Trinamul Cong leader threw her slipper at CPM MLA

A Trinamul Congress panchayat samiti sabhapati, Dipali Roy, trying to beat CPM MLA Tamsher Ali (peeping face in circle) with her slipper during a bandh in Tufanganj subdivision of Cooch Behar. Dipali eventually threw the slipper at Ali and caught him in the chest. Although the MLA aimed his chappal at her, police restrained him. Picture by Himangshu Ranjan Deb. source: the telegraph india

The Parliament has lost " Confidence" motion to the Nation

The drama which unfolded in the Parliament on Tuesday, embarrassed whole of the Nation. Read the chilling story of corruption, bribery, and horse-trading. Also read the comments of experts:

3 BJP MPs ‘sting’ SP men bribing them Rs 9cr to abstain

July 23, 2008, TIMES NEWS NETWORK
New Delhi: The plan to ‘trap’ UPA’s vote managers was hatched on Monday evening, if the BJP's version of events is to believed. BJP, struggling to hold on to its flock that was allegedly being poached by the Samajwadi Party and Congress with the lure of lucre, apparently discovered that its MP from Morena, Ashok Argal could actually do a sting to expose the “murky game of buying and selling MPs". Remember Argal? He’s the BJP MP The Times of India wrote about on its front page on Tuesday. Argal, a Dalit, is set to lose his seat in the coming Lok Sabha election because of delimitation. So, he was antsy — and was being targeted by SP leaders. BJP got wind of this and speedily addressed his problem by promising him an Assembly ticket. Argal, in short, had decided he would not switch his loyalty. But SP managers, determined to swell the numbers for UPA, were not giving up on him, claims BJP. Argal is understood to have told his party leaders about their persistence and the leaders, in turn, told him: Trap them. The plan was accordingly hatched. When SP MP from Allahabad, Reoti Raman Singh, called on Argal at his 4, Ferozeshah Road residence late on Monday night, the BJP MP was prepared. Argal told Reoti Raman that not just him, but two more BJP MPs — Mahavir Bhagora and Faggan Singh Kulaste, both tribals — were willing to jump fence. Reoti Raman is said to have fixed a meeting between the BJP MPs and Amar Singh next morning. This visit of the SP member to Argal's residence is said to have been recorded by stealth on camera by a TV journalist from a TV news channel, CNNIBN, who had been tipped off.

On Tuesday morning, Argal and Kulaste reached Amar Singh’s residence at 27, Lodhi Estate. BJP sources alleged Amar Singh told the BJP MPs that the UPA already had the necessary number of MPs to win the vote. So, he was not in a position to give them too much money. Still, he was prepared to give them Rs 3 crore each for abstaining from voting. To seal the deal by building greater confidence in the BJP MPs, the BJP MPs claim Amar Singh got them to speak to someone on phone who he said was Sonia Gandhi's political secretary, Ahmad Patel. The MPs claim they played along and agreed to the deal. But they pointed out that with television crew deployed 24x7 outside Amar Singh’s residence, it was not possible to carry out wads of notes. Amar Singh is claimed to have offered to have the money delivered. Soon, Sanjeev Saxena, Amar Singh's personal aide, went to Argal's residence with a bag. This visit too is said to be have been recorded on camera, which also captured Saxena taking out wads of currency notes. The BJP MPs claim Saxena gave them Rs 1 crore as “token money" and told them that the remaining Rs 8 crore would be delivered after they had abstained in the trust vote. In the footage which is now with the Speaker, Saxena is is also shown as giving the phone to Argal to speak with somebody whom the BJP MP later identified as Amar Singh.

A Nation of Losers

This is the ninth trust vote that the Union government is facing since 1979. Prior to that, there was no need for any trial of strength in the Lok Sabha to determine whether a government has the right to continue because till then the Congress had always had a steam-roller majority in Parliament. In fact, the need first arose when Charan Singh was Prime Minister after an earlier split in the Janata Party. But Charan Singh who knew he was going to lose, did not come to Parliament on the day of the voting. This was the first of the two occasions when the Prime Minister had to resign before facing the vote of confidence. The other occasion arose in 1996 when Atal Bihari Vajpayee resigned on the floor of the House before the voting took place. We have nothing against votes of confidence. On the contrary, we realize that they are inevitable at times in a healthy democracy, especially when a country has to make do with a coalition government comprising disparate elements. We have nothing against close finishes either, though a razor-thin majority can make governance extremely difficult. But whatever the kind of crisis and whatever the provocation, no democracy worth its name should be subjected to the kind of unethical political games that are being played in New Delhi now — all in the name of saving the Congress-led UPA government.By the standards of the Indian polity, nothing may seem to be wrong with all this. After all, the list of criminals who are in Parliament as lawmakers is growing longer with each parliamentary election. They have successfully subverted all democratic ideals to make the wrong seem right and the unethical to seem normal. But going by the standards of a civilized democracy, there is nothing at all to be happy about. The most noteworthy sin is that a political party and the coalition it leads are taking precedence over the country and its people. It is as though the Congress and the UPA have to be saved no matter what happens to India. The second sin is perpetuating the rationalization that in politics the means do not matter at all. Look where this has taken us! The equation between the UPA (minus the Left parties and the Bahujan Samaj Party plus the Samajwadi Party) and the rest (primarily the Left parties and the BJP) is so evenly balanced that it is the tiny political parties with three, two or even one Lok Sabha MP that are going to make the ultimate difference to the equation. So the cost of ‘winning’ over even the sleepiest and most worthless MP has reportedly gone up to Rs 100 crore from the figure of Rs 25 crore that was the upper limit just two days ago. It would hardly be surprising if the price went up to Rs 200 crore for the last few MPs by today morning. And where has all this money for horse-trading come from? Not from the personal coffers of the chairpersons of coalitions or party presidents forming new alliances. Not even from the funds of our political parties. The money is most likely to have been siphoned off from one or more of the several schemes for guaranteeing rural employment for which huge sums are allotted in the budget by pious governments year after year. Such a scenario would mean that the government of the day has legitimized the misuse of funds meant for the poorest of the poor to buy MPs in order to stay in power! This is not only a total repudiation of the principle of the means being paramount, but a blatant misuse of power for staying in power.However, this is not all. What is in glaring evidence is the reliance of the Congress-led UPA government on the most untrustworthy political parties for survival. Take the case of Mayawati and the Bahujan Samaj Party. Mayawati is on record repeatedly asserting that it is not her business to form governments but rather to break them. She has demonstrated this twice at the Centre. She withdrew support from the NDA government just before a trial of strength and stage-managed its defeat at the very last minute. She had walked out of coalition governments in Uttar Pradesh three times, each time to the great benefit of her party, till she did not need any help from any quarter in the last Assembly election. Political parties that she had ditched in the past time and again should have learnt their lessons but did not. And what of the ‘untouchable’ Samajwadi Party? Can it be counted on to prop up its worst foe in Uttar Pradesh till next year?Finally, the Congress has had to make the most deplorable compromises with small political parties like the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM). For its five members to return to the UPA fold, the Congress has to make its chief Shibu Soren a cabinet minister and make room for another minister besides granting scheduled tribe status to a list of tribal groups submitted by Soren. We are all aware of the criminal charges that had led to Shibu Soren’s ouster from the cabinet. Now the Congress is sending out the clear message that even criminals can become ministers if they support the UPA. Who is the ultimate loser in all this? Why, the nation itself — the people of India. The heavens would not have fallen if the UPA government were to fall a few months ahead of its time. The Congress might be able to buy itself some time today. But how much, even if it survives the vote of confidence? Maybe a few months or maybe up to March next year if it is very lucky. Are a few more months in power a good enough reason to turn Parliament into an auction centre for legislators? If it loses, the Congress will probably make a few worse bedfellows next time to save the dynasty. But who will save the nation? source: sentinel assam

Osmani to vote for UPA

OUR CORRESPONDENT
Silchar, July 18: Maverick politician and veteran Congress MP from Barpeta in Assam Abul Fazal Golam Osmani has set all speculation at rest by declaring that he would vote for the UPA government during the confidence motion in the Lok Sabha on July 22.

Dismissing the buzz that he was toying with the idea of not voting for the Congress, he firmly reiterated his loyalty to his party. He, however, did admit nursing a grudge against the state leadership, especially chief minister Tarun Gogoi, for its hostile attitude towards him.
Talking to reporters at his ancestral home here last night, the septuagenarian denied having attached any condition for his support.

However, his supporters and confidants said the MP had put forward three conditions. He has sought re-nomination as the party candidate from Barpeta Lok Sabha seat. If there is any vacancy from the state in the Rajya Sabha then he should be nominated as a candidate by the Congress. In case he is elected to the Rajya Sabha, the Barpeta seat should be reserved for his elder son Wajed Osmani, a doctorate in history from Aligarh Central University.

Osmani said he had received several phone calls from senior Congress leaders, including foreign minister Pranab Mukherjee and political secretary to AICC president Sonia Gandhi Ahmed Patel, over the past three days, seeking assurance about his support. source: telegraph india

Satta rates: UPA win: 40p, defeat: Rs 2

18 Jul 2008, 0145 hrs IST, S Balakrishnan,TNN

MUMBAI: With the countdown to July 22 having begun, Mumbai and other cities are witnessing hectic betting activity. According to sources, the odds are 40 paise for the UPA managing to retain power. This means that for every wager of Re 1, the bettor will get Rs 1.40 if the government wins the trust vote. The odds on the government falling are Rs 2. With matka operators forced to down shutters and no worthwhile cricket matches to lay bets on, the political drama in New Delhi is generating tremendous betting activity. "The situation has become more interesting with corporate bigwigs entering the scene," a senior inspector of police said. Big-time bookies like Sunil Dubai, Sobhan Kalachowkie, Jayanti Malad, Subhash Indore, Laxmi Thana and DJ Andheri are busy accepting bets not only from within India, but also from West Asia and other regions. According to estimates, bets worth Rs 250 crore have already been placed.

Mistake to trust Congress: Karat

NDTV Correspondent
Friday, July 18, 2008 (New Delhi)
The CPM general secretary Prakash Karat has said it was a mistake to trust the Congress on the nuclear deal.Speaking to a newspaper Karat referred to the understanding between the Left and the government that it would not go to the IAEA without first clearing it with the UPA-Left coordination committee.He said: ''It was a mistake to believe in the word given by the Congress leadership which included the prime minister. On November 10, 2007, there had been a meeting in the PM's house where an understanding was arrived at.Speaking for the first time on the controversy involving Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee he said, ''All this talk of Speaker sans party and politics is hypocritical.''Karat said, ''By holding the post of the Speaker, a person does not cease to have political affiliations. After someone ceases to be a Speaker, they resume political activities.'' Karat however maintained that it was upto the Speaker to decide when to quit.The CPM General Secretary has also questioned the ethics of getting convicted MPs out of jail to ensure the government's survival in the trust vote.Karat said, ''I am reminded of the 1993 situation. Our party had moved a no-confidence motion against the Narasimha Rao government. The Congress government was in a minority then, just as now. But they managed a majority in the vote. This led to the well-known JMM bribery case. For the first time, a former PM and a former home minister were prosecuted. Let us hope, history does not repeat itself.''

NDA cannot form govt if UPA fails

HERALD
CORRESPONDENT NEW DELHI, JULY 17— Quite conscious that the Bharatiya Janata Party led National Democratic Alliance does not have the number and cannot secure the Left’s support to form the government if the United Progressive Alliance fails in the confidence vote on Tuesday, senior BJP leader M Venkaiah Naidu stressed that his party would seek a fresh mandate through a mid-term polls.“I am saying it on record that the NDA will not try to form a government if UPA falls during the vote of confidence. We will go to the people and convince them about the failures of the UPA government and seek their mandate,” he said while talking to reporters at the BJP headquarters here.He boasted that the NDA may have the numbers to form the government but asserted that “election is the only solution” once the UPA government is defeated in the floor test in Lok Sabha.Already upbeat with victories in the Assembly elections in Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh and the latest in Karnataka, Naidu said the BJP has already got into the election mode for the new Lok Sabha and has even announced its first list of candidates.In reply to a question, he said talks were already on for enrolling more regional parties in the NDA. There may also be some post-poll alliances, he added.

UPA’ s trust vote

The count down to the crucial trust vote to be moved by the UPA government on the 22nd July in the Lok Sabha has begun. Hectic parleys by political parties are going on to garner as much support as possible to their view point. The UPA and its allies strongly supporting the Indo-US nuclear deal are trying their best to rope in the undecided MPs numbering 11 belonging to smaller parties like the JD(S) of Deve Gowda (2 MPs), National Conference of Omar Abdullah (2 MPs), Rastriya LokDal of Ajit Singh (3MPs) etc whose votes would decide the fate of the trust vote. The Left Parties are leaving no stone unturned to defeat the trust vote at all cost, making friends with erstwhile enemies and joining hands with fundamentalist party like the BJP, which the veteran communist leader Jyoti Basu considered greater enemy than the Indo-US nuclear deal. The CPI(M) MPs from West Bengal expressed their uneasiness at the prospect of voting along with their enemy– the BJP. The issue of resignation of Somnath Chatterjee, as Speaker of the Lok Sabha seems to have divided the party. Somnath Chatterjee was unhappy for dragging the name of the Speaker in the list of MPs withdrawing support to the government submitted by CPI(M) General Secretary, Prakash Karat to the President of India. He has indicated that if he had to resign as the Speaker, he would like to resign as MP also. The CPI(M) has now joined hands with Mayawati and expect 17 BSP MPs to vote against the trust motion. It would a be neck to neck fight and every vote would be crucial.The bone of contention between the UPA and the Left Parties-the India Safeguard Agreement submitted to the IAEA has now been made public. It is doubtful if all the parties and all the MPs have studied this important document. Brajesh Misra, National Security Adviser during NDA regime and a trusted policy adviser of the then Prune Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee has termed the document as the best possible agreement under the present circumstances .He also commented that renegotiation of the deal after coming to power by the BJP would be difficult and might be impossible. The BJP has distanced itself from Mishra’s well considered opinion but did not dare to silence him by taking disciplinary action. Nor is the deal anti Muslim as propogated by Mayawati. Muslim MPs have found that the deal has nothing to do with religion and several of them have openly given support to the deal. The future of Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and Congress president, Sonia Gandhi rests on winning the trust vote. Let us hope that every one will see the light today so that tomorrow will not be dark. source: assam tribune editorial 15.07.08

Cong leaders jittery over Osmani’s stand

From Our Spl Correspondent NEW DELHI, July 14 – The trust motion in the Lok Sabha being reduced to a numbers game, the possibility of AF Golam Osmani deserting the party camp, yet again, has caused jitters in Assam Congress leadership. An uneasy feeling has gripped the State Congress leadership following mixed signals over Osmani’s possible moves. Congress party’s crisis manager fears that he may either vote against the Government or abstain from voting, confided a senior Congress leader.Osmani, who is currently in his Barpeta constituency, has been unhappy with the State Congress leadership for a while now. Though he had voted in the Vice-President’s election in favour of Hamid Ansari, he abstained from voting in the presidential election.Union Minister of State Bijoy Krishna Handique had even rushed to his house to accompany him to Parliament, on the directions of the party, but he declined to vote. During the Vice-President’s election a group of State MPs were deputed to bring him to vote and he complied, to the relief of the Congress leadership.This time, said Congress leaders, they are unsure of his stand and though a group of Congress partymen have been deputed to convince him to vote, he has thrown confusing signals. Senior Congress leaders like political secretary to Congress president Ahmed Patel are reportedly in touch with him, sources said.The septuagenarian MP has been sore with the State leadership, which has all but declared that he would not be re-nominated. Former President, late Fakruddin Ali Ahmed’s son is tipped to be nominated from the seat. The Assam Congress has nine MPs in the Lok Sabha. Attempts to get in touch with the MP proved futile, but his personal staff at his New Delhi residence said that he was scheduled to arrive here on July 20, ostensibly to participate in the Special Session of the Lok Sabha.Meanwhile, a delegation of BPF by State Health and Family Welfare Minister, Himanta Biswa Sarma landed in the Capital, here this evening, to meet Congress president, Sonia Gandhi and pledge their support to the UPA Government. The BPF has one MP, SK Bwiswmutiary in the Lok Sabha.Sources said that the delegation also proposed to formally express their gratitude for appointing R.S.Mooshahary as the Governor of Meghalaya, when they meet Gandhi here tomorrow.The UPA, however, content with its endeavour in the North-east, as smaller regional parties, notwithstanding their opposition to the Congress, have sent positive vibes to vote for the ruling combine.Senior Congress leader and Union Minister for Labour, Oscar Fernandes is closely monitoring the negotiations with Nagaland Peoples Front, the Sikkim Democratic Front and the Mizo National Front (MNF), besides independent MP Mani Charengamei. The three Hill States have one Lok Sabha MP each. Party sources expressed satisfaction at the outcome of the negotiations and said they are confident of securing four additional votes from the North-east. With this, the UPA is likely to secure 17 votes from the Region.The AGP is expected to vote with the BJP and against the nuclear deal, while the Saffron Party would get two more from Arunachal Pradesh. The CPM is going to get support from Tripura where it has two MPs. source: assam tribune

AGP may move SC over Govt inaction

NEW DELHI, July 12 – Accusing the Congress-led Central and Assam Governments of disregarding the Supreme Court's verdict on detection and deportation of illegal migrants, Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) today said that they are looking at the option of moving the Apex Court, alleging non-implementation of its orders. Addressing a press conference here today, to mark the completion of three years of the historic order of repealing the controversial IM (DT) Act, AGP MPs Biren Baishya, Sarbananda Sonowal and Kumar Deepak Das today slammed the Congress Government both at the Centre and the State for indulging in vote bank politics.The Government is yet to start the process of identification of the foreigners and the tribunals are yet to function. The updated National Register of Citizens (NRC) is not yet ready. The Home Ministry has failed to keep its own deadline of sealing the Indo-Bangladesh border by December 2006, said Sonowal, who was the main petitioner, on whose plea the Act was scrapped.He said he was going to consult senior legal counsel, Ashok Desai on moving the Supreme Court yet again pleading that the Government, despite lapse of three years, has not carried out its orders.The AGP leaders conceded that not much impact has been made by the repeal of the IM (DT) Act because of the Congress Party's attitude. The State Government has not taken any steps to implement the orders in toto, he alleged. Added Deepak Das, the Congress Party has disregarded the Accord signed during Rajiv Gandhi's regime. Unabated influx is still on and along with migrants, fundamentalist elements are also infiltrating. Assam today has as many as 14 fundamentalist outfits, he added.Though the foreigners' issue has always assumed centre stage in every election, Biren Baishya said raking the issue would not have any impact on its relations with the AUDF. The BJP has already made its intensions clear by declaring that the Bangladeshi immigration problem was going to be one of their major election planks."All political parties have agreed that March 25, 1971 is the cut-off date and any foreigners who has entered the State after that have to go. There should be no dispute over the Assam Accord," Baishya said, mindful that his Party is also talking to AUDF.Asked about the AGP's strategy for the forthcoming polls, he said it would be endeavour of his Party to ensure that all the anti-Congress votes are intact.The AGP, meanwhile, has declared that they are vote against the UPA Government and the nuclear agreement in the Lok Sabha during the Confidence Motion. source: assam tribune

Left withdraws support to UPA

From Kalyan Barooah NEW DELHI, July 8 – The UPA Government at the Centre plunged into its worst crisis till date, with the Left Parties withdrawing support over the nuclear deal, leaving the Dr Manmohan Singh Government high and dry. However, the Congress Party put up a brave front and declared that there was no threat to the Government. The Congress Party’s confidence followed Samajvadi Party’s unanimous support to the UPA Government.An upset Left said the time has come to pull the rug. Not content, the Left is also planning to request President, Pratibha Devisingh Patil to ask the Prime Minister to seek a vote of trust in the Lok Sabha to prove his government majority, when they call on her here tomorrow to submit the letter of withdrawal of support.In a day fast paced with political developments that saw almost all big and small players confabulating on the fate of Dr Manmohan Singh Government, leaders quickly picked up their calculators, to see if the UPA combine had the numbers to survive.The Left parties were first to set the ball rolling when it met in the morning at its headquarters to draft the letter to External Affairs Minister, Pranab Mukherjee. They accused the ruling Congress-led coalition of refusing to provide the text to the members of the Committee on Indo-US Civil Nuclear Cooperation and said the proposed meeting on July 10 would not serve any purpose in this context.It is critical for the country that the safeguards agreement was discussed with full transparency and not kept secret, said CPM general secretary, Prakash Karat.“Why is the Manmohan Singh Government keeping the draft of the IAEA agreement secret from the people,” the Left leader asked.The brief announcement by Karat-led the Congress president, Sonia Gandhi convene an emergency meeting of its senior leaders. In the evening, the all-powerful Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs (CCPA) was held, which was presided over by Mukherjee, in absence of the Prime Minister, who is away in Japan. The meeting was convened to fix a date for the special session of Parliament. Indication was that the government could go in for a trust vote on July 28.The Congress Party later described the Left action as most unfortunate. “When the entire nation is mourning those killed in the Kabul blast, the Left has chosen to make the announcement. It is most unfortunate. They think their prestige is more important than the nation’s prestige,” chairman of the AICC media department, Veerappa Moily said, reacting to the Left’s announcement.Yet, perhaps the biggest set back was suffered by SP, when at least six of its MPs gave broad hints they might oppose the opportunistic alliance with the Congress. Party chief, Mulayam Singh Yadav announced in the morning that all was well in the party after a meeting of the party Parliamentary Board, only to be contradicted by his colleague, Jai Prakash in Lucknow that a section of them opposed the move.He said each of its 39 MPs is solidly behind the Indo-US Nuclear deal. He requested the Left parties not to join the communal forces.Fishing in troubled waters, BJP president, Rajnath Singh attacked both the Left Parties and the UPA and demanded that a special session of Parliament should be convened immediately and the Prime Minister should seek a vote of confidence. He said the BJP leaders would approach the President of India to direct the present government to seek the trust vote. His statement came after an emergency meeting of the party’s office bearers, here this evening, to discuss the current political scenario and draft its future strategy. The day also saw a war of words between the Congress, Left and opposition parties. The Left held the Prime Minister responsible for precipitating the crisis, when he declared that Government would very soon approach the IAEA to move forward on the deal. The four parties- CPI (M), CPI, Forward Bloc and RSP lost no time in firming up plans to pull out of the coalition government, which it was supporting from outside.Karat also released the draft of the letter to Mukherjee. Since the UPA has refused to provide the text of the Safeguards Agreements to the members of the UPA-Left Committee, no purpose will be served by having a meeting.Further, the proposal for a meeting on the 10th is rendered meaningless since the Prime Minister, while travelling abroad, has chosen to announce that the government will be going to Board of Governors of the IAEA “very soon”.Previously, the Left parties had decided that if the government goes to the IAEA Board of Governors, they will withdraw support, the letter said.Meanwhile, allies rushed to extend support, ruling out any threat to the survival of the UPA government. RJD president Lalu Prasad said the alliance has majority support and it will be proved in Parliament. Later, Union Agriculture Minister and NCP president Sharad Pawar also said that the government is stable. source: assam tribune

Life line to UPA

The suspense about the survival of the Congress-led UPA government appeared to have ended with Mulayam Singh and Amar Singh of the Samajwadi party publicly endorsing the government move on the Indo-US nuclear deal after seeking clarification on the deal from the ex-President and noted scientist Dr. APJ Kalam. The Left led by Prakash Karat, stunned by the U turn of the Samajwadi Party, issued a letter to the government giving a deadline of 7th July to indicate the government time frame to approach the IAEA so that formal parting with the UPA could be operationalised,so to speak.The Left’s anti US phobia made it blind to the benefit India would derive on signing the 123 agreement which would end India’s nuclear isolation and allow trading with 45-country nuclear supplier group(NSG) for Uranium to run the idle power plants. This is a historic blunder like the one committed earlier when the politbureau refused to allow the veteran CPI(M) leader Jyoti Basu to become the Prime Minister of India. The Left leaders, most of whom had not contested election in their life time like Prakash Karat,Sitararn Yechury,Brinda Karat would not care for the consequences of their action, particularly in West Bengal where ground beneath the Left had been eroding as evident from the results of the local body elections.Dr Manmohan Singh,Prirne Minister frequently dubbed as the weakest Prime Minister by Prime Minister aspirant L.K.Advani of the BJP must be having the last laugh. He proved to the nation that he could be tough when the situation so demanded and the Indo-US nuclear deal arranged after prolonged negotiation with safeguard to national interest could not be sacrificed at the insistence of the Left parties-a millstone that had to be got rid of. He could now go the G-8 summit in Japan with his head held high and move IAEA in mid July and expect to complete all formalities before September to meet the US dead line. The Indo-US nuclear deal would be one of the lasting legacies of the Congress led UPA government plagued by price rise and high inflation before it goes to next Lok Sabha election. The new found friendship between Congress and the Samajwadi Party ending long standing animosity might have given temporary reprieve to the UPA government but how long lasting it would be? Amar Singh in a television interview admitted that they committed a blunder in not extending support to Sonia Gandhi in 1999 to form the Government. The Samajwadi Party leaders would now demand a pound of flesh for their support. Already they have raised their voices against two central Ministers, Murli Deora for rise in petroleum prices and Chidambaram for failure to control inflation. Besides.Mulayam Singh has a disproportionate assets case pending against him. He would expect the Central government to go slow in the case. The Congress- Samajwadi Party alliance proves the adage that in politics there were no permanent foes. source: assam tribune

Cancel revoked order on land transfer to Amarnath board: BJP

Demanding that the Jammu and Kashmir government cancel the revoked order on land transfer to the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday asked Muslim organisations across the country to support the cause.

"The revoking of land transfer order to the SASB by the government is unfortunate and shameful," BJP president Rajnath Singh told reporters in Jammu.

Alleging that the government had succumbed to the separatist forces on the issue, Rajnath Singh said the state government and the Centre were equally responsible for the situation arising out of the cancellation of land to the shrine board.

The BJP president said the decision to transfer land to the SASB was taken with a view to providing facilities to the pilgrims through the board. But the state and Central government yielded to separatists' pressure after they launched an agitation in the Valley and revoked the order.

"Since the minority government in the state has no moral authority to cancel the order, the BJP demands the cancellation of the order immediately," Rajnath Singh said.

While welcoming the Muslim organisations which supported the issue, the BJP president appealed to the community to come forward and fight against the decision.

Rajnath Singh vowed to cancel the order, if the people of Jammu and Kashmir helped the BJP come to power in the state. source: rediff.com

AGP at crossroads

At a time when the major political parties of the country have started gearing up for the general elections, the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP), the main opposition party in Assam, is still undecided on possible poll partners and the process of unification of the regional parties also failed to gain momentum. In fact, over the years, the AGP has not been able to make its stand clear on poll alliances and faced elections with parties with varied policies on vital issues concerning the people of the State. The AGP fought the 1996 Assembly polls with electoral understanding with the Left Parties (CPI and CPM), but in the 2001 elections, it made a complete U turn and forged an alliance with the BJP, the policies of which are totally different from those of the Left. Till date, the leaders of the party have not been able to decide with which party they would forge an alliance in the coming Lok Sabha polls and what is more interesting is the fact that the AGP are talking with parties with totally different viewpoints.The AGP is also a constituent of the United National Progressive Alliance (UNPA) and leaders of other constituents of the UNPA campaigned for the AGP in the last State Assembly polls. But with Samajwadi Party, one of the major constituents of the UNPA coming closer to the Congress, the AGP may soon be forced to withdraw from the Alliance soon and the party has already made it very clear that it would not maintain any relation with any party, which supports the Congress. At present, the AGP is also talking with the leaders of the BJP and even with the Assam United Democratic Front (AUDF), the parties with different viewpoints on vital issues concerning the people of Assam including on the issue of infiltration of foreign nationals to Assam. The AGP received overwhelming support of the people of Assam at the time of its formation following the signing of the Assam Accord in 1985, but it failed to consolidate the support that it received from the people and the failure of the AGP Governments to implement the Accord and to fulfil the hopes and aspirations of people during its two tenures in office resulted in severe erosion of its support base and personality clashes among the leaders also resulted in divisions in the party ranks. Though efforts are on to reunite the regional parties, the progress remained very slow with all the leaders of the regional groups looking to accommodate their close aides in the executive committee of the AGP and if Lok Sabha elections are announced before schedule, there is every possibility of the AGP getting caught off guard yet again. source: assam tribune

The Imminent Collapse of Congress : MV Kamath

MV Kamath

Where there is no vision, says the Bible, the people perish. So, one might add, do parties. Would that be true of the Indian National Congress, that hoary organization over 120 years old that had seen the best of times and is now seen to be in terminal decline? For a good three quarters of a century it represented the voice of India, its undying hopes and suppressed fears. It was led by giants among men, and their name is legion. They were the ones who fought for freedom, made unbelievable sacrifices, courted imprisonment and death, because they had a vision of a free and magnificent India, an India of their dreams. Today it is a dream which lies shattered. The old leaders are all gone, the old familiar faces. In their place we have a bunch of nonentities, safely ensconced in their stately homes, rarely meeting fellow citizens to understand their problems, power-mad and money-hungry. The concept of sacrifice is foreign to their thinking. What can one possibly expect from this bunch? The party depends not on one vision, but on one dynasty which had pastly done its work and should have been thereafter relegated to deserved oblivion a long while ago. Yet it subsists, but barely. Gandhi, the Mahatma, once the fountainhead of wisdom, had realized as independence was approaching, that the time had come to disband the Congress which he had laboriously led for a quarter of a century and let various conflicting forces realign themselves. His advice was not taken. Sardar Vallabbhai Patel passed away on December 14, 1950. JB Kripalani, for long general secretary of the party, drifted away. So did C Rajagopalachari, unable to subscribe to Nehru’s economic theories. In the end, the Congress became the baby of the Nehru family. In the early years of independence, the glow of yesteryears persisted and sustained the party. By the time Nehru was approaching his end, doubts were being raised as to who would succeed him. There were no great stalwarts to take on the job and none had been groomed. In the end, as a result of the untimely end of Lal Bahadur Shastri, the party decided that safety lay in dynasticism. And the country has been paying for its folly. If the party draws any sympathy today, it is not because it has anything to offer, but because it has become the opium of a minuscule lot of leaderless people. They vote for the Congress out of habit and not out of conviction. Everyone knows that secularism, so-called, which the party craftily offers has long lost its meaning and significance. In many parts of the country, Muslims, whose support was sought, are drifting away from the Congress. So are the Dalits who have found in the corrupt but wily Mayavati a new messiah. Upper caste Hindus, who have for years been feeling betrayed by the Congress, have thrown their support to the BJP which is at least true to its convictions and faithful to the nation’s glorious past. Congressmen, having lost their moorings, have begun to drift. That has been noticeable in several States and in recent elections, most notably in Gujarat and Karnataka. Where does one go from here? There is no danger of India breaking up, but in State after State, the ‘‘we versus they’’ attitude is becoming painfully noticeable. The Congress along with the NCP (which is a one-man show) is in power but it has not been able to put the dangerously divisive Shiv Sena and its cousin Maharashtra Navnirman Sena in their place, which is the dustbin of history. It is almost as if the Congress is hand-in-glove with divisive elements in the State. In the last four years, the Congress has shamelessly been dependent at the Centre on a vagrant party, the CPI(M), which has been blackmailing its senior partner all down the line, to the utter confusion of the country. No one really knows where the UPA stands in the matter of the 123 Agreement and the Indo-US nuclear treaty. The Gujjar community in Rajasthan runs riot for over a fortnight, indulges in thoughtless violence, stops railways and road traffic leading to the cumulative loss in trade of crores of rupees, but Delhi prefers to see the BJP government in Jaipur embarrassed, when it should look at the entire tribal demand for inclusion in the ST category in a holistic way, and send in the Army to curb tribal arrogance. The party turns its face away from dangerous signs of meaningless regionalism. The DMK in Tamil Nadu has no one to question it when it pushes ahead with the Sethusamudram Project despite strong nationwide outrage. Chief Minister Karunanidhi insults Sri Ram by calling him a drunkard but no notice is taken of such lunacies. An editor of a very popular Marathi daily in Maharashtra has his house vandalized because he has the temerity to ask whether it was necessary for the Congress-led government to spend crores of rupees to set up a 309-feet statue of Chhatrapathi Shivaji Maharaj in the sea off Mumbai, when hundreds of Maharashtrian farmers are committing suicide because they cannot pay their debts. There is no word of condemnation from Sonia Gandhi. The DMK announces ministerial resignations from the UPA government and even names substitute appointments, without the Prime Minister being aware of what is going on within his cabinet. The PMK resorted to a hostile takeover of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences forcing the head to go to the Supreme Court for redress, which he gets. That is egg on the UPA government’s face, but it continues as if nothing has happened. Are we having a government in New Delhi? It is as if there is no government and the country is merely waiting passively for the next general elections to put a resurgent BJP back into power. The Congress accepts every slap on its face as if that is due and acceptable award for being senile. The blatant case of favouritism in which the Union Shipping and Surface Transport Minister T Baalu indulged in, goes unpunished. It is as if not crime, not blatant arrogance on the part of coalition partners, not even failures in the three Lok Sabha by-elections in Thane (Maharashtra), Tura (Meghalaya) and Hamirpur (Himachal Pradesh) matter any longer. The grave has been dug for the Congress. It is apparently only a matter of time before it is formally laid in it for eternity. That is a sad end for a political party which at one time gave us gems of purest rays serene. The only consolation is that a freshly revitalized Bharatiya Janata Party is around with a sense of mission and the right leaders to work towards its fulfilment. India that is Bharat will never die. But the Congress will. In its demise that so many are so determinedly predicting, there is perhaps hope that a new party such as the one Gandhi had in mind will rise from its ashes. What we are witnessing is darkness before dawn. Luckily the waiting period is not going to be too long. The general elections should be held in November; prolongation by even a month will damage the Congress more than it thinks, with inflation rising menacingly week after week. That is a sign of things to come. source: sentinel assam

Can the AGP ever make up its mind?

Can the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) ever make up its mind? If this question is being asked today, it is because the flag-bearer of regionalism in Asom manages to give out the impression, again and again, that it is directionless. At a time when some euphoria or hope was generated among the regional forces or backers of regionalism in the State with the talk of unity of regional political parties, came news that the AGP was talking to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on the possibility of an alliance to face the Lok Sabha elections. Senior AGP leaders have commented saying there was no harm in talking to the BJP, or for that matter, other like-minded parties. Well, no one is contesting that!The sense that one gets after the AGP-BJP parleys is that Asom’s main opposition party, which is also the pioneer of regionalism in the State, may have concluded that unification among the two AGP factions (the other one being the AGP-Progressive of Prafulla Kumar Mahanta) may not take place after all. AGP leaders are saying the AGP(P) has placed certain ‘demands’, a claim denied by Mahanta and his group. For the consumption of the people and the media, Mahanta has been saying he was in favour of regional unity and that he is ready to be an ordinary party worker in a united AGP. But, Mahanta is certainly kidding. After all, the two-time chief minister and founder president of the AGP has not shed all his ambitions yet. And yes, AGP president Brindabon Goswami may not be ready so far, even for the sake of regional unity, to vacate his chair for Mahanta. Well, I cannot help asking at this point as to what may have happened to AGP’s bonhomie with the flamboyant Amar Singh? Yes, Amar Singh, the Samajwadi Party high-flier who was a key figure in the so-called regional alliance called the United National Progressive Alliance (UNPA)? The AGP aside, one of its old allies, the Telegu Desam, too, has been a part of the UNPA. Only the other day, Amar Singh was in Asom, lambasting the Congress, including Congress leaders from the State. Now, Amar Singh is the main points-man, cobbling up a deal between the Samajwadi Party and the Congress and come to the latter’s aid on the Nuke deal. So, Amar Singh and the UNPA must now be out of the AGP’s radar. The void has to be filled. So, it has to be the BJP. Who are we to talk about ideology? That can change with the times man!Now what? The AGP may go to the Lok Sabha polls with a tie-up with the BJP (some seat adjustments or things like that), and, if the regional unity does not take place by then, face some regional party candidates as their rivals, including those from the Congress. The end result in that scenario will be a split in the non-Congress votes, leading to Congress candidates sailing through. This is not some fantastic prediction that I have managed to make. This is a simple possibility. In case the AGP comes to have a tie-up with the BJP this time, as in the past (who bothers about the disastrous result of the earlier AGP-BJP alliance), the party’s slogan could well be this, ‘we are a regional party with a national outlook!’Regional unity, to my mind, is a distant dream in Asom. This is because of the ambitions nurtured by every regional party leader who wants to be king, or king-maker. The lack of a positive election agenda, lack of leadership, shift in ideologies, failure to forge tactical winning combinations, and, above all, failure of some key regional leaders to sacrifice their personal ambitions and goals are the key stumbling blocks to a possible unification of regional parties in the State. This is one of the reasons for the Congress’ dream run in Asom since 2001. Yes, there is no harm in believing that things may change. source sentinel assam

Will AGP-BJP alliance materialize?

By our Staff ReporterGUWAHATI, July 4: Of late, the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) is hobnobbing with both the BJP and the AUDF-CPI-CPM combine. The main regional party of the State cannot hobnob with both BJP and AUDF at the same because the two parties are next to untouchable to each other. At a recent meeting at the Assam Legislative Assembly with Opposition leader Chandra Mohan Patowary and AGP working president Phani Bhushan Choudhury, the AUDF president made it clear in no uncertain terms that if the AGP wanted an electoral understanding with the BJP, the AUDF could not be an ally of the AGP.Even today, the AGP has been maintaining that it has reached no electoral understanding with the BJP as yet, and this statement is indication enough from the regional party to other parties of the State that it has kept all options open for electoral understanding.The anti-Brindabon lobby in the party is more interested to forge an alliance with the BJP in the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls. These AGP leaders, at the same time, want to maintain a cordial understanding with the AUDF-CPI-CPM combine with the one-point agenda that all the opposition parties — AGP, BJP, AUDF and the Left — have the common anti-Congress stand.AGP president Brindabon Goswami, on the other hand, is yet to come out of the United National Progressive Alliance (UNPA). Meanwhile, when asked on the possible AGP-BJP poll understanding, AGPLP leader Chnadra Mohan Patowary, who is camping in New Delhi, said: “We have had talks with BJP president Rajnath Singh and Sushma Swaraj earlier. But this Delhi tour is purely personal. We have kept all options open to defeat the Congress.”The Congress is apprehensive of the fact that if the AGP-BJP understanding becomes a reality in Asom, the combine will get maximum advantage. According to sources, the AGP is waiting for the reports to be submitted by its 11 party committees that were formed in as many parliamentary constituencies to look into the matter of poll alliance with other parties.Both AGP and BJP sources maintain that unofficial talks for poll alliance are going on between them
AGP, BJP meetFrom a CorrespondentNEW DELHI, July 4: Six AGP leaders today met BJP leader Sushma Swaraj at her residence in New Delhi today on electoral understanding between the two parties in the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls. This development came close on the heels of another UNPA member party SP extending its support to the UPA Government at the Centre on the Indo-US nuclear deal.After the meeting, MP Arun Kumar Sarma said: “The six-member election committee of the AGP had its first meet with the BJP for electoral alliance. We need to hold more such meetings to sort out the issues.” The AGP team comprised Arun Sarma, Kumar Dipak Das, Sarbananda Sonowal, Padma Hazarika, Birendra Prasad Baishya and Chandra Mohan Patowary.Sushma Swaraj, on the other hand, said the BJP is going to forge alliances with other parties in all the north-eastern States to defeat the Congress. source: sentinel assam

Jammu areas burn as protests continue

About eighty persons, including 15 police personnel received injures at various places in J&K, while a mob of five hundred Shiv Sainiks and activists of BJP attacked a police party in Durga Nagar on Jammu Bantalab road in the outskirts of Jammu city..

A MOB set a police vehicle on fire at Sector 2, Durga Nagar area of Bantalab on Thursday afternoon. Sources said that protesters at Muthi attacked the house of Congress minister Mula Ram. However, police guards posted there barred them from going inside.

Sources quoting eyewitnesses said that a group of Sena activists threw stones on police at various places, opposing revocation of land transfer to Amarnath Shrine Board.

The situation in Bantalab area of Jammu remained tense as a protesting mob attacked police vehicle and set it on fire. In an hour-long battle between police and protesting Hindu activists, about 20 persons, including five police personal were injured. The police also detained dozens of protesters from the area. Police fired dozens of tear gas shells to disperse the crowd, but the vehicle was completely gutted and the driver was given a severe thrashing by the mob.

A heavy contingent of Rapid Action Force was reportedly called in the area. More than five old Kashmiri Pandit ladies were injured when police opened fire and burst teargas shells inside their homes. This was done when police was unable to control the protesters so they attacked the ladies in their houses in Sector 2 of Durga Nagar area.

In Bantalab, a group of protesting activists of various Hindu organisations damaged a building owned by former militant and Member of Legislative Council (MLC) late Javed Shah, which houses government middle school.

“Activists of BJP and Shiv Sena barged into the house of a Hindu Hurriyat leader, Sharma in Nanak Nagar area and ransacked it,” sources informed, adding pitched battles were fought between police and protesters in other parts of the city.

Dozens of persons were also reported to have been injured in separate areas of Jammu, where protesters threw stones despite imposition of curfew and section 144. As per reports about ten persons, including a driver have been injured in police-public clashes.

Reports from Kathua, Samba, Udhampur, Ramban, Bhaderwah, Kishtwar, Poonch and Rajouri said pitched battles between police and the protesting Sena and BJP activists were reported.
Meanwhile, police opened fire and burst teargas shells to quell workers of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Shiv Sena, who demonstrated at various places across the state today. Source: http://india.merinews.com/catFull.jsp?articleID=136947

Land row: Protests continue in curfew-bound Jammu

Land row: Protests continue in curfew-bound Jammu (Lead)

Jammu, July 3 (IANS) Angered by the cancellation of the land allotment order to a Hindu shrine board in Kashmir, some activists of the ruling Congress here Thursday defied curfew orders and took to the streets protesting against their own government’s decision. Earlier, curfew was extended to other parts of the tense Jammu region as angry mobs demanding allotment of the forest land to the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB) set ablaze a few abandoned houses in a town, forcing the authorities to deploy the army at communally-sensitive places.

Thursday was the fourth day of agitations in Hindu-dominated Jammu, where people continue defying prohibitory orders to take out anti-government processions.

Jai Singh, a Municipal corporator of the ruling Congress, came out with scores of his supporters defying the curfew order. He denounced the government’s decision. Congress activists have also at other places joined the protests, largely sponsored by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP).

Protests in Jammu were triggered after government Tuesday decided to cancel the land allotment to the SASB, ending a controversy but beginning another over an issue that has gained a communal edge.

Earlier on May 26, the government had allotted 40 hectares of forest land to the SASB, which organises the pilgrimage to the high altitude Amarnath cave shrine dedicated to Lord Shiva. The land, according to officials, was meant to create temporary facilities to the hundreds of thousands of Hindu pilgrims visiting the shrine every year.

The decision quietened the violent protests in the Muslim-dominated Kashmir Valley where five people were killed in alleged police firing last week.

But it led to violent demonstrations in Jammu where at least 80 people, including several police personnel, were injured in unrelenting protests since Monday against the cancellation. The authorities were forced to clamp indefinite curfew on Jammu since Tuesday evening.

Rail traffic was halted at Kathua for sometime Thursday morning, while protesters blocked traffic movement on the national highway near Samba, Udhampur and Nagrota.

Reports from Vijaypur, a town 30 km south of Jammu, where protesters stopped trains Wednesday evening, said an agitated mob set ablaze a few “kullas” (huts) of Gujjars, who are up in the mountains with their cattle these days.

According to a report from Banihal, a town 180 km north of Jammu on the Jammu-Srinagar highway, a few Amarnath pilgrims were allegedly pulled out of their vehicles and beaten by some people, who also misbehaved with women pilgrims.

The BJP and the VHP have called for a nationwide strike Thursday to protest the cancellation order.

Authorities here claim they were trying to bring the situation under control.

“We are trying our best to keep the situation under control,” divisional commissioner, Jammu, the highest civilian officer of the province, told media.

“Every one is concerned over the situation. We are determined to protect the properties and lives of all citizens.”

Even in the few parts of Jammu not under curfew, normal life remained paralysed with people holding protests and demanding restoration of the land to the shrine board.

Some of the BJP leaders have either been held or kept under house arrest to prevent their participation in protests.

BJP’s state unit president Ashok Khajuria is under house arrest, while former president Nirmal Singh, and party spokesperson Romesh Arora were held while marching with protesters.
Women protesters have come out in large numbers in the border towns of Samba, Vijaypur, Bishnah and Ranbirsingh Pora raising religious slogans.

Angry protesters have rejected all appeals from the government to calm down.
“This is a government of Islamic fundamentalists, and we are not going to call off our agitation because (Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi) Azad says so,” said Ramesh Kumar, a student leader who led protests in Jammu’s walled city.

“We will continue with our agitation till the government restores the land to the shrine board.”

Congress is caving in to the demands of fundamentalists: Rajnath

Congress is caving in to the demands of fundamentalists: Rajnath

Restore order allotting land to Shrine Board: BJP
Demands revocation of Article 370

NEW DELHI: The Bharatiya Janata Party has called a nationwide hartal for July 3 to coincide with a bandh called by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad in protest against revocation of the land allotment made to Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board.

After a meeting of party office-bearers here on Tuesday, BJP president Rajnath Singh demanded restoration of the order allowing the Shrine Board to use some forest land to create facilities for pilgrims.

No one and no political party had ever protested against government creating facilities for pilgrims gathering in large numbers at any shrine, Hindu, Muslim or Sikh. He said the government was providing facilities for the Haj and for various ‘urs’ programmes.

Shah Bano case
Mr. Singh charged the Congress with caving in to the demand made by Muslim fundamentalists, even separatist forces in Jammu and Kashmir, as it had done in the Shah Bano case nullifying a Supreme Court judgment through legislation.

The protests by the fundamentalists against provision of facilities to Amarnath pilgrims destroyed the secular fabric of the country.

By caving in to their demands, the Congress demonstrated that it was one with them in creating a “theocratic environment” in the State, said a resolution adopted at the meeting.

Special status
Mr. Singh reiterated the BJP stand favouring revocation of Article 370 of the Constitution, which conferred a special status on Jammu and Kashmir.

Advani absent
The party’s prime ministerial candidate L.K. Advani did not attend the meeting.
It was noted by party leaders that after many years, the BJP virtually coordinated its ‘action plan’ with the VHP. While the VHP preferred to call the protest a bandh, the BJP described it as a hartal call, mindful of a court order declaring bandh calls punishable with fines. Source: http://www.hindu.com/2008/07/02/stories/2008070262311400.htm