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Thursday,
December 12, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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BJP has
edge in Maninagar, Ellisbridge Security
in place Mistrust
abundant in Godhra
Sonia
writes to PM |
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NORTH INDIA IN
PARLIAMENT
LeT
magazine being sold in Pak PM to
visit Russia next year 
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BJP has edge in Maninagar, Ellisbridge Ahmedabad, December 11 The communal divide is very clear in the Maninagar constituency which is seeing a direct contest between Mr Modi and Congress candidate Yatin Oza. The Ellisbridge constituency shot into limelight, with the BJP denying the ticket to the sitting MLA and former minister Haren Pandya. While Mr Modi is a hero for those in Maninagar, the absence of Mr Pandya is of no consequence for those in Ellisbridge, which actually falls in Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani’s Gandhinagar Lok Sabha constituency. It is the BJP, more importantly Mr Modi, which matters to them. For the minority community in these constituencies, which saw maximum violence in the aftermath of the Godhra incident, Mr Modi might be a villain, but even it concedes that there would be no stopping either him or the BJP. For the majority community members the only issue in these two constituencies is Islamic terrorism. They feel Mr Modi to be their protector against Islamic terrorism. Maninagar has been a BJP stronghold since 1990. Kamlesh Patel has won the seat three times in a row and Mr Modi is expected to make it for the fourth time for the BJP. Similar is the case in respect of Ellisbridge which has always remained the BJP stronghold. In fact, Mr Pandya is known to have ensured victory for Mr Advani through this very constituency. The fight primarily is between Pandya loyalist Bhawin Sheth, a BJP corporator and Pradeep Roowalla of the Congress, a retired deputy municipal commissioner. There are other candidates from the Shiv Sena, the NCP and the Samajwadi Party in the fray, but they will not matter much. In Maninagar, Mr Oza is confident, but knows that he has a tough fight on hand, specially since Mr Modi has shifted from his original Rajkot-II constituency to this constituency since it is a BJP stronghold. Of the electorate of 3.6 lakh, the majority community is almost 3.5 lakh. What further reflects the BJP’s strength is that there are over 25 RSS “shakhas” in this area alone and Mr Modi himself has been a pracharak here for over 15 years. |
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Security
in place New Delhi, December 11 “I assure the voters that the security forces are in adequate number and on high alert to protect the electorate”, Mr Lyngdoh told newspersons here today. The CEC said 380 companies of Central paramilitary forces would be deployed in the state which will be supplemented by the local police authorities. As was the case in Jammu and Kashmir, 50 per cent of the polling officials would he from outside the state. He said the poll would be conducted through EVMs at 36,657 polling stations, involving 3.32 crore eligible voters. Mr Lyngdoh said the Election Commission had undertaken a “lot of pains” to conduct the special revision of electoral rolls and pointed out that the names of 1.76 lakh riot-affected had been included in the rolls. He said special polling stations had been set up at Patan, Panchmahal and Anand districts to enable those who remained untraceable after the riots took place. |
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Mistrust
abundant in Godhra Signal Falia (Godhra),
December 11 He has no enthusiasm for the elections. He feels that everything went wrong across Gujarat only due to the actions of some people from this dusty locality which is separated from the railway station by a wall. A few feet away from this wall stands the S-6 coach which was burnt down by a mob following altercation between some passengers and vendors at the Godhra station. Instantly, Godhra shot into limelight for the wrong reasons. Signal Falia is a congested locality of Godhra which has nothing to talk about in terms of development. Godhra itself faces shortage of electricity. Wires hang loosely from poles all over the town. The only thing in abundance here is mistrust which has resulted in communal polarisation, a feature which has hit the entire Gujarat. While the BJP has put up an outsider Haresh Bhatt, the Congress is standing by its sitting legislator Rajendra Patel. Mr Bhatt dislikes being labelled as an outsider and is quick to point out that even the Congress today is following an outsider in Ms Sonia Gandhi. He is confident that the Hindutva wave sweeping through Gujarat would help him win. On the other hand, it is this label which is likely to work against him as Mr Patel is popular here. His personal rapport with the locals is such that he had won in the 1998 elections on a Janata Dal ticket. However, people have one thing against him. They feel that not much was done by him to protect the locals when the police was sweeping down on them. Over 70 persons were arrested and none of the political parties came forward to help them, say the residents. Most of the other things, including the caste factor, are in his favour. There are over a lakh OBC votes in the constituency and Mr Patel himself belongs to this category. The minority community says that it has been the target of ridicule after the incident. There is fear that if the BJP comes back to power or if the BJP candidate wins here then it would be hell for them. They say they already have gone through hell and for every complaint they make to government officials, they get only one reply “you deserve it”.
GSK |
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Sonia writes to PM New Delhi, December 11 In a letter to the Prime Minister, she said the task force had submitted its report in April 2002. “The report contains important recommendations for bringing about amendments in a large number of existing laws. Many of these amendments will go a long way in improving the status of women and providing them with more effective protection and opportunities,” she said. Calling for immediate attention to the issue, she said though seven months had elapsed since the report was submitted, no action seemed to have been taken by the ministry. She urged the Prime Minister to see that a time-bound course of action was drawn up to complete the examination of the report and bring the necessary amendment Bills to Parliament. |
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NORTH INDIA IN PARLIAMENT New Delhi, December 11 Nehru Yuva Kendras Punjab spent Rs 10.97 crore on Nehru Yuva Kendras in 2001-02, Youth Affairs and Sports Minister Vikram Verma told the Lok Sabha. While Haryana spent Rs 1.31 crore, the amount spent by Himachal Pradesh was Rs 1.13crore and by Chandigarh Rs 1253855, the minister told the House. Regarding the number of sports hostels and complexes approved with the Central assistance, the minister said two sports hostels in Punjab, one in HP and two sports complexes in HP were approved with Central assistance.
Special category states Ms Vasundhara Raje, Minister of State for Planning told the House that the percentage of rural population living below the poverty line was 6.35 in Punjab, 8.27 in Haryana, 7.94 in HP and 3.97 in J&K against the all-India average of 27.09. She also informed that the backward states of Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh, had been included in the Special Category States for the allocation of Central assistance under the Pradhan Mantri Gramodaya Yojna (PMGY).
Rural water supply Regarding the coverage of habitation under the Rural Water Supply Programme, during the Ninth Plan, Minister of State for Rural Development Annasaheb M.K. Patil told the Rajya Sabha that this number was 2,105 in Punjab; 3,228 in Haryana; 8,718 in HP and 2,624 in J&K. He said under the Sampoorna Gramin Rozgar Yojna, the first instalment of Rs 505.64 lakh had been released to Punjab (2002-03), whereas the amount released to Haryana was Rs 438.16 lakh; to HP Rs 1,040.41 lakh and Rs 467.62 lakh to J&K.
Fly ash Providing details of the thermal power stations emitting fly ash, Power Minister Anant G. Geete told the Rajya Sabha that PSEB stations at Bathinda, Lehra Mohabbat and Ropar and Haryana Power Generation Corporation stations at Faridabad and Panipat were among those emitting fly ash.
Power supply cost During 2001-02, the cost of power supply to the State Electricity Boards was 285.2 paise per kwh in Punjab, 411.9 paise per kwh in Haryana, 235.4 paise per kwh in HP and 412.13 paise per kwh in J&K compared to the national average of 350.3 paise per kwh, Ms Jayawanti Mehta, Minister of State for Power,
said. |
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LeT magazine being sold in Pak New Delhi, December 11 According to well-placed sources in the Vajpayee government, the fact that a terrorist organisation like the LeT, which had been banned by the USA, UK and Pakistan itself, was unabashedly continuing with its operations from the Pakistani soil showed the extent of cooperation Islamabad was giving to the international community. The November 2002 issue of the 44-page “Voice of Islam”, made available to The Tribune here today cites verses from the Koran in defence of jehad and describes jehad as “an effective way of rectification and comprehension of religion”. It quotes a verse (At-Taubah 122) from the Koran as follows: “Why doesn’t a group from every tribe come out (for jehad) so that they may get comprehension of religion”. In one of the articles, the so-called “international monthly” claims that India pulled back its troops from borders with Pakistan after incurring “losses” of Rs 20,000 crore. This article describes the Indian leadership with derogatory
objectives. Sample this: “Elderly Advani, weak Vajpayee and free-from-reason Fernandes girded up their loins to create an atmosphere of war. With shivering hands, staggering steps and fragile skeletons when they visited advance positions to boost up the morale of their forces, they became a laughing stock in the eyes of mujahideen... Vajpayee thought himself as Bush, Advani as Colin Powell and Fernandes as (Donald) Rumsfeld and imagine to ‘send Pakistan into stone age’.” |
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PM to visit Russia next year New Delhi, December 11 In a suo motu statement in the two houses of Parliament on the visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to India from December 3 to 5, Mr Vajpayee said the two countries were of the view that the UN Security Council Resolutions on Terrorism, particularly Resolution 1373, should be strictly implemented. Later, giving a clarification in the Rajya Sabha, Mr Vajpayee said India and Russia were now embarking on the co-production of the state-of-art Brahmos missiles for induction into the armed forces of both countries. The Prime Minister also made it clear that “no concrete” steps had been taken on the proposal for a trilateral axis with China. The Prime Minister said no concrete steps had been taken on the proposal for a trilateral alliance among India, China and Russia. Foreign ministers of the three countries had met in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session, but New Delhi had ruled out the emergence of any power bloc. The Prime Minister announced that in keeping with the commitment to hold annual summits, he had accepted the invitation to visit Russia next year. Russia agreed with the India’s position that it could resume dialogue with Pakistan only when Islamabad stopped infiltration and dismantled the terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-controlled territory. |
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National
forest panel on anvil New Delhi, December 11 |
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A monthly magazine of the banned terrorist outfit, Lashkar-e-Toiba, which advocates jehad, pours venom against India and accuses the USA of manufacturing chemical and biological arsenal, is openly available in Pakistan.