive ‘Padyatras’ daily. Besides Mr Lamba and Mr Khanna, Virendra Kumar of the BSP is among the 11 candidates contesting for Rajouri Garden. The BSP has also put up its candidate (Daya Ram) for the Baljit Nagar seat for which a total of six candidates are in the fray. (UNI) Fashion designers on pret tour to display latest ensembles NEW DELHI, Oct 6: Redefining fashion paradigms, India’s top designers, including Sunnet Verma and Rina Dhaka, will showcase their special pret ensembles in the national capital tomorrow and make lifestyle statements in the next two weeks during a pret tour to four metros. With eight designers touring five cities, the "Blender Pride Fashion Fringe 2004" promises to be an out of the box and unconventional platform to display fashion designers’ latest creations while travelling. Besides Suneet Verma and Rina Dhaka, Shantanu and Nikhil, Kiran Uttam Ghosh, Aparna Chandra, Asmita Marwa, Deepika Govind and Narendra Kumar will stamp their current fashion styles. Trendspotting, concept building on multiple fringe ideas, putting them together and making fashion statements through their designs will be the highlights of the novel tour, organised by Seagram’s Blenders pride. Seagram India general manager Bikram Basu said the five-city fashion tour starts with Delhi and travels to Kolkata on October 8, reaching Hyderabad on October 10, Bangalore on October 12 and culminating in Mumbai on October 21. (UNI) |
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Ahamed for comprehensive policy to tackle hostage issues NEW DELHI, Oct 6: Having successfully handled the 42-day Iraq hostage crisis, Minister of State for External Affairs E Ahamed today advocated a "comprehensive policy" to deal with any such exigency while making it clear that there will be no compromise on Government’s stand of not negotiating with abductors. "We must have a comprehensive policy to deal with hostage situations. It should be in tune with our stated policy of not negotiating with the kidnappers," Ahamed, who headed the Crisis Management Group (CMG) on the issue, told PTI here. Describing as "complicated" the process of getting the three Indian drivers employed with a Kuwaiti transport company released in Iraq, he emphatically denied that the Government had paid any ransom amount. "The Government did not pay even a penny," the minister said. Antaryami, Tilak Raj and Sukhdeo Singh were abducted in Iraq by a militant group ‘Islamic secret army - holders of black banners’ on July 21 along with four foreigners and were released on September one after their employers KGL paid upto one million dollars to the abductors. Pointing out that about 5,000 Indians were still working in Iraq, ahamed said the Government has advised them to return in view of the "prevailing security situation" there. "We cannot force them to come back but if they want to return, our mission will help them," the minister said. He noted that the Indian embassy in Iraq had prepared a list with addresses of all the Indians in that country. The Government has also taken measures to prevent others from going to Iraq, he said, adding these include putting of stamp ‘not valid for travel to Iraq’ on passports of those travelling to Kuwait and Jordan. The Government has also sought cooperation of Kuwait and Jordan to prevent Indians from crossing over to Iraq, a measure motivated out of concern for their safety and security. On some complaints of misuse of ‘single woman visa’ by those going to Gulf countries, Ahamed said the Government would be constrained to reconsider its liberal policy in this area to prevent exploitation of the fair sex. "The Government is under obligation to ensure the welfare and well-being of our nationals abroad and see they are not put to any hardships," he said. The minister, who returned from a three-day visit to Uzbekistan on Monday, said the Government wanted to enhance its cooperation with the central Asian countries. Ahamed, who attended the 100th birth anniversary of former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri in Tashkent, visited a school named after the late leader there. (PTI) |
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"Sweet" Kolhapur turning "bitter" for Congress-NCP KOLHAPUR, Oct 6: The "sweet" district of Kolhapur in western Maharashtra, famed for its jaggery and sugar production, may prove bitter for the Congress-Nationalist Congress Party combine in the October 13 Assembly elections with rebels queering the pitch. As many as 77 candidates, including four ministers, are in the fray in this district which has 12 Assembly seats. Disqualified MCP MLA Vinay Kore has made it all the more tough for the Congress-NCP combine by floating "Jan Surajya Shakti party". The Shiv Sena, which is contesting ten seats in the district, has also made inroads in a few constituencies. The Congress is contesting seven seats and the NCP five. Among those contesting are two cabinet ministers Social Justice Minister Jaywantrao Awale and Textiles Minister Prakash Awade (both Congress), Minister of State for Cooperation Baba Kupekar and Dairy Development State Minister Hassan Mushrif (both NCP), and former Maharashtra Health Minister Digvijay Khanvilkar. In the last General Elections, the NCP had retained both the Lok Sabha seats in this district. But, this time round, internal bickering in the Congress and NCP have come to the fore as denial of tickets have left many unhappy. A traditional Congress-NCP bastion, the Shiv Sena had just one MLA from this district since 1990 — the Kolhapur city constituency. But, political observers feel, the Shiv Sena has a good chance of increasig its tally because of the rebellion within the Congress-NCP and the other political parties in the fray. The loss suffered by sugarcane growers due to the agricultural pest "white wooly aphids" in the past three years, pollution in the Panchaganga river, drinking water problems, and inadequate civic amenities, are the main issues in this district while controversies like the one surrounding Veer Savarakar have no takers. While the Congress-NCP combine claims that the Democratic Front Government has adequately compensated sugarcane growers by disbursing Rs 25 crore, the saffron combine claims that the Government has failed to help the farmers. Mr Kore’s "Jan Surajya Shakti Party" candidates are contesting nearly all the seats, Bahujan Samajwadi Party is contesting all the 12 seats, CPI one, CPM one, Janata Dal (S) two, Janata Dal (U) one, and Peasants and Workers Party (PWP) — four. The Bharatiya Janata Party is not contesting in the district but is, however, supporting two independent candidates. The district has a total electorate strength of 24,58,927 of whom 12,17,537 are women. "The candidates are never seen after the elections are over," is the common refrain of the rural populace who say their demand for better prices for sugarcane, jaggery and agricultural produce, good roads and drinking water remain unheeded despite assurances in the past. Among the prominent constituencies in the district is the Karvir Assembly segment from where former Maharashtra Health Minister Digvijay Khanvilkar is contesting for a sixth term. Mr Khanvilkar represented the constituency from 1980 to 1995 as a Congress nominee but won the 1999 elections as a NCP candidate. In 1999, Mr Khanvilkar had defeated Congress candidate Subhash Bondre by a margin of 16,710 votes. The main challenge for Mr Khanvilkar this time is from Congress rebel Satej Patil who has been supported by the BJP. Mr Khanvilkar exudes confidence that his "good work" in the constituency and particularly during his tenure as Health Minister which saw the modernisation of the Kolhapur civil hospital and establishment of the Government medical college, will ensure his re-election. Satej Patil, son of educationist Dr D Y Patil, started his political career with the Congress. During the last Lok Sabha elections, he, however, campaigned for Shiv Sena candidate Munna Mahadik. After the Lok Sabha elections, he had sought ticket from the Congress for the Assembly elections but was denied the same. Maharashtra Textiles Minister Prakash Awade has represented the Ichalkaranji constituency for three terms since 1985 and is now striving for a fourth term as Congress candidate. He had defeated BJP candidate Shankarrao Pujari by a margin of 22,963 votes in the last elections. Mr Pujari is pitted against Mr Awade this time too but as an independent supported by the BJP. Mr Awade has also to contend with his one-time close associate and now rebel Dhondilal Shirgave and CPM candidate Suryaji Salunkhe, among others. Political observers, however, feel that Mr Awade is likely to retain the seat. In Vadgaon constituency, Maharashtra Social Justice Minister Jaywantrao Awale of the Congress faces challenge from his nephew Raju Kisan Awale of Jan Surajya Shakti Party and Shiv Sena’s Bhaskar Shetye. Mr Awale is seeking a sixth term having represented the constituency since 1980. In the last elections, Mr Awale had defeated Mr Shetye, who then contested as an NCP candidate, by a margin of 9,772 votes. Mr Shetye has since then switched loyalties to the Shiv Sena. In the Kagal constituency, the main contest is between Maharashtra Minister of State for Dairy Development Hassan Mushrif of the NCP and Shiv Sena candidate Sanjay Ghatge. In the last elections, Mr Mushrif had defeated Mr Ghatge by 2,881 votes. Mr Ghatge had then contested as a Congress candidate. Kagal constituency, incidentally, has always witnessed a tussle between two groups — one led by NCP member of Parliament Sadashivrao Mandalik and the other by former MLA Vikramsinh Ghatge. The contest for this seat has always been a keen fare with the victor making it to the Assembly only by narrow margins. This time too, it is expected to be no different. Maharashtra Minister of State for Cooperation Baba Kupekar and Janata Dal (S) state unit president Shripatrao Shinde have locked horns in the Gadhinglaj constituency. Besides Mr Kupekar and Mr Shinde, Prakash Chavan of the Jan Surajya Shakti Party who was a close supporter of Mr Kupekar and Shiv Sena candidate Shivaji Hidduggi are also in the fray. Congress Legislative Council member Mahadevrao Mahadik, who had campaigned against Mr Mandalik in the Lok Sabha elections, is now campaigning in support of Mr Kupekar this time. Both Mr Kupekar and Mr Mahadik are close relatives. Former NCP district unit president K P Patil, who resigned from the party, has challenged sitting MLA and Congress candidate Bajrang Desai in the Radhanagari-Bhudargad constituency as an independent. Six others including Janata Dal’s Arun Sonalkar and Shiv Sena’s Sudhakar Salokhe are also in the fray. Mr Patil had lost the last elections by a margin of 7,655 votes. But, this time, he has roped in Congress dissidents and political observers feel he has even chances of winning. NCP disqualified MLA Narsinha Gurunath Patil is contesting the elections from chandgad constituency against his brother-in-law Gopal Rao Patil of the NCP and former Minister of State for Egs Bharmu Subrao Patil of the Shiv Sena. Shahuwadi constituency is set to witness a "family tussle" with sitting MLA Sanjeevanidevi Gaikwad’s son Karansinh Gaikwad of the Congress crossing swords with his uncle Mansinghrao Gaikwad. Former MLA Babasaheb Patil-Sarudkar’s son Satyajit Patil of Shiv Sena is also in the fray. Mr Vinay Kore, who has floated the Jan Surajya Shakti Party, is contesting the Panhala constituency against traditional rival Yashwant Eknath Patil of the NCP. Mr Patil is a former Congress MLA. Mr Suresh Salokhe, the lone Shiv Sena MLA from this district, faces challenge from Congress nominee Maloji Raje, PWP’s Ravindra Chavan, CPI’s Vijay Devane, and former Kolhapur Mayor Shamrao Shinde of Jan Surajya Shakti Party in the Kolhapur city constituency. In Sangrul constituency, the main tussle is between sitting PWP member Sampatrao Pawar-Patil and Kolhapur district Congress committee president P N Patil. So far, NCP president Sharad Pawar, Shiv Sena working president Uddhav Thackeray, BSP chief Mayawati, and CPI general secretary A B Bardhan have visited the district and addressed election rallies in support of their respective party candidates. (UNI) Rebels queer pitch for big parties in Nashik NASHIK, Oct 6: Infighting and dissent dogging major political parties in Maharashtra have created some tough starting line-ups for the October 13 Assembly elections in constituencies in Nashik. Few of the fourteen Assembly segments in this key north Maharashtra district have escaped the marking of party rebellions. The Sinnar Assembly seat, with a predominant presence of Maratha and Vanjara communities, has six candidates including sitting MLA Shiv Sena’s Manikrao Kokate and a former minister, NCP’s Tukaram Dighole— both former Congressmen and both having to contend with, besides each other, rebels from their party ranks. Former Sinnar tehsil Sena chief T K Sadgir and NCP youth wing leader Suresh Garje have entered the contest as independents. Yeola assembly seat is under the spotlight for its NCP candidate Chhagan Bhujbal, who quit as deputy Chief Minster after being pursued by allegations of involvement in the multi-crore fake stamp paper scam. His main rival is sitting MLA Kalyanrao Patil of the Shiv Sena. Once considered a Congress stronghold, the Shiv Sena has won the last two Assembly polls from here. The Dabhadi seat has been held by the Hiray family for nearly four decades. This election is also an inter-family tussle for them with sitting MLA NCP’s Prashant Hiray, son of former minister Pushpati Hiray pitted against kin Prasad Hiray who switched sides from the Congress to the BJP a few months ago and is the son of former Congress Minister Baliram Hiray. Joining them in the fray are eight other candidates. All major parties have their representatives and one dissenter each from the BJP and the Shiv Sena. Chandwad, which faces an acute drinking water shortage, has eight contestants. Sitting MLA and Shiv Sena candidate is Shirish Kotwal of the Shiv Sena. During the previous elections in 1999, he defeated BJP’s Jaichand Kasliwal on an NCP ticket. He was expelled from the party along with seven others after withdrawing their support to the Government headed by then Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh. He joined the Shiv Sena and was given the ticket. In turn, Shiv Sena tehsil chief Uttam Bhalerao resigned and joined the NCP, and is now his rival candidate. The BJP rebel is contesting as an independent. Nandgaon constituency, presents a piguant situation for the Congress. This time it is dealing not with rebellion in party ranks but with an ally-turned-foe. The main contenders here are sitting MLA and Congress candidate Anil Kumar Ahir, Shiv Sena candidate Sanjay Pawar, and RPI (A) candidate Jagannath Dhatrak. The RPI(A) has fielded Dhatrak despite its understanding with the Congress and the NCP. Dhatrak had held the seat in 1980 as a Congress candidate. He had contested again as a Congress candidate in 1995 but was defeated by the Shiv Sena. Ahir had wrested the seat back for the Congress in 1999. The tribal dominated Surgana Assembly seat is a stronghold of CPM and Shiv Sena. The CPM candidate Jiva Pandu Gavit is contesting the election for the sixth time from this constituency. Kalvan is a Congress bastion, where the Punad Dam project is the main issue, which has been raised in every election since 1987. There are a total of four candidates including sitting MLA and NCP candidate T T Pawar, D K Gangurde (BJP), Prakash Pawar (BSP), and independent candidate Youvraj Pawar. Niphad constituency has nine candidates. Among them Shiv Sena sitting MLA Mandakini Kadam, NCP nominee Dilip Bankar and BSP’s Suresh Barve and Nifad Cooperative Sugar Factory Chairman Boraste Manikrao, an NCP rebel. NCP dissenters are also contesting in Baglan and Dindori constituencies where they are expected to pose a challenge to the official nominees of the Congress-NCP combine. Malegaon has six candidates in the fray including Dr Javed Ansari of BSP, Sunil Gaikwad of BJP, sitting MLA and Congress candidate Rashid Shaikh, Malegaon Mayor and Janata Dal candidate Nihal Ahmed. Ahmed was defeated by the Congress in the last elections but was later elected Mayor. (UNI) Cong leader Arvind Sharma lashes out at Chautala SONEPAT, Oct 6: Senior Congress leader and MP Arvind Sharma today sharply criticised the announcements made by the Chief Minister Om Parkash Chautala and his sons to "woo the youths by promising them jobs". Talking to reporters today, he charged that the Chief Minister was announcing various sops to the to the people part of "blatant political bribery spree" as he was aware that the ruling Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) would be routed in the coming Assembly elections in the state. He said that Chautala should first set his house in order before making any statement regarding important policies. In this connection, he pointed out that during the past few days "contradictory statements" were being made about creation of jobs by the Chief Minister and his sons. While Chautala has promised to give 35,000 jobs before the Assembly elections, his son, Ajay Singh, is talking about 20,000 jobs and his brother Abhey has announced one lakh jobs, he said. Sharma dubbed Chautala’s promise to give 35,000 jobs before the March 2005 elections as misleading as filling of these jobs would hardly make any any dent on the unemployment problem as there were 12 lakh unemployed youths in the state. Expressing his concern over the alleged deteriorating law and order situation in the state, the Congress leader alleged that a ‘jungle raj’ prevailed and everybody felt insecure in the state. He also claimed that no secion of the societgy was satisfied with the Chautala Government and they were beind the Congress and would vote in favour of the party in the Assembly elections. (PTI) Congress, BJP set stage for battle royale in Arunachal polls ITANAGAR, Oct 6: Arunachal Pradesh is all set to witness a battle royale tomorrow as about seven lakh voters including 33,1903 female and 679 service voters are going to decide the fate of 163 candidates, including nine women nominees, for the seventh Legislative Assembly of the state. This election is crucial for the Congress as and BJP as both parties are trying to assume power in the state. The Congress is banking on the development and stability plank, while the BJP is harping on "change" in the political scenario. Tomorrow s election will witness a straight fight in 26 constituencies between the Congress and BJP and Congress and independents, while 31 seats will go for multi-cornered contest between, Congress, BJP, Arunachal Congress (AC), Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and independents. Chief Minister Gegong Apang contesting from Tuting-Yiongkiong Assembly constituency will face Ojing Komboh of the BJP in a straight fight while Arunachal Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) president and former Chief Minister Mukut Mithi is facing ex MP Laeta Umbrey of BJP in a neck-to-neck contest from Roing constituency. Deputy Chief Minister Kameng Dolo contesting for BJP would face Tara Bagang of the Congress in a straight fight at Chayangtajo while his wife Mekup Dolo (BJP) is in a straight contest against Kumar Wai of the Congress from Bameng constituency. The other prominent independents with winning prospects going for a straight fight with Congress include sitting MLAs Thupten Tempa (Tawang) and Phosum Khimhun (Changlang south). Among the prominent former ministers and MLAs who are contesting from those constituencies to witness multi-cornered contest, either as BJP, NCP, AC or independents against the Congress include, independents - P K Thungon (Bomdila), Lijum Ronya (Liromoba), Tamiyo Taga (Rumgong), Rhoding Pertin (Dambuk), Indrajit Namchoom (Chowkham), Tinghap Taiju (Changlang north), besides NCP candidate Anok Wangsa (Pongchou Wakka) and BJP candidates namely Talo Mugli (Raga), C T Mein (Chowkham) and Tengum Ngemu (Changlang north). The campaigning which was a low-key affair came to close last evening. However, it reached a crescendo with the arrival of several star campaigners to the state. Ms Sonia Gandhi, Mr Pranab Mukherjee, Ms Ambika Soni, Mr Ajit Jogi, Mr D D Lapang and Mr Ramesh Chennithala were the crowd pullers for the Congress, while cine stars Mr Mukesh Khanna, Mr Gajendra Chauhan and former ministers Shahnawaz Hussain, I D Swami and Swami Chinmayananda were the star campaigners of the BJP. Though 195 candidates had initially filed nominations, six papers were rejected during scrutiny and 26 others withdrew. The Congress has fielded candidates on all the 60 seats out of which three are unopposed, while BJP is contesting 38 seats, Arunachal Congress on 11, Nationalist Congress Party on 10 and independents on 47. One independent candidate Tujo Bagra is contesting from both along east and west constituencies while BJP candidate from Yachuli withdrew recently supporting the NCP candidate. For the first time in the state Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) have been used in all 1756 polling stations. Dharampur (two) polling stations under Miao Assembly constituency in the state has only one voter, while Pacha primary school polling booth under Seppa east Assembly constituency has the highest number with 1932 voters, while Luguthan polling station under Mukto Assembly constituency is the only polling booth in the state situated at a height of 13,800 ft. The Election Commission had appointed 120 senior IAS officers as Returning Officers (RO) and Assistant Returning Officers (ARO) to conduct the election process smoothly. Moreover, the commission had appointed 40 officers as general observers and expenditure observers to carefully monitor the election activities in the state. These observers would report directly to the commission in any event of violation of model code of conduct and misuse of Government machinery by the ruling party. Instructions have already been issued to all the parties not to indulge in unfair means to woo voters. (UNI)
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