Rail Budget: Dinesh Trivedi increases train fares after nine years

 

Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi presented his maiden budget for 2012-13 on Wednesday announcing a marginal hike in passenger fares across all classes of category ranging from Re 0.02 to Re. 0.30 per kilometer for the first time in ten years and left the recently-hiked freight rates untouched. He also raised platform ticket rate from the present Re.3 to Re.5.

The budget focuses on five important aspects -- safety, consolidation, decongestion, capacity augmentation and modernization. It also envisages bring down of operating ratio from the 95 percent to 84.9 in 2012-13.

The Railways recently had increased freight rates for all commodities, including foodgrains, fertilizer, cement, coal, and petroleum products, ranging from 15 to 35 percent commodity-wise to fetch around Rs.20,000 crore.

Trivedi announced introduction of new express and passenger trains and four new rail coach factories.

He also indicated that the Railways would focus on innovative means of raising revenues in the absence of desired gross budgetary support from the government.

The Minister said, "While balancing my budget this year and formulating the Rail Budget for the next fiscal, I have had a hard look at the revenue model available to us and have realized the true import of the dictum - one who does not help himself is helped by none."

Annual Plan for 2012-13

Trivedi told the House that the budget would have the highest-ever annual plan outlay of Rs.60,100 crore, providing Rs.6,872 crore for new lines and significant funds for passengers safety, security and amenities.

He said the plan outlay would be financed through gross budgetary support of Rs.24,000 crore, railway safety fund of Rs.2,000 crore; internal resources of Rs.18,050 crore; and extra budgetary resources of Rs.16,050 crore, which includes market borrowing of Rs.15,000 crore through IRFC.

Tariffs

Passenger fares to go up by Re.0.02 per km on suburban and ordinary second class, Re.0.03 per km for all mail/express second class, Re.0.05 per km for sleeper class, Rs.10 per km for A/C chair car, AC 3-tier and First Class, Re.0.15 per km A/C 2-tier, and Re.0.30 per km for A/C First class.

Minimum fare and platform ticket to cost Rs.5.

The value of concessions extended by Railways to certain section of passengers is more than Rs.800 crore a year, he said. Continuing this contribution of the Indian Railways to the society, he also announced 50 percent concession in fare in AC-2, AC-3, chair car and sleeper classes to patients suffering from Aplastic Anaemia and Sickle Cell Anaemia.

In recognition of the laurels which the winners of Arjuna Awards have brought to the country through their outstanding performance in their respective sports, it is also proposed to extend travel facility enjoyed by them to Rajdhani and Shatabdi trains also.

To give relief to the poorest section of the society, travel distance under 'Izzat Scheme' has also been increased from 100 kms to 150 kms, thus covering all designated suburban sections keeping the rate of Rs.25 unchanged.

SMS on mobile phones in case of e-ticket to be accepted as proof of valid reservation.

Trivedi proposed to introduce 75 new express trains, 21 passenger trains, eight MEMUs and nine DEMUs during 2012-13, besides introducing Guru Parikrama Special Trains for Sikh pilgrimage.

The Minister also announced extension of 39 trains, increase in the frequency of 23 trains, 75 additional suburban services in Mumbai and 44 new suburban services for Kolkata. 50 new services in Kolkata Metro and 18 additional services in Chennai area. A total of 725 km new lines will also be taken up during the year.

Estimates for 2012-13

Gross Traffic Receipts for FY13 is projected at Rs.132,552 crore, an increase of Rs.28,635 crore over the revised estimates of 2011-12. It will be met through freight earnings target of Rs.89,399 crore and Rs.36,0736 crore from passenger revenue.

He announced that freight loading during 2012-13 was expected to be 1,025 million tonnes, which will be 55 MT more than the revised estimated target of 970 million tonne for 2011-12. The passenger growth for the year is pegged at 5.4 per cent.

Significance of Railway Budget 2012

The rail budget of India has great significance for people and governments. With 114,500 kilometers of total track over a route of 65,000 kilometers and 7,500 stations the Indian railways holds fourth position in the world after United States, Russia and China. Besides carrying a massive amount of passengers and freight it is also biggest employer in India in terms of number of employee as it employs 1.4 million people. The number of people working with Indian railway is larger than the combined manpower of all the three forces; army, navy and air force. So it is not difficult to imagine the significance of rail budget 2012 for common man.

Indian railway is even stronger in terms of its carrying capacity as it owns 240,000 (freight) wagons, 60,000 coaches and 9,000 locomotives. So it can be termed quite resourceful. The hike is passenger fare is also in offing. Currently the railways collects Rs 30,000 crore from passenger fares and even a small increase in this could add a large sum of money that could give boost to the economic status of the railway. Hike in passenger fares can be made in railway budget2012-13.

In recent years the luxury trains of Indian railways, like Rajdhani Express and Shatabadi Express are facing stiff competition from low-cost airline carrier so railway might announce introductions of some high-speed trains. Expert opinions in this regard have already been sought from France and Japan. Introduction of high sped train may bring high-end customers to its fold. These announcements can be made in rail budget 2012-13.

In addition a lot has to be done on security front and introduction of cutting age security devices are also in offing. Apart from these, railway minister Dinesh Trivedi may focus on adding new lines, freight corridor, and modernization of stations and operations. So the rail budget 2012-13 will be worth watching.

List of new trains proposed in Railway Budget 2012-13

NEW DELHI: Railway minister Dinesh Trivedi has announced several new trains in his maidenbudget speech. Presenting the rail budget, railway minister announced 75 new express trains and 21 passenger trains.

Dinesh Trivedi also announced Guru Parikrama trains to be run to Amritsar, Patna and Nanded.

Two double-decker trains and a Shatabdi train are among the new express trains announced in the Rail Budget 2012-13.

Howrah-New Jalpaiguri Shatabdi Express, Chennai-Bangalore AC double-decker Express and Habibganj-Indore AC double-decker express trains were announced by railway minister Dinesh Trivedi while presenting hisRailway Budget 2012-13.

For northeast region, Trivedi announced introduction of Dibrugarh-Kolkata Express, Kamakhya-Lokmany Tilak AC express, and Kamakhya-Tezpur Intercity Express among other trains.

He also announced 75 additional services to run in Mumbai suburb.

For Kolkata Metro, Trivedi announced 50 new services to be introduced in the 2012-13. The Rail Budget also announced 18 additional services to be run in Chennai area.

Here is the list of new express trains, passenger trains, MEMU, DEMU, extension of run and increase in frequency of trains. 

Express Trains: 

1. Kamakhya-Lokmanya Tilak (T) AC Express (Weekly) via Katihar, Mughalsarai, Itarsi 

2. Secunderabad-Shalimar AC Express (Weekly) via Vijayawada 

3. Bandra (T)-Bhuj AC Express (Tri-Weekly) 

4. Delhi Sarai Rohilla-Udhampur AC Express (Tri-Weekly) via Ambala, Jalandhar 

5. Coimbatore-Bikaner AC Express (Weekly) via,Roha,Vasai Road,Ahmedabad,Jodhpur 

6. Kakinada-Secunderabad AC Express (Tri-weekly) 

7. Yesvantpur-Kochuveli AC Express ( Weekly) 

8. Chennai-Bangalore AC Double-decker Express (Daily) 

9. Habibganj-Indore AC Double-decker Express (Daily) 

10. Howrah-New Jalpaiguri Shatabdi Express (6 days a week) via Malda Town 

11. Kamakhya-Tezpur Intercity Express (Daily) 

12. Tiruchchirappalli-Tirunelveli Intercity Express (Daily) via Madurai,Virudunagar 

13. Jabalpur-Singrauli Intercity Express (Daily) via New Katni Jn. 

14. Bidar-Secunderabad Intercity Express (6 days a week) 

15. Kanpur-Allahabad Intercity Express (Daily) 

16. Chhapra-Manduadih Intercity Express (Daily) via Phephna, Rasra, Mau, Aunrihar 

17. Ranchi-Dumka Intercity Express (Daily) via Deoghar 

18. Barbil-Chakradharpur Intercity Express (Daily) via Dongoaposi, Jhinkpani 

19. Secunderabad-Belampalli Intercity Express(Daily) via Kazipet 

20. New Jalpaiguri - New Cooch Behar Intercity Express (5 days a week) 

21. Ahmedabad-Ajmer Intercity Express (Daily) 

22. Dadar (T)- Tirunelveli Express (Weekly) via Roha, Coimbatore,Erode 

23. Visakhapatnam-Chennai Express (Weekly) 

24. Visakhapatnam-Sai Nagar Shirdi Express (Weekly) via Vijayawada,Manmad 

25. Indore-Yesvantpur Express (Weekly) via Itarsi,Narkher,Amravati,Akola,Kacheguda 

26. Ajmer-Haridwar Express (Tri-weekly) via Delhi 

27. Amravati-Pune Express (Bi-weekly) via Akola, Purna and Latur 

28. Kacheguda-Madurai Express (Weekly) via Dharmavaram,Pakala,Jolarpettai 

29. Bikaner-Puri Express (Weekly) via Jaipur,Kota,Katni Murwara, Jharsuguda, Sambalpur 

30. Secunderabad-Darbhanga Express (Bi-weekly) via Ballarshah, Jharsuguda, Rourkela, Ranchi, Jhajha 

31. Bilaspur-Patna Express (Weekly) via Asansol, Jhajha 

32. Howrah-Raxual Express (Bi-weekly) via Asansol, Jhajha, Barauni 

33. Bhubaneswar-Bhawanipatna Link Express (Daily) via Vizianagaram 

34. Puri-Yesvantpur Garib Rath Express (Weekly) via Visakhapatnam, Guntur 

35. Sai Nagar Shirdi-Pandharpur Express (Tri-weekly) via Kurduwadi 

36. Bhubaneswar-Tirupati Express (Weekly) via Visakhapatnam,Gudur 

37. Visakhapatnam-Lokmanya Tilak(T) Express (Weekly) via Titlagarh,Raipur 

38. Howrah-Lalkuan Express (Weekly) via Mughalsarai,Varanasi,Lucknow 

39. Kolkata-Jaynagar Express (Weekly) via Asansol,Jhajha,Barauni 

40. Dibrugarh-Kolkata Express (Weekly) 

41. Firozpur-Sriganganagar Express (Daily) via Fazilka,Abohar 

42. Jaipur-Secunderabad Express (Weekly) via Nagda, Bhopal, Narkher, Amravati, Akola 

43. Okha-Jaipur Express (Weekly) via Palanpur,Ajmer 

44. Adilabad-Hazur Sahib Nanded Express (Daily) via Mudkhed 

45. Shalimar-Chennai Express (Weekly) 

46. Mysore-Sai Nagar Shirdi Express (Weekly) via Bangalore,Dharmavaram,Bellary 

47. Valsad-Jodhpur Express (Weekly) via Palanpur,Marwar 

48. Porbander-Secunderabad Express (Weekly) via Viramgam,Vasai Road 

49. Bandra (T)-Delhi Sarai Rohilla Express (Weekly) via Palanpur, Phulera 

50. Hapa-Madgaon Express (Weekly) via Vasai Road,Roha 

51. Bikaner-Bandra (T) Express (Weekly) via Jodhpur,Marwar,Ahmedabad 

52. Ahmedabad-Gorakhpur Express (Weekly) via Palanpur,Jaipur,Mathura,Farrukhabad, Kanpur 

53. Durg-Jagdalpur Express (Tri-Weekly) via Titlagarh 

54. Mannargudi - Tirupati Express (Tri-Weekly) viaThiruvarur,Villupuram,Katpadi 

55. Gandhidham-Bandra (T) Express (Weekly) via Morbi 

56. Kota-Hanumangarh Express (Daily) via Jaipur,Degana,Bikaner 

57. Jhansi-Mumbai Express (Weekly) via Gwalior, Maksi, Nagda 

58. Secunderabad-Nagpur Express (Triweekly) via Kazipet 

59. Kanpur-Amritsar Express (Weekly) via Farrukhabad, Bareilly 

60. Chappra-Lucknow Express (Tri-Weekly) via Masrakh,Thawe,Padrauna 

61. Karimnagar-Tirupati Express (Weekly) via Pedapalli 

62. Anandvihar-Haldia Express(Weekly) via Mughalsarai, Gomoh, Purulia 

63. Barrackpore-Azamgarh Express (Weekly) via Jhajha, Ballia, Mau 

64. Indore-Rewa Express ( Tri-weekly) via Bina 

65. Running of independent train between Jabalpur-Hazrat Nizamuddin by delinking from 12405/12406 Bhusawal- Hazrat Nizamuddin and 12409/12410 Raigarh-Nizamuddin Gondwana Express 

66. Darbhanga-Ajmer Express (Weekly) via Raxaul, Sitapur, Bareilly, Kasganj, Mathura 

67. Solapur-Yesvantpur Express (Tri-weekly) via Gulbarga 

68. Chennai-Puri Express (Weekly) 

69. Hyderabad-Ajmer Express (Weekly)via Manmad, Itarsi, Ratlam 

70. Asansol-Chennai Express (Weekly) via Purulia, Sambalpur,Vizianagaram 

71. Shalimar-Bhuj Express (Weekly) via Bilaspur, Katni, Bhopal 

72. Amritsar- Hazur Sahib Nanded Express (Weekly) 

73. Santragachi-Ajmer Express (Weekly) via Kharagpur, Chandil, Barkakana, Katni, Kota 

74. Malda Town-Surat Express ( Weekly) via Rampur Hat, Asansol, Nagpur 

75. Dwarka-Somnath Express (Daily) 

Passenger Trains 

1. Koderma-Nawadih Passenger (6 Days) 

2. Sriganganagar-Suratgarh Passenger (Daily) 

3. Yerraguntla-Nosam/Nanganapalli Passenger (Daily) 

4. Villupuram-Katpadi Passenger (Daily) 

5. Gunupur-Palasa (Via Parlakhemundi) Passenger (Daily) 

6. Ajmer-Pushkar Passenger (5 Days) 

7. Kota-Jhalawar City Passenger (Daily) 

8. Bareilly-Kasganj Passenger (Daily) 

9. Anandnagar-Barahani Passenger (Daily) 

10. Rangiya-Tezpur Passenger (Daily) 

11. Mysore-Shravan Belgola (Daily) 

12. Jodhpur-Bilara Passenger (Daily) 

13. Villupuram-Mayiladuthurai Passenger (Daily) 

14. Rohtak-Panipat Passenger (Daily) 

15. Miraj-Kurudwadi Passenger (Daily) 

16. Phulera-Rewari Passenger (Daily) 

17. Mysore-Chamarajanagar Passenger (Daily) 

18. Gorakhpur-Siwan Passenger (Daily) via Kaptanganj,Thawe 

19. Running of independent Passenger trains between Rewa-Bilaspur and Rewa-Chirmiri by delinking from 51751/51752 Rewa-Bilaspur Passenger and 51753/51754 Rewa-Chirmiri Passenger 

20. Mysore-Birur Passenger via Arsikere (Daily) 

21. Jhansi-Tikamgarh Passenger via Lalitpur 

MEMU 

1. Dahod-Anand 

2. Anand-Gandhinagar 

3. Bina-Bhopal MEMU service in lieu of conventional services. 

4. Palakkad -Coimbatore-Erode 

5. Ernakulam - Thrisur 

6. Adra-Asansol 

7. Adra-Bishnupur via Bankura 

8. Sealdah-Lalgola 

DEMU 

1. Baripada-Bangriposi (Daily) 

2. Masagram-Matnashibpur (Daily) 

3. Mannargudi-Trichy-Manamadurai (Daily) 

4. Hoshiarpur-Firozpur (Daily) 

5. Siliguri-Changrabandha (Daily) 

6. Pratapnagar- Chota Udepur (Daily) 

7. New Jalpaiguri-Bamanhat DEMU service in lieu of conventional services. 

8. Delhi Sarai Rohilla - Farukhnagar (6 days a week) 

9. Katwa - Azimganj (Daily) 

Extension of Trains 

1. 12037/12038 New Delhi-Ludhiana Shatabdi Express on 2 days to Moga 

2. 12537/12538 Manduadih-Bapudham Motihari Express to Muzaffarpur 

3. 19051/19052 Valsad-Sonpur Express to Muzaffarpur 

4. 18417/18418 Bhubaneswar-Jharsuguda Rajya Rani Express to Rourkela 

5. 12945/12946 Surat-Varanasi Express to Chhapra 

6. 13237/13238/13239/13240 Patna-Mathura Express to Kota 

7. 15013/15014 Kathgodam-Delhi Sarai Rohilla Express to Jodhpur 

8. 12991/12992 Udaipur-Ajmer Express to Jaipur 

9. 16779/16780 Madurai-Tirupati Express to Rameswaram 

10. 22609/22610 Palakkad-Mangalore Express to Coimbatore 

11. 16227/16228 Bangalore-Shimoga Express to Talguppa 

12. 19781/19782/19771/19772 Jaipur-Amritsar Express to Ajmer 

13. 18005/18006 Howrah-Koraput Express to Jagdalpur 

14. 18207/18208 Durg-Jaipur Express to Ajmer 

15. 13155/13156 Kolkata-Darbhanga Express to Sitamarhi 

16. 19605/19606 Kolkata-Ajmer Express to Ahmedabad (via Abu Road) 

17. 12687/12688 Dehradun-Chennai Express to Madurai (via Erode) 

18. 11017/11018 Dadar-Yesvantpur Express to Puducherry (3 days) via Jolarpettai-Katpadi-Villupuram and to Tirunelveli (3 days) via Dharmapuri-Erode 

19. 14553/14554 Delhi-Una Himachal Express to Amb Andaura 

20. 12941/12942 Ahmedabad - Asansol Express to Bhavnagar 

21. 16649/16650 Mangalore-Thiruvananthapuram Express to Nagercoil 

22. 53139/53140 Kolkata-Chittaranjan Passenger to Deoghar 

23. 58207/58208 Raipur-Kesinga Passenger to Bhawanipatna 

24. 54033/54032 Delhi-Jind Passenger to Narwana 

25. 51973/51974 Mathura-Bandikui Passenger to Jaipur 

26. 55713/55714 New Jalpaiguri-Bongaigaon Passenger to Tezpur 

27. 54043/54044 Jind-Sirsa Passenger to Hisar 

28. 54809/54810 Rewari-Degana Passenger to Jodhpur 

29. 57502/57503 Bodhan-Nizamabad Passenger to Kamareddi 

30. 56011/56012 Arakkonam-Nandalur Passenger to Cuddapah 

31. 59117/59122 Pratapnagar-Bodeli Passenger to Chota Udepur 

32. 56714/56711 Tiruchchirapalli-Nagore Passenger to Karaikal

HIGHLIGHTS

*Minimum fare and platform tickets to cost Rs 5.

*75 mew Express trains to be introduced, along with 21 new passenger services, nine DEMU services and 8 MEMU services trains.

*Route of 39 trains to be extended and frequency of 23 trains to be increased.

*Railways to hire more than one lakh employees in 2012-13; 80,000 persons hired last year.

*Indian Railways Stations Development Corp to be set up to re-develop stations and maintain them like airports.

*To set up an independent Railway Safety Authority as a statutory body.

* The open discharge toilets on trains to be replaced with green (bio) toilets.

*All unmanned level crossings to be abolished in next five years; To target zero deaths due to rail accidents.

*To provide rail connectivity to neighbouring countries, a new line from Agartala to Akura in Bangladesh to be set up.

*Double-decker container trains to be introduced.

*Steps to improve cleanliness and hygiene on trains and stations within six months. A special house keeping body to be set up to take care of both stations and trains.

*New passenger services include escalators at major stations, alternative train accommodation for wait-listed passengers, laundry services, AC lounges, coin/currency operated ticket vending machines.

*Two new members, one for marketing, and other for safety, to be inducted into Railway Board.

*On board passenger displays indicating next halt station and expected arrival time to be introduced.

*Introduction of regional cuisine; Book-a-meal scheme to provide meals through SMS or email.

*Specially designed coaches for differently-abled persons to be provided in each Mail/Express trains.

*Railway Tariff Regulatory Authority to be considered.

*National High Speed Rail Authority to be set-up; Pre-feasibility studies on six high speed corridors completed; study on Delhi-Jaipur-Ajmer-Jodhpur to be taken up in 2012-13.

*Wellness programme for railway staff at work places.

*Institution of ‘Rail Khel Ratna’ Award for 10 rail sports-persons every year.

*A wagon factory at Sitapali, Odisha, rail coach factory at Palakkad, two additional new coach manufacturing units in Kutch (Gujarat) and Kolar (Karnataka); component factory at Shyamnagar (West Bengal); new coaching terminal at Naihati, the birth place of Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay.

*Freight loading of 1,025 MT targeted; 55 MT more than 2011-12; Passenger growth targeted at 5.4 per cent.

*Passenger earnings to increase to Rs 36,200 crore.

*Gross rail traffic targeted to increase by Rs 28,635 crore to Rs 1,32,552 crore in 2012-13.

Badal sworn in as Punjab CM

CHAPPAR CHIRI (Punjab): Eighty-five-year-old SAD leader Parkash Singh Badal was today sworn in as Chief Minister of Punjab for a record fifth time along with 17 other Cabinet-rank ministers, including his son Sukhbir, for a second successive term of the SAD-BJP alliance government.

Badal, his son Sukhbir, 50, as Deputy Chief Minister and 16 Cabinet-rank ministers (14 from the SAD and four from the BJP) were administered the oath of office and secrecy by Governor Shivraj V. Patil here, about 25 km from Chandigarh, at a ceremony attended by leaders of various political parties, including the BJP, Trinamool Congress, NCP, JD-U and INLD.

Those present on the occasion included L K Advani, Nitin Gadkari, Rajnath Singh, Vasundhara Raje, Navjot Sidhu (all from the BJP), Mukul Roy, Rachpal Singh, K.D. Singh (Trinamool Congress), Union Minister Praful Patel (NCP), JD-U chief Sharad Yadav and INLD leader Om Parkash Chautala.

The Chief Ministers present were Narendar Modi (Gujarat) and Prem Kumar Dhumal (Himachal Pradesh).

The exercise of government formation in the state with a 117-member Assembly, which can have 18 ministers, including the Chief Minister, was completed by Badal in one go.

The SAD-BJP alliance got absolute majority in the Assembly polls winning 68 seats, whereas the Congress got only 46.

Badal senior headed full two five-year terms from 1997 and 2007. His other terms were between 1977-1980 and 1970-71.

Only one woman Bibi Jagir Kaur, former President of SGPC, has been included in the ministry, though eight women of the alliance (SAD-six; BJP-two) were elected.

The Badal family has four members in the Cabinet.

Besides Badal senior and his son, others are Adesh Partap Singh Kairon (son-in-law of Badal senior) and Bikram Singh Majithia (brother-in-law of Sukhbir).

Badal has mostly reposed faith in former ministers as only four first-timers find place in the government. They are Bhagat Chuni Lal and Anil Joshi, both from the BJP, and Surjit Singh Rakhra and Sharanjit Singh Dhillon, both from the SAD.

Rakhra had defeated Punjab Congress President Amarinder Singh's son Raninder.

Former Deputy Speaker of the Lok Sabha Charanjit Singh Atwal has been named as the Pro Tem Speaker of the newly constituted state Assembly.

The SAD has created a record in the state since 1966 when Punjab was reorganised by becoming the first party ever to retain power in alliance with the BJP with an improved tally of 68 seats against 67 which the two parties secured in 2007. The BJP ended up with 12 legislators as against 19 in the outgoing House.

Besides Badal senior and Sukhbir who were elected from Lambi and Jalalabad seats, respectively, those sworn in were Bhagat Chuni Lal (BJP, Jalandhar West), Sarwan Singh Phillaur (SAD, Kartarpur SC), Adesh Partap Kairon (SAD, Patti), Ajit Singh Kohar (SAD, Shahkot), Gulzar Singh Ranike (SAD, Attari SAD), Madan Mohan Mittal (BJP, Anandpur Sahab), Parminder Singh Dhindsa (SAD, Sunam), Janmeja Singh Sekhon (SAD, Maur), Tota Singh (SAD, Dharamkot), Jagir Kaur (SAD, Bholath), Surjit Kumar Jyani (BJP, Fazilka), Bikram Singh Majithia (SAD, Majitha), Sikander Singh Malooka (SAD, Rampura Phul) Anil Joshi (BJP, Amritsar North), Surjit Singh Rakhra (SAD, Samana) and Sharanjit Singh Dhillon (SAD, Sahnewal).

If it was the sprawling Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) stadium at Mohali in Punjab as the venue for the swearing in of Badal five years back, this time it was Chappar Chiri which has a place in Sikh history where the SAD-BJP government in its previous term had set up a memorial "Fateh Burj" (tower of victory).

Banda Singh Bahadur, one of the most respected warriors in Sikh history, had won the battle against Wazir Khan, who commanded the Mughal army in 1710, at Chappar Chiri in Ajitgarh district, about 25 km from the state capital.

The SAD-BJP alliance has come to power for the second successive term on the agenda of development and peace setting aside its traditional Panthic agenda, according to political observers.

The issues not taken up during the elections included the SAD's demands for the transfer of Chandigarh and of other Punjabi-speaking areas and settlement of river water-sharing disputes, with neighbouring states, including Haryana, besides its demand for a federal structure, including more rights for the states, they said.

Though Chief Ministers of West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Bihar—Mamata Banerjee, J Jayalalitha and Nitish Kumar—had also been invited, they expressed their inability to attend the ceremony citing other pressing engagements.

Voters missed third front in Kumaon region

Nainital, March 7
The results that have emerged from Kumaon region after the counting of votes point to the disillusionment of voters in the face of absence of a powerful third alternative available to them.

This time around it has been the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress candidates that have won on the 28 seats in the region. While the former has bagged 15 seats, the latter has followed closely with 13 seats. The remaining one seat of Lal Kuan in the region has been won by the rebel Congress candidate.

But the most interesting aspect has been the number of sitting legislators that have been voted out. Only seven sitting legislators have managed to retain their seats while in 17 cases, the electorate changed the party whose legislator had been representing them.

Observers say that this goes on to show that the people are looking for an alternative which is not available to them. They are just trying to show their resentment by voting a candidate of a party other than the one that had been representing their constituency. Had this not been the case, there would have been a clear-cut mandate in favour of one of the two parties.

The legislators who have managed to save their seats and get re-elected include Ajay Tamta from Someshwar, Bishan Singh Chufal from Didihat, Harbhajan Singh Cheema from Kashipur, Chandan Ram Dass from Bageshwar, Dr Shailendra Mohan Singhal from Jaspur, Manoj Tewari from Almora and Govind Singh Kunjwal from Jageshwar. While the first four are from the BJP, the remaining are from the Congress.

The seats or areas where the BJP had won the last time saw the Congress doing well there. For example, the BJP’s performance has been very good in the Terai areas of Udham Singh Nagar district, where it’s candidates won from Rudrapur, Kashipur, Gadarpur, Khatima, Nanakmatta, Sitarganj and Kitcha.

Although the Congress has managed to increase it’s tally to 13 from 10, the last time it, too, has failed to win on the five seats that had been won by it in the previous polls.

On some seats the electorate chose to poll in favour of new faces that were contesting. In some seats like Dwarahat, Kapkot, Nainital, Bhimtal and Nanakmatta, the newcomers managed to win while in some others like Kaladhungi they lost by a narrow margin. This also goes on to show that the people were looking for alternatives within the two main parties also.

SP, BSP failed to come up with satisfactory performance in the state

Nainital, March 9
Despite having made an early start to the poll preparations in the state, the two arch rivals, the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), have failed to come up with a satisfactory performance in the state.

While the SP has once again failed to open its account in the state Assembly second time in a row, the seats of the BSP have come down to a poor three from eight in the outgoing Assembly.

The SP’s best bet was on the Haldwani seat where it had fielded senior leader Abdul Mateen Siddiqui, who had come up with a good performance in the 2007 elections. However, he failed miserably this time and came in a poor third on the seat.

In case of the BSP, the party has been wiped out from its stronghold in Udham Singh Nagar and all three seats that its candidates have won are in the Haridwar parliamentary constituency.

A senior leader of the party said: “Developments in the neighbouring Uttar Pradesh have always had a bearing on Uttarakhand politics, particularly in the bordering districts. The BSP was routed there. We never had a chance of doing well here too.”

Ironically, while the Congress and the BJP were still witnessing a turmoil with regard to the allocation of party ticket to potential contestants for the poll, the BSP and the SP had taken a lead of sorts by having already announced candidates for several seats and proceeding ahead with their campaign.

Showing better organisational skills as compared to their political counterparts, the BSP and the SP had devised a strategy for contesting the poll. While the SP was aiming to get a firm foothold in the state by changing the mindset of the voters, particularly those residing in the hill areas who view the party as a force opposed to the very creation of Uttarakhand, the BSP after having done considerably well in the previous two elections in the plain areas of the state was aiming to climb up the hills.

In fact, the BSP had demonstrated the best political foresight. It had been the first party to have started announcing candidates for the elections. These announcements had come almost a year ago, thus giving the maximum time to the ticket holders to devise their campaign strategies and start executing it.

It was way back in August 2010 that the party took serious note of the fact that although its rallies and public functions were very well attended, the number did not convert into votes.

Senior party leaders and Ram Achal Rajbhar, a member of the Mayawati Cabinet in the UP, had sat down together to come over this hurdle.

Interestingly, the BSP leadership had shown inclination to have a centralised structure in place in the party. Its leaders were of the opinion that greater the number of wings of a political party, greater are the chances of infighting.

Upbeat over the party’s performance in the political arena over the past 25 years since its inception, the leaders were using this as an instrument to boost the morale of its workers.

The party leadership had already started analysing the demographic profile of various Assembly segments several months ago in view of the scenario emerging after delimitation. In the outgoing Assembly, the BSP had eight legislators from Haridwar and Udham Singh Nagar districts.

The SP, too, had been quick to decide upon its candidates for the poll. A senior party leader had told The Tribune on the eve of the poll announcement that, “Instead of focusing on contesting more seats, we want to concentrate on seats where we have a strong winning chance.” Party leaders had claimed that the new delimitation had provided the party with a chance to make its presence felt in the next Assembly.