JAIPUR: Jaswant Singh, who was miffed with the BJP for not offering him a ticket, filed his nomination papers as an independent from Barmer Lok Sabha constituency on Monday.

"He has filed his nomination papers as independent candidate but he has so far not resigned from the BJP," sources close to Singh told IANS on phone from Barmer.

He will decide on the future course of action after meeting his supporters and holding a rally later in the day in Barmer. Jaswant Singh said he felt "relieved" after filing his nomination papers.

"The people will tell. I am contesting on principle and for honour, not just my honour but that of the people of Barmer," he told TV channel Times Now.

Jaswant Singh represented Darjeeling in the outgoing 15th Lok Sabha.  He wanted to contest from Barmer but the party fielded Col. Sonaram, who recently switched to the BJP from the Congress. He was upset at not being considered from the constituency.

His supporters in Barmer had then chalked out the strategy to field him as an independent. Some party workers took out a protest rally and burnt effigies of Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje Friday and Saturday, holding her responsible for the denial of ticket to Jaswant Singh. 

"Col. Sonaram was with Congress for years. Now he has switched loyalties and joined the BJP. Fielding him immediately after joining the BJP has sent a wrong message to the voters. He should have been made to work in the organisation at least for some years before he was given such an opportunity," said a local BJP leader.

With Jaswant Singh deciding to contest, he may upset the equation against Sonaram as there are at least 2 lakh Rajput voters in Barmer constituency.

"He has influence over voters from other castes also. So Jaswant Singh will definitely make life difficult for the BJP candidate," said political analyst Vijay Sharma.

Voting for the 25 parliamentary constituencies in the state will take place April 17 and 24. In the 2009 elections, the Congress won 20 seats and the BJP four while one seat went to an independent.

Jaswant Singh hails from Jasol village in Barmer district. He was a member of the union cabinet during the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance government. - IANS

MUMBAI: BJP today approached the Election Commission seeking action against Union Minister and NCP chief Sharad Pawar under the Representation of People's Act (RPA), after he asked his party workers to take advantage of the multi-phase polling in the state by "voting twice".

Pawar had later sought to temper his remarks saying they were made in a "lighter vein".

BJP leader Kirit Somaiya today submitted a letter to State Chief Electoral Officer, seeking action against Pawar under the Act, and demanded that Pawar be removed from the Union ministry. NCP should be banned, he added.

Somaiya also met senior IPS officer Deven Bharti (Special Inspector General of Police, DGP Office), seeking action against Pawar.

Making light of Somaiya's demands, the NCP said it was a "publicity gimmick." "Somaiya has this habit of staying in the news by any means. He has this penchant for gimmicks and this is his latest attempt," state NCP president Bhaskar Jadhav said.

Pawar, during the conclave of 'mathadi' (head loaders) workers in adjoining Navi Mumbai yesterday, had asked NCP activists to take advantage of the multi-phase polling in the state by voting twice, first at their hometowns and then at places of work.

"Last time (in 2009), the polling in Satara and Mumbai was on the same day and people went to their hometowns. But this time, polling in Satara is on April 17 and here on April 24.

"Vote for the 'clock' (NCP symbol) there (in Satara) and come back to vote for the 'clock' here as well," Pawar had said.

However, he had later told reporters that his statement was made in "a lighter vein and had a tinge of satire to it." - PTI

THE HAGUE: US President Barack Obama arrived in the Netherlands today to discuss with six other world leaders how to punish Russia for annexing Ukraine's Crimea region, including possibly excluding Moscow from the G8 club of rich nations.

Obama has called an emergency Group of Seven summit in The Hague to discuss what steps to take against Russia over Crimea, with Russian troops today morning seizing another Ukrainian military base on the peninsula.

Paratroopers and armoured personnel carriers stormed the naval base in Feodosia in the early hours, with vehicles seen leaving the base carrying Ukrainian marines whose hands had been tied.

Russia's near-complete takeover of the Crimea, which it views as a reunification, has forced Western leaders to rethink their relationship with Moscow after a post-Cold War period in which they sought to usher Russia into the broader international community.

With Russia massing what NATO called a "very sizeable" force on its border with Ukraine, there are fears that President Vladimir Putin is hungry for more Ukrainian territory.

The growing crisis is expected to dominate a meeting originally set up to discuss nuclear security.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is to meet US Secretary of State John Kerry today on the sidelines of the Nuclear Security Summit for what may be their most tense talks to date.

It will be their first meeting since Washington imposed financial restrictions on the most powerful members of Putin's inner circle for their decision to resort to force in response to last month's fall of Ukraine's pro-Kremlin regime.

Kerry has already warned that Moscow risks losing its coveted place among the G8 over its deployment of troops in Crimea.

British Prime Minister David Cameron said leaders from Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States -- minus current G8 chairman Russia -- must discuss the permanent expulsion of Russia from the group, to which it was admitted in 1998 as its reward for choosing a democratic post-Soviet course.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said last week the political conditions were not in place for a G8 to exist, although her Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier later said she had been referring to the June G8 summit in Russia. - AFP

DHAKA: West Indies captain Darren Sammy said there was no need to press the panic button in the wake of the loss to India in the team's opening match of the World Twenty20 championship.

The Caribbean side produced an insipid performance Sunday at the Sher-e-Bangla Stadium to plunge to a disappointing seven-wicket loss to India, and stumble in the first hurdle of their title defence, reports CMC.

Chris Gayle struggled to 34 off 33 balls while Lendl Simmons got 27, as West Indies were restricted to 129 for seven off their 20 overs.

India then paced their innings nicely to reach their target with two balls to spare, with opener Rohit Sharma (62 not out) and Virat Kohli (54) getting half-centuries.

"We just didn't respond well enough to their spinners - round one goes to India. I have a strong feeling that we will meet again, so we are looking forward to that. They used the conditions quite well. It's a fact that we just didn't bat well. We didn't bat well and we still got to 130," Sammy said.

"We will take heart from that but we never kicked off in the innings. Simmons played some good blows in the late overs but apart from that we never really got those big overs we required...we didn't get that big moment and we were always behind the eight-ball."

He added: "It is no need for us to panic. We have three more first round games to go in the tournament against Bangladesh, Australia and Pakistan and we back ourselves to win all three and reach the semi-finals. We are here to defend our title and we will give our all."

West Indies were nothing like the team that swept their two official warm-up matches against England and Sri Lanka. Their batsmen were shackled by the new ball seam duo of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mohammed Shami before left-arm spinner Ravi Jadeja (3-48) and Man-of-the-Match leg-spinner Amit Mishra (2-18) derailed the innings with incisive spells.

And though the Windies struck early in the India innings to remove opener Shikhar Dhawan without scoring in the first over, their bowlers failed to find the huge effort needed to pull off a come-from-behind victory.

"In the bowling department, though we didn't bowl as well as we could be we took it down to the end. We tried to take it down to as late as possible - to try and take the game as deep as possible into the last overs," Sammy explained.

"Net run-rate normally comes into play in these tournaments. They getting the runs with two balls to spare, it is a plus for us.

"In the next match we have to bring our A game against the home side. We still believe we will be a force in this tournament so we will aim to come back hard against the Bangladeshis."

West Indies will take on Bangladesh in their next game on Tuesday at the same venue. - IANS

JAMMU: BJP will hold a probe into Rs 25,000 crore Roshni scam in Jammu and Kashmir if it is voted to power after elections, party candidate from Udhampur Lok Sabha seat Jitendra Singh said today.

"Probe would be held into Rs 25,000 crore Roshni scam and it would be our top priority," Singh said at a public rally in Doda district.

The Comptroller and Auditor General had recently estimated a Rs 25,000-crore land transfer scam in Jammu and Kashmir, under Roshni scheme, making it the biggest ever such scandal in the state.

The scheme, under the Jammu Kashmir State Lands (Vesting of Ownership to the Occupants) Act, 2001, was meant to raise nearly Rs 25,448 crore to finance power projects by selling over 20.64 lakh kanals of state land under unauthorised occupation.

In a report tabled in the Assembly, CAG had alleged irregularities in the transfer of the encroached land to occupants, saying only Rs 76 crore had been realised, defeating the purpose of the legislation.

A PIL has been submitted to the High Court seeking a CBI probe into Roshni Scam and State Vigilance Organisation (SVO) has constituted a SIT to probe it.

Attacking his rival Congress candidate and Union Minister Gulam Nabi Azad, Singh said the Health Minister is "exploiting the sentiments" of erstwhile Doda district for political interest.

"The fictitious announcement by Azad to setup a medical college in Doda on the eve of the announcement of model code of conduct was made with the deliberate intention, knowing very well that it is not going to be practically feasible for implementation," Singh alleged.

Singh promised that optimal utility of hydro-power plant and discrimination against Doda in matters of development will be BJP's top priority. - PTI 

MUMBAI: The rupee rose by 22 paise to 60.67 against the American currency in the morning trade on fresh selling of dollars by banks and exporters due to persistent capital inflow into equity market.

The rupee resumed lower at 60.92 per dollar as against the last weekend’s level of 60.89 at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) Market.

However, it recovered immediately to 60.65 per dollar before quoting at 60.67 per dollar at 1000hrs (IST).

It moved in a range of 60.65-60.92 per dollar during the morning deals.

In the New York market, the dollar edged lower against the Japanese yen and euro on Friday last, but notched a weekly gain as traders continued to focus on a Federal Reserve meeting that left markets anticipating earlier policy rate hikes than initially expected. - PTI