National
Virbhadra files papers for Himachal polls, Dhumal on Monday
Shimla, Oct 20 (IANS) Congress leader and six-time Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh Virbhadra Singh on Friday filed his nomination papers from Arki assembly constituency — a new seat that he chose himself — for the November 9 assembly elections.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s former two-time Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal, who is also going to contest from a new seat Sujanpur, will file his papers on October 23, the party said.
Accompanied by his wife Pratibha Singh, a former Member of Parliament, and son Vikramaditya Singh — who is planning to make his electoral debut from Shimla (Rural) seat this assembly polls, Virbhadra Singh said he himself decided to contest from the seat which the Congress had not been able to win for quite some time.
Party leaders said in fact, Virbhadra Singh, 83, had vacated the Shimla (Rural) seat for his son Vikramaditya Singh and shifted to Arki in Solan district.
Earlier, he announced to contest from Theog in Shimla district, the seat which was won in the 2012 assembly elections by Congress veteran Vidya Stokes, 89.
“After Virbhadra Singh decided to contest from Arki and the party high command allotted him the ticket from there, Stokes again expressed her desire to contest from Theog,” a senior party leader told IANS.
The Congress on Wednesday announced its first list of 59 of the 68 candidates. It is still silent on the names of candidates for the remaining nine seats, including Theog and Shimla (Rural).
“The Congress will again form the government as we are in the fray on the plank of development,” a seemingly confident Chief Minister told reporters after filing his nomination.
Virbhadra Singh, who has been declared the Congress chief ministerial candidate, is pitted against the BJP’s greenhorn Ratan Singh Pal.
For this seat, the BJP ignored sitting legislator Govind Ram and allotted the ticket to Pal.
Another Congress leader and Cabinet minister Dhani Ram Shandil filed his nomination papers from Solan (reserved).
Interestingly, the BJP has fielded Shandil’s doctor-turned-politician son-in-law Rajesh Kashyap.
The other prominent candidates who filed papers include the BJP’s former Cabinet ministers Jairam Thakur from Seraj, Gulab Singh from Jogindernagar, Ravinder Ravi from Dehra and Maheshwar Singh from Kullu.
The Congress’ sitting Cabinet minister Sujan Singh Pathania filed papers from Fatehpur and its sitting legislator Kuldeep Kumar from Chintpurni.
Jairam Thakur has represented Seraj for four consecutive terms and is trying his luck for the fifth time, while Gulab Singh and Ravi were the most powerful men in the previous Prem Kumar Dhumal government.
BJP’s Dhumal has swapped his present Hamirpur seat, the pocket borough of the BJP, with party legislator Narendra Thakur, who will be the party candidate from the seat.
The contest from Sujanpur seems interesting this time as the Congress has fielded Rajinder Rana, who knows the Dhumal family inside out. This would help the Congress give a befitting reply to the BJP.
Rana in 2012 won the assembly elections from this seat as an Independent and later joined the Congress. However, ahead of the 2014 general election, he vacated the seat and contested the Lok Sabha election from Hamirpur.
He was routed by the BJP’s Anurag Thakur, the son of Dhumal.
In the 2012 elections to the 68-member assembly, which saw a voter turnout of 73.92 per cent, the Congress won 36 seats, BJP 26 and Independents six.
The BJP in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections had won all the four seats with a vote percentage of 53.85 per cent. At that time, the Congress, which was at the helm in the state, got 41.07 per cent votes.
–IANS
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Lucknow: Vishal Singh, a renowned social worker from Lucknow, also known as Foodman, has once again made India proud. He was honored by the Happy Hands Gloves Cooperative Limited Company in Korathai, Thailand, for his work with the Hunger Free World Mission.
The Hunger Free World Mission’s meeting was held in Korathai, Thailand, under Vishal Singh’s leadership. Representatives from several countries, including Mr. Raja Dwivedi (Managing Director of Happy Hands Gloves Limited), Thailand Coordinator Mr. Raja Mishra, and member Mr. Varun Singh, attended the event.
Under Vishal Singh’s leadership, the attendees took a pledge to work together toward creating a hunger-free world.
Speaking on the occasion, Vishal Singh explained that the main goal of the Hunger Free World Mission is social participation. He said the mission is not just about feeding people but also about meeting other basic needs of those who are struggling. The mission focuses on helping families of terminally ill patients in hospitals by providing food and shelter. It also works to fulfill essential needs like education, jobs, and care for the elderly.
For the last 16 years, the Vijay Sri Foundation has been providing free services, benefiting thousands of people. Vishal Singh highlighted that the mission aims to gain global recognition like other organizations such as WHO, WWF, and Red Cross, which work for social causes.
During this meeting, Vishal Singh was appointed as the Chairman of the Hunger Free World Mission by representatives from various countries. They also discussed holding regular meetings in different countries to push the mission forward.
Business tycoon Dr. Abhishek Verma has also supported this humanitarian mission, vowing to promote the idea of “Seva Parmo Dharma” (Service is the highest duty) worldwide. Vishal Singh praised him, stating that people like Dr .Abhishek Verma inspire others to work for the betterment of society.
Recently, Romania’s Ambassador, Mr . Daniela Sezonov Ţane, invited Vishal Singh to the Romanian Embassy in Delhi, where they discussed the mission in detail. Impressed by his humanitarian work, she honored Vishal Singh and invited him to Romania to take the mission forward .
Food man Vishal Singh has been serving the people of India for the past 16 years. Through the Vijay Sri Foundation, he provides free meals to cancer patients & their families ,shelter, and education for women & children along with running free old-age homes in Lucknow.
In addition to his humanitarian work, Vishal Singh also addresses issues like crime and corruption through his role as Chairman of Seva Path Media and Managing Director of Vijay Sri Foundation.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Vishal Singh and his team worked tirelessly to provide food and help to the needy, including starving children, elderly citizens, and pregnant women. Despite contracting the virus himself, he continued to assist others after his recovery. He even created a life-saving oxygen regulator using household items, which was praised by doctors both in India and abroad.
In his address at the meeting, Vishal Singh spoke about his mission to create a hunger-free world. He pointed out that India’s large population, along with issues like unemployment and poverty, has caused the country to fall on the Hunger Index. He urged people to contribute just one handful of grains daily to help create a hunger-free world.
He concluded by saying that through social participation, we can empower the people around us, meet their basic needs, and work together to build a stronger, more prosperous, and developed society.
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