26092024-TT-01.qxd 9/25/2024 11:16 PM Page 1 13 CHANDIGARH | GURUGRAM | JALANDHAR | BATHINDA | VOL. 144 NO. 267 | 16 PAGES | ~5.00 | REGD. NO. CHD/0006/2024-2026 ESTABLISHED IN 1881  HIMACHAL PRADESH CANADIAN PM FACES NO-TRUST VOTE, LIKELY TO SURVIVE WORLD /thetribunechd OPPN WILL HIT STREETS IF STATEHOOD ISN’T RESTORED: RAHUL J&K ADB RETAINS INDIA’S GROWTH FORECAST AT 7% BUSINESS HINDUS OUR CITIZENS, TAKING CARE OF THEM: B’DESH BACK PAGE thursday | 26 september 2024 /thetribunechd www.tribuneindia.com Healthy, democratic: Foreign envoys on J&K poll as Ph-II sees 56% turnout On MEA invite, diplomats from 16 countries visit polling stations in Srinagar 70% POLLING IN TERROR HOTBEDS ■ Militancy-hit districts Reasi, Rajouri, Poonch witness 74.1%, 73.78% and 69.85% polling ■ Kashmir’s Budgam, Ganderbal and Srinagar districts record 61.31%, 62.63% and 29.24% turnout LOWER THAN IN 2014 ■ 20 of 26 segments, which vot- ed on Wednesday, saw lower turnout than in 2014 when the overall polling was above 60% << Foreign diplomats interact with polling officials in Srinagar on Wednesday. ANI cratic. “It is great to see the enthusiasm. It’s great to see Kashmiris coming out for voting after a pause for 10 years. We are very excited to see the results. It looks very healthy and very democratic,” Andrews said at a polling Cong will ruin Haryana if voted to power, says PM In Gohana, asserts BJP put state on path to progress station here. He said the process was similar to how it happened in his country. “It is very comparable. In my Pradeep Sharma Tribune News Service Tribune News Service Chandigarh, September 25 The fall from grace of former Haryana Chief Minister and Union minister Manohar Lal Khattar is increasingly evident with his absence from PM Modi’s rallies in Sonepat today and Kurukshetra on September 14, with state BJP leaders conceding that Khattar is being kept away because of the “negativity” associated with him. But the party leaders, speaking on condition of anonymity, told The Tribune that the BJP was nevertheless putting its entire might behind winning the non-Jat, backward and Punjabi vote which, they believe, could still consolidate behind the BJP like it did during the , 2014 and 2019 Assembly poll. Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini at an election rally in Sonepat on Wednesday. ANI IT’S STABILITY VS INSTABILITY If the Congress comes to power even by mistake, it will ruin Haryana due to its infighting. It will stop every work in the state. Investments and jobs will be impacted. Narendra Modi, PM ❝ such townships in other parts of the state,” the PM asserted. He alleged during the Congress rule in Haryana, corruption was rampant and not even a single job was given on merit. On the issue of reservation, the PM said whenever the Congress remained in power, it snatched the rights of the Dalits and downtrodden. “Opposition and hatred towards reservation is in its DNA. That is why today we are seeing that the fourth generation of the royal family of the Congress wants to scrap reservation. You have continued on page 12 country, we use schools as well for voting. So it looks very similar,” he added. continued on page 6 To pull off 3rd term, BJP keeps Khattar away from Modi’s rally, again Mukesh Tandon Gohana (Sonepat), Sept 25 Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said voting for the Congress would “mean putting Haryana’s stability and development at stake”. He was addressing a rally here in support of BJP candidates of 22 constituencies in five districts — Sonepat, Rohtak, Jhajjar, Jind and Panipat. He asserted that as the voting day drew near, support for the BJP was growing, while the Congress was on the slide. He said, “If the Congress comes to power even by mistake, it will ruin Haryana due to its infighting. It will stop every work in the state. Investments and jobs will be impacted.” Like Haryana, the Congress was riddled with infighting in Telangana, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, he said. PM Modi said the people in Haryana had now started saying “phir ek baar BJP Sarkar”. “The BJP government in Haryana has put the state on the top in agriculture and industrialisation… Scores of big industrialists are eager to invest in Haryana. Faridabad, Gurugram and Sonepat have become industrial hubs. An industrial town is being developed in Kharkhoda. In its manifesto, the BJP has promised to develop more Aditi Tandon Tribune News Service Adil Akhzer Srinagar, September 25 With more than 56 per cent voters on Wednesday exercising their franchise in the second phase of polling for 26 seats in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections, a group of diplomats from 16 countries witnessed the electoral process. The diplomats, invited by the Ministry of External Affairs, expressed satisfaction over the conduct of the elections, with some saying the process looks comparable to how it happens in their own countries. Jorgan K Andrews, Deputy Chief of the Mission at the US Embassy in New Delhi, said the voting process looked healthy and demo- Ticked off by BJP, Kangana retracts farm law remarks The three-pronged strategy, they hoped, would add to the confusion in the Opposition ranks, both in the Congress as well as AAP . With the Congress seemingly divided between Bhupinder Hooda and Kumari Selja, and the AAP likely to get votes in its Kurukshetra stronghold, the BJP hopes it can still pull off an unprecedented third term in Haryana. A senior BJP leader, meanwhile, claimed that the absence of BJP’s poster boy Khattar from Modi’s rallies was a smart move to buck the strong anti-incumbency sentiment in the high- stake October 5 Assembly poll. “There was no need for Khattar’s presence in Sonepat today as his presence would not stand the party in good continued on page 6 New Delhi, September 25 Mandi MP Kangana Ranaut on Wednesday issued a rare apology for suggesting the reintroduction of the controversial three farm laws — a statement the Haryana BJP believes has hurt the party’s campaign strategy ahead of the October 5 poll. The Tribune has learnt that top Haryana BJP poll managers, likely at the level of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, poll incharge, flagged to BJP president JP Nadda the possible implications of Kangana’s remarks. This led to the party officially distancing from it and instructing her to do damage control. Hours after she defended her stand on farm laws as “personal”, Kangana on Wednesday issued a video statement, saying she regretted her statement and was withdrawing it. “I was asked some questions about farm laws and I said farmer unions should request the PM to reintroduce these. Many people are disappointed due to my remarks. When the laws were Tribune News Service Chandigarh, September 25 The gram panchayat poll in Punjab to elect 13,237 sarpanches and 83,437 panches across the state will be held on October 15. The counting of votes will take place on the same day at the respective polling booths. Punjab State Election Commissioner Raj Kamal ■ 13,237 sarpanches and 83,437 panches to be elected ■ Total voters: 1,33,97,922 ■ Polling booths: 19,110 ■ Security personnel: 96,000 Chaudhuri on Wednesday said that with the announcement of the election sched- ule, the model code of conduct had come into force with immediate effect, until the completion of the electoral process. The expenditure limit for sarpanches is Rs 40,000 and Rs 30,000 for panches. As many as 19,110 polling booths will be set up. The total electorate comprises 1,33,97,922 registered voters, including 63,46,008 continued on page 12 Shimla, September 25 Urban Development Minister Vikramaditya Singh today courted controversy by stating that the government had decided to make it mandatory for all street vendors in the state capital to display their name, photograph and identification as per their ID cards, as has been done in Uttar Pradesh. “It has been decided that henceforth all street vendors, especially those selling eatables, FOR BETTER HYGIENE All street vendors will have to display their identity. This is important from the safety point of view and will ensure that the food sold is hygienic. ❝ Vikramaditya Singh, URBAN DEVELOPMENT MINISTER will have to display their identity,” he said. “This has been done in UP and we too shall , enforce it in Shimla,” he said. Vikramaditya, son of former CM Virbhadra Singh, incidentally, was one of the few Congress leaders from Modi must clarify whether he is “opposed to the (Kangana’s) comments or is up to some mischief” ■ Any attempt to revive the farm laws would be met with opposition from the INDIA bloc, he said proposed, several people had supported it, but with great sensitivity and empathy, PM Modi had withdrawn these. It is the duty of all (BJP) workers to honour the PM’s word,” she said in her video message. Kangana, who has been making off-the-cuff remarks consistently and landing the BJP in trouble, is learnt to have been instructed by the top brass to publicly state her continued on page 12 New Delhi, September 25 In a subtle twin-messaging to the global Buddhist community and to China, a peak in Arunachal Pradesh has been named after the 6th Dalai Lama, who was born in 1682 near Tawang. The 20,942-foot-high, unnamed and unclimbed peak is now Tsangyang Gyatso Peak. “This is to honour his Holiness the 6th Dalai Lama, Rigzen Tsangyang Gyatso,” the National Institute of Mountaineering and Adventure Sports (NIMAS) said. NIMAS is an autonomous body under the Ministry of Defence. A team of NIMAS scaled the peak. The website of the 14th Dalai Lama — the present spiritual leader — says “the Sixth Dalai Lama, Tsangyang Gyatso, was born in 1682 in the region of Mon Tawang in present-day Arunachal Pradesh, India”. NIMAS, which has been at the forefront of adventure and mountaineering, has informed the Indian Mountaineering Foundation (IMF) about the ascent and the decision to name the peak. The necessary formalities are being completed to ensure that Tsangyang Gyatso Peak is recognised on the official map. continued on page 12 Punjab panchayat poll on Oct15 Can’t call any part of Code of conduct comes into force with immediate effect India Pak: Top court 13,237 SARPANCHES TO BE ELECTED rebukes K’taka judge NEW DELHI: The Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation has flagged 53 medicines, including paracetamol, for failing to meet quality standards. The drugs that failed quality tests include widely used medications such as paracetamol tablets (500 mg), anti-diabetes drug Glimepiride, hypertension treatment Telma H, calcium supplements Shelcal C and D3, and Metronidazole tablets used for skin infections. BACK PAGE ■ Rahul Gandhi has said PM Tribune News Service Governor Shiv Pratap Shukla with Himachal Pradesh High Court Chief Justice Rajiv Shakdher after the latter’s oath ceremony at the Raj Bhawan in Shimla on Wednesday. PTI REPORT INSIDE On UP lines, Shimla vendors to display their identity Tribune News Service RAHUL ASKS PM TO CLARIFY STAND Ajay Banerjee Justice Shakdher new Himachal CJ Paracetamol, 52 other drugs fail quality test Pratibha Chauhan Kangana Ranaut Arunachal peak named after 6th Dalai Lama Himachal who attended the inauguration of Ram Temple in Ayodhya. His mother and former MP Pratibha Singh is the state Congress chief. The minister said the decision had been taken at a meeting with the Urban Development Department and Shimla Municipal Corporation held here yesterday. “A lot of eatables like momos and noodles are being sold by foodstalls… so the Food and Civil Supplies Department will ensure that the food being sold is hygienic,” he said. Also, the display of information will confirm that vendors have a licence. Vikramaditya said the street vending committee would issue ID cards with photos and registration numbers to vendors. He clarified c m y b that the issue regarding the issuance of ID cards only to Himachalis was also discussed, but that wouldn’t be allowed as anyone in India was free to work anywhere. “The issue was deliberated upon by the previous BJP regime also but since everyone is free to work anywhere, we do not wish to take decisions which will fail judicial scrutiny,” he said, adding that priority, however, would be given to SCs, STs and women while issuing the ID cards. Satya Prakash Tribune News Service New Delhi, September 25 Taking exception to Karnataka High Court judge V Srishananda’s controversial remarks that a particular Muslim-dominated area in Bengaluru was in Pakistan, the Supreme Court on Wednesday cautioned judges against making casual comments reflecting their personal biases. “We can’t call any part of the territory of India as Pakistan because that’s fundamentally contrary to the territorial integrity of the nation,” a five-judge Bench led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud said. The Bench, which had on September 20 taken suo motu cognisance of the judge’s controversial remarks, however, closed the proceedings on the issue as Justice Srishananda had apologised in an open court on September 21. “Casual observations may well reflect a certain degree CAUTIONS AGAINST CASUAL COMMENTS Courts, therefore, have to be careful not to make comments in the course of judicial proceedings which may be construed as being misogynistic or prejudicial to any segment of society. Bench ❝ of individual bias, particularly when they are likely to be perceived as being directed at a particular gender or community,” said the Bench, which also included Justice Sanjiv Khanna, Justice BR Gavai, Justice Surya Kant and Justice Hrishikesh Roy. “The heart and soul of judging is the need to be impartial and fair...,” said the CJI. Apart from referring to a particular area in Bengaluru as being in Pakistan, Justice Srishananda had also made certain “gender insensitive remarks” against a woman lawyer.