BJYM vehicle submission a flop show: Cong

Raipur, May 25, 2012

Congress has termed the BJYM’s announcement of vehicle submission to it in wake of petrol price hike as a flop show and said that the morcha workers were rather scared of coming to Congress Bhawan.

“We were eagerly waiting for the BJYM workers to come and submit their vehicles to us but they did not come. We waited at Congress Bhawan from 3:30-6:30 pm, the time fixed by the BJYM workers to express their protest against petrol price hike. We also had form number 29 and 30 so that we could have accepted the vehicles by taking affidavit from them along with filled forms,” said DCC Raipur Urban president Inderchand Dhariwal.

“However, none of the BJYM workers reach Congress Bhawan. In fact, they were apprehensive that we would beat them. Therefore, they had urged the police administration to press adequate security personnel before Congress Bhawan,” said Dhariwal.

He advised the BJYM workers to submit their vehicles to Chief Minister instead of Congress and request him to cut down value added tax (VAT) on petrol from 25% to 4%. “They must tell the CM that they would not take back their vehicles till their demand is met,” he added.

The partymen who waited for BJYM workers at Congress Bhawan were RMC mayor Kiranmayi Nayak, party spokespersons Shailesh Nitin Trivedi and Mahendra Chhabda, Shiv Singh Thakur, Madan Lal Taleda, Dr Niranjan Haritwal, Dinesh Tiwari, Sheikh Shakeel, Asha Joseph, Ganga Bai, Ajanta Kaviraj, Budha Bai, Manoj Kandoi, Jagdish Ahuja, Rakesh Dhotre, etc.

Cong cooperative panel reviews poll process

Raipur, May 25, 2012

To review the process of ongoing cooperative polls, the meting of expanded cooperative committee of Congress was held at Congress Bhawan on Friday. The meeting was attended by committee convenor Baijnath Chandrakar, members –Domendra Bhediya, Ramlal Bhardwaj, Vinod Tiwari, Jagdish Mehar, Harish Tiwari along with Kurud legislator Lekhram Sahu and party spokesperson Shailesh Nitin Trivedi.

The committee said that the party got anticipated results in the first phase of polls on the basis of its awareness campaign among the farmers.

“Shocked by Congress performance, the BJP government is now ignoring rules of the cooperative polls,” the Congmen alleged.  

“On May 24, 2012, the polling of more than 90 committees was postponed because ballot papers had not been sent to polling centres. To mislead the voters, polling was started at 11 am instead of 7 am. Therefore, many voters reached the polling centres at morning and returned without casting their vote. The government actually did not want large turnouts in cooperative polls,” they charged.

“In some places, nomination papers have been changed. In this connection, the villagers have registered their complaints to district cooperative president but no action had been taken by far,” they said.

“Similarly, one poll symbol was given to two candidates in places like Masturi. This was deliberate error to confuse the voters. This triggered brawl in Loharsi where eventually poll was postponed,” they informed.

The committee pointed that irregularities continue to surface in cooperative polls as government is trying to influence the entire election process. “The biggest example of mismanagement in cooperative polls is uncontrolled officials as three assistant registrars have been suspended on charges of irregularities by far,” the committee said.  

Notably, a delegation of Congress cooperative committee had submitted a memorandum to the registrar Cooperative and urged to ensure conduction of transparent elections.

Cong asks govt to reduce VAT on petrol

Raipur, May 25, 2012

Congress on Friday asked state government to reduce value added tax (VAT) on petrol to give relief to the people. Reacting on Chief Minister’s statement that VAT reduction would barely give comfort to the public, former Congress president Dhanendra Sahu and party spokesperson Shailesh Nitin Trivedi said the CM was misleading people.

“The state government imposes 25 percent VAT on petrol and diesel. Currently the petrol price is Rs 75.28 out of which the government imposes Rs 15.06 as VAT. Similarly, the diesel price is Rs 51.04 out of which VAT imposed is Rs 11.21. Now, if the VAT will be reduces, the petrol and diesel prices will certainly come down. Hence, the government should stop deceiving people and must take steps in their favour,” the Congmen said.

They said the CM, instead of criticising the Centre on petrol price hike, should prove that his party is not anti-people by reducing VAT.

YC polls will be transparent: Nayak

Kick starts membership campaign

Raipur, May 24, 2012

The Youth Congress (YC) elections will be held transparently. About 2000 returning officers will be engaged in YC polls. The organisation aims to form committee in every booth. The words were expressed by YC poll commissioner Sachin Nayak while commencing organisation’s membership campaign in presence of PCC president Nandkumar Patel, senior leader Vidya Charan Shukla and legislator Ajit Jogi at Congress Bhawan on Thursday.

Nayak further said besides making new members, the existing members too would have to renew their membership. He also distributed membership forms to the YC office-bearers.

He said 33 percent organisational posts would be reserved for women. Notably, the YC has 377000 members in the state while the number of female members is over 1.50 lakh. The organisation targets to touch the figure of five lakh members during the membership drive.

Nayak admitted that the YC polls had some shortcomings which would be overcome in the coming days.

The pradesh returning officer (PRO) Harpal Singh Thakur informed in detail about the polling procedures to the YC office-bearers. He said the polls would be conducted in 20937 booth committees. There will be five office-bearers (president – 1, vice president – 1, general secretary – 3) in every booth-committee. All the three posts of general secretary will be reserved for backward class, scheduled caste, scheduled tribe and women.

Similarly, there will be ten posts each in Vidhan Sabha, Lok Sabha and state committees. In these committees, the posts of president, one post each of vice president and general secretary will be unreserved.

On the occasion, Patel said the state unit would not interfere into YC polls and would extend its full support for its smooth conduction. He suggested that at least 50 members should be made in every booth. “Our aim should be to reach every polling centre,” he said.

He pointed that the scheduled caste and scheduled tribe youth had to face problem in obtaining caste certificate and this factor should be considered during YC polls.

Shukla said the party’s national general secretary Rahul Gandhi had given new direction to the youth politics. He said adequate arrangements had been done to check irregularities in YC polls. He said the forthcoming Assembly and general elections would be a major challenge for Congress and the youth would play key role in changing the party’s fate.

Jogi said the youth should contest in YC polls with enthusiasm and composure. He termed youth as strength of every organisation and said they had gut to bring sea change.

Meanwhile, with the beginning of YC poll, there has been marked rise in claimants of different YC posts. While several YC office-bearers have announced to fight for state executive, Pankaj Mishra and Vipin Mishra declared that they too would contest for president posts.

The YC state president Uttam Vasudev also addressed the office-bearers. On the occasion were present  MLA Amitesh Shukla, PCC general secretaries Subhash Sharma, Devvrat Singh, Bhupesh Baghel, party vice president Deepak Dubey, DCC Raipur Urban president Inderchand Dhariwal, Dr Shivnarayan Dwivedi, Idrish Gandhi, Abdul Hameed Hayat, Iqbal Ahmed Rizvi, Daulat Rohra, Anjay Shukla, Deepak Mishra Vinod Tiwari, Sunil Kukreja, Manish Dayal, Dilip Chouhan, Anwar Hussein, Ashok Sonwani, Pankaj Mishra, Sheikh Musheer, etc.

Petrol price hike: Political parties lash out at UPA govt

Raipur, May 24, 2012

The political parties have come out heavily against Congress-led UPA government at Centre in wake of petrol price hike. As a protest, the state district committee of Communist Party of India (Marxist) burnt an effigy of the Centre at Jaistambh chowk on Thursday.

The secretary of CPI(M) Dharmraj Mahapatra said that the Congress came in power claiming to be a people’s party but every time its anti-people stand has exposed its original face. “The recent hike in petrol prices is a glaring example of UPA government’s exploitative attitude,” he added.

He said that the UPA had broken the backbone of the common man by continuously increasing prices of petroleum prices, diesel, kerosene, domestic gas, engaging in big scams and cutting subsidies since 2009. The CPI(M) demanded instant rollback in the petrol prices cautioning the Centre of wide public agitation in future.

Centre has surrendered before oil companies: BJPMM

The BJP mahila morcha (BJPMM) says that the Centre had surrendered before the oil companies. Terming the UPA government as failure in all departments, the BJPMM burnt its effigy in all the district headquarters on Thursday.

“The days of UPA government are numbered. By increasing the price of petrol, it has stoked inflation. People are severely upset with the Centre. As the Centre’s hints of increasing LPG prices in the offing, housewives fear that their monthly budget will make their life hell,” said BJPMM state president Shobha Soni.

She pointed that the Centre hiked petrol prices 16 times and diesel prices five times in last three years.

‘UPA govt deceiving people’

The BJP minority morcha (BJPMM) has alleged that the Congress-led UPA government was deceiving people. “When the UPA came in power in 2004 the petrol price was Rs 40 per litre, but now it has gone beyond Rs 70. The people will not forget this and would teach a lesson to Congress during next general elections,” said BJPMM state president Mirza Aijaz Baig.

He said the state Congress too must clarify its stand on the petrol price hike as it always claim of understanding public sentiments.

‘Increased petrol price an extra burden on public’

The Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) has termed the increased petrol price as an extra burden on common people. “We strongly condemn the price hike and demand immediate rollback,” said LJP state general secretary Rajesh Mukherjee.

“We also demand from state government to cut value added tax (VAT) on petrol to give relief to the people of Chhattisgarh,” he added.

He said the LJP would launch offensive against the Centre on petrol price hike issue and mount pressure on it till the prices come down.

“We will first burn an effigy of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at dharna spot Budhapara on Friday. Thereafter, we will stage dharna, block road traffic and call Raipur bandh in different phases of our movement against the Centre,” he said.

‘States, Centre exploiting people’

The mysterious silence of the state governments on petrol price rise hike proves that they are not opposing the Centre’s move. “The states and Centre are actually exploiting people,” said national treasurer of Azadi Ka Antim Andolan (AKAA) Anil Goyal. “The increased petrol price is the return gift of UPA to the public as it has completed its three years at office,” he added.

‘UPA govt must step down’

The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) has demanded from the UPA government to step down for failing to curb rising petrol prices. “This government is corrupt and incapable of handing the public-related issues. It has no right to remain in power,” said the ABVP members after burning effigy of the UPA government at dharna spot Budhapara.

Simplify revaluation system: NSUI to CGBSE

Raipur, May 24, 2012

The NSUI has demanded from Chhattisgarh Board of secondary Education (CGBSE) to simplify revaluation system in favour of students. The NSUI members also demonstrated before the board office in this connection on Thursday.

“The board has made the revaluation system complicated. It should rather stick to the earlier format which was simple as the students were getting the result in 15-20 days by spending merely Rs 300-400. Now, the new system will take about three months time and the student seeking revaluation would have to shell out about Rs 1500,” said NSUI state vice president Subodh Haritwal.

“Three months is long period and can affect further studies of the students seeking revaluation. As against earlier system, the student will now have to first apply for recounting. After one month, he will get the copy of the answer sheet. Thereafter, he can submit application for revaluation. The three-stage revaluation system is merely being adopted to harass the students,” he said.

He also trained his guns at board officials terming them irresponsible. “While we were demonstrating before the board office and tried to convey our message to the senior officials, none came out. Rather, they called police to throw us out. However, the board cannot shirk its responsibility and we will continue mounting pressure on it unless it simplifies the revaluation system as it was earlier,” he said.

On the occasion, Haritwal was accompanied by Pradeep Sahu, Shahbaz Hussein, Nadeem Salat, Shashikant Barore, Shiva Khandelwal, Gaurav Singh, Sheikh Asif, Naushad Khan, Chinu Pandey, Ravi Sen, Tarun Soni, Aniket Kumar, etc.

Mahant meets Andaman Nicobar farmers

Raipur, May 24, 2012

Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Processing Industry Charandas Mahant met farmers of Andaman Nicobar during the second day of his three-day visit to the union territory on Thursday. He assured that the farmers who incurred huge loss due to Tsunami and whose agricultural fields had submerged would get adequate financial succor from Centre. On the occasion, he directed the officials to rapidly implement the schemes meant to benefit the farmers in the island.

YC poll process begins today

Elections to be held before September 2012

Raipur, May 23, 2012

The YC poll process will begin with membership campaign of the organisation on Thursday. The polling officers will do the formal announcement of the campaign in presence of PCC president Nandkumar Patel, senior leader Vidya Charan Shukla and legislator Ajit Jogi at Congress Bhawan at 1 pm on Thursday.

The membership campaign will continue till June 20 while the organisational polls will be organised before September 2012.

With two-year tenure of the existing YC office-bearers completing in September, the membership campaign is said to prolong for about 28 days this time.  

According to information, the YC officer Sachin Nayak and pradesh returning officer (PRO) Harpal Singh Thakur have reached Raipur. They will provide initial guidelines of membership drive to the YC members.

Presently, the YC has 377000 members in the state and is targeted to accomplish the task of five lakh members during the drive.

The rules to fight YC polls have been slightly changed this year. Last time, the polls were conducted at ward and panchayat levels but this time the election will be organised at booth-level too. The change is seen as Congress objective to increase its domain at booth-level before it will be go for Assembly and general elections in 2013 and 2014.

This time, only those aspirants will be eligible to contest in state-level polls who had won previous polls at any level. The age limit to contest polls will be 34 years six months.

Many in fray for YC prez post

The YC polls are once again likely to be dramatic this time as a couple of Ajit Jogi supporters will try their luck to win the president post. Similarly, the aspirants from other factions will also throw their full might to get the highest post in the organisation. According to information, Jogi supporter current YC head Uttam Vasudev is interested to fight the president post again. Another strong contender from the Jogi camp is YC’s existing president from Raipur Lok Sabha Vinod Tiwari. The YC vice president Deepak Mishra, who belongs to Charandas Mahant faction, is also interested to win president post. Mahendra Gangotri is another name appeared from the organisation. The other contenders who would try to pose challenge to the strong contenders for YC president post are Sunil Kukreja, Danish Rafique and Abhishek Modi. The Jogi faction has already started preparation regarding YC polls and is likely to maintain its dominance once again.

SWF inspects free sewing training centre

Raipur, May 23, 2012

The Sewa Welfare Foundation (SWF) office-bearers inspected its free sewing training centre being operated at Tikarapara government school on Wednesday. During inspection, the SWF office-bearers interacted with 50 women trainees at the centre.

On the occasion, the cultural advisor of SWF Navneet Grewal said that women can take every challenge successfully. She informed that the free sewing training centre had by far imparted training to about 350 women.

Grewal urged the trainees to adopt the sewing skill in commencing their own business and becoming as bread-earner of their respective families.

The SWF’s educational programme advisor Meenakshi Rathore encouraged the trainees by saying that the current batch had responded excellently in honing their sewing skills. She urged the trainees, who had left their studies in the midway, to restart their education. She further assured the trainees that the SWF would extend its help to the trainees if they would wish to start their business in tailoring.

Another SWF office-bearer Alka Thakur said that the foundation would organise exhibition of the clothes prepared by trainees if they would ensure proper finishing of the products.

The SWF coordinator Rajnibala Dewangan informed that the next batch will begin its training from June 1, 2012. She informed that the registration process for the new batch had begun and interested candidates can contact the foundation as soon as possible.

On the occasion were present SWF founder and vice president Dilip Singh Tikariha, JS Thakur, BS Grewal, KL Sahu, Praveen Tikariha, Sunita Tikariha, Rama Dewangan, etc.

Railway station’s cloak room shifted

Raipur, May 23, 2012

The cloak room of Raipur railway station has been shifted at old GRP office. During shifting process, the senior divisional commercial manager Som Nath Mukherjee and other railway officials were also present. He informed that the new location of the cloak room would be convenient for the passengers. To keep luggage in the cloak room, the passengers should provide their train ticket number, identity proof, name, address and phone number to the clerk, he said.

SSS holds awareness camp on deaddiction

Raipur, May 23, 2012

The Sankalp Sanskritik Samiti (SSS) organised an awareness camp on deaddiction at Shyam Nagar (Telebandha)-based Aanganbadi centre on Wednesday. The objective of the camp was to make public aware of the dangerous effects of addiction of liquor, smoking, drugs, etc. On the occasion were present SSS representative Manish Awasthi, Gayatri Shrivastava, Nitanjali Dalal, Varsha Rawat, etc.

Juneja irked with no development in his VS area

Raipur, May 23, 2012

Raipur North legislator from Congress Kuldeep Singh Juneja is severely upset with the slow pace of development works in his Vidhan Sabha constituency. He is more infuriated because the development works being carried out by the Raipur Municipal Corporation (RMC) under his MLA fund in his region are either incomplete or have not yet been started.

Expressing his annoyance over the lethargic attitude of RMC zone commissioners of his area, Juneja has sternly asked them to ensure timely completion of all the development works and utilisation of funds only on the given projects.

Juneja, who was reviewing the progress of development works of his area on Wednesday at municipal commissioner’s office, categorically said that he would not tolerate delay in any projects unless there is a genuine obstacle.

“Why should people suffer at the cost of municipal’s negligent attitude,” he said. “Being a public representative, I am supposed to ensure comfort of the public and answerable to all the delayed projects of my area. This should not happen in future,” he warned.

He pointed that the municipal delays its tendering procedures despite receiving MLA fund instantly. “Tender should be called timely and works should be allotted quickly to the eligible contractor. Unfortunately, the municipal never pose seriousness in expediting this process,” he said.

He asked zone commissioners and other responsible officials to keep a tab on the municipal works being carried under his MLA fund. “These officials should regularly inspect the project sites to ensure that the quality of the works is being maintained according to given standards,” he said.

During the review meeting, he indicated that the roads in his region are deteriorating and needed macadamisation. “These works should be taken on priority basis but the municipal ignores them,” he said urging the municipal commissioner to macadamise roads of his VS area.

Further pointing water crisis in Raipur North, Juneja said the municipal should also dig borewells in different areas. “Since demand of water increases during summer, the municipal should make a permanent arrangement like borewells for the locals,” he said.

On the occasion, Juneja was accompanied by Congress workers Sanjay Soni, Amitesh Bhardwaj, Sunil Channawar, Sunil Chatwani, Charanjeet Singh Saluja, Sunil Bhuwal, etc.

Five wards facing acute water crisis

Raipur, May 23, 2012

Municipal’s five wards – Devendra Nagar, Pandri, Fafadih, Civil Lines and Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose are facing acute water crisis in this summer.

Taking serious note on rising public complaints regarding less or no water supply from the overhead tanks at Devendra Nagar and Bairon Bazar, the RMC speaker Sanjay Shrivastava on Wednesday summoned municipal’s water resources department executive engineer AK Malwe and directed him to ensure adequate water supply in all the areas.

Shrivastava said the five wards usually face water crisis every summer but the municipal was not taking any measures to improve the situation. He said at least the Devendra Nagar and Bairon Bazar overhead tanks should be filled regularly to provide municipal water to the ward residents on daily basis.

Besides, he said, water tankers should also be ferried in the wards. He asked Malwe to himself monitor the water supply process in the five wards.

He further instructed Malwe to repair all the pipelines in the five wards including the pipelines linking the Devendra Nagar and Bairon Bazar overhead tanks.

DCC Bilaspur prez supports McLeod, Cong frowns

Party disciplinary committee serves show cause notice to him

Raipur, May 22, 2012

While state Congress is still feeling the heat of party nominated Lok Sabha member Ingrid McLeod’s resignation drama during AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi’s May 18 Raipur visit, the firebrand Anglo-Indian representative’s supporters have started justifying her ‘surprising act’ during the eventful day as appropriate. DCC Bilaspur Urban president Ravindra Singh Thakur is said to be the first McLeod supporter who remarked in her favour before the media recently but the party leadership instantly shot show cause notice to him through disciplinary committee.

The Congress has reportedly decided not to spare any of the McLeod supporters if they would go against the partyline and talk abut her in public.

McLeod, whose resignation was immediately accepted by state unit incharge BK Hariprasada when she did so after being denied permission to share stage with Rahul Gandhi during Congress training camp on May 18, was infuriated with the treatment she received before large number of partymen and quickly left the camp venue.

She had tendered her resignation to Rahul Gandhi by writing him the letter and informing about the insult as well as embarrassment she had to face at camp before his arrival. In the letter, she even went on to say that she would never attend any of the Gandhi’s programmes.

Though, Gandhi did not talk to her in this regard, he did take stock of the situation from Hariprasada and party unit president Nandkumar Patel. The state unit, on the other hand, posed stern face towards McLeod and Hariprasada promptly accepted her resignation when she tendered it.

The state unit was already upset with McLeod’s activities as she had complained against Patel and Hariprasada to the high command in the past. However, it refrained from taking action against her in the absence of any evidence of indiscipline.

According to information, the party had adequate evidence against DCC Bilaspur Urban president who overtly favoured McLeod. 

UPA will get public mandate for third time: Congress

Raipur, May 22, 2012

The state Congress has congratulated party-led UPA government for completing three years successfully at Centre in its second term. The PCC president Nandkumar Patel and CLP leader Ravindra Choubey on Tuesday said that the UPA had launched several public welfare schemes in its two terms and would continue in the future too. They hoped that the UPA would form the government at Centre for the third time.

YC observes Swabhiman Diwas

Raipur, May 22, 2012

With Congress-led UPA government completing three eight at Centre, the members of Youth Congress (YC) on Tuesday observed Swabhiman Diwas. On the occasion, they distributed sweets and informed public about UPA’s eight-year achievements through placards.

Enumerating the list of schemes launched by the UPA government for public, the YC’s Raipur North general secretary Dilip Singh Chouhan said it started MNREGA to create employment opportunities in rural pockets, expanded road networks in remote areas and commenced star card schemes to provide free health treatment to poor up to Rs 30000.

“Besides, the UPA is providing food grains to poor at low rate but unfortunately the Chhattisgarh government is claiming the scheme as its own,” Chouhan said.

“The UPA also gave big relief to the farmers by increasing paddy bonus, i.e. Rs 600 per quintal in last eight years as against only Rs 60 per quintal hike in six years by the then NDA government at Centre,” he said.

On the occasion, Chouhan was accompanied by Sheikh Shakeel, NSUI state president Devendra Yadav, Nikhil Dwivedi, Mohammad Azhar, Akash Sharma, Bablu Raza, Shahrukh, Anil Yadav, Wasim Quasif, etc.

NSUI demo before PSC, stage court arrest

Raipur, May 22, 2012

Demanding bonus marks against erroneous and Uttar Pradesh-related questions in Public service Commission (PSC) exam, the NSUI members demonstrated before the PSC office and staged court arrest on Tuesday.

The NSUI members sloganeered against commission chairman Pradeep Joshi alleging that he deliberately put the Uttar Pradesh-related questions in the PSC exams.

The NSUI state president Devendra Yadav said the organisation would launch statewide offensive against Joshi if he would not announce bonus marks. “Why should the candidates suffer when the mistake has been deliberately committed by the PSC chairman,” asked Yadav.

“The Raman Singh government should apologise to the students and announce that it cannot conduct PSC exams successfully,” said the NSUI national delegate and Raipur district incharge Nikhil Dwivedi.

“The PSC habitually commits mistake. Even earlier, we have termed the Chhattisgarh PSC as Uttar Pradesh PSC,” he added.

“If Joshi is inclined towards Uttar Pradesh and unable to think about the welfare of Chhattisgarh students then he should leave the state,” said NSUI Raipur district vice presidents Akash Sharma and Bhavesh Shukla.

On the occasion, Amit Sharma, Karan Sharma, Abhay Thakur, Akash Choubey, Deepak Soni, Nihal Khan, Rohit Saxena, Ashutosh Tiwari, Chandan Barik, Bittu Tiwari, Ashu Pandey, Atul Dubey, etc.

NSUI to CGBSE: Give bonus marks to players

Raipur, May 22, 2012

The NSUI members on Tuesday demanded from Chhattisgarh Board of Secondary Education (CGBSE) to give bonus marks to the students who are state and national-level players. They also protested before board office wearing dresses of different games and playing cricket, hockey, etc.

“The government had announced in 2009 that the students who would play at state and national level would get bonus marks as they would not be able to shell out ample time for studies. However, the board has not followed the government’s instructions and deprived the players of their deserved bonus marks,” said NSUI’s former state president Sanjeev Shukla.

He hinted that the NSUI would aggressively agitate in future if the board would not meet its demands.

On the occasion were present Gulzeb Ahmed, Golu Gawli, Ajay Pal, Nadeem Salat, Shahbaz Hussein, Vipin Mishra, Taru Mishra, Anish Nizami, Sheikh Asif, Shashikant Barore, etc.

CCCI gives Rs 5000 to cancer patient

Raipur, May 22, 2012

The Chhattisgarh Chamber of Commerce and Industries (CCCI) has provided Rs 5000 financial succor to 17-year-old Shanu Agrawal from Basantpur (district Balrampur) who is suffering from cancer and taking treatment at Ambedkar hospital. The CCCI spokesperson Gurjeet Singh Sandhu, vice president Lalchand Gulwani and secretary Vinay Bajaj handed over Rs 5000 cash to Shanu’s mother Sudha Devi Agrawal on Tuesday.

CCCI praises police

Raipur, May 22, 2012

The Chhattisgarh Chamber of Commerce and Industries (CCCI) has praised police for finally arresting the criminal who had fired at two builders at Katora Talab on May 14, 2012. The CCCI spokesperson Gurjeet Singh Sandhu said certainly it was a major challenge before the police but they succeeded in trapping the culprit. The CCCI urged the police to ensure such incidents may iterate in future.

Govt weakening panchayats: Cong

Raipur, May 21, 2012

Congress has alleged that government had the panchayati raj system weak in the state by snatching rights from panchayats. “The ruling BJP is ignoring Constitutional amendments which aim to strengthen panchayats and give them more rights to function as a decision making body,” said PCC president Nandkumar Patel after he and Congress leaders submitted a memorandum to Governor Shekhar Dutt on Monday urging him to take cognisance of debilitating panchayati raj system in the state.

“The bureaucracy has snatched the rights of panchayats under silent approval of the government,” Patel charged.

“In last years, the BJP government gradually pruned rights of panchayats through notifications, circulars and directives. However, the panchayat representatives are not even able to use the existing rights given to them because the babudom is preventing them to do so,” he said.

“It is unfortunate that despite three-tier panchayati raj system being implemented in the state, about 1.50 lakh representatives do not have basic rights. This has affected the functioning of panchayati raj institutions,” he added.

The Congress submitted 27-point memorandum to the Governor highlighting that the all the policy-related decision were being taken by the CEO or official of the relevant department instead of panchayati raj institutions or gram Sabhas.

The Congmen also pointed that the meetings of permanent committees of panchayats in presence of government officials were not being held every month. Besides, the unanimous decision taken by the panchayats are also being ignored by the government officials, they said.

The Congress further indicated that the then Union Minister for Panchayat and Rural Development Manishankar Ayyer and Chief Minister Raman Singh had prepared a joint draft on August 28, 2005 to transfer 22 departments to panchayats but no step had been taken in that direction by far.

The Congmen said that works under MNREGA were being selected and approved by Collectors and CEOs instead of district panchayats and janpad panchayats. “The role of gram panchayats and gram Sabhas has been nullified,” they pointed.

Similarly, they said, the recruitment rights had been snatched by the panchayati raj institutions. “Even the panchayats are not being allowed to use their right to write annual confidential report (ACR) of the CEO, officials and employees of district panchayats,” they added.

While submitting memorandum to Governor Patel was accompanied by Satyanarayan Sharma, Tamradhwaj Sahu, Kuldeep Juneja, Yogesh Tiwari, Amit Pandey, Shiv Singh Thakur, Dr Shiv Narayan Dwivedi, Anjay Shukla, Harshad Mehta, Ashok Raj Ahuja, Shailesh Nitin Trivedi, Sushil Anand Shukla, Chhaya Verma, Jaswant Cladius, Udho Ram Verma, etc. 

Rahul Gandhi has full trust on state Congress: Patel

Raipur, May 21, 2012

Disquieted by the reports that much-talked Congress training camp exposed the party’s increasing factionalism and AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi too expressed his annoyance over it, the PCC president Nandkumar Patel on Monday attempted to do the damage control exercise by claiming that Gandhi had full trust on state unit.

“Rather, Gandhi infused energy in the workers during his brief visit to Raipur,” Patel stated.

“By pointing lacunae in Congress, Gandhi appealed the leaders and workers to unite and achieve the party’s long-term gaols,” he added.

“Gandhi asked all the Congmen to work as a party worker so that we could win public mandate in the coming elections,” he said.

Patel claimed that Gandhi’s inputs would help consolidating the party. “The BJP government has already been exposed. We will continue our protest movement against the government’s misdeeds and inform public about scams and irregularities done by the ruling party and the abject condition of villages, poor and farmer across the state,” he said.

He said the party and its frontal organisations would foster dharna and protest movements at block, district and state levels.

Cong pays tribute to Rajiv Gandhi

Raipur, May 21, 2012

Congress paid tribute to former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi on the occasion of his 21^st death anniversary at Congress Bhawan on Monday. On the occasion, PCC president Nandkumar Patel and other Congress leaders garlanded the image of Gandhi.

The tribute programme commenced with bhajan presented by Madan Chouhan followed by oath-taking ceremony.

On the occasion were present CLP leader Ravindra Choubey, MLA Kawasi Lakhma, MLA Kuldeep Juneja, Subhash Sharma, Ramesh Warlyani, Satyanarayan Sharma, RMC mayor Kiranmayi Nayak, DCC Raipur president Inderchand Dhariwal, Rajendra Tiwari, Swaroopchand Jain, Shailesh Nitin Trivedi, etc.

Sewa Dal organises symposium

To observe Rajiv Gandhi’s death anniversary, the Congress Sewa Dal organised symposium at Congress Bhawan. On the occasion, the chief organiser of state Sewa Dal Ashok Raj Ahuja shed light on Gandhi’s life and said him aim was to make the country leader in science and technology.

Ahuja further said that Gandhi decentralised power by implementing panchayati raj system in India.

On the occasion were present Shyam Bawne, Chatur Singh Jagat, Kriparam Sahu, Makhan Lal Vishwakarma, Ramdayal Daharia, Ramnath, Siddhu Prasad, Sangeeta Chandrakar, Jyoti Deep, Marjeena Begum, Ramsheela Bai, Savitri Yadav, Sunita Soni, Pradeep Soni, Rukhsana Begum, etc.

YC members donate blood

The YC members donated blood at Ambedkar hospital to observe Rajiv Gandhi’s death anniversary. Later, the YC’s Raipur North general secretary Dilip Singh Chouhan said Gandhi sacrificed his life for the nation and his contributions in progress of India would always inspire the young generation.

The YC members who accompanied Chouhan in blood donation at Ambedkar hospital were – Sheikh Shakeel, Mohammad Azhar, Bakar Abbas, Bablu Raza, Azhar Rahman, Anil Yadav, Wasim Quasif, Ujjwal, Gaurav, Imran, Nawab, Ashish Nand, Vishnu Sharma, Mahesh Kankerwal, Saif, Rajesh, Sonu Khan, Mukesh Kurre, Arshad Quraishi, Preetam, Jishant, etc.

Seven-day Sindhi-bhagat begins today

Raipur, May 21, 2012

The National Council for Promotion of Sindhi Language (NCPSL) will organise seven-day Sindhi-bhagat from Tuesday (May 22-28). The programme will be organised in different cities of the state.

The vice chairman of council Ramesh Warlyani informed that in Chhattisgarh Sindhi-bhagat would be organised by Sindhu Cultural Forum (SCF) and Sindhi Panchayat. He informed that Sindhi-bhagat would be presented by Kamal (Ajmer) and Sanjay (Mumbai) who are renowned followers of saint Kanwarram. The duo will be dressed like the saint during their performance, he added.

The programme organiser of the SCF Kanhaiyyalal Chhugani and general secretary Harish Vaswani informed that the Sindhi-bhagat will commence from Rajim-Nayapara from Tuesday.

The other cities where the programme will be organised are – Rajnandgaon – May 23, Bhilai – May 24, Tilda – May 25, Kanker – May 26, Bhatapara – May 27 and Durg – May 28.

Chhugani and Vaswani informed that the preparations regarding Sindhi-bhagat had been completed in all the scheduled cities. The SCF has assigned responsibilities to the forum members for better coordination of the programmes, the duo said.

The responsibility of preparation for Rajim had been given to Ashok Gurnani, Rajnandgaon – Jhamandas Athwani, Bhilai – Kanhaiyyalal Chhugani, Tilda – Harish Vaswani, Kanker – Mohan Khatuja, Bhatapara – Parmanand Chimnani and Durg – Suresh Shadani and Darshan Nihal.

Warlyani will be the chief guest of Sindhi-bhagat programmes while NCPSL director Nirmal Goplani (New Delhi) would attend the programmes at Kanker and Bhatapara, informed the council member Suresh Shadani.

Mission 2013 still a distant dream for Congress

Raipur, May 19, 2012

Congress claims that it has matured as an opposition in past thirteen months and is confident to win 2013 Assembly polls comfortably. However, polarisation persists to be a major concern in the party. Even national leadership is unsure of the party victory in this circumstance, thanks to Rahul Gandhi - who conveyed this message comprehensively to the state Congress during his May 18 Raipur visit.

The party has launched incessant scathing attack on ruling BJP since April last. Its ‘expose-BJP campaign’ gained momentum in the beginning of this year. PCC president Nandkumar Patel was desperate to start the year with a bang by using X-factors like Rahul Gandhi in the drive, but the latter, as accustomed, stalled his visit till May 18.

While the party had anticipated that Gandhi will use his usual tone against the BJP in Chhattisgarh too, the ‘youth icon’ - who had recently swallowed bitter pill in Uttar Pradesh, did the other way round and discreetly castigated the senior leaders for using muscle power against each other instead of posing united threat to the ruling BJP.  

Gandhi, like his other visits, had done ample homework before coming to Chhattisgarh. The state Congress incharge BK Hariprasada had explicitly informed him about the party’s actual condition beforehand. Besides, Gandhi had received large number of complaints against senior leaders.

Keeping in mind that Chhattisgarh Congress is divided into six factions led by Ajit Jogi, Vidyacharan Shukla, Nandkumar Patel, Ravindra Choubey, Charandas Mahant and Motilal Vora and knowing that the state would go for polls next year, Gandhi decided to first make a wake up call during his Raipur visit before training his guns towards incumbent BJP government.

He also hinted that the party lacked strength in rural pockets and never respected workers. He indirectly proved that the party was not fit to win 2013 polls and needed much hard work.

During his sojourn, his language was terse, blunt and apparent indicator that the party should stop daydreaming and start shaping in as a unit. Moreover, as if Gandhi’s attitude was not enough to foment the senior leaders, the DCC/BCC presidents the YC/NSUI members and the panchayat representatives exposed the filthy politics prevailed in state unit.

The highlight of the Rahul Gandhi-visit was a complaint of an YC elected representative against Ravindra Choubey which not only startled the latter but also left him tearful. This was an audacious attack of one faction against the CLP leader who had once been its stalwart.

In this backdrop, the party ironically claimed before Gandhi that it had formed different committees, launched protest movements against BJP government and succeeded in mobilising workers.

The BJP too has low opinion about Congress. It thinks that the opposition’s poll preparation claims were superficial. Fair enough. The Congress might have organised massive rallies and termed the BJP government corrupt citing CAG reports, but in rural areas – road, water, electricity, health and education are still the major issues.

Although, anti-incumbency factor can affect the poll results this does not mean that a political party will win the battle without working at ground level. Be it a BJP or Congress, the 2013 polls will be acid test for both the parties.

While the BJP, being in power, will have full government machinery behind it, the Congress would only have its hard work to count when the time will come to settle scores in elections. If you are in opposition, there should be only one jargon for victory – unity, which unfortunately is lacking in Congress. 

Rahul asks faction-ridden Cong to unite

Raipur, May 18, 2012

AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi has advised faction-ridden state Congress to unite for next Assembly polls. “This is high time for the party to leave aside factionalism and unite for the greater purpose. The partymen should be prepared for mission 2013,” said Gandhi while addressing DCC and BCC presidents during concluding day of the three-day state-level training camp of Congress at Rajkumar College (RKC) on Friday.

Exhorting the youth to get ready for 2013 battle, he said the responsibility to bring party back in power lies in the hands of youngsters. “We all hope that the party youth would bring sea-change in the party’s winning proposition in the next polls,” he said.

He further advised the workers to work in the direction of expanding the party domain. He also felt that the organisation needed more penetration in the rural pockets where the votes would prove as deciding factor in coming Vidhan Sabha polls.

“We lost 2008 VS polls not because the BJP was strong party but due to our weakness,” he said urging workers to eliminate the shortcomings through united effort.

Pointing that the BJP won back-to-back VS polls because it captured maximum seats in tribal region, he said the party too must concentrate in Bastar region. “The area is tribal-infested of course, but the party must ensure its presence there so that public would gain trust on Congress. I will myself go there frequently in coming months,” he said.

Gandhi said the people of Chhattisgarh were severely frustrated with the BJP government and wanted change and it was right time for the Congress to show its might to get back into power.

After his address, the DCC and BCC presidents complained him that the party ignores their suggestion while selecting candidates for polls. Gandhi admitted that he had received such complaints from other parts of the country too.

“In fact, at several instances, eligible candidates could not get ticket because the influential leaders promote the names of their supporters. But we will ensure to end such cult and give equal significance to the inputs of the DCC and BCC presidents,” he said.

Workers undisciplined, leaders divided: Rahul

Asks Congmen to unite or forget to come in power for ten years

Asks PCC president to coordinate with YC

Raipur, May 18, 2012

The Congress workers in Chhattisgarh lack discipline while the leaders are divided. If the scenario will not change and rift between Congress leaders will keep on increasing then the party, instead of coming into power, would have to wait for next ten years. The young general secretary of Congress Rahul Gandhi uttered these words while he was addressing Youth Congress (YC) panchayat at indoor stadium on Friday.

He pointed that the YC and the state Congress unit lacked rapport and eventually workers are feeling discouraged. He asked PCC president Nandkumar Patel to ensure coordinating with the YC in all the affairs and simultaneously asked the YC to support state unit.

Gandhi, who seemed frustrated by the reports of factionalism in the state unit, could not help warning the party that only stalwart partymen would be promoted while those who would damage party image by triggering controversy would have to face stern action.

He asked the YC members to works at ground level increase their presence in the state.

He said the Congress lost previous Assembly polls because of infighting. “This should be stopped and the message should reach to all the frontal organisations of the Congress. We do not want factionalism in the party,” he said categorically.

When Choubey could not stop his tears..

During YC panchayat, one of the members Tilak Chandel told Rahul Gandhi that he was an elected YC member from Saja Vidhan Sabha constituency, the seat held by CLP leader Ravindra Choubey, but he was not allowed to work. He alleged that his father was being harassed and he was even captivated for being active in the region. As Chandel pointed his fingers towards Choubey for his woes, the latter was stunned and could not stop his tears. Gandhi asked Chandel to lodge his complain in written to YC national president Rajiv Satav and he himself would see the matter seriously.

BJP supporters in Congress

The YC female members complained to Rahul Gandhi that several Congress leaders were secretly supporting BJP government. “Due to these people, our party is weakening. The national leadership should take stern action against them,” said the YC female members. The YC members also complained that despite being elected, they were not respected and hence their work affects. Gandhi said he would ensure YC members follow hierarchy. Another YC member Kusum Yadav said attending the programme of senior leaders was much different than winning polls. The YC state presidents Uttam Vasudev, who belongs to Jogi faction, indirectly targeted Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Processing Industry Charandas Mahant by pointing that the agricultural lands in Janjgir-Champa area had reduced rapidly in past seven-eight years.