Page 9 - Himachal Pradesh

Infra, connectivity should be main focus: Himachal tourism stakeholders

Irrespective of which party forms the next government, infrastructure development and fixing connectivity issues should be the main focus in Himachal Pradesh, stakeholders of the state's tourism industry said. The state and central government should complete projects on proposed airport constructions, improve rail connectivity and build facilities along the highways for tourists, they said. "We are businessmen and do not wish to face the ire of any political party. Single engine or double engine, the government should work for development," said Nishant Nag, the owner of a hotel and amusement park in Shimla. The tourism economy of Himachal Pradesh accounted for seven per cent of state GDP amounting to Rs 14,000 crore, and generates 14.2 per cent direct and indirect employment, as per the latest economic survey. Candidates of both BJP and Congress contesting the Lok Sabha elections from Shimla, Mandi and Kangra seats have mentioned promotion of tourism and better connectivity as the

Himachal Congress ex-MLAs contesting assembly bypolls on BJP ticket

Facing a barrage of criticism, dubbed "bike hue (sold out) mafia" by Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, the six disqualified Congress MLAs contesting the assembly bypolls on a BJP ticket have resolved to fight fire with fire. Not apologetic and in a mood to retaliate, they say it is the public who voted for them that comes first and not the party they belong to. Rajinder Rana (Sujanpur), Sudhir Sharma (Dharamshala), Ravi Thakur (Lahaul & Spiti), Inder Dutt Lakhanpal (Barsar), Chaitanya Sharma (Gagret) and Devinder Kumar Bhutto (Kutlehar), along with three Independent lawmakers, voted for Harsh Mahajan -- the BJP's nominee in the Rajya Sabha election on February 27. Two days later, the six Congress MLAs were disqualified from the assembly for defying a party whip to be present in the House and vote in favour of the government. They later joined the BJP and were fielded from their respective constituencies on a saffron party ticket. Ever since the cross-voting ..

PM couldn't give Rs 9,000 cr for Himachal monsoon disaster, says Rahul

Prime Minister Narendra Modi waived loans worth Rs 16 lakh-crore of 22 people in the last 10 years but could not give Rs 9,000 crore to deal with the disaster caused by monsoon rains in Himachal Pradesh last year, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said on Saturday. Rather than helping the hilly state, Modi made an attempt to "steal" the state's elected government, Gandhi said. His statement came days after PM Modi alleged wrongful distribution of Central flood aids by the Congress government in the state and promised action. Addressing an election rally at Nahan in Himachal Pradesh's Sirmaur district in support of Congress candidate from Shimla (SC) Parliamentary constituency Vinod Sultanpuri, he said Modi handed over all storage facilities to one person to control the prices of apple. The share prices of Adani-owned companies rise whenever Narendra Modi is sworn in, Gandhi claimed. In his speech, Gandhi promised Minimum Support Price on crops and farm loan-waiver if his party comes to

Will PM Modi scrap Agnipath amid opposition from Himachal, asks Congress

The Congress on Friday said the people of Himachal Pradesh have repeatedly voiced their opposition to the Agnipath scheme and asked if Prime Minister Narendra Modi will commit to scrapping the "ill-conceived" military recruitment programme. Congress leader Jairam Ramesh posed several questions to the prime minister ahead of his rallies in Himachal Pradesh. "How much did the attempt to topple the state government cost the BJP? Will the outgoing prime minister commit to scrapping the Agnipath scheme? Why has the Modi sarkar not delivered on railway projects? Why did the outgoing prime minister not declare the July 2023 floods a national calamity?" the Congress general secretary asked. He also alleged that the BJP's blatant disregard for democratic values has been on full display in Himachal Pradesh. The six MLAs who were disqualified from the assembly for selling out to the BJP during the Rajya Sabha elections have shamelessly been named as candidates for the seats they vacated, he .

LS polls 2024: PM Modi to address rallies in Himachal, Punjab today

Prominent campaigners from both major political parties, the BJP and Congress, are vigorously supporting their candidates

BJP insulting nation builders, trying to disprove history: Congress

Congress candidate from Himachal Pradesh's Kangra Lok Sabha seat Anand Sharma on Monday accused the BJP of trying to disprove history and insulting the nation builders as he asserted that Manmohan Singh left a strong India and a stout economy in 2014. At an election rally in Churah of Chamba district, he also lashed at the BJP-led Centre for its "step brotherly treatment" towards the hill state during last year's monsoon disaster. All states are given relief package by the Centre from the National Disaster Relief Fund in the wake of a calamity but Himachal Pradesh was deprived of it as the people voted for the Congress in the assembly polls, Sharma claimed. "The BJP is extolling the 10 years the Narendra Modi government as 'Amrit Kaal' but it was 10 years of 'anyay' (injustice), the senior Congress leader said as he called upon people to vote for his party "to bring back the era of justice". Addressing the rally, he said, "Independent India's journey did not commence in May 2014 as

IMD issues heatwave warning for several districts across Himachal Pradesh

The IMD said that the average maximum temperatures in the state are likely to increase by 2 to 3 degrees and to remain appreciably above normal during the period

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

Lok Sabha elections: Kangana Ranaut's holdings show immovable asset skew

Real estate accounts for nearly 70% of wealth

LS polls: PM Modi, Shah among 40 star campaigners for BJP in Himachal

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, party president J P Nadda and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will be the star campaigners for the BJP for the June 1 Lok Sabha election and Assembly bypolls in Himachal Pradesh. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) released its list of 40 star campaigners on Tuesday. The list also includes the names of Union ministers Smriti Irani, Rajnath Singh, Nitin Gadkari, Piyush Goyal, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Hardeep Singh Puri, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma, Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini, former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and former Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar. Union minister and BJP candidate from the Hamirpur Lok Sabha seat Anurag Thakur has also been named as a star campaigner, along with the saffron party's nominee from Mandi ..

Anand Sharma will definitely be minister in INDIA govt, says CM Sukhu

Former Union minister Anand Sharma will "definitely" be a minister in an INDIA bloc government at the Centre, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said on Sunday. Sharma, who served as the Union minister for commerce and industry between 2009 and 2014, is the Congress candidate from the Kangra Lok Sabha seat. Campaigning for Sharma in the Jwalamukhi assembly segment, Sukhu highlighted the former Union minister's contributions to the state during his previous stint in the central government. "Kangra needs an MP whose voice is heard across the country. Anand Sharma has been fielded from Kangra as he is a tall leader and contributed a lot to Himachal as Union minister," Sukhu said. The National Institute of Fashion Technology in Kangra, spice park in Nadaun, regional passport office in Shimla, expansion of industrial areas in the state, and the Shimla-Matour four-lane highway are results of his vision. If Sharma wins, his berth in an INDIA bloc government is certain,

6 MLAs withdraw plea from SC against disqualification from HP Assembly

Six former Congress MLAs on Friday withdrew their plea from the Supreme Court against the Himachal Pradesh Assembly speaker's decision to disqualify them from the House. A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta was told by senior advocate Abhinav Mukherjee, appearing for the former MLAs, that they want to withdraw the petition. "We knew this was going to happen due to the elections," the bench observed while allowing them to withdraw their plea. The six former MLAs are now contesting assembly bypolls, which were necessitated after their disqualification, as BJP candidates. On March 18, the top court had refused to stay the Himachal Pradesh Assembly speaker's order disqualifying the former MLAs who had cross-voted in the Rajya Sabha polls in the state. The six former 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 Congress whip to be present in

HPBOSE 2024 10th result OUT: Result declared with pass percentage of 74.61

The HPBOSE has announced the Class 10 results at jagranjosh.com/results and hpbose.org. This year, Ridhima Sharma has topped with a score of 99.86% and the overall pass percentage is 74.61%

India's first multi-purpose green hydrogen pilot project inaugurated

India's first multi-purpose green hydrogen pilot project at 1,500 MW Nathpa Jhakri Hydro Power Station (NJHPS) in Himachal's Jhakri was inaugurated on Wednesday, according to Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam (SJVN) officials. SJVN Chairman and Managing Director Geeta Kapur inaugurated a 20Nm3/hr electrolyzer and 25kW fuel cell capacity-based green hydrogen pilot project, a statement issued here said. The project is the nation's first multi-purpose (combined heat and power) green hydrogen generation plant with the capability to cater to the high-velocity oxygen fuel (HVOF) coating facility of NJHPS to meet its combustion fuel requirements, in addition to generating electricity through its 25kW capacity fuel cell. It will produce hydrogen gas by splitting hydrogen and oxygen from water with the help of an alkaline electrolyzer of 20Nm3/hr capacity by utilising renewable energy supplied from the 1.31 MW solar power plant of SJVN located in Wadhal, Himachal Pradesh. The pilot project is set to

Himachal BJP leader Ranjit Singh, close aide of ex CM Dhumal joins Congress

Himachal Pradesh BJP leader Ranjit Singh, a close aide of former chief minister and senior party leader Prem Kumar Dhumal, joined the Congress on Wednesday, leaders of the ruling party in the state said here. Singh joined the Congress in New Delhi in the presence of the party's in-charge for Himachal Pradesh Rajeev Shukla, they said. Ranjit Singh had contested the 2022 Himachal Assembly polls from Sujanpur on a BJP ticket but lost to Rajinder Rana, the then Congress candidate from the seat. Rana is one of the six Congress rebels who had voted in favour of the BJP nominee Harsh Mahajan in the Rajya Sabha elections held on February 27 and was later disqualified from the Assembly. All six then joined the BJP and were fielded from their respective constituencies for bypolls to the seats. After Rana joined the BJP, Dhumal announced open support for him and started campaigning in his favour. Earlier, Singh had strongly protested Rana's inclusion in the BJP and announced that he would ..

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

Himachal's Giu gets mobile network for 1st time, PM speaks to residents

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday spoke to residents of Giu village in Himachal Pradesh's Spiti after the area was connected to the mobile network for the first time. In a more than 13-minute telephonic conversation with them, Modi spoke about his visit to the border region during Diwali and asserted that connecting the village with the mobile network will quicken the 'Digital India' campaign. The government is now prioritising linking all places with the communication technology after meeting success with the electrification exercise, the prime minister said, noting that when he came to power more than 18,000 villages lacked electricity. A villager told him that they could not believe it for a moment when they were told that the area will be connected to the mobile network and their happiness knew know no bounds when it finally happened. They had to earlier travel for around eight kilometres to use their mobile-phones, he said. Modi highlighted his government's efforts to

Kangana Ranaut buys a brand new Mercedes Maybach after joining politics

Kangana Ranaut recently bought another Mercedes Maybach worth 2.43 crore soon after she joined politics. She will contest from Himachal Pradesh's Mandi constituency

Fully confident Himachal will support us, truth will prevail, says Priyanka

Ahead of the Lok Sabha elections and assembly bypolls to be held simultaneously in Himachal Pradesh, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Sunday expressed confidence that people of the state will support her party and truth will prevail. She said on the one hand, there is the BJP's pursuit of power by using money and agencies, destroying democracy in the process, and on the other there is the Congress' resolve to work tirelessly for the people with truth, courage and patience. In a post in Hindi on X, Priyanka Gandhi said, "I met all leaders of the Congress Party in Himachal Pradesh. I am proud of their unity, hard work, courage to contest elections strongly and their dedication towards the people." "On the one hand, there is the BJP's empire of fear, greed and lies. The pursuit of power through money power and agencies is a politics that destroys democracy. On the other hand, Congress has the resolve to work tirelessly for the people with truth, courage and patience,

Singhvi moves HC challenging his defeat in RS poll through draw of lots

Weeks after he lost the Rajya Sabha election from Himachal Pradesh, Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi on Saturday filed an application in the high court challenging the interpretation of draw of lots rules by the poll officer after there was a tie in the poll. BJP nominee Harsh Mahajan won the February 27 election through draw of lots after both candidates secured 34 votes each. "There is nothing in the law, neither in the act nor in the rules which compels an interpretation which requires that the person whose name is drawn in the draw of lots is a loser," Singhvi told reporters after filing his petition in the Himachal Pradesh High Court. In spite of the fact that the Congress had a strength of 40 members and the support of three Independents in the assembly, both the candidates polled 34 votes each as nine legislators -- six Congress rebels and three Independents -- voted in favour of BJP nominee Harsh Mahajan. The winner was announced by a draw of lots and under the procedu