Thursday, October 7, 1999

Cong fares better in Hindi belt
NEW DELHI, Oct 6 — Even in adversity, the Congress can draw solace from the efficacy of its decision to field Dr Karan Singh against the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, from Lucknow.

Dikshit should quit: BJP
NEW DELHI, Oct 6 — The Delhi state BJP unit has demanded the resignation of Delhi Chief Minister, Shiela Dikshit.

BJP wins in Goa
PANAJI, Oct 6 — BJP candidates Sripad Naik and Ramakant Angle emerged victorious to register their party’s entry to the Lok Sabha from Goa, wresting the Marmugao and Panaji seats from the Congress.

Scribes have a trying time
NEW DELHI, Oct 6 — Mediapersons had a trying time covering the counting of votes in two Lok Sabha constituencies of Delhi due to inadequate facilities and denial of access despite possessing valid documents.

Asian films come of age
NEW DELHI, Oct 6 — Not long ago little was known about Asian films except when they won awards at an international fora but thanks to a spurt in film festivals exclusively showing films from the continent, the richness of Asian cinema is fast becoming evident.

Murder most foul in Rajasthan
JAIPUR, Oct 6 — In a hair-raising incident a husband chopped off his wife’s head and offered it to a deity.

Suraj Bhan sworn in as Bihar Governor
PATNA, Oct 6 — The UP Governor, Mr Suraj Bhan, yesterday took over an additional charge as Bihar Governor.

Jubilation in BJP camp
From T.V. Lakshminarayan and K.V. Prasad
Tribune News Service

NEW DELHI, Oct 6 — It was a tale of contrasting scenes, of jubilation and desolation, at the headquarters of the two major political parties, the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress, as results started pouring in.

Fire crackers burst and supporters broke into an impromptu bhangra during the day-long jubilation at 11, Ashoka Road, the headquarters of the Bharatiya Janata Party here, as initial results today favoured the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance.

With a majority of senior leaders of the BJP doing the rounds of various television studios, the party supporters and workers took it upon themselves to celebrate what they called the return of the Vajpayee Government.

While the Congress too was affected as its leaders hopped from one television studio to another, the presence of fewer party workers presented a picture contrast.

The worst victims of the absence of otherwise ubiquitous leaders were the television channels who had set up make-shift studios inside the AICC complex in the hope of getting reactions from leaders as they arrived.

A huge police posse kept vigil outside the BJP headquarters even as revellers spilled on to the main road to celebrate their party’s winning trend.

Delhi proved to be the toast of the day as all the seven constituencies went to the BJP.

The Union Home Minister and President of the BJP national campaign committee, Mr L.K. Advani, made a brief appearance at the party headquarters, prompting more bursting of fire crackers.

Traffic had to be stopped outside the party office as supporters lit up huge chains of crackers that seemed to boom for an indefinite time.

Chatting with reporters at the party headquarters, Mr Advani said the sweeping victory for the BJP was a pointer of things to come in the next two days.

He said it was after 22 years that since the Janata Party's clean sweep in 1977, that the BJP had won all the seats and this was very significant.

Describing the results in Delhi as a trend-setter, Mr Advani said he was hopeful that the BJP and the NDA together would do even better than what had been predicted by the pollsters.

In Delhi, he pointed out a majority of pollsters had predicted that the seven seats at stake would be split by the BJP and the Congress in the ratios ranging from 4:3, 5:2 and 6:1.

However, it is the first time that the Congress had been wiped out in the capital, he added.

Moreover, he said what was more significant was the defeat of two principal advisors of the Congress President in Delhi. The former Finance Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, and Mr R.K.Dhawan were both vanquished in the polls.

Barring a brief appearance by Mr Arjun Singh early in the day when he exuded confidence that the Congress would romp home with comfortable majority, most other leaders were conspicuous by their absence.

Vajpayee wins from Lucknow for 4th time

LUCKNOW, Oct 6 (UNI) — In the heart of “Hindi heartland”, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee enjoys an undisputed sway. So much so that even those on the other side of the political spectrum grudgingly acknowledge this political reality.

In his long and chequered political career, Mr Vajpayee’s fortunes in the 1990s have been scripted by the city’s residents. Since appearing on the electoral horizons of the city after a long hiatus in 1991, Mr Vajpayee has almost become synonymous with Lucknow and is considered a living icon.

Lucknow today returned him for the fourth time as he defeated his nearest Congress rival, Dr Karan Singh, by a yawning margin of 1,23,586 votes.

On the last day of the campaign here on October 1, a nostalgic Mr Vajpayee, who headed the BJP-led government twice at the Centre, recalled the days in Marwari Gali in Aminabad where his political baptism took place.

Born on Christmas in 1926 at Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh, Mr Vajpayee has had an ominous beginning in his attempt to enter the Lok Sabha from Lucknow. He came here first in July, 1947, as the Chief Editor of Rashtradharma, a Hindi periodical having links with the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS).

Mr Vajpayee contested his first election to enter the Lok Sabha from Lucknow in 1955. It was a by-election and he not only lost to Ms Shivrajwati Nehru, but also forfeited his deposit.

Mr Vajpayee contested the 1957 elections from three constituencies — Lucknow, Mathura and Balrampur. He had to bite the dust again in Lucknow, lost his deposit in Mathura and won from Balrampur. In the 1962 elections, he lost from all three seats. The same year, he was elected to the Rajya Sabha.

In the 1967 general election, Mr Vajpayee won from Balrampur while losing from Lucknow and Mathura.

Mr Vajpayee shifted to his hometown of Gwalior in the 1971 poll and was returned to the Lok Sabha. In 1977, he won from New Delhi, a seat he retained in 1980.

Contesting from Gwalior in 1984, Mr Vajpayee suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of Mr Madhavrao Scindia, who was riding the crest of the popular wave for the Congress following the assassination of Mrs Indira Gandhi.

The defeat prompted Mr Vajpayee to enter the Rajya Sabha again in 1986. He stayed away from the general election in 1989.

Since 1991, Mr Vajpayee has made Lucknow his electoral home and has never looked back. He had also won from Vidisha (Madhya Pradesh) in 1991 and Gandhinagar (Gujarat) in 1996 but on both occasions, he retained Lucknow. .

In 1991, he defeated Mr Ranjit Singh (Congress) by a margin of more than 1,17000 votes and cinestar Raj Babbar (Samajwadi Party) by over 1,18000 votes in 1996. His margin in the last elections against Muzaffar Ali (SP) was a whopping 2,16000 votes.

This time, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) had fielded little-known Muslim leader Mohammed Ijharul Haque while the Samajwadi Party had former state minister Bhagwati Singh in the fray.

HC restraint on Madhepura poll result

MADHEPURA, Oct 6 (UNI) — The Patna High Court today imposed a ban on the declaration of the result of the counting of votes in the Madhepura Lok Sabha constituency until the Election Commission disposed of submissions on the alleged irregularities during the October 3 polling.

A Division Bench constituting Mr Justice B.P. Singh and Ms Justice I.P. Singh issued the directive to the Election Commission to hear Janata Dal (United) candidate Sharad Yadav or his representative tomorrow about alleged large-scale rigging in the constituency.

A public interest petition, filed by Mr Lalan Singh of the JD (U) sought a repoll in the entire constituency on account of alleged malpractices on the polling day.

In New Delhi, the Election Commission today withheld results of the Madhepura Lok Sabha constituency and issued summons for tomorrow to Mr Sharad Yadav and JD (U) office-bearers.

Meanwhile, Mr Sharad Yadav called off his indefinite fast following the Patna High Court’s order to meet the Election Commission officials to submit details of alleged irregularities, committed during the polling on October 3.

Mr Yadav started the fast yesterday demanding countermanding of the election in Madhepura alleging large-scale irregularities, including rigging in the election.

Senior Rashtriya Janata Dal leader and former state minister Bhola Prasad Singh went on an indefinite fast in Patna demanding immediate arrest of Mr Sharad Yadav for his alleged involvement in the killing of a RJD supporter during polling in the constituency on October 3.

He also demanded the institution of a case against Mr Yadav for the killing of the local RJD leader. He alleged that Mr Yadav was guilty of booth-capturing and described as undemocratic the demand for countermanding Madhepura elections.

Manmohan Singh takes defeat in his stride
Tribune News Service

NEW DELHI, Oct 6 — “I accept the verdict of the people in all humility”, Dr Manmohan Singh former Union Minister, and Congress candidate for the prestigious South Delhi parliamentary constituency, said after his loss at the hustings.

Dr Manmohan Singh, lost to the BJP candidate, Mr Vijay Kumar Malhotra, by a margin of 30,112 votes. While the BJP candidate secured 2,60,014 votes, Dr Manmohan Singh got 2,29,902 votes.

Being projected as an alternate Prime Ministerial candidate, Dr Manmohan Singh was considered a front runner and his victory would have been a great boost to the Congress.

However, this shock loss has put a great pressure on the city unit of the Congress, specially as it could not ensure a win for the candidate who was in the running for the highest office.

Talking to The Tribune, Dr Manmohan Singh, said “In our Parliamentary system of democracy, people have expressed their opinion and I accept the verdict of the people in all humility”.

Dr Singh, who contested the Lok Sabha elections for the first time, said there were various means and forums to be active in public life and to serve the people. He said he was grateful for the support extended to him by intellectuals and academicians during the poll campaign.

The South Delhi parliamentary constituency which has been in the limelight for the political big-wigs who have contested from here witnessed the BJP triumph in the victory of its candidate and senior city leader, Mr Vijay Kumar Malhotra.

Mr Malhotra while talking to mediapersons, said that he would serve the people with utmost dedication and fulfil the promises made to them. “My victory is a reaffirmation of the faith of the people in the policies of the party”, he said.

The BJP has retained this seat which was earlier held by former Union Information and Broadcasting minister, Ms Sushma Swaraj. She had won the seat by defeating the Congress candidate in 1998 elections by a margin of over 1.17 lakh votes.

Incidentally, Delhi Sadar seat winner and former Delhi Chief Minister, Mr Madan Lal Khurana, has won from the South Delhi seat twice.

Meanwhile, according to a PTI report noted writer Khushwant Singh today said the defeat of Dr Manmohan Singh reflected the “indifference” of the people who criticise politicians but do not vote for good candidates.

The well-known historian and novelist, who had taken the initiative of leading intellectuals in the Capital to campaign for the senior Congress leader, described his friend’s defeat as “very depressing and surprising.”

“He was the best candidate in the country. While the educated people were with him, he was perhaps unable to muster others to vote for him,” Khushwant Singh told PTI.

Cong fares better in Hindi belt
Tribune News Service

NEW DELHI, Oct 6 — Even in adversity, the Congress can draw solace from the efficacy of its decision to field Dr Karan Singh against the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, from Lucknow.

In real terms, the Congress, which had failed to poll even 40,000 votes in that constituency in 1996 and 1998, got 2.39 lakh votes this time. Mr Vajpayee’s margin of victory plummeted to 1.23 lakh this time from 2.19 lakh in 1998.

Politically, by fielding a strong candidate in the state capital, Lucknow, the Congress this time gave a message to the voter in Uttar Pradesh that unlike the last few elections, it was a serious contender in the Hindi heartland again. If the Congress could not finish among the top three candidates in 1996 and 1998 in Lucknow and most other seats in Uttar Pradesh, yielding the top three slots to the BJP, the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party. Now the Congress has emerged as the second party in Lucknow and even gone on to win Kanpur, situated 75 km from the state capital.

The victory of Mr Prakash Jaiswal in Kanpur is also significant. The Congress had won this seat in 1952, 1980 and 1984 — in nine previous elections the seat went to other parties. The defeated candidate, Mr Jagatvir Singh Drona, President of the city unit of the BJP, had been winning this seat for the last three terms, since 1991.

Kanpur has a sizeable percentage of Muslim vote. This perhaps was the reason for the Samajwadi Party to emerge second in this seat in the last election. Mr Jaiswal’s victory, coupled with the good showing by Dr Karan Singh, is perhaps a straw in the wind — the Muslim vote in UP seems to have returned to the Congress kitty once again.

The gains made by the Congress in the Hindi heartland, even in the seats in which its candidates may finish second, may yield dividends in the long run — provided, of course, the party does not repeat its past mistakes.

Dikshit should quit: BJP
Tribune News Service

NEW DELHI, Oct 6 — The Delhi state BJP unit has demanded the resignation of Delhi Chief Minister, Shiela Dikshit.

Addressing newspersons here on Wednesday, the president of the Delhi pradesh BJP, Mr Mange Ram Garg said that the electorate had rejected the Congress completely in Delhi. Hailing the verdict, Mr Garg said that the historic victory of the BJP in all the seven Parliamentary constituencies in Delhi proves that the Congress no longer exists in Delhi. “Mrs Dikshit should resign on moral grounds. She has no right to continue in power.”

Mr Garg said that the disillusionment of the public can be gauged from the fact that the Chief Minister and Ministers in the Delhi government were not able to ensure a Congress victory even in their areas. “For the first time, all the seven seats in Delhi have been won by the BJP. The credit goes to the performance of the BJP government led by Mr Vajpayee.”

PTI adds: Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit today said the Congress was defeated in the Lok Sabha polls in Delhi as they were held here in the first phase when “their (BJP’s) propaganda on Kargil and the fall of the Vajpayee government” was at its peak.

“Only after the September five polls, these issues were cleared up and people realised the truth,” Ms Dikshit told reporters here.

She described the Congress debacle in the seven Lok Sabha constituencies in the capital as “not very heartening” and said she was specially disappointed at the defeat of former finance minister and senior Congress leader Dr Manmohan Singh.

BJP wins in Goa

PANAJI, Oct 6 (PTI) — BJP candidates Sripad Naik and Ramakant Angle emerged victorious to register their party’s entry to the Lok Sabha from Goa, wresting the Marmugao and Panaji seats from the Congress.

Former union minister Ramakant Khalap, who was nominated by the Congress from Panaji after he merged the breakaway group from his erstwhile Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) with the Congress, was defeated by Mr Naik by 36,721 votes. The latter got 1,04,958 votes.

Mr Angle, who polled 106064 votes, defeated Congress nominee and former minister Joaquim Alemao by 14457 votes in the Marmugao seat.

In the dissolved Lok Sabha, Panaji seat was represented by Mr Ravi Naik and Mormugao by Francisco Sardinha, both now ministers in the Luizinho Faleiro-led Congress Government in the state.

The NCP candidates — former Chief Minister Wilfred D’Souza and Mr Sadanand Malik — and CPI nominees Narayan Palekar and Christopher Fonseca fared badly.

D’Souza and Mr Palekar were candidates from Mormugao and Fonseca and Mr Malik from Panaji.

Asian films come of age

NEW DELHI, Oct 6 (PTI) — Not long ago little was known about Asian films except when they won awards at an international fora but thanks to a spurt in film festivals exclusively showing films from the continent, the richness of Asian cinema is fast becoming evident.

“The bullock cart mud hut” type of films are also a thing of the past,” says Sudhir Bose, film critic, noting the emergence of the middle class and the feel good factor is leading to large number of people flocking to film festivals and the success of small budget, creative films like “Hyderabad Blues” and many others.

This is also making Asian film makers conscious of their creative excellence and in trying to establish a distinct identity, they are fast moving away from merely aping the west to making films about issues which confront Asian societies and are of interest to the native audience.

The need of the hour, is to establish an Asian film commission on the lines of the ‘Eurimages’, a collective of European film community, say film makers.

“This collective would go a long way in solving the common problems of state funding, diminishing audiences, increasing production costs and limitations in distributing non-commercial cinema,” says Aruna Vasudev, founder Director of Cinemaya, a magazine on cinema.

But, says Bose, the formation of such a collective is still in its infancy and needs to be followed up, adding that the commonality of political perceptions amongst European countries is not exactly shared by their Asian brethren.

“This would nevertheless preserve the future of creative cinema as in this drive towards liberalisation and consumeristic culture, we are losing our own cultural identity,” says K. Bikran Singh, a film maker.

Such an association would enable us to face the threat of homogeneity of culture imposed from the outside, preserve our cultural identity which would otherwise be washed away by the threat of monoculture, says Tanvir Mokammel, a Bangladeshi film director whose “Chitra Nadir Pare” or “Quite flows the river Chitra” was screened at the recently concluded first Asian films festival in the Capital.

It would also make more markets accessible to the film maker and the resources of the countries in the region will also get promoted as television companies here will evolve clear cut policies of telecasting Asian films, says K. Bikran Singh.

The audience would also grow if films are available and shown on a regular basis, says Vasudev.

It is important to note that the sensibilities and cultural barriers of Asian countries are the same, says Mokammel.

“Post colonial societies have common and unique experiences like middle class and rural issues and thrust on the family which are absent in western films,” he says.

Even the pace of our films is different from the West, they are slow and have a distinct concept of time, he says, adding it is therefore imperative that we do not get carried away by the West because that may not be our reality.

The film maker is forced to churn out films which would propel his audience towards his films rather than Hollywood ones, he says.

The “creative Asian cinema” also faces problems of increasing cost of production and diminishing state support which can also be sorted out by creation of such an association, says K. Bikran Singh.

Scribes have a trying time

NEW DELHI, Oct 6 (PTI) — Mediapersons had a trying time covering the counting of votes in two Lok Sabha constituencies of Delhi due to inadequate facilities and denial of access despite possessing valid documents.

The Returning Officer at the Capital’s Sadar constituency refused to let mediapersons enter the counting centre.

Protesting against this over 10 scribes and private TV crew raised slogans against the Returning Officer and wanted to know why the passes issued by the Election Commission were not being given due weightage by him.

It was only after four rounds of counting that security officials allowed the scribes to enter the counting hall.

At the counting centre in Chandni Chowk constituency, mediapersons were told to wait inside a make-shift room and remained cut off from whatever was happening at the centre.

Repeated requests to the RO and a written complaint by mediapersons before the Election Commission Observer there went in vain.

Media rooms for both the centres were located at such a place that the announcements by the RO were inaudible there. The rooms did not have even telephone facility.

With restrictions on carrying mobiles and two-way radio sets inside the counting premises, mediapersons had to walk half a mile to send stories to their respective offices.

Murder most foul in Rajasthan
From A Correspondent

JAIPUR, Oct 6 — In a hair-raising incident a husband chopped off his wife’s head and offered it to a deity.

The accused, Kundan Singh, is a class IV employee at the government ayurvedic dispensary in Rohida of Sirohi district. He has three sons and one daughter from his wife Suraj Kanwar. It is learnt that behind this gruesome act was the suspicion which he had been nurturing about the character of his wife.

According to information reaching here, Kundan Singh got up at about 5 a.m. on Gandhi Jayanti day and chopped off the neck of his dog. After that he made his wife get up and asked her to prepare tea for him. When Suraj Kanwar proceeded towards the buffalo to fetch milk for tea her husband allegedly pounced on her and beating her severely asked to her disclose the name of the person who visited her in his absence.

Suraj Kanwar was taken aback at the sudden development and before she could speak anything Kundan Singh pierced his dagger in her throat. He continued to hit her with the dagger till her head fell apart from the body. Then he picked up the head by her hair and offered the same to Jogmaya’s idol in a nearby temple and started worshipping the deity.

The news of the killing of Suraj Kanwar by her husband spread in the village like wildfire and soon a large number of people gathered outside the temple. When Kundan Singh came out with the dagger in his hand the scared villagers ran for safety. He then picked up a jeep parked nearby and fled.

Suraj Bhan sworn in as Bihar Governor

PATNA, Oct 6 (PTI) — The UP Governor, Mr Suraj Bhan, yesterday took over an additional charge as Bihar Governor.

Mr Bhan, who took over from the Governor, Mr B.M. Lal, who has retired, was sworn in by the acting Chief Justice of the Patna High Court, Mr B.N. Agarwal.

The Chief Minister, Ms Rabri Devi, the RJD President, Mr Laloo Prasad Yadav, and leader of the Opposition in the state Assembly Mr Sushil Kumar Modi were present at the swearing in ceremony.

Later, Mr Bhan told reporters that he would like to have cordial relations with the State Government and accord top priority to improving the academic atmosphere in the state.

The Governor refused to comment on the law and order situation in the state. “You have dialled the wrong number”, he quipped.

Rail services disrupted
CALCUTTA: Train services on the South Eastern Railway have been disrupted on Wednesday following water-logging in the Howrah station’s yard triggered by heavy rain on Tuesday night, according to railway sources here. The Steel Express, the Dhauli Express, the Faluknama and the East Coast Express scheduled to leave Howrah on Wednesday morning could not leave the station due to water-logging between Tikiapara and Hawrah station. However, these trains will leave from Satragachi. — UNI

Jewellery shop looted
MUMBAI: Four persons looted diamonds and other valuables worth Rs 6.50 lakh from a jewellery shop at Dahisar in North Mumbai on Tuesday. The police said the jeweller had just closed shop and was placing the diamonds in the strong room when the four barged in and threatened the jeweller and his employee with a knife. They later gagged him and his employee before decamping with the valuable and diamonds. — PTI

Human rights centre opens
DEHRA DUN: A specialised “Human Rights Centre” has been set up in the Doon valley by the Rural Litigation and Entitlement Kendra (RELK), an NGO based in the valley and working in its surrounding areas. “The RLEK Human Rights Centre” was inaugurated by Mr Justice M.N. Venkatachaliah, Chairperson, National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), during a three-day workshop on human rights held here by the RLEK from Friday. — UNI

District Collector hospitalised
MUMBAI: The Sangli District Collector, Dr Nitin Karir, was hospitalised on Tuesday after he accidentally inhaled pesticide fumes while checking the strong room where ballot boxes have been kept in Sangli district headquarters. The Chief Electoral Officer of Maharashtra, Dr D.K. Sankaran, said Dr Karir was shifted to Leelawati Hospital in north-west Mumbai and his condition was now said to be stable. — UNI

Veteran journalist dead
BHUBANESWAR: Veteran Journalist Bairagi Charan Mohanty (76) passed away here on Tuesday, family sources said. He had been in the profession for over three decades and was the Editor of the daily “Swarajya” published from here for some years. He was also a former Councillor of the Bhubaneswar Municipal Council. — PTI

Ex-Branch Manager held
MUMBAI: A former Branch Manager of South Indian Bank was arrested by the police on Monday in connection with a Rs 269 crore fraud case and was remanded to judicial custody till October 18 by a local court. Kasturi Rangan, former Manager of the Nariman Point branch, was the seventh person to be arrested in the case. The other six arrested in the case — Hemant Barot, N. Pradeep, Sanjay Udaysingh, Dinesh Gauva, H. Mehta and B. Jayesh — had been released on bail. — PTI

Air Force Day parade
NEW DELHI: Man and machine crafted a breathtaking flypast on Wednesday in the full dress rehearsal for the Air Force day parade, with “missing man” formation, a tribute to those who laid their lives in the wars, stealing the show. The rhythmic cadence in the march past, exhibition of the vintage aircraft including those which participated in the Kargil conflict, were other attractions of the rehearsal of the Air Force day ceremonial parade to be held on the 67th anniversary of the birth of Indian Air Force (IAF) on Friday. — PTI

3 NDFB militants killed
GUWAHATI: Three suspected hardcore NDFB militants were killed in an encounter with the Army at Durabil under Kachugaon police station in Assam’s Kokrajhar district on Wednesday, official reports said. One self-loading rifle, a stengun and 12 rounds of ammunition were recovered from them, the reports added. — UNI

HC dismisses sitting judge’s plea
JODHPUR: The Rajasthan High Court on Wednesday dismissed a petition filed by a sitting judge of its own Bench challenging his transfer from Mumbai to Rajasthan. A Division Bench, consisting of Chief Justice Shivraj V. Patil and Justice Bhagwati Prasad, dismissed the petition filed by Justice V.G. Palshikar saying it was not maintainable. The Bench in its order said: “It is neither desirable nor necessary for us to deal with the other contentions referred by the petitioner in his submission.” Justice Palshikar had personally appeared before the Division Bench last month to file his petition and on Tuesday to make submissions. — PTI