Other States - Himachal Pradesh   

Congress faces many rebels in Shimla polls

Staff Correspondent

Triangular contests in most seats likely

SHIMLA: Although the ruling Congress had sought affidavits from applicants for party ticket that they would not file nominations against the official party candidates in the coming Shimla Municipal Corporation polls, a majority of the disgruntled candidates have filed papers ignoring the party dictates.

A large number of Congressmen have filed papers as rebels for the 25 seats in the prestigious Corporation elections.

There are chances of triangular contests at a number of places as the presence of rebels has made the competition interesting.

Major parties are trying their best to win the Corporation elections as it is seen as a prelude to Assembly elections early next year. The Communist Party of India (Marxist) has fielded 15 candidates and is supporting independents and other like-minded parties on the other seats.

BJP spokesman Rajiv Bindal alleged at a press conference here on Saturday that the Congress was grossly misusing government machinery and violating the code of conduct for the elections. He said BJP would release its election manifesto on May 11 outlining the party's strategy for planned development of the historic town. He claimed that people in the town are fed up with the present dispensation which has miserably failed in building up the basic infrastructure. Lamenting that despite the Congress being in power in the Corporation for the last 21 years, he said it had failed to provide regular drinking water supply or electricity and ease traffic on the roads of the town.

The CPI (M), which had won the Shimla Assembly seat once and secured more votes than the BJP in last elections, on the other hand has claimed that it is in a position to provide a viable alternative to the incumbent Congress-run Shimla Municipal Corporation and is going to make the fight triangular for all 25 seats.

The CPI (M) has described the Congress-ruled Corporation as a big failure, adding that its indifference towards residents has led to epidemics like malaria and jaundice in the hill Capital. "The essential requirement of the people of the town to get clean and adequate water remains a distant reality. Drinking water is being supplied only every third day in a majority of localities in the town and that too with a strict rationing."

The left party has alleged that the Congress and the BJP had deprived the people of nearby suburbs (newly merged areas of Special Area Development Authority) of their democratic rights for nearly 10 years. There were no elections or existence of any elected political body in these areas for more than a decade. Their demand for regularisation of houses has not been considered and no government has come out with a concrete pro-people "retention policy" in this area.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Congress faces many rebels in Shimla polls

Copyright © 2007, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu