Page 6 - Himachal Pradesh Government

PM Modi used money power to topple Himachal's Congress govt, says Priyanka

Prime Minister Narendra Modi made all-out efforts to topple Himachal Pradesh's democratically-elected Congress government by using money power, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra alleged on Monday. The Congress general secretary, who was campaigning in Chamba for the party's Kangra Lok Sabha seat candidate Anand Sharma, also said the Congress was in power for 55 years but could not become the richest party. The BJP, on the other hand, has become the richest party in the world in just 10 years, she claimed. "Modi made all-out efforts to topple the democratically-elected Congress government in the state by indulging in corrupt practices and using money power," Priyanka Gandhi said during the rally. She also asked the crowd at the rally if they would want such a leader. Priyanka Gandhi claimed that the only purpose of BJP leaders, starting from Modi, is to grab power at any cost and they indulge in corrupt practices, use money power, bribe legislators and mislead people in the nam

LS polls 2024: 37 candidates to contest four seats in Himachal Pradesh

Thirty-seven candidates will battle it out for Himachal Pradesh's four Lok Sabha seats while 25 are in the fray for the assembly bypolls in six seats. Friday was the last day to withdraw nominations. Polling for the four Lok Sabha seats and the bypolls to the six assembly constituencies will be held on June 1. The BJP, Congress and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) have fielded candidates from all four Lok Sabha seats but the main contest is between the ruling and the opposition parties. Ten candidates are in the fray in Mandi, where actor Kangana Ranaut is taking on Vikramaditya Singh. Singh's mother Pratibha Singh is the outgoing MP from the seat. In Kangra, which is also being contested by 10 candidates, senior Congress leader and former Union minister Anand Sharma is taking on the BJP's Rajiv Bharadwaj. The Congress has fielded Kasauli MLA Vinod Sultanpuri against incumbent MP Suresh Kashyap of the BJP in Shimla, where five candidates are in the fray. In Hamirpur, Union Minister

Yellow alert in Himachal after 104 roads blocked in rain, snowfall

Normal life was disrupted in Himachal Pradesh on Saturday as higher reaches received snowfall and rain lash mid and lower hills, blocking 104 roads and three national highways, officials said. The vehicular movement to Keylong was suspended due to a massive landslide at the Selfie Point near Sissu on Manali- Keylong highway, they said. As many as 104 roads, including 99 in Lahaul and Spiti, are closed due to snowfall, according to the state emergency operation centre. Movement on Gramphu-Losar, Darcha-Sarchu and Rohtang Pass were blocked in Lahaul and Spiti, it said. The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) has deployed men and machinery to clear the blockade and traffic is expected to resume in next two to three hours, a spokesman of BRO said. The local meteorological station has issued a yellow warning of thunderstorm at isolated places on April 22 and 23. It has forecast rain in mid hills and rain and snowfall in higher reaches for the next six days from April 21 to April 26 as a

Cong names 16 more LS candidates, fields Vikramaditya against Kangana

The Congress on Saturday announced a list of 16 more candidates for the Lok Sabha polls and fielded former Union minister Manish Tewari from the Chandigarh parliamentary constituency. The party also pitted Himachal Pradesh Minister Vikramaditya Singh against BJP candidate and Bollywood actor Kangana Ranaut in the state's Mandi Lok Sabha seat. Vikramaditya Singh is the son of the Congress' Himachal Pradesh unit chief Pratibha Singh. The candidates were announced during a meeting of the party's Central Election Committee here on Saturday evening.

BJP leaders trying to placate party candidates upset over denial of tickets

The BJP leadership in Himachal Pradesh is making efforts to mollify party leaders who are disgruntled over distribution of tickets to six Congress rebels for the assembly bypolls, former chief minister Prem Kumar Dhumal said on Tuesday. They (disgruntled leaders) will fall in line as the BJP is a cadre-based party, the senior BJP leader told PTI. After announcement of tickets to all six Congress rebels for assembly bypolls, resentment was visible among BJP leaders who had lost the elections in 2022 to these Congress MLAs. Most of them denied tickets are considered close to Dhumal. Immediately after the announcement of tickets, senior party leaders, including former chief minister Jai Ram Thakur, state party president, Rajiv Bindal and bypoll candidates Rajinder Rana and Inder Dutt Lakhanpal made a beeline to Dhumal's native village Samirpur to seek his blessings. Ranjit Singh from Sujanpur, Maya Sharma from Barsar, former minister Varinder Kanwar from Kutlehar and Rajesh Thakur fr

168 roads closed as fresh spell of snow, rains lash parts of Himachal

Higher reaches and tribal areas received fresh spell of snow while low and middle hills were lashed by intermittent hail and rains on Saturday as the local MeT office predicted wet spell in Himachal Pradesh till April 4. A Himachal Roadways Transport Corporation (HRTC) bus turned turtle near Maling in the Kinnaur district after skidding on Saturday morning in the snow but no casualty was reported, an official said. Traffic came to a halt at the Atal Tunnel in Rohtang near Manali following heavy snow. Kalpa and Kukumseri received 5 cm of snow followed by Keylong with 3 cm of snow in the past 24 hours. A total of 168 roads, including three National Highways, were closed for vehicular traffic in the state on Friday night as per the data of the state emergency operation centre. Most of these roads are in a difficult terrain in Lahaul and Spiti, where 159 roads are still to be opened. Intermittent rains accompanied by lightning and gusty winds were witnessed in the state's capital Shiml

Disqualified Congress MLAs, Independents in Himachal likely to join BJP

Several former MLAs of the Himachal Pradesh Assembly are expected to join the BJP and contest the upcoming bypolls on its ticket, sources said on Saturday, as the political crisis plaguing the state continues to rumble on. Six rebel Congress MLAs -- Sudhir Sharma, Ravi Thakur, Rajinder Rana, Inder Dutt Lakhanpal, Chetanya Sharma and Devinder Kumar Bhutto -- were disqualified on February 29 for defying a party whip to be present in the House and vote in favour of the Himachal Pradesh government during a cut motion and budget. The Election Commission has announced bypolls for their constituencies. Three Independent MLAs -- Ashish Sharma, Hoshiyar Singh and KL Thakur -- submitted their resignations on Friday. Bypolls are expected to be held for their seats as well. "We have submitted our resignations. We will join the BJP and contest the elections on its ticket," Singh had later told reporters. The Congress government led by Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu was last month plunge

SC refuses to stay HP Assembly Speaker order disqualifying rebel Cong MLAs

The Supreme Court on Monday refused to stay the order of the Himachal Pradesh Assembly Speaker disqualifying six Congress rebels, who had cross-voted in the recent Rajya Sabha polls in the state. A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta issued notice to the office of HP Assembly speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania and sought its response to the plea in four weeks. The bench said that pending adjudication of their plea, rebel HP Congress MLAs will not be allowed to vote or participate in the proceedings of the Assembly. "On the question of by-election on six vacant seats, we will have to examine whether the elections which have been notified by the ECI are to be stayed during the pendency of plea," the bench said. It posted the matter for listing on May 6 and gave the rebel MLAs a week to file their rejoinder. The filing of nominations for six vacant assembly seats starts on May 7. The six rebels -- Sudhir Sharma, Ravi Thakur, Rajinder Rana, Inder Dutt Lakhanpal, Chetanya S

EC launches special campaign in Himachal Pradesh to boost voter turnout

The Election Commission has launched a special campaign in Himachal Pradesh to maximise voter turnout in 414 polling stations which registered less than 60 per cent voting in the last Lok Sabha polls. Bypolls to six assembly seats that fell vacant after disqualification of Congress MLAs would be held simultaneously with four Lok Sabha seats in Himachal Pradesh in the last phase on June 1. The main focus of the campaign -- "Mission 414" -- is increasing the vote percentage in 414 identified polling stations which registered less than 60 percent voting in the last Lok Sabha polls, Chief Electoral Officer, Himachal Pradesh, Maneesh Garg told PTI on Monday. Awareness campaigns and cultural events would be held besides making these 414 stations model polling stations. Booth youth icons from first time voters would be roped in and special invitation cards made by children would be given to prospective voters, he said. Letters had been sent to the respective Deputy Commissioners in Febru

4 national highways, 279 roads closed due to snow, rain in Himachal Pradesh

A total of 279 roads, including four national highways, have been closed for vehicular traffic in Himachal Pradesh due to recent snow and rains even though the state witnessed a dry day on Friday. Manali received traces of snow in the past 24 hours, the MeT said on Saturday, adding a fresh western disturbance is likely to affect the western Himalayan region from the night of March 20. About 96 per cent of the total roads are blocked in the high altitude and tribal areas, and a maximum of 249 roads were closed in Tribal Lahaul and Spiti, 11 in Chamba and nine in Kinnaur on Friday night. Four roads are blocked each in Kullu and Mandi, one each in Kangra and Shimla, as per the state emergency operation centre. As many as 246 transformers are out of order and three water supply schemes are disrupted. There was no significant change in the minimum temperatures and Keylong at minus 7.7 degree Celsius was the coldest at night while Kukumseri recorded a low of minus 4.1 degree Celsius.

Himachal Pradesh govt issues notification for granting pension to women

Facing criticism for not honouring a poll promise of giving Rs 1,500 per month to women in the age bracket of 18 to 59 years, the Himachal Pradesh government issued a notification on Thursday for granting pension under the Indira Gandhi Pyari Behna Sukh Samman Nidhi Yojana. On March 4, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu announced that the state government will give Rs 1,500 per month to women and said a sum of Rs 800 crore would be spent on the initiative, benefitting more than five lakh women annually. According to the notification, income-tax payers, women monks permanently staying in monasteries, family members of employees, pensioners of central and state governments and employees of panchayati raj institutions, local bodies and public sector undertakings of the state and central governments will not get the amount. The other categories excluded from the pension are contractual employees, outsourced employees, daily wagers, part-time employees, ex-servicemen and their widows,

Why haven't you moved HP HC against disqualification: SC asks rebel MLAs

The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked six rebel Congress MLAs, who had cross-voted in the recent Rajya Sabha polls in Himachal Pradesh, as to why they have not moved the high court challenging their disqualification. Himachal Pradesh Assembly Speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania had on February 29 disqualified the six MLAs on the Congress' plea for "defying" the party whip that required them to be present in the House and vote for the budget. Their plea challenging the Speaker's decision came up for hearing before a bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna, Dipankar Datta and Prashant Kumar Mishra. The counsel representing the six petitioners requested the bench to adjourn the matter for either March 15 or March 18, saying senior advocate Harish Salve, who would appear for them, was not able to join the proceedings. "But tell us one thing, why didn't you go to the high court?" Justice Khanna asked. When the counsel said the petitioners have explained the reasons in the petition and they were electe

FIR filed against those using unfair means to destabilise govt: Himachal CM

The Chief Minister said that the Congress party has organised a torchlight protest against those who tried to destabilize the government

Congress govt looking to disqualify 7 BJP MLAs: HP LoP Jairam Thakur

After the 2022 Assembly elections, the Congress had 40 MLAs, while the BJP had 25 in the 68-member state assembly. The remaining three seats are held by independents

Himachal crisis: Pressure tactics will not save govt, say independent MLAs

Pressure tactics such as targeting businesses of Independent MLAs and their families is a futile exercise and will not save the government, said two Independents who voted against Congress in the recent Rajya Sabha polls in Himachal Pradesh. Speaking to PTI on Sunday, K L Thakur, Independent MLA from Nalagarh, said, "It is unfortunate that the chief minister has stooped to such a level and this kind of politics has never been seen in Himachal Pradesh." "I have been a former BJP legislator and had been associated with the party for years. I voted as per my ideology," he said. The Independent MLAs -- K L Thakur (Nalagarh), Hoshiyar Singh (Dehra) annd Ashish Sharma (Hamirpur), were among the nine MLAs who voted in favour of BJP candidate Harsh Mahajan in the Rajya Sabha election for the lone seat from the state on August 27. The MLAs voting for the Congress candidate Abhishek Manu Singhvi failed to make it past the half-way mark in 68-member House. The Independent MLAs in the state h

At least 9 more MLAs in touch with us, says disqualified HP Cong MLA Rana

Rajinder Rana, one of the six Himachal Pradesh Congress MLAs who cross-voted in the Rajya Sabha elections and was later disqualified from the assembly, on Saturday rubbished Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu's claim that some rebel legislators want to return, asserting that at least nine party legislators were in touch with them. He also accused Sukhu of misleading people with his statements. "No one wants to return. On the other hand, at least nine more MLAs are in touch with us," Rana told PTI. On the other hand, Sukhu claimed that "80 per cent of the Congress is together" and the rest were dissatisfied over "trivial issues". He claimed that he held discussions with the six disqualified MLAs and the situation would "surely get better after the formation of the coordination committee". About the cross-voting in the Rajya Sabha elections for the lone seat in the state, Rana said, "We took this decision to uphold the honour of Himachal Pradesh and its people." "Did the Congress

Four national highways among 350 roads shut as snow, rain lash Himachal

Snowfall in the higher reaches of Himachal Pradesh crippled daily life in the tribal Lahaul & Spiti and the Kinnaur districts while 350 roads, including four national highways in the state, were closed for traffic. The state's mid and low hills were lashed by intermittent rain while the Met office in Shimla has issued a red warning for thunderstorms with lightning, hailstorm and heavy rain at isolated places along with gusty winds reaching speeds of 40-50 kilometres per hour on Saturday. Snowfall in the higher reaches of the Chamba, Kinnaur and the Lahaul & Spiti districts led to the closure of roads and transformers becoming non-functional. A maximum 290 roads are closed in Lahaul & Spiti, 32 in Kinnaur, 10 in Mandi, eight in Chamba, seven in Kullu, two in Shimla and one in Kangra. At least 1,314 transformers are out of order in Himachal Pradesh, according to the State Emergency Operation Centre. The remote Dodra Kwar subdivision of Shimla district has been cut off from ..

RS polls: Digvijaya Singh targets BJP over political crisis in Himachal

Veteran Congress leader Digvijaya Singh apparently targeted the BJP as he alleged that the political crisis in Himachal Pradesh, which is ruled by his party, was created by those who have "taken the contract of toppling governments". Talking to reporters at Morena in Madhya Pradesh on Friday night, he also said the action against Congress rebels in Himachal would be taken at an appropriate time. Six Congress MLAs in Himachal Pradesh triggered the crisis this week when they voted for Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Harsh Mahajan in the Rajya Sabha election for the lone seat from the state. Himachal Pradesh Assembly Speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania on Thursday disqualified these six Congress MLAs for allegedly defying a party whip on voting for the state Budget in the assembly. When asked why the Congress was not taking action against the rebels in Himachal Pradesh, Digvijaya Singh only said, "It (action) will happen when the (suitable) time comes." On Friday, Himachal Pradesh

HP crisis could've been averted if issues of MLAs been addressed: Pratibha

A day after Congress' central observers asserted that there was no threat to the government in Himachal Pradesh, state party chief Pratibha Singh on Friday said the political crisis could have been averted had the grievances of MLAs addressed time. Congress' central observer D K Shivakumar on Thursday said Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu has taken responsibility for Abhishek Manu Singhvi's defeat in the Rajya Sabha polls -- which had triggered the crisis for the Congress government in Himachal Pradesh. Pratibha Singh said there was acrimony towards Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu as 14 months after the Congress came to power in the state, leaders who worked hard to ensure the party's victory were not "accommodated" by him. "Fourteen months is a long period and I have been consistently urging the chief minister to accommodate leaders who worked hard for the victory of the party but nothing was done," she said. Had the issues of the disgruntled MLAs been

Himachal CM Sukhu won't accept 'younger brother' Vikramaditya's resignation

Vikramaditya Singh resigned from the cabinet, alleging that CM Sukhu had "humiliated" the MLAs and disrespected his father. His resignation followed after the BJP won the Rajya Sabha polls in Himachal