Voices of dissent are at its peak,with reports of unfair elections coming from over a dozen block Congress committees,in the run-up to the election of Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee president. Jagjiwan Pal,former MLA from Suleh in Kangra district,resorted to a fast-unto-death outside the office of returning officer Rajni Patil at the state Congress headquarters in Shimla on Tuesday. More than a dozen complaints from various blocks have already reached Patil. Pal is protesting against the hijacking of polls in the Suleh BCC conducted on Tuesday. The Virbhadra loyalist said while he was in Shimla after being called by Patil to hear his complaints,the Suleh BCC conducted the election in his absence. He said his repeated complaints about rigged voter lists had gone unheard for the last one week. Patil,however,said: The allegations are unfounded and Pal should not go on a hunger strike. We had called him to hear his complaint two days ago,but he came today. This,in fact,calls for disciplinary action against him. In Suleh,Sanjay Rana was elected block president. The party had fielded him during the previous Assembly elections but Rana managed to poll only 3,900 votes,leading to forfeiture of his security. Union Minister for Steel Virbhadra Singh,who was touring Rohru,meanwhile,returned to Shimla to meet Patil. On the other hand,a faction of the Hamirpur Block Congress Committee accused Congress general secretary for organsiational matters Asha Kumari of trying to hijack the poll process. Former MLA Kuldeep Pahtania told the media that assistant returning officer Suresh Rana was following her orders. He demanded Ranas removal. Asha Kumari did not respond to the calls made to her mobile phones. Though the last date for completion of BCC elections ended on Tuesday,elections in about 10 blocks could not be held. These include Lahaul-Spiti and Kinnaur.
