Gorakhpur (UP): BJP prime ministerial candidate and Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday hit out at the Congress for ‘chai-wala’ barbs, saying the ruling party was mocking at the poor whom it has used only as a vote bank without doing anything for them.

The BJP leader also took a dig at Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav for saying that Modi will not be able to convert Uttar Pradesh into Gujarat.

“Netaji, do you know the meaning of converting to Gujarat? It means 24-hour electricity in every village and street. You can’t do it. It requires 56-inch chest,” Modi said, apparently suggesting that it requires decisiveness.

The BJP’s prime ministerial candidate appealed for a mandate for a minimum of 60 months, promising to convert the country’s huge potential into a reality, so that it matches the most developed countries of the world.

“This country is not poor. The people of this rich country has been kept poor for the sake of politics... you give me 60 months and I promise you a life of happiness and peace,” he told a large rally in the eastern Uttar Pradesh town.

Congress governments have failed to eradicate poverty despite repeatedly projecting it as a main plank for the last 60 years, he said.

In a sarcastic tone, he said he has been wondering for long as to why the poverty has been increasing despite the poor voting for the Congress all these years.

“Now, I have got the answer. The Congress’ political future lies in keeping them poor... its mentality is anti-poor,” he added.

Apparently referring to the ‘chai-wala’ barb at him by Congress leaders, Modi said it was because of the party’s mentality that “no Congress leader is ready to tolerate a tea-vendor, son of a poor mother holding his head high. They mock at the poor.”

Promising to work for boosting the development of the country, including in the agriculture sector, and creating job opportunities, Modi invoked Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose on his birthday today as he asked the people to elect “this sevak (servant)” after giving chances to “rulers” for 60 years.

Referring to Bose’s famous lines ‘You give me blood, I will give you freedom’, he said, “You (people) give me 60 months and I will give you a life of peace. I have come here to make this promise.”

Noting that Gujarat under him had witnessed sustained high growth, Modi said, “We don’t want to see India crying and with begging hand. I want to say that you have selected rulers for 60 years, I have come to ask only for 60 months. Elect this servant once as see.”

The BJP leader, who was addressing Vijay Sankhnaad rally here, said “We have seen several elections but this election is such where the people have already decided about the future of the country. The country has decided to bid farewell to Congress and its allies. This time the dream of Congress-free India will be realised and it is clear.”

He said the Congress used to think that it can run the government as long as it keeps its vote bank in good humour.

“It is past now. the BJP is committed to the politics of development. We can’t turn things around without good governance,” he said.

Modi, who addressed the rally in Gorakhpur shortly after Mulayam Singh Yadav’s rally, targetted the Uttar Pradesh’s Samajwadi Party Government, saying it had “destroyed” the state by squandering its big mandate in the Assembly polls by not delivering peace, jobs to the youth and progress to farmers.

Taunting Yadav and his Chief Minister son Akhilesh Yadav for holding rallies which coincide with his public addresses, he said “the father and the son are chasing me”.

Mulayam had attacked Modi over the 2002 riots in Gujarat, taunting him that he won’t be able to turn Uttar Pradesh into Gujarat.

Modi said Gujarat had been living a life of “peace and harmony” for the last 10 years which was beyond Mulayam, whom he referred as ‘netaji’ in his address.

If elected to power, the BJP government will bring about a “White Revolution” in Uttar Pradesh which despite being an agriculture state was buying milk from outside, Modi said.

Stressing the need for giving priority to agriculture in the country, he said the BJP had vowed to develop UP which was capable of changing the face of the country if developed to its potential.

He said the Congress, SP and BSP have “one master”, an apparent reference to the support to the Congress government by the two UP-based parties.

In his 45-minute long speech, Modi harped on his developmental agenda, saying the vote-bank politics of Congress and others have done no good to the country. — PTI

Kejriwal meets Lt Governor amid Bharti controversy 

NEW DELHI: Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday met Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung and is believed to have discussed the controversy surrounding Law Minister Somnath Bharti, who is under attack for allegedly heading a group of assaulters in a midnight raid in South Delhi.

The meeting came a day after various women rights activists and the Delhi Commission for Women sought action against Bharti for allegedly taking law into his hands.

The AAP government has come under attack from rivals and women's activists who said the Chief Minister had staged a two-day dharna in the name of women's safety but was following "double standards" on the issue of the minister.

Bharti was involved in a row with the police last week when they refused to raid an alleged drug and prostitution racket, following which he allegedly led his supporters in forcing African women to give urine samples.

With the minister becoming a source of a major embarrassment, AAP has advised him to be "careful and humble" while making public statements.

A number of party leaders are said to be upset with Bharti who had earlier stoked controversies by seeking a meeting of Delhi judges and was involved in talking to a witness he was cross examining as a lawyer.

One of the African women, who has recorded her statement before a magistrate, had said she identified Bharti as having led the group that barged into her house and attacked them.

"We were attacked on Wednesday night by Indians who were led by Somnath Bharti...We were harassed, we were beaten, they were having long sticks. They said we should leave their country or else they would kill us one by one," the Ugandan national had said.

Bharti has refused to make any comments on the demands for his removal while the party and his colleagues came in his defence, saying any citizen, more so a minister, has the right to ask police to act on any illegal activity. — PTI

NEW DELHI: The Congress, which gives outside support to the AAP government, on Thursday asked Lt Governor Najeeb Jung to direct the police to take action against controversial Law Minister Somnath Bharti for allegedly leading a group of assaulters in a mid-night raid last week.

A delegation of Delhi Congress leaders headed by DPCC Chief Arvinder Singh Lovely met Jung, seeking impartial probe into the case and action against Bharti based on “available evidence”.

“The Delhi Police is not probing the case thoroughly. We have demanded the Lt Governor to direct the Delhi Police to proceed as per law in this case. The Law Minister is not above the law. Whatever legal action is to be taken should be taken. The Lt Governor has assured us of a fair probe,” Lovely told reporters after the meeting.

Asked if Congress demanded sacking of Bharti, the DPCC president said the party “only” sought Lt Governor’s direction to the Delhi Police to take action in the case as per law.

Bharti was involved in a row with the police last week when it refused to raid an alleged drug and prostitution racket.

One of the African women, who recorded her statement before a magistrate, said she identified Bharti as having led the group that barged into her house and attacked them.

Lovely said the Congress delegation also took up the issue of violation of Section 144 of CrPC by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal by staging a two-day protest outside the Rail Bhavan in Raisina Hills area.

Asked why the Congress was not withdrawing support to the AAP-led government if the party thinks that Bharti was at fault, Lovely said the Congress gave outside support to AAP on 18 issues related to public welfare.

“If the AAP government doesn’t work on these issue, then we would definitely consider withdrawing support,” Lovely said.

Delhi Congress leader Mukesh Sharma, who was also part of the delegation, said the Law Minister should be arrested for what he had allegedly done during late night raid in Khirki Extension area. — PTI

NEW DELHI: President Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday gave seven more days to the Andhra Pradesh Assembly till January 30 to discuss and debate the draft Telangana Bill in the House before returning it to the Centre.

The decision has been taken by the President following a request of the Andhra Pradesh government which sought four weeks extension of the January 23 deadline fixed by him while sending the Bill to the state Assembly.

Official sources said the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Bill now has to be returned by the state Assembly by January 30 with or without its view.

However, experts are of the opinion that whatever the Assembly does, Parliament can go ahead with its legislative process for creation of the new state.

Sources said the state government had conveyed that the Bill has been debated by the Assembly only for a few days and many of the legislators were yet to speak on it and hence extension of the deadline was required.

Earlier, the President had sent the draft bill to the state legislature on December 12 and gave time until January 23 to discuss and return it.

There are precedents of giving extension of deadline to debate state reorganisation bills.

The Madhya Pradesh Assembly was given extended time by the then President to discuss and approve the Bill for creation of Chhattisgarh.

The UPA government is expected to introduce in Parliament the Telangana Bill in the coming session beginning February 5.

The Union Cabinet had on December 5 given the go-ahead for the creation of a 10-district Telangana and outlined the blueprint for carving out the country’s 29th state.

Telangana will comprise 10 districts and the rest of Andhra Pradesh will consist of 13 districts. Hyderabad will remain the common Capital for both the states for a period not exceeding 10 years.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy had yesterday stoutly opposed the proposed bifurcation of the state and said it would be detrimental to all regions.

Taking part in the ongoing debate on the draft Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Bill in the Assembly, Reddy, amidst disruption by Telangana MLAs, said it was his misfortune that he had to speak on the bifurcation issue.

“Anybody would love to become Chief Minister. But it is my misfortune that I have become CM and got to speak on the (bifurcation) issue,” he had said.

Reddy, who had openly opposed the Congress Working Committee’s July 30 resolution to split Andhra Pradesh and create Telangana, spoke on the floor of the House what he had been saying in public in the last seven months.

“Our CWC has taken a decision, but I am totally opposing it. It’s not in the interest of anyone,” he had said. — PTI

Kolkata: The West Bengal Commission for Women on Thursday ordered a probe into the gangrape of a tribal woman allegedly at the behest of a kangaroo court.

Taking suo motu cognizance of the horrific incident ghat has raised the heckles across the state, it demanded harshest punishment for the perpetrators.

The 20-year-old woman was allegedly raped by more than a dozen men on Monday night in Subalpur village in Birbhum district, some 180 km from Kolkata. Thirteen persons have been arrested so far.

"We have taken a suo motu cognizance of the case and are probing the matter. We will ensure that the perpetrators of the crime, including the tribal headman who ordered the barbarism, is meted out harshest punishment," commission chairperson Sunanda Mukherjee said.

Mukherjee also laid emphasis on the need for sensitising the tribal communities in the state to prevent such incidents.

The woman, who was subjected to the brutality for having an affair with a man outside her community, has been admitted to hospital in a critical condition.

Meanwhile, the 13 accused, including the headman who ordered the barbarism, arrested after a complaint was filed by the victim's family Wednesday night, will be presented before a court.

"The woman was allegedly gangraped on the orders of a shalishi sabha (kangaroo court) after it found she had an affair with a man outside her community. We have arrested 13 people and they are being presented before a court where we will seek their custody," Superintendent of Police C. Sudhakar said.

Sudhakar said raids are being conducted in and around the village to find if more people were involved.

The woman, who is undergoing treatment at the Suri Sadar Hopsital, said she was left at the mercy of the men of her village after she was unable to pay Rs 50,000 as a fine demanded by the morol (headman) for having an affair with a man outside her community.

"The morol ordered that I be enjoyed by the men of the village. Following his orders, at least 10-12 persons, including (some) members of a single family, continuously raped me. I lost count of how many times I was raped," said the woman.

Meanwhile, a medical board has been constituted for her treatment.

"Though her condition continues to be critical, she is stable now. She has lost a lot of blood and only because she is physically and mentally very strong, she could survive the ordeal," Suri Sadar Hospital superintendent Asit Biswas said.

The incident has evoked strong response from several quarters who have demanded stringent and exemplary punishment for the culprits.

"I wonder what kind of times we are living in. How can a few people act as law unto themselves and order such barbarism? What was the administration doing? There is a need to set an example by meting out stringent punishment," famed painter Samir Aich said.

The incident is not the first of its kind in the district.

In 2010, a 15-year-old tribal girl was forced to parade naked through villages in the same district for daring to fall in love with a boy from another community.

The girl, a resident of Battala village, was stripped and forced to walk naked through four villages, and her pictures were taken and circulated through MMS. — IANS

Indian-origin Professor named Dean of Harvard College

LEH: For the first time, three civilians from Ladakh region, including a porter in Siachin who saved two soldiers buried in an avalanche, have been honoured by the Army with a special award for their exemplary courage and devotion to duty.

Lt Gen Sanjeev Chachra, Army Commander of Northern Command, gave away the awards to Stanzin Padma, Jigmet Urgain and Nima Norboo on the eve of the Army Day at Udampur, Jammu last week.

The highlight of this annual feature this year was that departing from tradition, a number of civilians were included in the list of awardees, according to Army officials.

Lt Gen Chachra conferred awards on men, women, boys and girls not in uniform who had exhibited exemplary grit, human qualities, willpower and genuine concern for the less privileged, they said.

Padma was honoured for digging out alive two Army soldiers who were buried under snow due to an avalanche on May 28 last year while risking his own life.

Jigmet Urgain’s career in the Army was cut short by an unfortunate mine accident during training in which he lost his eyesight as well as both his hands but that did not stop him for helping others

He took up various social programmes for the uplift of the people. Being well conversant with the problems and requirement of his less privileged brethren, he was able to provide valuable advice to the army in initiating welfare schemes which proved extremely beneficial to the locals.

Earlier, Padma also saved the life of fellow porter Nima Norboo. Both are employed at Siachin — an assignment which is challenging and fraught with danger.

On December 5, 2012, while operating a trolley, Narboo fell into a 200 feet deep crevasse. The only way to save him was for someone to lower himself down into the treacherous crevasse and physically extricate Narboo.

Undaunted by the grave danger, Padma volunteered for this task and after a gruelling effort which extended for about 20 hours, was able to extricate Norboo from the jaws of certain death.

The exceptional tenacity and guts displayed by Narboo in remaining calm and composed for over 20 hours in the crevasse in sub-arctic temperatures earned him the award. — PTI

Melbourne: India's Sania Mirza and her Romanian partner Horia Tecau stormed into the semifinals of the mixed doubles event at the Australian Open with straight sets victory over Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi and Julia Georges here today.

Sixth seed Sania and Tecau hardly broke a sweat to prevail over the unseeded Aisam-Julia combination 6-3 6-4 in their quarterfinal clash that lasted just 63 minutes.

The Indo-Romanian duo will play Australian pair of Jarmila Gajdosova and Matthew Ebden in the semifinals.

The unseeded Australian pair stunned second seeds Katarina Srebotnik of Sloivakia and India's Rohan Bopanna 7-5, 6-3 in another quarterfinal yesterday.

Sania and Tecau got three opportunities to break their opponents in the opening set, out of which they converted one, which was enough for the Indo-Romanian pair to pocket the set in 28 minutes.

In the next set, Sania and Tecau broke their opponents in the ninth game to serve out the set in 35 minutes and book a place in the last four stage.

In veteran Leander Paes, another Indian is in fray in the mixed doubles event.

Paes and his Slovakian partner Daniela Hantuchova will meet Kristina Mladenovic of France and Daniel Nestor in another quarterfinal tie later in the day. PTI

Chandigarh: Cold wave conditions today eased in Punjab and Haryana with minimum temperature rising by a few notches above normal in several parts of the region.

Chandigarh recorded a minimum of 8.4 degrees Celsius, rising by two degrees above normal, the MeT Department said here today.

Among other places in Punjab, Ludhiana and Patiala recorded minimum of 9.6 degrees Celsius and 9.7 degrees Celsius, up by three degrees above normal, respectively. Amritsar recorded a low of 9.8 degrees Celsius, rising by seven notches above normal.

In Haryana, Ambala and Karnal had minimum of 9.5 degrees Celsius and 9 degrees Celsius, respectively, up by two degrees above normal.

Hisar had a low of 11.6 degrees Celsius, which was up by six notches above normal. Narnaul and Bhiwani braved cold weather at 11 degrees Celsius and 12.6 degrees Celsius.

The MeT Department in its forecast said weather will remain mainly dry though fog and mist may occur at several places in Punjab and Haryana in next 24 hours. — PTI