REPORT

Ex-Servicemen Flay Vajpayee

Meeting of Ex-servicemen at Ramnagar on July 26. Brig A.S. Dhillon, Lt. Gen. M.M. Lakhera, Lt. Gen. TPS Rawat and Capt. Praveen Davar. A view of gathering

Uttaranchal, being a state with a large population of Ex-Servicemen, the Uttaranchal PCC Ex-Servicemen Cell took the initiative of launching the election campaign of Chief Minister Shri N.D. Tiwari in Ram Nagar Assembly Constituency. A meeting of Ex-Servicemen was held in Ram Nagar on July 26 which was presided over by Lt. Gen. T.P.S Rawat, Minister for Tourism and Sainik Welfare, Uttaranchal government. It was attended by the Chairman AICC Ex-Servicemen Cell, Lt. Gen. M.M. Lakhera, Col. Vijay Ghildyal, Chairman, Uttaranchal PCC Ex-Servicemen Cell, Brig. A.S. Dhillon, Capt. P.S. Bakhuni besides a number of prominent leaders of Kumaon Mandal, including the outgoing MLA, Shri Yogambar Singh Rawat, Shri K.C. Bawa, ex-MLA, Pt. Ramesh Tewari, Shri B.R. Tamata, Dr. Dhaneswari Ghildyal, ex-Minister Samar Pal Singh and many others. All the speakers appealed to the public to give Shri N.D. Tiwari a decisive victory which will ensure rapid development of the State under his able and experienced leadership. While Lt. Gen. T.P.S. Rawat spelt out various measures taken by his Ministry towards the welfare of Ex-servicemen, Lt. Gen. M.M. Lakhera advised the Ex-Servicemen to ensure their registration with District Sainik Boards to take advantage of the welfare schemes. Capt. Praveen Davar condemned the Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee for his inability to remove Narendra Modi under Advani-RSS pressure. He said Shri A.P.J. Abdul Kalam’s election as Rashtrapati was a vindication of Congress vision and philosophy.

Earlier, a meeting of Mandal Convenors of UPCC Ex-Servicemen from Western UP was called in Delhi at the AICC office on July 24. The objective of the meeting was to discuss the problems being faced by the District level Committees and chalk out programmes in eastern UP districts till the end of the year. The meeting, chaired by Lt. Gen. M.M. Lakhera, was attended by Capt. Praveen Davar, Col. Bharat Singh, Chairman UPCC Ex-Servicemen Cell, Lt. Col. Qaisar Alam, incharge Western UP, Major S.C. Garg, Convenor Meerut Mandal and Shri Purshottam.

A number of individual cases of Ex-servicemen related problems were taken up by the AICC Ex-Servicemen Cell with various branches of Army headquarters like Adjutant General’s branch, Directorate General of Resettlement, Pensions office, Army Medical Corps, etc. An Army widow Smt. Basant Kaur who had not received family pension for 16 years started receiving her dues after her case was taken up with the Army Hq. authorities. She received a lump sum of Rs. 2 lakhs as her outstanding dues and is now receiving her monthly pension of Rs. 1,700 regularly. A number of such cases are being handled by the AICC Ex-Servicemen Cell with the executive assistance of Lt. Col. H.K.L. Anand.

Gaurav Yatra : Sonia Gandhi Writes Again to PM

The Leader of the Oppostion, Smt. Sonia Gandhi, sent the following letter to the Prime Minister on August 21, 2002 :

"Please refer to my letter of June 29, 2002 regarding a ‘Gaurav yatra’ in Gujarat. I deeply appreciate the fact that you took prompt action on the suggestions contained in that letter and called off the Yatra that was being planned in Gujarat.

However, we have once again begun to see media reports that the Gujarat Chief Minister has revived his plans for undertaking such a Yatra, and that too in those districts of the State that have been most affected in the recent communal violence.

You will agree that the wounds of the recent violence and communal divide have not yet healed in that State. This is amply borne out by the findings of the Election Commission. While normal political activity must go on, such activity should be undertaken strictly in a manner that promotes, and not weakens, communal harmony in the State. After the widespread violence, loss and trauma that the people of Gujarat have faced, I strongly feel that there should be at least an informal understanding between all political parties not to do anything in the pursuance of their legitimate political objectives that will cause further divide and tension among the citizens.

I am sure you will keep in mind the overarching aim of maintaining and consolidating peace and amity among the people of Gujarat while advising the Chief Minister in this matter of importance and urgency."

Tiwari Wins Ramnagar

DEHRA DUN : The Uttaranchal Chief Minister, Shri Narayan Dutt Tiwari, romped home to victory in the Ramnagar by-poll on 12 August.

An MLA and MP for 18 terms beginning 1952, Shri Tiwari polled 32,913 votes out of the 44,033 valid votes cast in the constituency of over 82,000. The joint opposition candidate, Shri Ram Singh Bisht, of the BJP, supported by the BSP and the Uttarakhand Kranti Dal, polled 9,693 votes — a climbdown for the BJP from its performance last elections