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| Thursday,
April 26, 2001, Chandigarh, India   
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Cong faces trouble
in Assam Bandh hits life
in Maharashtra
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Basu on campaign
trail PMO ‘got kickback’
in Balco sale Threat to Dasmunshi
shocks Lok Sabha Uproar in RS
over corruption W. Bengal Govt tapping my phone: Mamata NORTH INDIA IN PARLIAMENT Rao ‘was indifferent’
during ’84 riots Unedited footage of
Tehelka sought TRIBUNE FOLLOW-UP 6 more girls rescued from
orphanage Tehri Dam work
on amid security
Procurement of crops reviewed
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Cong faces trouble
in Assam Guwahati, April 25 The selection of Congress candidates for the ensuing Assembly poll was riddled with controversy right from the very beginning ,forcing the leadership to keep on postponing the declaration of the names of the candidates till the last moment. As the selection process was held in Delhi, the Congress ticket aspirants and their followers made a beeline to the Capital to stake their claim and there was a time when Member of Parliament Ranee Narah threatened to quit the party alleging that controversial MP Mani Kumar Subba had a major say in the selection process. Finally, after days of speculation, the Congress declared the list of candidates on April 21, just a couple of days before the last date of filing of nomination papers. Interestingly, APCC President Tarun Gogoi was scheduled to declare the list of candidates in a press conference at the state party headquarters Rajiv Bhavan, on April 21 but he failed to do so because of the presence of a large number of disgruntled party workers at the party office and ultimately the party certificates were distributed among the candidates at the residence of the General Secretary of the APCC, Mr Sarat Barkataky. In the meantime, senior Congress workers, who were denied the party ticket to contest the poll, have jumped into the electoral fray as independent candidates in a number of constituencies, which may seriously affect the poll prospects of the official candidates of the party. For example, president of the Nagaon District Congress Committee Rashidul Haque, a sitting MLA, was denied the party ticket and removed from his position. He has filed nomination from the Rupohihat constituency, which is considered to be his stronghold, as an independent candidate. Other parties also faced some problems over the selection of candidates but there problems were nothing compared to those of the Congress. Senior Asom Gana Parishad leader and Deputy Chairman of the State Planning Board Deba Kumar Bora has resigned from the party and the official post after he was denied the party ticket and is now contesting as an independent candidate from the Titabor constituency in Jorhat district. The BJP faced problems over the poll alliance with the AGP and a group of BJP men led by senior leader Hiranya Kumar Bhattacharya resigned from the party and formed the Assam BJP. Though the Assam BJP. However, the AGP- BJP alliance here received a shot in the arm as Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and the Union Home Minister L.K. Advani have announced their decision to campaign for the alliance. |
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Bandh hits life
in Maharashtra Mumbai, April 25 A journalist was beaten up and several activists were detained when they tried to block rail traffic at various suburban stations here, the police said. The trade union leaders accused the police of making a lathi charge at Jogeshwari and Vikhroli suburban stations. The police, however, denied the charge. Streets in the metropolis and elsewhere wore a deserted look with vehicular traffic off the roads. Attendance in offices and factories was negligible, while port operations were also badly affected. The city witnessed heavy security deployment, including that of paramilitary forces, as trade unions of both the Left and Right wings came together with a major NDA ally, the Shiv Sena to support the bandh. “Asian Age” reporter Vaibhav Purandare was roughed up by alleged Shiv Sena activists at suburban Elphinstone Road station while covering the agitation, the newspaper said. Purandare was later admitted to KEM hospital at Parel, sources added. The agitators also staged rasta-roko at Western and Eastern Express highway. PTI |
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Basu on campaign
trail Kolkata, April 25 He is again the main poll-campaign star of the CPM and other front partners against the anti-Left forces, the Congress, the Trinamool Congress, the BJP, Saifuddin Chowdhury’s PDS and the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha. But the main contestants are the Congress and the TMC. With his ill-health, he has been going from village to village, district to district on his election campaign ignoring drought, hot and humid summer and other odds. Circumstances have prompted him to take active part in the electioneering for his party. This time the task is more serious. They now face a more tough battle, battle against the Congress-Trinamool Congress, combine under Ms Mamata Banerjee’s leadership. For them, it is a battle for existence, a battle to remain in power. Hence, Basu’s main task is to alert people against the danger ahead, if an alternative government under Ms Mamata Banerjee’s leadership is voted to power. The 86-year-old Marxist leader voluntarily stepped down from Chief Minister’s chair on November 6 on health grounds and made room for his successor, Buddhadev Bhattacharyya. But Mr Basu did not retire from politics. He has the same life-style and the day-to-day functioning (not restricted to politics only). He moves around from one place to another with Z-category of security, presides over important official meetings and businessmen’s parties. He supervises government works, joins cultural functions and regularly attends party office at Alimuddin Street. He mediates in resolving differences in the party’s leadership, gives counsel to the party functionaries and suggests strategies to be adopted against the political opponents. He is now a more busy person. He continues to live in Chief Minister’s official bungalow at Salt Lake City, enjoying the same official privileges, the same ‘‘honour and status’’ of the Chief Minister (thanks to the party which has compelled the government to take such step). He began his campaign tour on April 15 in north Bengal, where he addressed five big public meetings in Siliguri-Naxalbari, Jalpaiguri-Cooch Behar and Dinajpur. At these places, the CPM faces the BJP-Kamtapuri combine on the one hand and the Congress-TMC on the other. But his main target of attack has been Ms Mamata Banerjee. At every meeting, his words were against Ms Banerjee; how bad she was, what crimes she had been committing, what mischief she did (still doing) in disturbing the peace and communal harmony, what a blunder she made in inviting the BJP to Bengal and so on. He also did not forget to mention about ‘‘her false doctorate degree’’ and tehelka’s reference. Mr Basu has never spent so much of time and energy in electioneering in the past when the Communist fought against the ruling Congress. But now the situation has changed and the political opponent is Bengal’s tigress — Mamata Banerjee. But Mr Basu does not think that people will make the mistake of inviting the Congress-TMC combine to power. They will certainly choose the right one : between peace and chaos, between stability and frequent changes and so forth. After his week-long tour of north Bengal, where he received tremendous response from people. He turned to Bengal and Kolkata. At least six of the nine districts in south Bengal, so long, predominantly belonged to the Marxists since the 1977 election. But now the situation has changed. The Marxists’ influence is rapidly eroding. And it because of the anti-incumbency factor (the CPM being in power for 24 years) and because of the inter-party rivalries in the party. In most of the districts in south Bengal, particularly, in North and South 24-parganas, as which together have some 65 of the total 294 seats, the party’s rift came in the open which led to the formation of a new Marxist Party with the dissidents under the leadership of Mr Saifuddin Chowdhury, a veteran leader and ex-MP and Mr Samir Putatunda, the party secretary of South 24-pargans for long three decades. Mr Basu, therefore, had to spend more time and energy in telling people in these districts that these differences in the party were of minor nature and the party still stood united and should get another chance to serve them. In the electioneering, he admitted to the mistakes the party had committed. |
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PMO ‘got kickback’ in Balco sale Kolkata, April 25 “There must have been some kickback, otherwise how can a property with a minimum market value of Rs 3,000 crore be sold to Sterlite at a miniscule Rs 581 crore,” Mr Dasgupta told mediapersons here. “A meeting has been arranged with the Prime Minister on May 4. We will wait till mid-May before calling a day’s all India industrial strike to protest the privatisation,” he said. Mr Dasgupta also claimed he had information that the PMO had almost finalised an agreement for the sale of two more PSUs — Hindustan Cables and Hindustan Copper to Sterlite Industries. “It is surprising that despite the company being recently indicted in price manipulation of shares at Mumbai Stock Exchange, the PMO is giving weightage to it,” he said. Though the Chhattisgarh Government’s contention that the value of Balco property was worth Rs 6,000 crore was slightly overstated, he said, it could not be denied that the minimum market price was not below Rs 3,000 crore. Balco, he said, currently possessed 3,000 acres, besides, a captive power plant constructed two years ago, which could not be valued at less than Rs 2,100 crore. It also had Rs 250 crore in bank investments, Rs 80 crore in raw material, Rs 90 crore in finished stock, Rs 50 crore in scrap and real estate in cities like Mumbai and Kolkata among others, Mr Dasgupta said.
PTI
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Threat to Dasmunshi shocks Lok Sabha New Delhi, April 25 Raising the issue during zero hour, Mr Dasmunshi said a packet was brought by a man last night to his residence and he was looking for him. Without identifying himself, he left the packet there with a CRPF jawan. Later, he got anonymous telephone calls threatening him for his comments and the callers wanted to know the whereabouts of his son who was in his constituency in West Bengal. Mr Dasmunshi, Congress Chief Whip in the House, immediately informed the police and sent the packet containing hundreds of letters and possibly a camera to the Speaker, Mr G.M.C.Balayogi, with a personal letter seeking his and his family’s protection. Responding to members’ concern, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pramod Mahajan assured the House he would request the Home Minister to inquire into the allegation and also for providing adequate security to him as also his family by the West Bengal Government. Expressing serious concern over the matter, former Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar requested the Chair to direct the government to order a probe into it. It appeared that parliamentary democracy was in the “pocket” of a few people, he said, adding that the government should ensure that MPs were not pressurised by industrial houses having vested interests. Alleging that his telephone was being tapped, Mr Dasmunshi said if this was allowed, it would be difficult for MPs to discharge their duties in Parliament. This had begun after tabling of a telecom report in Parliament, he said, adding that the government must probe it through appropriate agencies. He was strongly supported by his party colleague S.Jaipal Reddy who said the government must appreciate the gravity of the situation and make a statement. BJP Chief Whip Vijay Kumar Malhotra said it was a serious matter and the government must inquire into it. Janata Dal member Devendra Yadav said if a member was not allowed to function freely, parliamentary democracy would be in danger. Mr Prasana Acharya (BJD) and Mr S.S.Palanimanickam of the DMK also supported Mr Dasmunshi. Deputy Speaker P.M.Sayeed observed that what the Congress member had alleged was a direct threat to the democratic fabric of the nation and the government should look into it. Stating that this was an attack on the fundamental rights of MPs, Mr Mahajan said he would collect the packet and the letter from the Speaker and talk to the Home Minister. This must be probed so that members did not have to face such a situation, he added.
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Uproar in RS
over corruption New Delhi, April 25 Raising the issue through a special mention, Mr Sengupta said according to a report India had been categorised as one of the most corrupt nations and cited instances of corruption in stock market, cooperative banks, telecom and even bureaucracy. This provoked protests from ruling BJP members leading to the uproar. Alleging that corruption at various places had resulted in the country losing Rs 30,000 crore, Mr Sengupta said foreign investors were shying away from investing in the country. Amidst the din, Chairman Krishan Kant directed Mr Sengupta to stick to the text approved by the Chair and not to create a furore in the House. W. Bengal Govt
tapping my phone: Mamata Dumdum (WB), April 25 She further charged that the CPM cadres, in collusion with the Bankura Police, had barricaded roads at many places to prevent her from reaching an election meeting yesterday. Ms Banerjee, speaking at public rallies in different parts of North 24 Parganas district, said in a state where common people had no security, she would not take security cover provided by the government. “I have asked the police to remove all security vehicles accompanying my convoy.” The Trinamool supremo charged that in the 24 years of Left Front rule in West Bengal, there was no development in the fields of education, health and infrastructure.
PTI
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NORTH INDIA IN PARLIAMENT New Delhi, April 25 The Central Government has approved the proposal of the Himachal Pradesh Government for an amount of Rs 3.70 lakh for publication and distribution of a handbook containing guidelines for the office-bearers of the Panchayati Raj institutions regarding preparation of micro plans by gram panchayats. Out of this, the Centre released Rs 1.48 lakh as the first instalment in June 2000, the Minister of Rural Development, Mr M. Venkaiah Naidu, informed the Rajya Sabha in a written reply. Indian security forces will continue to construct defensive structures as are needed and in this context, Pakistan-sponsored infiltration of terrorists into the state of Jammu and Kashmir is taken into account, the Minister of State for External Affairs, Mr U.V. Krishnam Raju informed the Lok Sabha in a written reply today. The term “working boundary” cannot be applied to any part of the India-Pakistan boundary, including the boundary between Jammu and Kashmir and Pakistan. Pakistan’s objections to the construction of any kind of defensive structures are untenable and have been rejected by the Indian Government. the minister added in the written reply. An amount of Rs 49,17,085 has been provided for the maintenance of monuments in Himachal Pradesh during 2000-01. The Minister of Tourism and Culture, Mr Ananth Kumar, informed the Rajya Sabha that funds for maintenance and conservation of centrally protected monuments in Himachal Pradesh are made per the actual conservation needs of monuments and overall availability of funds. The proposal for Science City Project between Jalandhar and Kapurthala in Punjab was taken in April 2000, the Minister of Tourism and Culture, Mr Ananth Kumar, informed the Rajya Sabha, adding that it is not a fact that funds are lying with the Centre. |
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Rao ‘was indifferent’
during ’84 riots New Delhi, April 25 “A menacing crowd surrounded myself and Mr V.M. Tarkunde, a senior advocate, when we were rescuing Sikhs, who had taken shelter in a dilapidated building in East Delhi,” Mr Jethmalani, appearing as a witness, said. “We protested in a non-violent manner and the crowd was impatient. Suddenly, an old RSS worker came and pacified the crowd and they listened to him” the former Union Law Minister submitted before the Nanavati Commission, probing the riots almost 16 years after the incident. When the Additional Solicitor General, Mr K.K. Sud, asked Mr Jethmalani whether the RSS worker was part of the crowd, he said, “I do not know whether he was part of the crowd or a passerby or a resident of that area.” He, however, said the RSS worker pacified the crowd who were in a violent mood. Mr Jethmalani said the crowd was led by a local Congress leader, who urged us to leave the area. “He escorted us from the area and the crowd, holding iron rods, axes and lathis, recognised him and did not attack our vehicle.” Mr Jethmalani said he met the then Union Home Minister, Mr P.V. Narasimha Rao, who appeared to be totally indifferent. “Mr Rao told us he would take adequate steps,” Mr Jethmalani said. |
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Unedited footage of
Tehelka sought New Delhi, April 25 The commission has asked the portal to submit within 10 days the footage along with other relevant documents, which it feels, could substantiate its claim that there was corruption in defence deals. PTI |
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TRIBUNE
FOLLOW-UP Sriganganagar, April 25 These students had been disqualified by the Maharshi Dayanand University,
Ajmer, since they did not fulfil the requisite attendance clause. The students contested that their attendance was short since they had sought admission late as they were awaiting the outcome of their appeal against the 60 per cent cut-off limit set by the Director, College Education. This limit was imposed last year for students from outside the state. The Director’s stand subsequently was accepted by the state government. The HC had on April 20 rejected their appeal forcing the students to go in appeal. Now, the court has directed the university and the state government to allow the students to appear in the ongoing examinations. The students have already missed a paper held on Monday. They will appear in tomorrow’s examination. It is pertinent to mention that domicile students scoring only 45 per cent marks can seek admission. In the present context, 78 domicile students are already appearing in the ongoing first year examinations, while those from outside were disqualified. Sources said the outside students were given admission on the basis of the judgement in the Bhupinder Singh case — he appealed against the directive of the Director challenging his authority to issue the directive and other grounds — which were upheld by the Jodhpur High court. The students and the college authorities were happy at the outcome and relieved that a precious year of the students has been saved. Sources said from the next academic year students from other states would be able to seek admission as the 60 per cent clause has been struck down as being unconstitutional. However, if the academic council of the university passes a resolution accepting the cut-off limit set by the Director, College Education, then the struggle of the students will be back to square one. However, this batch would go on to take their degrees, the sources pointed out. |
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6 more girls rescued from orphanage Hyderabad, April 25 Officials of the state Women Development and Child Welfare Department on an inspection visit, rescued six baby girls aged between one month and three years from Radhakishan Home at Toli Chowki near Medhipatnam, director Shalini Misra told PTI here today. All six girls had since been admitted to government run Shishu Vihar, Ms Misra said adding the police would be asked to register a case against the management of the Radhakishan Home. Earlier, 66 infants from Tandur-based Bethany Home and 34 from Action for Social Development (ASD) were rescued in the similar way. While, the director of ASD N. Sanjeeva Rao had been arrested yesterday and sent to judicial remand till May 8, owner of the Bethany Home had absconded. However, six persons employed at Bethany Home were arrested yesterday when the police raided a private house in Chintalbasti locality and recovered six babies from their possession. Meanwhile, the condition of 27 infants admitted to Niloufer Hospital and 13 at CDR Hospital was stable, according to the doctors attending on them.
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Tehri Dam work
on amid security Dehra Dun, April 25 According to the information from the district administration, few dozen people protesting against the construction work were not allowed to go near the dam site. There was tight security in and around the site. The Central Government has sent two companies of the CRPF to prevent any untoward incident. Police sources said some people were rounded up for a few hours as a preventive measure. The agitators were protesting against the start of work and demanded the release of Bahuguna and other agitators who were arrested in the past two days. |
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Procurement of crops reviewed Hanumangarh, April 25 The collector said that from the start of this month, the purchase of barley, wheat and mustard at MSP had been started. He directed the officers present at the meeting to attend to the problems likely to be faced by cultivators, traders or procurement agencies. Mr Chandellia informed that 19 purchase centres for barley, eight for mustard and four for wheat were operating in the district. Rajfed, FACI, RSWC and NAFED were the agencies involved in procurement, he said. During the meeting, the District Supplies Officer, Mr Harbhan Singh, presented the progress report of the purchase of crops. |
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Activists
of the Shiv Sena place wooden beams across railway tracks to enforce a strike in Bombay on Wednesday. The strike has been called by several labour unions and some political parties to protest against the economic and labour policies of the government.
