Dehradun Apr 21 PTI The Uttarakhand Police on Thursday launched a drive to verify antecedents of people who have come to the state over the past 10 years a senior official said here on Thursday The drive begins just days ahead of the Char Dham Yatra in the state It follows Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhamis announcement recently that a campaign will be conducted to verify details and antecedents of people coming from outside so that peace and social harmony could be maintained in the state Dhami had said this in reply to a question on a demand by seers to ban the entry of non-Hindus in Char Dham areas Over the next 10 days police will verify information related to people who have come from outside the state over the past 10 years Uttarakhand DGP Ashok Kumar said Verification has been done earlier also Antecedents of people from outside such as handcart pushers labourers professionals and businessmen have been checked in the past too he said However he said this time this verification is being done by running a special campaign for 10 days so that it is completed before the start of the Char Dham Yatra The chief minister had said on Tuesday that during the Char Dham Yatra the state government will run a campaign to ensure that the pilgrims coming from outside are properly verified and elements likely to pose a threat to peace do not enter the state Our state should remain peaceful Its religion and culture should be preserved The government will run a campaign for this at its own level We will try that people coming from outside are properly verified and those who could pose a threat to peace do not enter the state he said Describing Uttarakhand as a peace-loving state as well as a centre of religion and culture the chief minister said that there is no place for miscreants encroachers and religious fanatics here This years Char Dham Yatra will begin with the opening of the doors of temples on May 3 on the occasion of Akshaya Tritiya A record number of devotees are expected this year as there are no covid-induced restrictions on pilgrimage PTI ALM RDK

Dehradun Mar 24 PTI BJPs Kotdwar MLA Ritu Khanduri filed her nomination papers for the post of the Assembly Speaker on Thursday said Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami here If elected Khanduri will be the first woman Speaker of Uttarakhand The Kotdwar MLA is the daughter of former chief minister Bhuvan Chandra Khanduri She filed her nomination papers on Thursday Dhami told reporters at a media briefing after his first cabinet meeting The Speaker of Uttarakhand Assembly will be elected on Saturday at 11 am Assembly Secretary Mukesh Singhal said earlier Khanduris unopposed election to the post of speaker is a foregone conclusion as the BJP has 47 MLAs in the 70-member Assembly Khanduri is the state BJP Mahila Morcha president She had defeated former minister Surendra Singh Negi of the Congress in Kotdwar by more than 3000 A two-time MLA Khanduri had won her first Assembly election from Yamkeshwar in 2017 However the party fielded her this time from Kotdwar a seat represented in the last Assembly by former minister Harak Singh Rawat who is now in the Congress A former teacher at Amity University Noida Khanduri is married to IAS officer Rajesh Bhushan who is the Union Health Secretary at present PTI ALM RDK

Dehradun Dec 20 PTI Former Uttarakhand Congress president Kishore Upadhyay has said all political parties should field women from 40 per cent of the Assembly seats in the state The Congress leader said this while extending his greetings to the Uttarakhand Mahila Manch on its foundation day on Sunday Upadhyay had backed Mahila Congress national general secretary Annapurna Rawat when she categorically appealed to the party high command to allocate 40 per cent of tickets to women candidates in Uttarakhand Upadhyay also demanded enactment of a well-defined land law in the state and restoration of the traditional rights of Uttarakhand inhabitants on its forests land and water resources Upadhyay submitted his suggestions and demands to the Uttarakhand Mahila Manch so that it could raise the issue on relevant forums All political parties in Uttarakhand are working at present on the distribution of tickets as the state goes to polls early next year PTI ALM RDK